Red Dragon Education

Helping teachers get qualified through the partner universities: IPGCE, IQTS, MA, QTS Assessment Only and IQTS. We've worked with over 1000 teachers to realise their dreams of finding a great job.

Co-Founder

Set up the company and worked with a range of local and international schools in providing education solutions including:

- Tutoring
- Academic support 
- Revision courses
- A-level lessons and examinations 
- Professional teacher placement 
- School tours
- Boarding school advice
- Entrance exam preparation

Founder

Tutors in China now Mentor

Director

The British International School Shanghai

My main focus was to help with the students' academic achievements across the secondary school. I was helping grow the school from 200 to 1200 students in 5 years of service. After joining the school I quickly assumed more responsibility and helped lead a tutor group team of 15 staff. 

Worked in both the secondary and primary section of the school in the following disciplines as a classroom teacher:
- Geography
- PE
- Science 
- Economics

Deputy Head of School

Evesham High School

Working across the high school in Geography and PE

Head of Geography

I help international schools fix teacher training, recruitment, and leadership.

With 25+ years in education across Asia, I know what schools, teachers, and unis really need. I connect the dots between policy, strategy, and people — and get things moving.

Let's talk if you want to grow your teacher pipeline, build smarter CPD, or expand in Asia
.
My passion is to drive educational innovation, harnessing technology to enhance online and offline learning experiences. I hold an NPQH, a PGCE, and an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Administration.

We also provide academic support to students planning to attend boarding schools in the UK, US, and Australia and help UK schools enter and succeed in the Chinese market.

John Woodberry

Teachers don’t burn out from hard work.
They burn out from giving their all…
to people who don’t value it.

After leading international schools across countries, I’ve seen this pattern everywhere.

It’s rarely the workload.
It’s the invisibility.

What drains international school staff?

• Emotional labor no one acknowledges
• Big expectations, little autonomy
• “Wellbeing talk” with no structural support
• Giving endlessly to a community that rarely gives back

And what energizes them?

Recognition. Trust. Belonging. Psychological safety.

The strongest schools aren’t the ones with the newest facilities.
They’re the ones where people feel seen and supported—especially when pressure rises.

If you’re leading an international school, ask yourself:

👉 Do your teachers feel valued, or just used to capacity?

Culture decides the answer.

LinkedIn

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Talks about #qts, #china, #ipgce, #teachertraining, and #internationalschools

Founder @ Red Dragon Education | International Teacher Training

The red flag no one talks about in education hiring. Silence after an application tells you a lot about a school’s culture. Communication, feedback, and basic courtesy shouldn’t vanish the moment the position is filled.

A simple “thank you for applying” or “you weren’t successful this time” goes a long way. It shows respect for teachers’ time, preparation, and professional dignity.

If a school can’t manage that, what does it say about how it handles internal staff communication?

Recruitment reflects leadership. Say something. Always.

International School Toxicity Bingo 
How many boxes does your (or your previous) school tick?

Some of the most damaging practices in international schools
are hidden behind prestige, tradition, and “this is how we do things here.”

But the impact is real:
burned-out teachers, high turnover, and unstable learning for students.

Let’s call it out.

Here are 10 toxic international school practices we need to stop
(+ 1 that leadership rarely admits):

1️⃣ “We’re a Family” Culture
❌ Guilt replaces boundaries
✅ Professional respect beats emotional pressure

2️⃣ Micromanaged Teaching
❌ Over-observation kills innovation
✅ Trust professionals to teach

3️⃣ Hours ≠ Impact
❌ Staying late becomes a status symbol
✅ Measure student outcomes, not visibility

4️⃣ 24/7 Parent Access
❌ Instant replies expected across time zones
✅ Clear communication boundaries protect staff

5️⃣ No Time to Recover
❌ Constant initiatives, no pause
✅ Sustainable pacing improves learning

6️⃣ Favoritism & Inner Circles
❌ Passports, accents, or connections matter more than skill
✅ Equity starts with transparent systems

7️⃣ Shiny Facilities, Struggling Staff
❌ Marketing over morale
✅ Invest in people, not just buildings

8️⃣ Results at Any Cost
❌ Grades and league tables over integrity
✅ Learning > optics

9️⃣ Initiative Overload
❌ New frameworks every year, no follow-through
✅ Depth beats constant change

🔟 Toxic Leadership Turnover
❌ New heads, same problems
✅ Culture outlives contracts

⚠️ The issue no one wants to name:

11️⃣ Silence in the Name of Reputation
❌ Problems hidden to “protect the brand”
✅ Transparency protects students and staff

What leadership ignores
becomes the school culture.

