“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ~ Virginia Woolf. On this International Women’s Day, GlobalSpa recognizes and celebrates the women in the industry as we delve into their success mantra they follow, mistakes that have helped them grow, and of course, their WELLNESS philosophy.

Radhika Iyer is the founder of Raa Foundation & Anahata Organics. She is also a Yogini, Mountaineer & Philanthropist.

What is your wellness philosophy?

My wellness philosophy is balance. I believe that a person is more than just their body, mind, and spirit. Wellness is all encompassing. It has to have the correct emotional quotient, the correct amount of spiritual quotient and the correct mental and physical quotient. It is the balance that goes into making you feel well, and it’s a different equation for each of these four areas for everyone. You may have all the money, mentally fantastic and physically fit, but you might not have the emotional eligibility to connect with people, to empathize and create a support system for the people around you. So, balance is my wellness philosophy, where none exceeds the other.

Your success mantra?

My success mantra is just hard work. I have not known any other way, I have never gotten anything easy. Ever since I was 13, I have always realized that the goals that I wanted to achieve at the time, my goals were always fulfilled but I had to work very hard to achieve them. My success mantra is hard work but smart hard work, not just hard work. I believe when you know what you need to achieve; you have to put your intelligence in your work first and then work as hard as you need to achieve your goal.

A lesson you learned from making a mistake?

I have made a lot of mistakes. Now that I look back, I realize that they were mistakes, but those are the very mistakes that have brought me where I am today. I am not ashamed or apologetic for everything that I have done, and I think everybody should have enough faith in their path to not be ashamed of their mistakes. Life is a path and whatever your vision is and your internal world is, you take those steps. Mistakes are lessons, take the lesson, do better and move forward. I also do not think anybody is good or bad, it’s too black and white of an explanation for complex humans. I think if you have the courage to accept responsibility for your mistakes sincerely, you are good to go. My mistakes have propelled me to try the other way, otherwise I would be stuck in a rut. Mistakes have made me realize that there are many ways to arrive at a goal.

Any piece of advice for all the women out there?

I think if I were to give any piece of advice, it would be to support other women. Growing up, I have experienced and seen women being each other’s biggest critics and detractors. There is little room for forgiveness and connection with this attitude. When you look at the bigger picture, I think we as women need to support, forgive and to move on collectively. Women supporting women is the biggest advice I would give. All the good things in my life, where I have come ahead, is because I found another woman to help me understand my journey. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else, you are Prakriti, Shakti in physical form and you are meant to experience life to its full potential. We are all inter-connected and lift each other up to move forward.

What has been your biggest pride as a doyenne?

I think people have made me a doyenne. I am very honored and humbled that people think of me as someone prominent and somebody worthy of being respected. I am very grateful for that. However, I do inherently believe that only when you start respecting yourself can you receive respect from others. That is when you can be in a place to gracefully accept that respect. In terms of what I am most proud of, it is the fact that I am a mother. As a person, my home, my children, they come first. I learned to prioritize them because I am responsible for having brought them into this world. At the same time, I do not have any ownership of them. When people come back to me and tell me I am a wonderful mother and ask for guidance on raising their children, because my children have validated what I have said. And that makes me feel very proud.