Building a Table Instead of Fighting for a Seat: My Conversation on The Chaotic Middle Podcast

I recently sat down with Amanda Russell for an episode of The Chaotic Middle, and it's one of those conversations I keep thinking about days later.

We talked about a lot: founding Roop Creative Agency, why I'd rather build my own table than fight for a seat at someone else's, and how I've redefined what success actually looks like for me, on my own terms.

We also got into the Beyoncé story. If you've seen the mention on my website of holding Beyoncé's hand at a concert with her weave literally in my mouth, you already know that story deserved its own tangent. A bold friend, some very direct eye contact with a tour manager, and pure luck. Still one of the best days of my life, right up there with my wedding and the birth of my son.

But underneath the fun stuff, this episode goes somewhere real.

From corporate dropout to building it my way

I spent eight years in corporate before I walked away, and my honest self-assessment is simple... I wasn't good at the smoozing. I wanted my work to speak for itself, but corporate ladders aren't climbed on results alone.

Running my own business gave me something corporate never did: a direct connection between effort and outcome, and the freedom to build toward my own dream instead of someone else's.

Work as an anchor through IVF and loss

We also talked about something I don't always go into publicly... my fertility journey, which started with an ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery, and led into a six-year path through IVF.

During that uncertainty, work became something I could actually control when so much else felt like it wasn't in my hands. That connection to work helped me hold onto a sense of normalcy through some of the hardest years of my life.

Living between two cultures

As the daughter of Indian immigrants raised in Canada, I grew up split between two versions of myself, one at home, one outside of it. The mindset I inherited was clear: say yes to everything, work hard, and positive results will follow.

Unlearning that took years. Saying no to clients who didn't understand my value as a brand strategist, rather than just someone who "makes things look pretty," was a hard conversation, especially with parents who had sacrificed enormously to give me opportunities they never had.

But once I started staying true to myself, my business changed. The minute I started saying no is when the right opportunities started showing up.

Building a table, not fighting for a seat

This is the part of the conversation I loved most.

Without a mentor who understood my full experience as a woman, a mom, and a creative, I started mentoring emerging designers myself. What began as informal advice for college students turned into a structured program.

I'm not interested in finding a seat at somebody else's table. I want to build my own, and bring other people to it. That philosophy extends to how I work with other collaborators too, in ads, copywriting, and photography. If a client needs something I don't personally offer, I know they'll land in good hands. Competition was never the answer. Collaboration is.

Redefining what success actually looks like

Here's where the conversation got really good.

I don't chase seven-figure headlines, because I've learned to ask the question most people skip: what are you actually bringing home? Revenue isn't profit, and profit isn't take-home pay. Once I shifted that mindset, I stopped spiralling as much.

I've never built a business designed to impress strangers on Instagram. I've built one that lets me sign off at 3:30 and pick up my son from school without asking anyone's permission. Harmony over balance, always.

That same philosophy is exactly why I co-host a podcast with a fellow founder, aimed squarely at business owners stuck in the ignored "messy middle," past the startup stage, not yet at seven figures, and doing just fine anyway.

If any of this resonates, the full episode goes even deeper. Go listen. 💗

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