Final thought:

International schools sell excellence.

But excellence isn’t buildings, brochures, or branding.

It’s how teachers are treated
when no parents are watching.

👇 Your turn:
Which one have you seen?
What did I miss?

♻️ Repost if this resonates with your school experience
Follow me for honest conversations about international education leadership.

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The real crisis in schools isn’t leadership.
It’s paperwork.

School leaders don’t have a leadership problem. They have a bookkeeping problem disguised as one. Let me explain

Somewhere along the way, we turned school leadership into an endless checklist:
budgets, timetables, audits, compliance, ratios, forms, reports.

And we quietly forgot the truth:

You lead people.
You manage things.

But schools flipped it.
They lead the books... and try to manage the people.

Teachers treated like line items.
Students treated like data points.
Parents treated like tasks.
Leaders judged by spreadsheets instead of culture.

And then we wonder why morale is down, burnout is up, and “leadership pipelines” are drying out.

Schools don’t need more management training.
They need more leadership permission.

Permission to:
• spend more time in classrooms than in cost centres
• invest in relationships the way they invest in reporting
• prioritise trust over templates
• lead humans, not handle paperwork

Because people are not machines.
And schools are not operations centres.

When leaders shift back to leading people and managing the books—in that order—everything changes:
Engagement. Culture. Retention. Outcomes.

Leadership is human work.
Management is admin work.
And schools desperately need leaders who do the work only humans can do.

Everyone thinks China’s fertility crisis will kill international schools.
I think it will do the opposite.

Because when a market shrinks, buying power concentrates.

And we’re already seeing it.

For years, the assumption was simple:

Fewer kids = fewer enrollments = school closures.

But here’s the part no one wants to say out loud:

International schools don’t rely on population growth.
They rely on parent priorities.

And priorities in China are shifting fast.

Here’s what’s really happening beneath the fertility-crisis headlines:

---

1. Parents with fewer children invest more per child.

When families go from 2–3 kids to 1, spending doesn’t decrease — it intensifies.
Premium K–12, bilingual tracks, overseas pathways… these markets don’t shrink. They upgrade.

---

2. International education becomes a “mobility insurance policy.”

When domestic competition spikes and economic uncertainty grows, parents look for escape valves:
– foreign passports
– overseas university access
– global-language proficiency
International schools become strategic assets, not luxury goods.

---

3. Talent wars between schools will shape the winners.

Enrollment won’t collapse — but the schools that fail to differentiate will.

Because the new competition isn’t over students.

It’s over teachers.

The next decade will belong to international schools that can:
✔ attract foreign talent
✔ develop bilingual faculty
✔ build globally relevant, locally grounded programs

The others?
They’ll wait for a demographic rebound that isn’t coming.

---

4. The “1-child parent” is becoming the most demanding educational consumer in the world.

They want:
– smaller classes
– elite pathways
– data-driven instruction
– wellbeing support
– guaranteed outcomes

This doesn’t reduce the market.
It raises the bar for value — and that’s a net positive for high-quality schools.

---

The contrarian truth:

China’s fertility crisis won’t destroy international schools.
It will expose them.

The average school loses.
The excellent school wins bigger than ever.

Teachers please.
Talk less. Lead more.
7 tactics that actually work.

If you want to sound smarter, sharper, and more senior — say less.
Here’s how:

1️⃣ End with a period. Then stop. The pause makes people listen.
2️⃣ Plan your three key points before you speak. Guardrails prevent rambling.
3️⃣ Wait for questions. Confidence sounds like silence.
4️⃣ Start with “I’ll keep this brief.” It buys you permission to be direct.
5️⃣ Don’t explain yourself twice. You’re not asking for approval.
6️⃣ Swap weak words for strong ones. Precision is persuasion.
7️⃣ Answer what’s asked. Nothing more.
8️⃣ Sit in the silence. Comfort in quiet is power.

