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Rashmi Airan

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Rashmi Airan is a force of nature. A keynote speaker, consultant, and unapologetic truth-teller, she shakes up rooms with her raw, riveting story—one that challenges everything you think you know about leadership, ethics, and the hidden traps of ambition. She doesn’t just speak about resilience; she lives it, proving that even the most crushing failures can be transformed into a catalyst for growth, authenticity, and unshakable courage.

 

As a first-generation Indian American, Rashmi was raised to chase excellence. She did just that—graduating with honors from Columbia Law School, thriving in corporate America, and building her own law practice. But success has a dark side. During the housing boom, she made a decision that, at the time, seemed small—but had devastating consequences. A single ethical blind spot, fueled by the pressure to provide for her children, led to a federal prison sentence for bank fraud.

 

Prison shattered everything she thought she knew about herself. And then? She rebuilt—stronger, bolder, and more awake than ever. Through six months behind bars, Rashmi stripped away the layers of ego, guilt, and fear that had defined her. She emerged with a powerful message: our worst mistakes don’t define us—our response to them does.

 

Now a "recovering government, corporate, and real estate lawyer," Rashmi is a globally recognized speaker who fearlessly tackles the complexities of human behavior, decision-making, and ethical leadership. With 30+ years in business, law, and finance, she has a front-row seat to the pressures that push good people into bad decisions—and she’s on a mission to wake up individuals and organizations before they fall into the same traps.

 

Her insights are backed by cutting-edge research in behavioral psychology, ethics, and leadership, and she’s partnered with global powerhouses like Coca-Cola, Cardinal Health, Merck, 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 doesn’t do surface-level inspiration—she sparks deep, uncomfortable, necessary conversations. She challenges Fortune 100 leaders, financial firms, legal teams, and women’s groups to confront their blind spots, own their decisions, and rise through their struggles with integrity and courage.

 

Beyond the stage, she’s an avid hiker, globe-trotter, and proud mother of two. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Overtown Youth Center/Alonzo Mourning Foundation and is an Ambassador for The Key Clubhouse.

 

Her message is simple but urgent: Life will break you. Your choices will define you. And no matter how hard you fall—you can RISE.

Speaking Topics

RISE THROUGH IT™: A Lawyer’s Journey To Federal Prison And Beyond

Every day, leaders navigate an onslaught of challenges, pressures, and uncertainties. The instinct may be to avoid adversity—seeking comfort, quick fixes, or temporary escapes. But true growth doesn’t come from avoidance. It comes from rising through struggle, shifting our perspective, and evolving into stronger, more intentional leaders.


Rashmi Airan knows firsthand what it means to Rise Through It™. Her extraordinary journey—from the heights of Ivy League success to the humbling experience of federal prison—has revealed life-altering lessons in resilience, self-awareness, and transformation. She has learned that our deepest struggles are often our greatest teachers, but only when we choose to face them, rather than trying to "rise above" and escape.


Through her powerful R.I.S.E. Process™, Rashmi empowers leaders with a bold and actionable framework to navigate adversity with intention:

  • Reframe – Shift your perspective to see challenges as opportunities for growth rather than barriers to success.
  • Identify – Recognize the people who lift you, ground you, and are brave enough to hold up the mirror—especially when it’s uncomfortable.
  • Surrender – Release the illusion of control, the weight of ego, and the fear of judgment to create space for transformation.
  • Evolve – Step forward with courage, integrating new insights to become a stronger, more authentic leader.


Rashmi’s approach moves leaders from reacting to obstacles to rising through them with clarity, conviction, and resilience. By fostering a mindset of reflection, self-awareness, and adaptability, she helps leaders harness discomfort, unlock their inner power, and step into their full potential.


When we choose to Rise Through It™, we don’t resist adversity—we reframe, identify, surrender, and evolve into the bold, grounded, and visionary leaders we are meant to be.


OUTCOMES

  • Master the RISE Process™: Learn a proven framework to face challenges, transform obstacles into opportunities, and rise stronger.
  • Reframe Your Identity: Embrace that true success comes not from what we achieve, but from who we become in the process.
  • Cultivate Courageous Leadership: Create environments of safety and trust, where open communication, risk-taking, and vulnerability become strengths.
  • Turn Fear Into Action: Equip yourself to navigate uncertainty, alleviate anxiety (including AI-related fears), and build a future-ready, adaptable workplace.

RISE LEADERSHIP: Rebuilding Culture From The Inside Out

Leadership is hard—and when it’s built on ego, certainty, or control, it eventually collapses. Most teams don’t need more strategy—they need more honesty. Culture change starts with the people at the top being willing to look inward.


Rashmi Airan lived the high-pressure, high-performance leadership life—until the pressure led her to compromise her values. After serving time in federal prison, she faced her choices, her blind spots, and the ego she had hidden behind. That reckoning became the foundation for a new kind of leadership—one rooted in courage, humility, and accountability.


Through the R.I.S.E.™ Process, Rashmi helps leaders reimagine influence and rebuild trust from the inside out:

  • Reframe – Redefine leadership as relational, not positional.
  • Identify – Know who the truth-tellers are—the people who challenge, ground, and support you even when it’s uncomfortable.
  • Surrender – Let go of the need to perform, perfect, or control outcomes.
  • Evolve – Become the kind of leader people trust, follow, and grow with.


This keynote helps leaders stop managing from the outside and start leading from within.


OUTCOMES

  • Lead with transparency: Build teams anchored in trust and truth.
  • Elevate your self-awareness: Grow into a leader who listens, adapts, and evolves.
  • Build feedback-rich cultures: Encourage courageous conversations and accountability.
  • Shift from power to purpose: Influence through authenticity, not authority.

