Sana's Journey to Shark Tank India

    How a telecaller at ABC Trainings turned relentless self-belief into a Shark Tank India pitch — and what her journey teaches every professional about the EQ trait of self-confidence.

    Sana's Journey to Shark Tank India

    Sana's Journey to Shark Tank India

    A telecaller who kept asking "how do I grow a business?" ended up pitching her own venture to India's toughest investors on national television. Sana's story, from Avinash Chate's book Stars at India Inc., is a masterclass in what self-confidence actually looks like when nobody is cheering you on yet.

    In short

    Where this sits on your Winning Kite

    Self-Confidence is the third trait on the EQ — left — side of your Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework). EQ, RQ and PQ together lift you toward Success, the top of the kite — but EQ is where it starts, because without belief in yourself, you never even attempt the pitch, the promotion conversation, or the leap that RQ and PQ could otherwise carry you through.

    The telecaller who wouldn't stop asking questions

    Sana joined my company, ABC Trainings, first as a telecaller. In most sales floors, a telecaller's job is simple: make the call, read the script, log the outcome, move to the next number. Sana did that job. But she also did something most telecallers don't — she kept asking questions. How do you grow a business? How do you pitch an idea so it actually lands? What makes someone say yes instead of "let me think about it"?

    She moved from telecalling into sales responsibilities. And even as she took on more, the questions didn't stop. Some of my colleagues saw her ambition as mere daydreaming — the kind of talk you nod along to and forget by lunch. I saw something different: a determined spark. The kind that doesn't need permission to exist, only time to prove itself.

    The dream nobody around her was fully backing

    Sana's ultimate dream was to appear on Shark Tank India. I'll be honest — it's a show I personally don't support wholeheartedly. The theatrics, the manufactured tension, the way pitches get compressed into eight dramatic minutes — none of that reflects how business actually gets built. But I also recognised something important: for Sana's generation, that stage is considered a major platform. An achievement that can genuinely kickstart a new venture. Access, visibility, capital, credibility — all in one televised pitch.

    My personal opinion of the show was irrelevant to what mattered here. What mattered was that Sana had picked a goal, and she was building the self-belief and the skill to reach it. Through unwavering self-confidence and continuous learning — not overnight talent, not a lucky break — Sana made it there. In 2023, she pitched her idea on national television, in front of investors who interrupt, question, and dismantle a pitch in real time. That takes more than a good business plan. It takes the boldness to stand there and the resilience to hold your ground when it gets uncomfortable.

    Why the outcome afterward isn't the real lesson

    Here's where I want to be completely candid with you, the way I was in the book: I'm not entirely sure how things turned out for Sana's business afterward. Whether it thrived. Whether it faced challenges. Whether the deal she may have gotten on the show ever fully closed. I genuinely don't know, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise to make this a neater story.

    But one thing is clear to me: simply getting onto that stage was a milestone. For someone from her background — a telecaller who worked her way into sales, without inherited capital or industry connections — that was a huge move. And even if the venture didn't ultimately survive in the form she pitched it, that experience must have taught her lessons she can carry into her next entrepreneurial effort. Nobody who has pitched to national investors under bright lights and blunt questioning walks away without becoming sharper for the next attempt.

    This is the part professionals often get wrong about confidence. We wait for the guaranteed outcome before we're willing to call something a success. Sana's story argues the opposite: it all comes down to self-confidence. Without it, she might never have pursued this bold leap in the first place. The leap itself — not the guaranteed landing — is the achievement worth naming.

    What self-confidence actually does for a professional

    Self-confidence is that special quality which separates people who are calm, assured, and balanced in their approach from those who aren't. Self-confident individuals usually have strong beliefs about themselves and a clear idea of what they want to achieve in life. They don't get discouraged by obstacles or setbacks; instead, they find ways to overcome them.

    For working professionals, self-confidence brings very concrete benefits:

    Sana displayed every one of these. She stayed focused on a goal that colleagues quietly dismissed. She kept learning — about business, about pitching, about herself — instead of waiting to feel "ready." And when the moment came to stand in front of investors and defend her idea on television, she took it, fully aware that it could go wrong in front of the entire country.

    The habit, not the personality trait

    From my perspective as a public speaker and trainer, self-confidence is a habit — not an inborn trait. This distinction matters enormously, because it means Sana's confidence wasn't handed to her when she was born, and it isn't something you either have or don't. Psychologists call this "self-efficacy" — a positive judgment of one's own abilities and performance. It isn't just about skills; it's a belief in oneself and one's abilities that keeps compounding with every attempt. The psychologist Albert Bandura built much of his research career around exactly this idea, and it echoes something Daniel Goleman also emphasised in his work on emotional intelligence: self-belief is trainable, not fixed.

    People with self-efficacy are willing to take on challenges regardless of the outcome. They keep striving to do their best, and their belief system gives birth to aspirations that motivate them toward greatness. That is exactly the arc Sana walked — from telecaller, to salesperson who wouldn't stop asking questions, to a founder pitching on national television. Each stage built the confidence for the next one.

    Applying this at your own workplace

    You don't need a TV show to practise what Sana practised. Every workplace has its own version of "the pitch" — the client presentation you're not sure you're senior enough to lead, the idea you hesitate to raise in a leadership meeting, the promotion conversation you keep postponing because you're waiting to feel more ready. Self-confidence isn't the absence of doubt in those moments. It's deciding to walk in anyway, the way Sana walked into a room full of investors who had every incentive to say no.

    Three things from her story are worth taking directly into your own week:

    If you want to go deeper on how self-confidence works alongside the other traits that build real leadership presence — and how it connects to relationship intelligence (RQ) and productivity (PQ) on the other sides of the kite — explore the Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework) in full. And if you're building this capability across a team rather than just for yourself, our corporate training topics and signature leadership programs are built around exactly these traits, drawn from a decade of working with organisations like the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC and JSW Steel.

    Bring These Ideas to Your Team

    Avinash Chate turns the traits in Stars at India Inc. into live leadership & emotional-intelligence workshops. TEDx speaker · 11+ yrs training Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW & 1000+ leaders.

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    Avinash Chate

    TEDx Speaker · Founder, The Future Corporate · Author of Stars at India Inc.

    Avinash has trained the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and 1000+ corporate leaders across India. His work focuses on leadership, emotional intelligence and behavioural training rooted in Indian values and modern business needs.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is Sana's Shark Tank India story about?

    Sana joined ABC Trainings as a telecaller and moved into sales, constantly asking how to grow a business and pitch ideas. Driven by self-confidence and continuous learning, she made it onto Shark Tank India in 2023 and pitched her own venture on national television.

    What EQ trait does Sana's story illustrate in the Winning Kite framework?

    It illustrates Self-Confidence (Self Belief), the third trait on the EQ — left — side of the Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework). Self-confidence is the belief in your own abilities and judgment that lets you act boldly despite doubt or setbacks.

    Does it matter whether Sana's business succeeded after Shark Tank?

    Not for the lesson. Avinash Chate is candid that he doesn't know how Sana's venture eventually fared. The milestone was getting onto that stage in the first place — the self-confidence to pursue a bold goal against the odds, regardless of the outcome.

    How can professionals build self-confidence like Sana did?

    By treating self-confidence as a habit, not an inborn trait — asking questions relentlessly, seeking small wins that compound, staying open to learning, and taking the bold action even when colleagues dismiss the ambition as unrealistic.

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