You don’t need more words.
You need more weight behind fewer words.

What’s one tip that’s helped you say less and lead more?

How to say less and mean more

Everyone says international schools should “inspire” teachers and students.
I disagree.

Inspiration is unreliable.
It spikes... then it fades.
(Just like the bottom chart in the image.)

And that’s the trap many schools fall into:
They chase inspiration the way some teams chase “motivation days” or posters with pretty quotes.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

International schools don’t need to inspire people.
They need to build environments where inspiration becomes irrelevant.

Why?

Because when you only try to inspire teachers and students, you get:

short-lived enthusiasm

inconsistent performance

An Initiative that dies as soon as the hype fades

But when you design a school where people can actually fall in love with the work — with learning, with teaching, with curiosity — everything compounds.

Not because they’re inspired.
But because they’re invested.

Consistency beats inspiration.
Culture beats charisma.
Systems beat speeches.

International schools shouldn’t ask:
“How do we inspire our people?”

They should ask:
“How do we build a place where inspiration isn’t needed for excellence to happen?”

When you get that right, the results take care of themselves.

What do you think — should schools stop trying to inspire and start designing better ecosystems?

Schools don’t have a productivity problem.
They have a leadership paralysis problem.

Teachers aren’t struggling to “get things done.”
They’re struggling to navigate layers of approvals, legacy policies,
and a leadership culture that fears the optics of failure more than the cost of inaction.

Here’s the real crisis:

👉 Innovation requires speed.
👉 Schools require permission.
👉 Those two things rarely coexist.

And the irony?

The loudest calls for “innovation” often come from leaders
who haven’t shipped a new idea in years.

The result:

People with half the experience, outside the education system,
are building better learning tools, faster,
while schools wait to “feel ready.”

Schools don’t need more talent.
They need more leaders willing to move before they’re certain.

Readiness isn’t a prerequisite for progress.
Leadership is.

What’s your take — is fear of failure the real barrier to school transformation?

International schools don’t fail because of the curriculum.
They fail because of culture.

You can have IB scores, glossy facilities, and diversity days —
and still have a community that feels fractured.

Because authentic global culture isn’t what’s printed on the walls.
It’s what people carry home in their quiet moments.
And what they tell their loved ones at home.

Leadership isn’t pressure. It’s protection.
10 leadership habits quietly burning out your teachers.

I’ve worked in education long enough to realise something smells rotten:

Teachers aren’t burning out from teaching.

They’re burning out from the behaviours no one wants to admit are harmful.

Last year, a brilliant teacher told me something I’ll never forget:

“I’m not exhausted by the students.
I’m exhausted by the system around them.”

That conversation opened my eyes.
And once you hear it... you can’t unhear it.

Here are the 10 habits quietly burning out your teachers:

1️⃣ Micromanaging every decision
Nothing drains confidence faster than being trusted with a classroom but not with autonomy.

2️⃣ Treating urgency as a leadership style
Every task is “ASAP.” Every deadline is “yesterday.”
Teachers aren’t sprinting — they’re stuck in a never-ending marathon they didn’t sign up for.

3️⃣ Invisible appreciation
A “thank you” in private is nice.
A “thank you” in public is culture-shaping.
Too many teachers get neither.

4️⃣ Ignoring work–life boundaries
If the expectation is:
“Answer emails at night, plan on weekends, attend extra meetings whenever”...
Burnout isn’t a risk — it’s a guarantee.

5️⃣ Providing goals but not support
Teachers will climb mountains for leaders.
But not without the tools, training, or time to get there.

6️⃣ Communicating reactively, not proactively
Last-minute changes.
Mixed messages.
Constant confusion.
Cognitive load becomes emotional load.

7️⃣ Asking for feedback… then doing nothing with it
Nothing breaks trust faster than pretending to listen.

8️⃣ Withholding information
Teachers shouldn’t find out key decisions through rumours.
Uncertainty is its own form of stress.

9️⃣ Constant pivoting
New initiatives. New frameworks. New “non-negotiables.”
All before the last one was embedded.
It’s not innovation — it’s exhaustion.

🔟 Keeping toxic behaviour alive
One unchecked team member can burn out five good ones.
Silence is leadership’s loudest message.

None of these requires extra budget.
None requires new policies.
They require leadership courage.

