Meet Alpa Kapadia Teli, an Executive Coach & Trainer and founder of Ignite the Spark chool of Transformation. With over 20 years in personal transformation, Alpa aims to help a million people live impactful lives through her coaching, workshops, and keynotes. She specializes in Energy Mastery and Upgradation, empowering Coaches and Consultants to scale their businesses with intuition and strategy.
A celebrated coach with a PCC certification from the ICF, Alpa is dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs in creating their own wealth. She has conducted over 120 workshops, served 1800 clients, and offers a digital learning platform to extend her reach.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your family?
I grew up in a big joint family which was highly religious and spiritual. So values were always very grounded. Learnt adaptability young.
Have you had any formal training or family business?
We did have a family Business of making high end Wedding cards. It was a super successful business, but I always felt that I was not cut out for business.
I was so sure I would spend my life in the corporate world or around it. I always felt that businessmen were great fraudsters and were overcharging the customer so much.
When I started my own business. I had to really work on my mindset to change all these beliefs when I had to turn my coaching passion into a business.
How did you come up with the idea for your business, and what was the process of turning that idea into a reality?
After my sabbatical when I got back to work.
I did my Coaching Certification and that really changed my life.
I felt I had finally found the answer to the question of what was the secret to bridge the performance and potential gap.
As I went through the obstacles to get back to working as a new mom, I saw around me that there were many women who had lost their dreams and goals in the throes of motherhood.
I was inspired to help women live their own lives too so that we could become a more equal society.
I wanted to ignite the spark for living for them as I did for myself.
That is when I started my business Ignite the spark to offer whatever solutions I could to help powerful women visionaries change the world.
How have you grown as a leader since starting your company, and what have been some of the key lessons you've learned along the way?
I went from a solopreneur to a CEO, when I embraced aspects of sales, marketing, having a team and streamlining processes. This has been a great learning.
The key lessons have learnt are, always:
- Believe in yourself
- Stick through the hard times
- Ask for support and receive it
- Do what makes your heart sing
- Prioritize your dreams
Can you tell us about a time when you faced a major setback or failure in your business, and how you overcame it?
When I started coaching, I was asking for very little money for my coaching. I had a self-limiting belief that said “Who will pay you so much for coaching?”
I then paid a coach double of what I wanted to receive. And that self–limiting belief went away.
After that, I have been able to ask for and receive premium easily.
There was also a time when I had spent a huge amount on my certification and learning but I was still not able to make consistent income.
Then I paid a huge amount of money (money that I didn’t even have) to a mentor coach and learnt sales and marketing from him.
This really helped me convert my passion into a business.
That investment paid off and put me on a trajectory for sustained growth.
How do you stay motivated and focused on your goals, especially during challenging times?
My strategy is my Energy. I focus on self-mastery and self work all the time.
That is the only thing I manage.
Keeping myself in pure energy and coming back to it when I slip.
The BEING takes care of the DOING. When I feel stuck, I always seek support.
I have no qualms about asking for help.
How do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business?
That was the toughest piece. With 2 kids and a home, it was tough to be an entrepreneur.
Scheduling and prioritizing are key. I cut down on unnecessary social outings. Prioritised what was important to me unapologetically.
Health, family, and Business, and my mental wellbeing. It has been a game changer as it fills my life with joy, fulfillment and purpose.
What are your plans for the future of your business, and how do you see yourself evolving as a founder and leader?
I see Ignite the Spark offering a wide variety of self-transformation programs in the online and offline space.
I see myself taking a larger part in speaking and training across the world.
If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t wait for permission – give notice. You don’t need to be bigger or better, you just need to be more of who you really are.
What's the most unconventional thing you've done to grow your business, and what was the result?
My approach to business is not one of hustle. I worked on balancing masculine and feminine energies within myself and mastering my energy.
My business comes with ease and flow and intuition, rather than hustle and grind and strategy.
This is often perplexing for people, but I found that it worked for me and suits my desires to be present in my own life fully as I support my clients in their growth.
I use strategy too, but my core driving force is energy and intuition.
What's the most important lesson you've learned from a failure, and how have you applied it to your business?
There is no failure, only feedback. I truly believe that life is always happening for me and not to me.
I love that quote by Richard Bach, “Each problem has a gift for you, you seek problems because you need the gifts.”
What's the most meaningful compliment or feedback you've ever received from a customer, and why did it resonate with you?
Many of my clients tell me they cannot even remember or recognise who they were when they started working with me, as they have transformed so much.
I love that compliment because I feel like my job as a coach is to hold space for my clients as they transform from caterpillars into butterflies.
That is the deep transformation I strive for. I am not a fan of linear growth. I love quantum growth.
If you had to choose one thing that makes your company truly unique and sets it apart from the competition, what would it be, and why?
I think the one thing that makes Ignite the Spark Unique is that we are in the business of redecorating peoples inner worlds, to improve the quality of their life.
In this world where people are putting on makeup and filters, we are working on inside-out transformation.
Find Alpa Kapadia Teli on Social Media:
- LinkedIn - Personal Account - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alpateli/
- Companies websites - https://ignitethespark.in/
- Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/alpaignitespark/
- Email address - alpa@ignitethespark.in