Sarala Life — Life in Chapters: Careers, Canines, Cabernet & Courage

Success looks different when peace enters the chat.

There’s something oddly comforting about sitting in a room of accomplished women — CFOs, VPs, Directors, Founders — and realizing that so many of us walked a similar path and quietly survived the same storms.

At the Women’s Leadership Forum in Toronto this past October, I was honoured to be a keynote speaker. Yet what stayed with me long after the applause faded wasn’t my speech — it was the countless women who came up to me and whispered versions of their truth:
“I left corporate after 10, 12, 15 years.”
“I couldn’t breathe anymore.”
“I had the title, the team, the car, the salary…but I had nothing left of myself.”

For a moment, I genuinely thought my experiences were somehow special — the traumas, the pressure, the internal conflict of wanting the career but losing yourself along the way. Spoiler: I am not that special. We’re all fighting the same silent battles.

And this was fitting to me in my journey; I was in the middle of my own 12-month journey of stepping out of the corporate machine and into semi-consultancy; the irony in the “semi” being the morning of my presentation I received a rejection email from a Company I had been waiting to hear back from for months. Talk about redirection!

The Pursuit that Costs More Than It Pays
I have watched what the chase for boardroom seats, titles, and validation does to people — women and men. I have seen insecurity wrapped in a job description. I have seen brilliant leaders crumble under the need to “be chosen.” I have seen good values evaporate under the fluorescent lights of ambition.
And if I’m being honest? I’ve been there too.

I’ve been the one working through holidays, skipping rest, missing quality time, being hyper-available to people who wouldn’t blink for me. All in the name of “proving myself.”

But here’s the reality: no one takes care of you the way you must take care of yourself.
Your job won’t.
Your title won’t.
Your emails certainly won’t.
Corporate can consume you — and if you’re not mindful, you will hand over parts of yourself that no salary can buy back.

Worthiness, Love, and the Value of Being Seen
I have been in relationships (personal and professional) where I diminished myself so others could feel comfortable. Where being seen with me came at a cost they weren’t willing to pay. And because I believed that attention meant value, I accepted crumbs.
But clarity is a gift.
And boundaries are its ribbon.

Now I know my worth. I finally understand that not everyone is for me — and that’s a blessing. Shifting your standards upward is not arrogance; it is survival.

I read something recently that said, “I’m okay not being everyone’s cup of tea because I’m champagne.”
And honestly? If you know me, that is my entire personality in one sentence.

The Moment on the Beach That Changed Everything
Recently, my husband had a week of leave, so we took a simple, beautiful vacation. And there I was — sitting in my gorgeous little bikini on a white-sand beach, sipping prosecco and looking at impossible aquamarine water — feeling guilty.
Guilty for not being in a “traditional full-time job.”
Guilty for the freedom.
Guilty for the luxury.
Guilty for choosing rest.
Can you imagine the pre-conditioned shame?
But then something shifted.
Because in that moment, I was enough.
I was doing enough.
I had worked for the ability to be present.
And the real privilege wasn’t the beach — it was being beside my husband, uninterrupted, without the tyranny of a mobile phone I chose to leave in the room.
That peace was worth more than any guaranteed salary. The prosecco suddenly tasted like freedom — crisp, cold, and earned.

Yes, There Is Privilege — But There Is Also Perspective
I am acutely aware that many people are struggling. Food insecurity is real. Life is expensive. Vacations are a luxury. I carry that awareness carefully.
But this part of my story is about my healing.
My unlearning.
My recalibration of value.
I am no longer dependent on titles, friendships, relationships, or proximity to power for my sense of worth.

When Loyalty Is Misread
Once, someone told me straight to my face that people said “my loyalty was bought.”
Imagine — years of hard work, track record, integrity, dedication… reduced to a cheap accusation.
In the moment, I was stunned.
Now? I see it for what it was: a narcissist’s attempt to belittle me.
How sad for them.
Because now, on top of the years of factual performance and credibility, I also have a new worldview — one that isn’t determined by the insecure opinions of others.

The Journey No One Warns You About
Leaving corporate (fully or partially) is not for the faint of heart.
There are days of loneliness, fear, and doubt.
There are events you stop being invited to.
There are people who fall away.
And you know what?
It hurts.
But it also reveals.
The true people in my life remain.
And here’s the humbling part — some of them were never even in my periphery before. Life is intentional like that.

The Lesson in All of This
To be human is to change.
And change, by nature, requires loss.
Loss of old identities.
Loss of old relationships.
Loss of old metrics of success.
But it also creates space — for joy, alignment, authenticity, and self-respect.
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is to keep learning.
Especially from your own mistakes.
Because the moment you stop learning, you stop being fully human.

Some nights I still question whether I made the right choice. Not loudly — but in the quiet between thoughts, where the old identity still knocks. I’m still open to a phenomenal, aligned, “this speaks to my soul” opportunity — but for the first time, I’m not chasing a job. I’m choosing myself.

What I would tell the corporate version of me:

• You are not a role. You are a woman.
• Rest is not indulgence — it is fuel.
• Don’t trade respect for belonging.
• If you must shrink to fit, you don’t belong there.
• Your value is not on a business card.
• Choose yourself unapologetically.

Closing Reflection
If you are on your own journey — leaving corporate, redefining your value, healing from people or places that tried to shrink you — know this:
Your worth has never lived in your title.
Your peace is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
And it is okay — more than okay — to choose yourself.
You’re not a cup of tea.
You’re champagne.
Start acting like it.

Where in your life are you holding onto the version of you that no longer aligns with your peace?
Write it down. Name it. Release it.

Clue of the week: I’m learning peace tastes like prosecco at noon with my phone on airplane mode.

About the Author

Sarala Rambachan is a corporate commercial attorney turned governance strategist, keynote speaker, and woman redefining success on her own terms. She writes about leadership with heart, healing after hurt, and the champagne moments we overlook. When she’s not advising companies or hosting panels, she’s likely in a bikini by turquoise water, reading, sipping prosecco and choosing peace.