Because teachers don’t burn out from teaching children.

They burn out from leading without protection, without clarity, and without trust.

Which of these 10 is the real root cause in your school — and should leaders finally start talking about it openly?

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Everyone’s looking at this chart and drawing the same conclusion:
“India grows. China shrinks.
Game over.”

I disagree.

Because population size isn’t the real story anymore.
Productivity is.

And productivity no longer comes from adding more people.
It comes from adding more capability — automation, robotics, AI, and centralized national investment into innovation.

China has that.
Most of South and Southeast Asia... still don’t.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

👉 A rapidly growing population of undereducated, low-skilled workers is not a competitive advantage in 2025.
It’s a liability.

👉 A shrinking population with accelerating productivity can still gain global economic power.

And this is where governance models matter:

One country has a centrally coordinated innovation agenda, 30-year plans, and the ability to deploy capital at scale into strategic industries.

The other inherited a slow, archaic administrative model built for a colonial era — not an innovation era.

I know which horse I’m betting on.

Population charts make great headlines.
But if you want to understand the next decade, look deeper:

• Which countries are automating faster?
• Which are upskilling their workforce?
• Which are building the infrastructure for AI-driven productivity?
• Which has the governance model to execute?

Because the future won’t belong to the countries with the most people.
It will belong to the countries with the most productive people — and the systems that enable them.

LinkedIn isn’t a meritocracy.
It’s a shouting competition.

The loudest voices get the attention.
The boldest claims get the clicks.

But the real world works differently.

The people who quietly win?
They don’t shout. They show up.

N’Golo Kanté is the perfect example.

He didn’t become world-class by:
• Talking the loudest
• Chasing the spotlight
• Taking credit

He became great by doing the work no one was watching.

🛡️ Winning the ball back
💪 Running until the final whistle
🤝 Putting the team before himself
🌍 Lifting the World Cup without changing who he is

No noise.
No ego.
Just impact.

In a world obsessed with visibility, Kanté is a reminder:

You don’t need attention to be powerful.
You need consistency.
You need humility.
You need results.

Not the loudest.
Not the flashiest.
Just unforgettable.

💬 Your turn:
Who quietly inspires you through excellence? 👇

“We just expect resilience.”
"We expect you to have an open mindset to change!"
That’s what unhealthy leaders say before the teachers burn out.

Most international school teachers don’t quit schools.
They quit leaders.

When leadership relies on:

Fear instead of clarity

Power instead of professionalism

Distance instead of dialogue

Even great teachers stop thriving.

Healthy leadership doesn’t lower standards.
It raises people up.

Spotting that difference early can save you years in the wrong school.

What’s one leadership behavior that made you quietly start polishing your CV?

Most school cultures don’t collapse loudly.
They rot quietly.

I call these toxic culture darts — and once they start landing, the damage compounds fast.

Here’s the uncomfortable part:

You don’t need all of them to fail.
A few well-placed hits are enough.

Which ones are landing in your school right now?

• People stop raising problems
• Pushback disappears
• Curiosity fades
• Presence feels optional
• Teams default to safety
• Standards quietly decline

Silence isn’t alignment.
It’s a resignation.

And by the time leaders notice...
The best people are already halfway out the door.

Want to survive your first year as head?
Lead less. Observe more.

Most new headteachers fail because they try too hard to lead.

They rush to prove themselves.
To make their mark.
To fix everything at once.

That’s the trap.

Leadership isn’t about doing more.
It’s about seeing more.

Here’s what experienced school leaders learn the hard way:
❌ Stop trying to be everyone’s friend. Respect beats popularity.
❌ Stop saying yes to every idea. Focus is leadership.
❌ Stop hiding behind data. Walk the corridors instead.
❌ Stop overcommunicating. Clarity > volume.
❌ Stop demanding trust. Earn it, daily.
❌ Stop “leading by example” 24/7. Lead by empowering others.
❌ Stop assuming you’re the smartest in the room. Listen first.
❌ Stop chasing short-term wins. Build long-term culture.

The best new headteachers don’t lead louder.
They lead quieter, sharper, slower — and win faster.

Agree or disagree?

New heads fail because they try too hard to lead.

When Tesla launches a new EV, people call it innovation.
When Xiaomi launches one, people call it copying.

