Introducing Natasha Tiwari, Psychologist and Founder of The Veda Group
Natasha Tiwari
Meet Natasha, the Founder and Managing Director at The Veda Group, a London based education advisory firm. She and her team work with a clients across Europe, Asia and the Middle East to revolutionise children’s education and accelerating the learning process. Natasha’s passion for building children’s achievements through building growth mindsets, creativity and imagination has enabled her to stand out from the crowd..
Here she shares her story on how she is disrupting the education industry and the importance of ….
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“I’m a psychologist, serial entrepreneur and angel investor: I love the thrill and creativity of a portfolio career.
My professional interests span education, health and wellness, and business for good, and empowering those less fortunate.”
The Veda Group
You studied Psychology at UCL, what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I was always sure I would work for myself eventually, I just never imagined so soon: by 22 I was running my own business.
During my Masters study, I began tutoring. My clients were all thrilled at their insanely fast progress their kids were making with me. All that I had learnt working in a “broken Britain” school during Teach First, combined with my background in psychology had lead to my teaching approach to be something quite unique. The children I taught were enjoying transformed grades and outcomes, and before long I was inundated with requests from high profile clients.
By the time I graduated I had a growing client list of UHNW families who valued the unique approach I was using. The business started as a tutoring agency, and has evolved now to being a full service education and wellness firm.
Having caught the entrepreneurial bug, I also launched (and made an exit on) a fashion e-commerce venture, and launched a viral marketing and new media agency- Fast Lane.
Tell us about what you do at The Veda Group.
Ultimately everything we do is about supporting children and teens to be happy, confident, and to achieve their fullest potential. For our clients this includes securing coveted educational opportunities and access to cutting edge wellness treatments and protocols.
We have 6 main arms:
We secure places in sought after schools and universities- with an unrivalled 100% success rate.
We support families who’s children and teens are challenged by special needs.
We support families who’s children and teens are challenged by mental health issues.
We support gifted kids’ in reaching the next level in their development.
Polyglot programmes to develop multilingual students.
Crisis management: when everything has gone wrong, we step in to get a child/teen back on the right path.
We have 130 people working with clients the globe and innovating how private education happens; and for every paying client, we pay to transform the life of an impoverished street child.
I’m so proud of how we’ve become the company of choice for some of the world’s most discerning parents, including royal families and ruling families, and Fortune 500 CEOs, and our charitable impact too.
And Fast Lane?
We help brands to go viral online (Facebook, Instagram and tiktok), so they can grow faster and maximise their sales and impact.
We also host online events and build new media brands. I’m very excited about our growing impact, especially as the world is accelerating towards digital.
You’re a Psychologist too. What does your work include?
I combine neuroscience, the unconscious mind and ancient wisdom (including from yoga, astrology and ayurveda) to help clients to achieve peak states of wellness, peak performance and unshakeable self worth and confidence. It’s truly transformative work and it’s a privilege to watch how people elevate their lives once they’re operating at their highest octave.
I also advise corporate clients on how to maximise the strength of their human capital, behavioural trends, and developments in consumer behaviours.
Natasha Tiwari - Founder of The Veda Group
What does a typical ‘day in the life’ look like for you?
I need variety in my life to keep me motivated, but I also need routine to keep me grounded- so genuinely- every day looks fairly different. The one thing each day has in common is that they’re always well planned and designed around my own energy rhythms.
I want for my days to feel fun and productive, not punishing and exhausting. I work a lot, and have learnt that it can’t be sustained if I’m not having a good time.
Do you have a routine or rituals that help keep you grounded?
I always get a solid 8 hours of sleep and I practice yoga every day. I recently gave up drinking lots of coffee in the morning and have found that to be very grounding. I avoid artificial lighting and air conditioning, and am always burning really delicious candles.
I’m also very decisive about how I spend time and energy: I believe it’s vital for productivity and wellness.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
This is easy for me. I prefer to think about work life harmony. Balance is impossible to achieve if you have a demanding career, but a healthy rhythm is certainly achievable. I also firmly believe it’s the only way to really be at peak performance whilst also having peace, and immunising yourself from burnout.
What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since setting up your business?
Gosh, there are so many. I think probably the most important is learning to dissociate my sense of self and identity from business progress, ease and achievement.
People are fast to say things like “your business is your baby”. It’s not. Your business is important and you owe it to yourself, your customers and your stakeholders to take it seriously. But it’s not the equivalent of “your baby”.
This is really about setting healthy mental boundaries- which the society in which we live, definitely doesn’t encourage, let alone nurture.
What do you wish you had known before you started?
To my 21 year old self: You know far, far more than you realise or give yourself credit for. And stop downplaying your own talent. Modesty is overrated.
Natasha Tiwari
Describe your relationship with money and personal finance?
We’re more serious than we were in my twenties. And I feel really good about that. I think for lots of women getting comfortable about being serious about money is a real learning curve; it goes against the way a lot of us have been conditioned by societal norms.
What does financial independence mean to you?
Having the freedom to do what brings you joy, do things (including work) which is fulfilling and meaningful, being free to spend time with people who you want to spend time with.
How do you define wealth?
For me, wealth is best measured in health and love. The healthier and more you love/more loved you are, the wealthier you are. I’m a real believer that there’s little that matters more than this.
What's your guilty pleasure purchase/what’s your greatest indulgence?
Life is short; I don’t believe in pleasure being guilty. This is how I justify my shopping habits; I’m very good at not feeling bad for the things I want, no matter how impractical or indulgent.
What do you feel are the differences between the way you run your personal and your business finances?
I’m far more thoughtful, mindful, measured and structured about business spending than my own personal shopping.
What is the best financial decision you have ever made?
Deciding to take money seriously, and deciding to get really educated on all money matters, to the extent that I do not have to rely on someone else’s expertise to understand what’s what.
Knowledge is empowerment- especially in a world that until fairly recently- hasn’t really taken women’s financial power seriously.
What was the first investment that you made?
My education, though, this is in an investment my parents’ made for me, so perhaps I’m cheating with how I answer this question. However, even now, every time I invest in my own learning and development, it always pays off multiple times over.
Natasha Tiwari
How do you make choices on how you spend your money?
I’m a natural spender as oppose to saver, but increasingly I ask myself the question- do I really want this? Or is it just a cool thing, that I can appreciate for being cool and don’t have to buy (and then not use). Great trick by my sister.
I also have things that I have zero guilt for spending a lot of money on. Anything around learning, wellness or health, I don’t think twice.
What motivates you?
Feeling intellectually engaged, knowing I’m growing and increasing my sense of mastery in the pursuits I follow, and knowing that the work I’m doing does good and makes life better for those who my work reaches.
If you could invite 3 artists to dinner, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
Do writers count as artists? Voltaire for the fun. Rudyard Kipling for jungle-esque animal stories. JK Rowling for the magic.
What is your favourite book & podcast?
My favourite book of all time is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. Each time I read, it’s somehow even more beautiful than the last.
How can we connect with you, pitch or to be mentored by you?
Email me, I would love to hear from ladies in the Dura community. I’m on natasha@thevedagroup.com
I have a mailing list where I share my musings on entrepreneurship, business, psychology, wellness and living well.