In Conversation With Palakh Khanna
Through this organization, Palak has impacted 15,000 plus people and spreaded the organization to more than ten countries. She has also been the youngest mentor and panelist for a Government of Delhi program, having also served as mentor for other esteemed programs across institutes like IIT, NMIMS and several others. Palak is a published poet and author, along with having 20 plus talks across renowned universities and institutes like Google, G 20 Events and others
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 1:09
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much inika for such a wonderful introduction. So I am palak. I am a 20 year old, and I'm the founder and CEO at Break The Ice. How did it come into the picture and how did it actually get created? Is a very interesting story. So for the longest time, I have been a really, really big introvert. And by the longest time, I mean, like, throughout my school life
Thank you for your answer, Palakh. Very equally glad to have you here. Now, moving on as a social entrepreneur, apart from being young and new in the field, have you faced any constraints or limits to what you can achieve?
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 1:33
But since you were mentioning other than that age factor, if any of the struggles that I've ever faced would usually be related to the topic itself. Because again, we're trying to talk about taboo topics, something that society doesn't even want to talk about. So getting that initial conversation forward, breaking that initial ice is quite difficult in terms of the very mission of the organization
All of those who know Palakh know that she's an introvert who's turned ambivort and adores public speaking. Palakh, what is your advice to other introverts out there who probably aren't comfortable in their own skin and are constantly under society's pressure to get themselves out there?
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 4:04
But then again, in some areas you need to know how you can overcome that introvertedness so that you can also network with the right people and also grow in terms of your personal, professional, career paths, everything and anything. Because honestly, we're all social beings. So essentially we need to talk to other people, network well so that we can also be better individuals at the end of the day. So again, firstly, why am I feeling like people would judge me?
Hi, Palakh. This is Anisha. I have a question for you. When and how did you get this idea to start break the ice? And can you please elaborate on what first steps did you take to initially build this organization? Thank you
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 3:19
I did know that business requires you to really step out of your comfort zone and interact with a lot of people. But then I took that leap of faith because I thought, this is something which is important, and if you're able to create even 1% of impact, it can drastically improve the world that we live in today. So what did I do next? I began to create a plan for the next three months of this very, very nascent idea that I just got in
You. Thank you for this Palakh. As an introvert myself, I have realized the fact that acknowledging that I'm an introvert does good and increasing my self worth so that the Lokiyakahinge factor is reduced is actually also very helpful. And then your third advice about talking to the mirror and not thinking that it's you who you're talking to, but rather another person whom you're introducing yourself to. That's also very unique
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 3:55
And I feel that if men also help and join the movement of promoting women rights, women empowerment, and ultimately men declare themselves as feminists, I think when it happens in a larger group and in a larger quantity because I have been very thankful to know a few men who have said that they are feminists, and they are, to the very core, feminists. It's not just a term they're using
You just mentioned you are in a collaboration with Facj and you are working tirelessly for maintaining and improving break the ice. Day by day. You are mentoring public speaking and whatnot. How do you allow yourself to not get overwhelmed with life, all the while also staying grounded?
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 0:41
So, yeah, I think journaling really, really works for me and just listening to music. So I think that's how I just keep myself grounded as well as keep my mental peace at bay, because I also want to ensure that my mental health is stable. So, yes, that's what I do
Ah, thank you for sharing that with us, Palakh. Even I believe that journaling is a great hobby. It helps us to calm down, and it also keeps us in touch with ourselves. So, yeah, I really liked what you do, and I do listen to music as well. So, yeah. Now, we'll be moving on towards the last question of our conversation
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 4:21
When you're either reaching out to that person as your mentor either then asking for a referral but you also know that you've developed your own skills and you actually stand equal to them in many ways. That's when it actually becomes something which is useful. And when you're networking to build your personal brand, it's incredible. You're connecting with like minded people all across the globe. They know what you like to do, you know what you like to do
news .
@news._.swell · 0:57
Hi, Palakh. I just heard your journey, and I must say that it was just incredible. And it itself sounds so inspiring. So my question was that during this whole journey, as you stated, you faced a lot of limitations and a lot of difficulties. And sometimes there must have come some times when you must have felt that, oh, it's just getting so out of control or it's not working out, or it's just so overwhelming
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 2:30
And if we bottle them off for too long, they might cause just like they might create this instability in our minds and in our mental health, which will ultimately affect us physically, mentally, emotionally, and in every kind of way. So I think the second thing that I do is just journal my way through it. And if you're someone who's in the initial phase, just remember those two things
And thank you to Swell for making this interview possible. As Palak mentioned, you can connect with her on LinkedIn via the links provided on this well cast. You can follow her organization, Break the Ice, on Instagram and LinkedIn to get regular updates about their work. And if you liked this interview, you can also follow me here on Swell, listen to more such podcasts. Thank you for being here today, and I hope you have a great evening ahead
mannya nayar
@shesalliwannabe · 0:32
Hi, palatma. Good evening. And I would like to ask you, could you suggest some tips on how to, you know, get over your anxiety and, like, speak publicly, like, speak about, you know, not only your anxiety, but also the only struggles? Because when one speaks about the struggles, usually for someone like me, I usually feel like, you know, I'm I'm trying to ask for sympathy and stuff like that. How not to feel like that
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 2:50
Because I felt like I'm being judged. So the simplest way of expressing your struggles during a talk is to ensure that you highlight why you felt that way, what was your mindset behind it. Because that way it will highlight that you're not looking for sympathy. And that was something to actually went through. Because only when you actually go through something that you feel like you need to really think about, why am I feeling this way? Right?
A very good evening to you, palak. I am Kadambarigupta and I am so happy to know about the work that you are doing. Palakh, I have a question for you and the question is basically related to the fact that when you talked about your househelp having periods, I just, you know, recalled an incident
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 4:24
And this was again, young girls and young boys because we wanted to make sure boys go back with so much knowledge that they change the future of the society because they are the next generation. So what we did was this was a workshop training, where we enhanced their knowledge of what is menstruation, scientific, philosophical, as well as all the kind of reasoning behind it. Then the myths and the stigmas which often go behind it and why they are wrong
Priyanka
@pri_yanka04 · 0:24
Hi, Palakh. This is Tampa. I want to know about your struggle. Like what problems you face in your whole journey. Your ups and downs and your failures. Have you ever felt depression, loneliness? Situations where you are unable to do something? Or sometimes a plan isn't going according to your wish? I hope you get it. Thank you
Palakh Khanna
@Palakh_Khanna · 1:23
So I think impostor syndrome is something which has been my struggle for a long time, and for a lot of people, they do face it to some extent, but for me, it was induced with anxiety. So even if I went, like, even if I thought I would get 100% marks and I got 99, I'd be really upset about it. So it was to that extent, but I've been able to overcome it to like 90%, which I'm really happy about