Funny how perception shapes “innovation” more than the innovation itself.

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most of what we label as “innovation”...
is really just “innovation by the right brand.”

Apple wasn’t the first to build a smartphone.
Tesla wasn’t the first EV maker.
Xiaomi isn’t the first to enter... well, any industry it enters.

But they all follow the same formula:

1. Enter late.
2. Learn fast.
3. Execute better.
4. Price strategically.
5. Market aggressively.

And suddenly the late mover becomes the “visionary.”

Meanwhile, the early mover becomes… a footnote.

Innovation isn’t about being first.
It’s about being better, faster, louder, or cheaper than whoever came first.

And Xiaomi’s EV strategy?
It’s the same strategy every “disruptor” secretly uses:

Borrow what works.

Improve what doesn’t.

Package it for a bigger market.

We don’t celebrate the pioneers.
We celebrate the winners.

Execution is the new innovation.

What do you think —
Is Xiaomi copying, or simply playing the game better?

👇 Curious to hear your take.

This time of year is when culture really matters in international schools. No amount of hoodies, pizza parties, or “fun Fridays” will fix a toxic school culture.

Because perks don’t transform people.
Culture does.

And real culture isn’t built on freebies — it’s built on non-negotiables.

Here are the ones great schools refuse to compromise on:

✅ Respect is the baseline.
Zero tolerance for toxicity — from anyone, in any direction.

✅ Growth isn’t optional.
Students AND staff need opportunities to stretch, learn, and lead.

✅ Psychological safety is sacred.
People speak up when they know they won’t be punished for telling the truth.

✅ Work-life balance is protected.
Burnt-out educators can’t light the way for anyone.

✅ Recognition is consistent — not performative.
People stay where they feel valued, not where they get free pizza.

Perks might create a moment.
Culture creates a movement.

And if the culture is broken?
No hoodie can hide it.

Principals — what’s ONE cultural non-negotiable you’re doubling down on this year?

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: PHASE Conference Presenter from PHASE!

PHASE

Planning your next post? Think contrarian. Think emotional. Think: “This says something true about the world — and about me.”

I looked back at my top 10 posts of 2025, and they all shared the same DNA:

1. They tackle BIG, universal topics

Leadership.
Toxic work environments.
Culture.
Values.
Human behaviour.
The stuff everyone feels — but rarely says out loud.

2. They open with a provocative hook

The kind that stops the scroll:
“China’s Bankrupt.”
“No amount of hoodies can fix a toxic school.”
“Meetings reward confidence. Decisions should reward clarity.”
Bold. Tense. Slightly uncomfortable.

3. They’re narrative reflections — not tutorials

The winning structure was simple:
👉 A bold statement
👉 A personal or observational story
👉 A bigger lesson about work or society

4. They tap universal human emotions

Belonging.
Respect.
Identity.
Struggle.
Fairness.
Meaning at work.

The posts that travel the farthest are the ones that make people pause and think:

If you'd like to write something that resonates, you can start there.

Thailand’s international schools are hiring across many subjects, offering good salaries, well-resourced classrooms, and supportive teams drawn from many countries.

Most women entrepreneurs work hard, hoping their talent will speak for itself.

But in leadership, visibility matters just as much as skill. How do I know?

Because I spent 27 years in front of the camera as a TV anchor for CNN, Bloomberg, and ABC. So I know what it takes to capture attention, tell stories that matter, and own the room.

Then in 2017, I decided to flip the equation and walk away from the steady paycheck.

But before I could, I had a hypothesis:

I believed that more women in leadership could benefit from raw and honest storytelling. Because I saw how time and time again, I could silence a room with nothing but my own story. 

Only problem?

Most women don’t know how to claim their expertise or use their voice. I’ve seen it happen all too often:

→ Women afraid to take up space
→ Brilliant executives unsure how to articulate their value
→ Entrepreneurs with incredible ideas who struggle to build authority

That's exactly why I built Women's Leadership Lab – to help women master public speaking, build a powerful personal brand, and become recognized leaders in their industry.