RISE IN SALES: From Pressure To Presence And Purpose

Sales is changing. People don’t want to be sold to—they want to be understood.  But sales professionals are under pressure: meet the quota, beat the target, close the deal. The grind can pull people away from authenticity and toward shortcuts that damage trust, especially when the “No’s” keep coming. 


Rashmi Airan knows the weight of chasing results at all costs. She built a career driven by performance—until one compromised decision led to federal prison. That experience broke her open and rebuilt her perspective on what true influence really means.


Through the R.I.S.E.™ Process, Rashmi shows sales teams how to lead with connection and credibility:

  • Reframe – View sales as a relationship, not a transaction.
  • Identify – Surround yourself with mentors, colleagues, and peers who keep you aligned, challenge your blind spots, and support your growth.
  • Surrender – Let go of high-pressure tactics and manipulative scripts.
  • Evolve – Show up as someone your clients trust, respect, and want to partner with.


This keynote isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about showing up with clarity, integrity, and impact.


OUTCOMES

  • Build trust that lasts: Sell through value, not pressure.
  • Turn rejection into redirection: Handle “no” without losing your center.
  • Grow your mindset: Stay resilient and grounded in high-stakes conversations.
  • Align values and performance: Win without compromising who you are.

RISE FOR GROWTH: Unlocking Next Level Growth

Chasing success can become a cycle you can’t escape—until it breaks you open.  Many high-achievers are operating in overdrive, disconnected from themselves, unsure of what the next level really is. Growth isn’t about more. It’s about deeper.


Rashmi Airan had the resume, the status, the story of success—until she lost it all. After serving time in federal prison, she had to rebuild everything from the ground up. What emerged was not just a comeback—but a complete transformation of how she saw herself and the world around her.


Now, through the R.I.S.E.™ Process, Rashmi challenges audiences to stop performing and start becoming:

  • Reframe – See setbacks as invitations to realignment, not reasons to spiral.
  • Identify – Get clear on who will walk with you, challenge you, and help you stay rooted in who you’re becoming.
  • Surrender – Let go of the need to get it “right” and make room for growth that’s real.
  • Evolve – Step into a truer, freer version of yourself—one that doesn’t need to prove, just live.


This keynote is for those who are ready to grow from the inside out.


OUTCOMES

  • Break the success mask: Discover who you are beyond the titles.
  • Cultivate self-compassion: Replace performance pressure with grounded confidence.
  • Build support systems: Identify the people who will reflect your truth and hold you accountable.
  • Redefine achievement: Grow on your own terms, in your own time.

RISE TOGETHER: Creating Brave Community Through Struggle And Connection

People are craving connection—but we often avoid the real stuff: the mess, the truth, the vulnerability. Teams are filled with people who are silently struggling, pretending everything’s fine, and disconnected from each other. Real community isn’t built in comfort—it’s forged in shared struggle.


Rashmi Airan knows this firsthand. When she went to prison, what got her through wasn’t toughness—it was the people who showed up with honesty, compassion, and accountability. Now she helps organizations create that kind of culture—one where people rise together, not alone.


Through the R.I.S.E.™ Process, Rashmi offers a roadmap to build communities where people belong, not perform:

  • Reframe – See struggle as an opportunity for connection, not something to hide.
  • Identify – Know who your people are—the ones who will hold space, speak truth, and show up even when it’s hard.
  • Surrender – Drop the armor. Let people see the real you.
  • Evolve – Create spaces where people lead with trust, not titles.


This keynote is for organizations that want real belonging—not buzzwords, but brave spaces.


OUTCOMES

  • Build trust from the inside out: Create spaces for honest conversations.
  • Disrupt isolation: Cultivate a culture where people are seen and supported.
  • Strengthen team bonds: Identify the anchors who keep your community grounded.
  • Foster psychological safety: Let vulnerability lead to stronger results. 

Rashmi Airan's Experiences

EXPERIENCE DETAILS

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Virtual In-Person

Experience Details

Virtual In-Person
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Testimonials

“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!”

“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.”

“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!”

“Excellent and Powerful!”

“Touching. Bold. Almost moved me to tears!”

“This was an incredibly powerful talk about perseverance, adaptability, mindset, and agility. Truly memorable.”

“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.”

“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.”

“The most mind capturing talk ever! 100% focused and visually present. Personable and relatable”

“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.”

“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.”

“Your story is immensely compelling with some incredible takeaways.”

“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.”

“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! ”

“In my 30 years as a federal prosecutor, I dealt with thousands of individuals involved in criminal conduct. Many were truly sorry for and embarrassed by their criminal conduct but happy to put their punishment behind them and move on as quickly as possible. But in my experience, only one of my former defendants – Rashmi Airan -- has chosen to relive, repeatedly, her personal and professional failings in an effort to inspire and motivate others to avoid the poor choices she made. It’s a rare thing for a prosecutor and defendant to develop a relationship of mutual respect and friendship. We began as adversaries in a courtroom, became teammates in prosecuting others, and now collaborate in writing and speaking. Rashmi’s acceptance of responsibility for her conduct, her deeply sincere expressions of remorse and humility, and her efforts to share her experiences with others who may be tempted to follow a misguided path, have been extraordinary. Rashmi tells a compelling story, rich with life lessons everyone can relate to.”

“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. “

“Transformational. Life-changing. “

“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.”

“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.

“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.”

“In sharing her story, Ms. Airan is helping make a difference and helping to favorably shift the ethics paradigm in the legal profession.”

“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.”

“Rashmi is truly inspiring!”

“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..”

“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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