Swati Nathani, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Team Pumpkin
reflects on growing up around financial uncertainty, building a business from scratch, and the quiet endurance leadership demands.
In this essay for Adtech Today’s Women’s Day special, Swati Nathani writes about the realities of entrepreneurship, the loneliness of leadership, and the discipline of showing up even when certainty is hard to find.
Learning Risk Before Entrepreneurship
I grew up in a business family, which meant I understood risk early on, though not in a glamorous way. Income was not always predictable. There were months of comfort and months of caution. Conversations about cash flow were normal at the dinner table.
Watching that instability up close shaped me more than I realised at the time. Instead of craving entrepreneurship, I craved predictability. I wanted a regular income, a monthly salary credit that arrived without anxiety, and a structured path that felt steady.
That instinct led me to join Future Group, where I worked for about seven years. It was a formative phase. I learned systems, scale, and discipline. I understood how large organisations think and how structured execution works. Most importantly, I felt secure. Entrepreneurship was not part of the plan.
The Experiment That Became a Business
Things shifted when I met Ranjeet, who was building an agency of his own. It was not a dramatic leap or a grand pivot. It was curiosity. I remember thinking that I could try it and, if it didn’t work out, I would simply return to a job.
I was not trying to be brave. I was testing a possibility with a mental safety net.
What began as an experiment slowly turned into responsibility. Digital marketing was still emerging at the time. Budgets were small, scepticism was high, and credibility had to be earned one client at a time. There was no momentum to rely on. Every win required persuasion, and every mistake felt expensive.
The Hard Decisions Behind Growth
Some of the toughest decisions we made were around hiring. There were moments when we chose to bring in high-cost talent even when the business was not consistently profitable.
On paper, it looked aggressive. In reality, it felt uncomfortable, sometimes even reckless.
Not all those bets worked. A few strained us financially. But those phases taught us more about scale, capability, and long-term positioning than safer decisions ever could. Growth is rarely tidy when you are inside it.
The Quiet Loneliness of Leadership
One thing I had not anticipated was the quiet loneliness of leadership. When you are building something, you are surrounded by people, yet certain decisions sit with you alone.
The higher the responsibility, the fewer unfiltered conversations you can have. You absorb pressure without transferring panic. You carry doubts privately while projecting certainty publicly.
There have been moments when we delivered beyond expectation for clients, stretched ourselves thin to make things work, and still saw the relationship end. Those moments are destabilising.
You question your judgment. You replay conversations. You wonder whether you misread signals. Entrepreneurship has a way of personalising outcomes, even when not everything is within your control.
“Resilience is rarely dramatic. Most of the time, it is simply the discipline of showing up, day after day.”
The Discipline of Showing Up
Over time, I have come to see resilience less as a dramatic comeback and more as consistency.
There were days when I was not at my most productive. Days when I felt unsure of the next step. But I showed up. Every day.
That simple discipline compounded in ways I could not see at the time. Progress was not built on one bold decision. It was built on repetition.
Relationships have also shaped my philosophy. I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that it is rarely wise to burn bridges. The professional world is smaller than it appears. People cross paths again in unexpected roles.
Holding on to resentment consumes more energy than it is worth. It is far more powerful to move forward with clarity rather than carry bitterness.
Building Your Own Table
Another belief that has strengthened over the years is that intent matters. If the sole objective is money, the journey often feels strained. When the focus shifts to genuinely helping clients grow, solving meaningful problems, and creating value, financial growth tends to follow more organically.
It may not be immediate, but it is more durable. Sustainable businesses are built on trust, not urgency.
One piece of advice that has stayed with me is this:
“If you are waiting for a seat at the table, you are already limiting yourself. It is far more powerful to build a table.”
In practical terms, that has meant building competence, building credibility, building systems, and building something strong enough that invitation becomes secondary. Authority built on capability feels steadier than authority granted by position.
The Stability That Comes From Self-Trust
Looking back, I realise that I did not transition from stability to risk in one dramatic move. The stability I sought in my early career eventually came from something far less predictable than a salary.
It came from self-trust.
From knowing that even in uncertain phases, I could make decisions, learn, adapt, and continue.
If there is one thread that runs through the journey, it is not fearlessness. It is endurance — the willingness to stay in the room, especially on days when confidence wavers.
Leadership is not defined by the absence of doubt. It is defined by the decision to move forward despite it.
This article is part of Adtech Today’s Women’s Day Leadership Series, celebrating the personal journeys and defining moments that shape women leaders across industries.