Here's how it works:

1. Uncover your signature story by crafting a compelling narrative
2. Master public speaking by learning to command any stage or boardroom
3. Amplify your visibility by leveraging storytelling for career growth, business success, and thought leadership

The women I work with have:

✔️ Landed TEDx talks & keynote speaking gigs
✔️ Raised millions in funding & secured board positions
✔️ Built personal brands that attract high-value opportunities

Because you don’t need to wait for permission to lead. You just need to start owning your story.

So if you’re ready to turn your story into your most powerful asset?

Drop me a DM or click here to learn more: www.joyadass.com

Joya Dass

Hosting one of my signature Deep Writing and Reflection Retreat. 

I’m lucky to do work I love.

Tonight 7 women leaders and business owners at the Vienna Opera House for “The Makropoulos Affair”

I’m a recovering TV anchor helping 1 time pressed woman in her 50’s do raw and honest storytelling that grabs a room | Currently interviewing candidates for my 2026 Mastermind. Apply joyadass.bio

I’m writing you from my local wine bar in Vienna.

Candle lit. Romantic. High wood tables.

Everyone is speaking German around me. But the menu is all Italian wines, given Austria’s proximity to the north of the country.

I worked all day today as I typically do on Sundays. As hunger got the best of me, I headed out for a dinner. Wine and cheese would be the order of the day.

The wine bar is a mere 20 steps from my apartment in Vienna’s 1st District.

I just concluded a successful 3-day, 2-night retreat with 7 women leaders and business owners. As the last of the group retreated home today, I’m processing the last week.

I upleveled myself in the last while. As a result, I also upleveled the quality of human I attract to my business.

Mature. Focused. Respectful. Smart.

Former big-tech engineer turned founder and CEO Avni Barman, in her Instagram, shares counsel she learned from a billionaire mentor and neighbor:
“Combine two things you are good at that most people don’t combine. Become the only person who does what you do.”

My lane is public speaking x retreats out of country.

I glean so much by someone who is open to the growth that comes from leaving their comfort zone.

Building community around my content is how I sustain.

But let’s go deeper:

I’ve built several communities at each inflection point of my business. Here is the system:

👉🏽Community always starts with individual relationships. Once we value match, I invite women to ‘live’ things I’m already doing: A concert. An art exhibit. A restaurant. I immediately get a sense of cultural fit given how she handles time, money, communication.

👉🏽The key to building community is gathering people something bigger than me. For years, I galvanized similar women around the things I loved: scotch, the Met opera, the Met museum, interviews with female CEO’s and business owners. An open mindset to new people and new experiences also tells me volumes about a person.

👉🏽The way I keep community together is writing daily, in my raw and honest style. This year, I saw a client start posting content/graphics that looks like everyone else’s on LinkedIn.

I say ‘yes’ to publishing systems thinking. But don’t ever forget what makes you unique. Your own systems unique. Talk about that daily.

____
I’m also proud because year over year, I doubled headcount for this retreat.
I upped revenue by 57%.

I teach business owners how to write content that calls in clients by leaning hard into what makes you—YOU. I can teach you to build community around your thought leadership too.

I teach this in my Mastermind in 2026. Enrolling now.

Fill out the form here: https://lnkd.in/eyp4Hg8Q

This month I asked him:

Do you feel your business is 
1. elevated since we worked together?
2. Where you want it to be ?

"Most certainly Yes & Yes!"

Have you made your investment with me back?
"Yes I made it back last year itself :) and it still keeps giving"


In 2024, I had hired him to support my Mastermind retreat with breakfast and lunch. I hire alot of personnel for my events, but I noted he, in particular, was rapt with attention with the content I was teaching. 

I “read the room.”

“How can I support you?”

My clients were all women, so he wasn’t sure I worked with male clients.

“I’ve been sitting on a supper club concept for several years. But my clients are asking me to do better storytelling around my food.”

So we began work to practice better storytelling around his food. Chef Nitin’s biggest challenge was that he would wander into tangents versus stay focused on the item of the moment.

My job was to rein that in. FOCUS.

He was also undercharging for his talents. We needed to elevate his pricing and target audience.

I learned about his grade school years, teaching himself to cook while his parents worked. His ‘come to jesus’ moment in discovering “idli” and “dosa” again at college at a coastal town with friends. Meeting his wife and discovering the flavors of Singapore.

With his Supper Club concept, each course was a nod to a story from his life.

I challenged him. 
I'm not like every coach.

