Raj Subrameyer

I grew up in the southern part of India in a conservative middle-class family.  My dad grew up poor but worked hard to support not only my family but his parents and siblings as well. My mom was an English teacher, and after marriage took up the critical role of a homemaker bringing us up.

I am the youngest of two kids. From a young age, I developed this inferiority complex that I was not good enough. This was partly because of my childhood upbringing; where my dad was insanely smart, my brother was a genius, and there I was the average kid who did not do well in academics. 

I endlessly compared myself to others around me and tried to live up to unrealistic expectations. All these experiences made me shut myself from opening up to people. I viewed myself as an outcast; I did not talk to anyone, as speaking gave me anxiety. In fact, talking to a girl would make me feel as if I am having a nervous breakdown. 

I was going through low self-esteem, high self-doubt, and had severe body image issues. I used food as my coping mechanism for social pressures, anxiety, and fear of rejection. In fact growing up, I was ridiculed for my appearance, and instead of taking steps to get better, I took those comments to heart and let those define who I was.

The moment of truth came during my second year of my undergraduate. I was sitting in my room, and all the 20 years of depression and anger which had bottled up inside me - exploded. The pandora box of feelings opened up, and I let it all out. I told myself that I am not stupid, I am enough, I matter, I am capable of achieving greatness, and I can pave my own career path. This was when I declared power over my life.

There were two things I wanted to change about myself first:

  1. Get rid of my anxiety and fear of rejection when speaking to people

  2. Finding my true passion and career path

To tackle the first, I began participating in cultural events – the increase in social interaction led to making new friends. I pushed out of my comfort zone and intentionally engaged in uncomfortable conversations. I started doing part-time jobs, which helped me learn life skills and interact with people.

In 2011, I attended a software testing conference, investing $3000 of my own money (which people thought was crazy, as it is highly unusual in that industry not to be sponsored by a company). After seeing the speakers present topics and sessions, I decided I wanted to give it a shot since it would push me further out of my comfort zone and may help me overcome my fear of public speaking. 

I remember for my first conference session in 2013, I prepared for seven months and gave 23 trial runs with various groups to get feedback. I recorded myself speaking and read books on giving great presentations. Finally, when I gave the talk, it ended up being voted the best session of the conference and launched my speaking career.

To find my true passion, I sought out different opportunities that came my way and kept an open mind. I found mentors and coaches who were able to help me. I started as a software tester, moved into software development, began leading teams, became a developer evangelist, and eventually transitioned into becoming an entrepreneur.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Fast-forwarding to 2020, I am an international keynote speaker and have my tech career coaching and speaking business. I have transformed countless people’s personal lives and careers through my experiences, coaching, speaking, and writing. 

If an “average Joe” like me can turn around his life, so can YOU.

“You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great”

 
 

Why I do what I do?

I have helped 50+ clients

Get a job
Increase their salary
Advance in their career
Become kick-ass leaders
Become effective communicators
Transform into conference speakers
Transition from non-tech to the tech space

90% of my clients are long-term clients.

ALL of them have been through referrals.

Because I love what I do and will do whatever it takes to make my clients successful.