From Banking To Executive And Relationship Coaching – An Exclusive Interview With Manj Bahra
- May 28, 2022
- 5 min read
Manj Bahra is a leading Transformation and Relationship Coach based in London, England. For the last five years, he has dedicated his life to helping people overcome the agony of heartbreak and use it as a catalyst for immense personal transformation in all areas of life. He currently serves clients in 23 countries and has helped 100s heal from rejection and become their most attractive selves.
Aside from coaching clients, Manj writes on Medium.com, where he has achieved top-writer status in seven categories, and generated over 2 million unique views.
Manj Bahra, Transformation and Relationship Coach
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better. My name is Manj, and I’m an Executive & Relationship coach from London. I’ve been coaching for five years, but I also worked in Banking for nearly a decade at JP Morgan. In 2021, I quit my job to go full-time into coaching and writing. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to serve clients in 23 countries and find meaning in my work that was sorely missing. I’m also a top writer on Medium.com, where I write about the psychology of dating and self-improvement.
I’m incredibly passionate about fitness, movies, cats, gin, and mixed grills outside of my business. I also love to read and spend far too much money on books I have no space for (no, I won’t go digital!).
How do you help your clients? I have two broad sets of clients which keeps things fun and interesting! First, I help frustrated finance professionals find more fulfilment and happiness in their careers. Having been there myself, I know exactly the challenges that affect people in finance. Many don’t enjoy their jobs but aren’t sure how to engineer a move. Some aren’t sure what they want to do, whilst others lack the confidence to go after what they truly want. Of course, there is also the small matter of navigating office politics and senior management.
My other set of clients are generally moving on from a heartbreak. In this case, I help individuals understand the psychology of moving on, and explore their inner beliefs which have likely attracted the same partner repeatedly. Our goal is to learn from past experiences and create the most attractive version of themselves. I truly believe that your romantic relationships are a metaphor for your life. How you are here seeps into everything you do. I’ve seen people make tremendous life changes through this avenue.
In both cases, I take clients through my flagship transformation program called “Inner Mastery”. At a high level, I intend to help clients create a powerful vision of the life they want, develop an unshakeable mindset to go towards it, and take massive action that makes it happen. Throughout that process, we work on all the blocks that hold people back , including fear of failure, lack of belief, building self-confidence, self-sabotaging habits, and procrastination. Perhaps most importantly, I’m looking to teach clients how to coach themselves so they have a toolset they can use for the rest of their lives.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards? I want to work with people interested in understanding themselves and reaching their potential. My top performing clients are extremely focused. They have clear ambitions and are willing to put in the work to make them happen. Taking responsibility being highly coachable is a magical combination for results!
What are your current goals for your business? While my business has been successful, I am always looking at ways to help more people. With that said, I am currently working on some digital content that is self-study in nature. I’m also writing my first book on the psychology of heartbreak and moving on, so stay tuned for that!
Who inspires you to be the best that you can be? Many people look to celebrities as inspiration, though I’ve seldom been able to relate. In my personal life, two big inspirations have been my dad and wife, for entirely different reasons! I have always admired how my dad moved from Kenya to the UK during a time of adversity for many Indians. He successfully built several successful businesses, which has had more of a positive impact on my mindset than I ever knew. In contrast, my wife is very much the yin to my yang. She has been a calming influence and shown me the benefits of being very organized and staying present. Her sales career continues to be way more successful than my time in banking, and I believe that’s because she doesn’t think far ahead, is genuine, and focuses on doing a great job. Many younger people are far too preoccupied thinking about what they deserve, but she just gets things done!
What is your work inspired by? My coaching style is inspired by the giants that came before me. I’m not just talking about the big names in life coaching, but pioneers like Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Stanislav Grof, John Grinder and Gabor Mate. Within the coaching world, I look to my coach Peter Freeth, who flies under the radar but provides such a depth of knowledge that I can’t put a price on.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why? I would love for more coaches to teach their clients models to self-coaching. One of the biggest things I hate about the industry is creating dependency. We, as coaches, should be doing our best to ensure clients develop methods that allow them to work through situations themselves, should they choose. This is increasingly becoming a focus in my practice, as I believe that putting the client first is more important than me feeling like a guru.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
During my last year at JP Morgan, I was unhappy with my life. I was drinking heavily and didn’t enjoy the work. The company itself was amazing, and my team was fantastic, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be. At the same time, I wasn’t committing to my business, so I needed to do some soul-searching.
The pivotal moment came when I realized I was waiting for permission to quit from those closest to me and for certainty that it would be OK. Neither was coming. My family wanted what they thought was best (security), and there was no way to know it would be OK. Realizing I was waiting for a day that was never coming led me to bite the bullet and go all in. If not now, then when? For anyone looking to make a major change in their lives, I can give you the spoiler alert now – the fear is never going away. Don’t wait for something that is never coming. Embrace that uncomfortable feeling and don’t be shy to ask for help. You’re only ever one decision away from a completely different life. Make it happen!
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info!