At the end, he would have to road test his storytelling chops. His first real Supper Club. I would bring all my other storytelling clients.

That was 2 years ago already. 

When crafting your own stories, remember:

👉🏽Reflect deeply on your journey: identify those seminal moments. I have an exercise I use for my VIP Days 

👉🏽Infuse authenticity into your storytelling; all three of our primal brains light up when you tell a story with high stakes, a great deal of emotion and data.

👉🏽Don’t be afraid to showcase vulnerability; it's in those honest, not so perfect human moments that your audience truly connects with you.

It's Black Friday this week and I'm knocking $1000 off my VIP Day intensives.
This is even better if you want to do it abroad. Save even more. See link here: https://lnkd.in/egVxAtqH

I want to tell you about “S.”

Very early in her journey with me, she lamented, “Where are my clients?” She had just stepped off the corporate carrousel 6 weeks ago. Together, we stood up her advisory, her go to market strategy and her website.

The scaffolding had just been put up.

Meanwhile, offers to return to her former life in medical affairs kept taunting her. Luring her back.

Threatening the foundation.

“Plan A has to be the only plan right now. You burn the bridges to Plan B. Trust the process,” I told her.

”S” is about to complete her year of work with me. And you know what?

She was never a writer before.
She’s a writer now.
Her writing is calling in paying clients.
She is being tapped on the shoulder to consult on projects she loves. The kind of work she really wants.
She has successfully stood up her advisory inside of one year since leaving corporate.

This is what I teach. And I’m so glad that I attracted someone extraordinary enough to learn it, deploy it, and succeed from it.

“The greatest gift entrepreneurship gives you is the ability to meet the best version of yourself.
Entrepreneurship is the ultimate personal growth vehicle.
It pulls out all your patterns, insecurities and bullshit. Then it gives you the opportunity to transcend them.”
—Founder Jess Pujji (Ampush, Gateway x)

______
I’m Indian. I’m American. I’m a former news anchor.
I decided young that I would use my voice to make a living.

Now I teach women how to use their voice to become the woman they always wanted to be.
Going out of country is going to be one key way.
You are someone who is open to the growth and transformation that lies on the other side. 

Join the waitlist for my 2026 Mastermind here. https://lnkd.in/eyp4Hg8Q

How can I thrive though holiday season? What we should do instead of NY resolutions?

I want to thank someone for asking me this on my Substack chat.

👉🏽One Idea:
👉🏽Script Your Season (Before It Scripts You)

Most feel like the season happened to them. It washes over you like a tsunami, rushing from party to family function.

But what if you scripted it out, like a movie director, with intention?

Research from Huffman & Milkman, Wharton shows that when life becomes busy, people unconsciously drift away from what matters most unless they pre-commit.

So what if you put intention around these questions:

👉🏽What is the feeling I want to cultivate? 

I love the warm feeling in my stomach sitting by a fireplace. I’m happiest when I’m with good friends. Drinking good wine at the place I’m going to be for the night. I love the discovery that comes with visiting Christmas markets in another country and the Beauty. Wonder. Discovery that goes with it.

👉🏽What is the rhythm you want to live by? 

I want a slow morning with 2 cups of tea. Journaling time. Reading time. I want a schedule with protected writing time.

👉🏽What is the ONE thing that would make this season meaningful?

Time with Matt’s family on the farm in Wisconsin.

👉🏽Journal prompt:

If a documentary crew followed me this week, the story they’d capture is… (me with a smile on my face, slowing down and eating salads to ready for my photo shoot.)

Do you want to be more intentional about the holidays this year? 
Download my 15 journal prompts to help.
https://lnkd.in/ec38JU-G

Last week, I hosted my signature “Deep Writing and Reflection Retreats in Vienna.”

One of the immersives was a visit to the workshop of a master violin maker Barbel Bellinghausen. She shared how she walks the forest, sensing for the tree that will ultimately become the instrument.

She was unapologetic about her production values.
She only hand made 4 violins a year.
She was committed to excellence.

She sold her violins to some of the biggest musicians in the world.


Audiences will never know her name, but her craft didn’t need witnesses.

I felt goosebumps.

It was raw. Honest. Unapologetic devotion to craft and excellence.

This past weekend, a few clients joined me for “Sounds of the Season” at Lincoln Center.

