Where wisdom meets compassion, and leadership begins within.
Join Anu as she sits down with trailblazing leaders, researchers, and changemakers to explore the art of mindful leadership.
✨ Listen. Reflect. Lead.
Your journey to mindful leadership starts here.
BOOK ANU
〰️
BOOK ANU 〰️
Need an Engaging Podcast Guest?
Anu Arora is an executive and team coach, speaker, and mindfulness teacher who spent 20+ years in corporate leadership before founding her coaching practice at the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and everyday leadership. Not only is her background impressive, but she’s also a lot of fun to chat with and reveals invaluable insights.
Signature Talking Points
Operationalizing Pause — practical neuroscience of decision-making under pressure, drawn from Anu's own health journey.
Tough Conversations, Stronger Relationships — the CCC Framework (Communication + Compassion + Candor) for leading through conflict.
The I, We, Us Framework — self, community, cosmos as an everyday leadership operating system.
Helicopter Engineer to Microsoft Director to Executive Coach — an unconventional path, and what it teaches about reinvention.
Building the Microsoft Women's Conference — from a $2,000 seed and a volunteer list into a global event.
Retraining a Workforce the System Had Shut Out — the SDET program for H-1B spouses, and what it taught Anu about advocacy.
What You Already Know Is Costing You — Ayurvedic concepts applied to modern leadership blind spots.
AI & Leadership — what a machine can't replicate.
Mindfulness in the Messy Middle — leading (and living) through grief, pain, and uncertainty while still inside the experience.
Sample Interview Questions
You started your career as a helicopter engineer — how did that shape the way you think about systems and risk as a leader today?
Tell us about building the Microsoft Women's Conference from a $2,000 seed and a volunteer list.
You teach an I, We, Us framework — what does that look like in practice for a mid-level manager on a Tuesday morning?
How has your own health journey changed the way you coach people through uncertainty?
Where do you see AI helping leaders be more human, not less?
What's one pause practice a busy manager can start using today?
You built a program that retrained H-1B spouses shut out of the workforce — what did that teach you about advocacy and leadership?
What surprised you most about your own transition from corporate engineer to coach?
Credentials & Experiences
20+ years of corporate leadership experience, including Principal Software Engineering Director at Microsoft Windows
Built and ran the SDET retraining program at Bellevue Community College
Co-founded the Microsoft Women's Conference with Eddie Pate; the conference continues globally under regional names
Invited by Microsoft to develop the Test track for their Engineering Excellence Forum
Book of poetry, Ignite Your Light, recognized in the acknowledgments of Melinda French Gates's book, The Next Day
Certified yoga and mindfulness teacher; creator of the I, We, Us framework
Hosts podcast: Mindful Momentum: A Leadership Podcast
Regular essayist on Substack at the intersection of mindfulness, neuroscience, and leadership
Bios of Varying Lengths
-
Anu Arora is an executive and team coach, speaker, and mindfulness teacher who spent 20+ years in corporate leadership before founding her coaching practice at the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and everyday leadership.
-
Anu Arora is an executive and team coach, speaker, and mindfulness practitioner. After 20+ years in corporate technology leadership — including a director-level role at Microsoft. She now coaches leaders and teams through the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and leadership, and hosts a podcast exploring what it takes to lead with presence.
-
Anu Arora began her career as a helicopter engineer before spending two decades in corporate technology leadership, including a director-level role at Microsoft. While there, she built a program that retrained H-1B visa holders' spouses whose careers had stalled due to work-authorization gaps — technical skills plus interview prep, and confidence-building. She also co-founded the Microsoft Women's Conference, seeded with $2,000 and a volunteer distribution list, which has since grown into a global event. Today Anu coaches executives and teams, teaches mindfulness, and hosts a podcast exploring the neuroscience of leadership.
-
Anu Arora's path to leadership coaching started in an unlikely place: as a helicopter engineer. She went on to spend 20+ years in corporate technology leadership, including a director-level role at Microsoft, where she built the SDET retraining program for H-1B visa holders' spouses, combining technical training with interview prep and portfolio building, confidence coaching, and placing hires within six months. That work became the catalyst for her shift into coaching. At Microsoft, Anu also co-founded the Microsoft Women's Conference with Eddie Pate, seeded with $2,000 and built through a volunteer distribution list; it has since grown into a global event held under regional names. Her book of poetry, Ignite Your Light, was recognized in the acknowledgments of Melinda French Gates's book The Next Day. Today, Anu is an executive and team coach, speaker, and mindfulness teacher who works at the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and leadership. She teaches the I, We, Us framework — self, community, cosmos and hosts the podcast Mindful Momentum: A Leadership Podcast.
Host Introduction for Anu Arora
Today we're joined by Anu Arora — an executive and team coach, speaker, and mindfulness practitioner. After 20+ years in corporate technology leadership, including a director-level role at Microsoft, Anu now coaches leaders and teams through the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and leadership, and hosts Mindful Momentum: A Leadership Podcast.
Anu, welcome to the show.
Connect with Me
Interested?
Just reply with your show name and a rough episode idea. We'll follow up with a fit assessment and a suggested angle.
Prefer to talk it through? Grab 30 minutes directly on the calendar.
How can I support you?
For Leaders & Individuals
Individual and executive coaching for clarity, confident decision-making, and sustainable leadership growth.
For Teams & Organizations
Keynotes and workshops that drive connection and help create long-term, sustainable results.