Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Rashmi Airan

Ex-Felon | Ivy-League Educated Attorney | Wall Street Investment Banker | Serial Entrepreneur | College Professor

Rashmi Airan Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

Ex-Felon | Ivy-League Educated Attorney | Wall Street Investment Banker | Serial Entrepreneur | College Professor

Speaker Profile Thumbnail for Rashmi Airan
Speaking Fee:
$10,000 to $20,000

Travels From:
Available Upon Request

Primary Topic Category:
Leadership and Management

Secondary Topic Category:
Inspiration / Motivation / Overcoming Obstacles

 

Rashmi Airan Speaker Profile: At A Glance

Rashmi Airan is a transformation expert and creator of the Rise Through It™ framework, which equips leaders to break free from the mental prisons of fear, assumptions, and unspoken rules that hold them back. A former attorney and Wall Street investment banker turned entrepreneur, professor, and globally recognized speaker, Rashmi helps individuals and organizations dismantle limiting beliefs and rise into clarity, courage, and possibility.

Rashmi Airan challenges leaders to face the invisible prisons that shape their choices and limit their growth. A keynote speaker, consultant, and unapologetic truth-teller, she brings her raw story of success, collapse, and reinvention to audiences worldwide. As a first-generation Indian American, Rashmi was raised to chase excellence. She graduated with honors from Columbia Law School, thrived in corporate America, and built her own law practice. But success came with hidden cages: cultural pressures, inherited orthodoxies, and blind ambition. One small compromise, fueled by fear and the pressure to provide, led to a federal prison sentence. Prison shattered everything she thought she knew about herself, but it also exposed the deeper truth: she had been imprisoned long before by ego, judgment, and unspoken rules. Six months behind bars stripped away those layers and forced her to rebuild on a foundation of courage, self-awareness, and integrity. Now known as a “recovering government, corporate, and real estate lawyer," Rashmi is a globally recognized speaker who explores the ways people and organizations confine themselves to patterns, assumptions, and norms that quietly dictate outcomes. With over 30 years in business, law, and finance, she has seen how good people make bad choices when these hidden pressures go unexamined. Her RISE THROUGH IT™ FRAMEWORK is a guide to breaking free, reframing adversity, and leading with clarity. Her insights are grounded in research on resilience, growth, and leadership, and she has worked with leaders at Coca-Cola, Merck, Cardinal Health, Comcast, Sotheby's, and Hershey's. Deloitte has recognized her transformational impact, and her story has been featured on ABC, PBS, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Rashmi sparks conversations that matter. She pushes executives, entrepreneurs, and teams to confront blind spots, dismantle self-imposed prisons, and rise through struggle with integrity and courage. Beyond the stage, she is a proud mother of two, a board member for the Overtown Youth Center/Alonzo Mourning Foundation, and an Ambassador for The Key Clubhouse. She is also an avid hiker and traveler who believes the real adventure begins when we free ourselves from the prisons of thought and expectation. Her message is urgent: the most confining prisons are not physical. They live in the mind. Freedom begins when we rise through them.
Coca-Cola, India and CRISIL Ltd. Preeti Balwani, Former General Counsel and Global General Counsel “Rashmi worked with the Coca-Cola team for an entire day. She created such a meaningful impact on the pivotal issues of accountability and vulnerability. Her diverse and unique view has propelled her as a leader on these topics. Rashmi shares a personal story that we must strive to live through uncertainty with conviction and navigate through the gray area. Her workshop truly helped our team learn how to thrive in chaos, be adaptable and remain curious while always focusing on the organization’s needs and long-term sustainability. Her story is relatable and she is truly a remarkable speaker and consultant!” YPO Reuben Xeureb “What Rashmi brought to us is real-life experience with emotion, authenticity, and courage for immediate value add in our individual organizations. As a group of CEOs of our companies, we typically don’t spend an entire day listening and engaging with one Coach/Consultant. Rashmi’s workshop and message were extremely effective and impactful, both personally and professionally. Even after an entire day with Rashmi, we all wanted more. I am definitely planning on bringing Rashmi back to work with my own leadership team at my organization.” Hershey’s Inc. Damien Atkins, Former General Counsel “Rashmi’s story illustrates the power of humility and transformation. Rashmi is an energy giver - whether live or virtual. She reminds us that we are all humans and fallible. I would recommend Rashmi, she is one the best speakers I have ever worked with and I will work with her again!” Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Verne Harnish, Founder of EO, Founder of Scaling Up “Excellent and Powerful!” Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Peter Chee, Founder & CEO, MinimZero “Touching. Bold. Almost moved me to tears!” Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Brian Hollowaty, CEO, Los Angeles Brands “This was an incredibly powerful talk about perseverance, adaptability, mindset, and agility. Truly memorable.” Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Brett Winn, CEO, Rave Collective; President EO, Los Angeles “I book dozens of speakers, and I will tell you that Rashmi was the easiest person to work with when it came to booking an event. She came prepared. I got a real clear understanding of what her keynote would be and why we thought it would appeal to the audience, especially for a sea of entrepreneurs. It was brilliant. I think her take on business and her take on life and her experience is incredibly unique and inspiring. Through Rashmi’s eyes and her journey, we talk about failures and successes and how the greatest successes come out of multiple failures. I think her journey through the judicial system is one of epic proportions and one that very few ever experience. So, to relive it through her eyes and see the positivity that came out of that experience was remarkable.” Meeting Planners International (MPI) Lexi Quilty, Event Specialist “Rashmi was an incredible speaker to work with for our “Global Meetings Industry Day” live broadcast. Our goal was to take attendees through the “Event Professional’s Journey,” and Rashmi did just that by sharing her story. Through vulnerability, encouragement, and a call to action, Rashmi spoke to event professionals and spurred them on to get back on track and use their experience to help them excel in their next event. We look forward to further opportunities to work with Rashmi.” Asian American Hotel Owners Association Roshni Kadhiwala, CEO/Owner JLM Hotel Group “The most mind capturing talk ever! 100% focused and visually present. Personable and relatable” SHRM Association Management Professional & Convention Planner Lori Maher McCombs, Maher Group, LLC “I had the pleasure of working with Rashmi Airan as conference planner for the 2020 Tri-State SHRM Conference. Rashmi was scheduled to present two in person sessions for us, but due to COVID-19, she easily adapted and presented her sessions virtually. Her presentations centered around taking ownership of your actions, and business ethics. Rashmi’s ability to tell her story with candor, honesty and ownership makes her keynote(s) very relevant to business leaders. Thank you, Rashmi! Keep up the great work.” Georgia Tech University Athletics Todd Stansbury “Rashmi spoke to our senior leadership team and coaches at Georgia Tech. Her story and message around decision-making was incredibly impactful as it hit home the fact that good and smart people can make bad decisions with dire consequences. Rashmi helps shed light through her research in behavioral ethics. She provides a mental process for maintaining ethical vigilance in our decision- making and how to avoid the overconfidence bias that leads to the slippery slope. I highly recommend Rashmi to my friends and colleagues as she will inspire and help create substantive change in our athletic environments around integrity and ethics.” Oregon Association of Realtors Jenny Pakula, CEO “Your story is immensely compelling with some incredible takeaways.” Merck Marc Durant, CTO and CISO “Rashmi’s talk was authentic and really resonated with the entire audience. She was hands-down the #1 speaker we had over the course of our multi-day conference.” Cardinal Health Hollie Foust, Senior Vice President “Thank you so much for your presentation. We had a record turnout to hear your story of over 2,700 participants and more to come in our APAC region! ” Brown University Grant Achilles, Head Baseball Coach “Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing your story with vulnerability, creating a space for us to do the same, and sharing insight applicable to both personal and professional life choices. Your messaging resonated in unexpected and practical ways. I admire the courage on display to speak from a place of such openness and high character. “ Brown University Alyssia Coates, Senior Director of Development “Transformational. Life-changing. “ Colorado Bar Association James A. Martell “I attended Rashmi’s talk and I thought it was amazing. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to hear her speak. It was, without a doubt, the best session I have attended in my 40 years. I particularly liked her focus on our duty to the community and society as a whole.” Colorado Association of REALTORS® Scott A. Peterson, Esq. “Rashmi’s story is equal parts chilling and heart-warming. The lessons from her life experience weave together to form a cautionary tale for REALTORS®. In watching the room as Rashmi delivered her keynote, I have never seen a REALTOR® audience so transfixed on a speaker and her story. Her delivery is direct, touching, sad, funny and always brutally honest. Her candor and accountability were rewarded with an emotional standing ovation at the conclusion of her keynote. When it comes to delivering a lesson on those two subjects in a poignant and unforgettable presentation, Rashmi and her story cannot be beat. Columbia University, School of Law John C. Coffee, Jr., Professor “Because Ms. Airan was only a few years older than the law students she spoke to and because she graduated near the top of her class, her impact on the students was powerful and immediate. I think her presentation gave students an entirely unique, more nuanced and certainly more vivid sense of how seemingly normal professional practice can cross the line over into fraud. She made a very valuable contribution to the students’ that others cannot duplicate.” Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, LLP Scott L. Baena, Managing Partner “Rashmi’s gripping presentation to more than 50 of our lawyers transformed the subject of professional responsibility from a textbook experience to a compelling human drama with real-life consequences. It was eye-opening and gut-wrenching, and Rashmi’s willingness to share the lowest moment in her professional life and her takeaways was a real tribute to her character.” Best Western Hotel Group Joelle Park, Chief Marketing Officer “Rashmi is truly inspiring!” California Association of Realtors Ruthie Jones, Corcoran Icon “Rashmi pushed me out of my comfort zone. She shared deeply about herself, and paved the way for all of us to then dig deep and share our own highs and lows..” University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Bubba Cunningham, Athletic Director “Rashmi was absolutely outstanding. I would highly recommend her to work with your team if you're looking to get better and really have an examination of what is valuable to your university, to your industry, to your business, or to you personally. She's an effective leader, she's inspirational, and she's given us a lot to think about in our own lives.”
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