As Naomi Woo took the podium to conduct her orchestra, I felt electricity shoot through me.

For most of its history, this podium was not available to a woman.
Much less an Asian one.

And here was Woo, making her debut as guest conductor of the NY Philharmonic, until Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel officially takes over in 2026. 

Women were absent from the conducting scene until the 1930s. Music schools did not even accept women into graduate conducting programs until the 1960s.

The major breakthrough for women in top US orchestras came in 2007, when Marin Alsop became the first woman to be appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

While Asian soloists began to penetrate Western orchestras in the 1970s, Asian female conductors at the top tier are a very recent phenomenon.

Later, at the bar across the street, Matt spotted Woo as she walked in. My friend Jane and I, seasoned at making conversation with total strangers as news anchors, went up to her and asked to take a photo.

Below is that selfie.

Here—on a New York Saturday—-the visibility for women was finally catching up.

The violin maker and the conductor were doing the same thing.
Both were shaping sound.
Both were working inside systems built long before them.

When I teach raw and honest storytelling, I don’t teach women how to be louder.
I teach them how to be inevitable.

And maybe that’s the story underneath everything I do:

The most powerful moments in our lives are not when we are finally seen —
but when we realize we no longer need permission to be heard.

Because the sound was always there.

Yes, I help women in business give compelling talks on a big stage.

But along the way, as we are building her body of work, I’m also sharing this brand of counsel, aggregated from years and years of interviewing CEO’s.

The waitlist is open for the 2026 Samita Lab Mastermind.

If this is you, please fill out this form.
https://lnkd.in/eWFfrgc8

How to set a boundary this holiday (and novel! Actually get some rest?)
Plus The code to get $1000 off a VIP Day with me in 2026

Gosh. I finally blinked after bringing 5 of my clients to the big stage. Life from September to November is always such a blur.

I said 'no' to many many invitations in the last few weeks. I had to hunker down and focus. But now I'm returning to civilian life and BAM!

The holidays are around the corner—and so are the invitations.

I return from hosting my Deep Writing and Reflection Retreat in Vienna and I'm in the thick of it.

Yowsa!

My parents immigrated here from Burma and Calcutta in 1969, when the immigration laws changed in favor of Indians.

I was born here and grew up celebrating Santa. The Easter Bunny. The Tooth Fairy. I wrapped all the family presents at Christmas, decorated the tree. I knew what was inside every gift box.

But one year, Santa surprised me a dollhouse. (My version of the Red Rider BB gun from Christmas Story.) I spent hours and days, dreaming up a glamorous life for my Barbie.

Over the years, as I became an adult, my parents and I were poles apart on everything other than where Barbie would park her sports car.

Who I would date. What I would do for a living. How I would live my life.

I'm a Sagittarius. Strong-willed on the best of days.

I left at 18, never to meaningfully return home. The cultural divide was too wide a bridge to cross.

For a few years, after Matt and I got together, I went back to visit my mom. (My dad has long since passed) But I was staring down the gaping maw of that cultural abyss once again, hoping to erase it.

So these days, I make myself scarce in my hometown of Enola, Pennsylvania come the holidays.

How do I say no without the guilt?

The American Psychological Association annual "Stress in America Report" consistently finds that social obligations, family expectations, financial pressures around the holidays cause cortisol levels in our bodies to spike.
So instead of feeling the warm snuggly hug of the holiday, folks feel more anxiety, sleep less and are generally less satisfied with life.

Setting a boundary at the holiday, it isn’t selfish—it's shielding our nervous systems from more strife.

Now, maybe your situation isn't as fraught as mine, but you are pining for the right words to say 'no' and set a boundary this holiday.

Read on in this edition of the "Beyond Words" newsletter to get the script:

Maybe, the biggest gift you can give yourself this holiday… is a good no.

Being a TV anchor for 27 years, scripts were my lifeline. Today, I keep scripts tucked away in my back pocket to help me speak up in work situations. You might enjoy my series called the "Anatomy of a 'no" where I share scripts for different scenarios (i.e. disagreeing respectfully, laying down a firm boundary). 

You can get it here:

https://lnkd.in/gcuh4My8

Welcome to the 11.25 Edition of the "Beyond Words" Newsletter where I share scripts on how to become your own best advocate Today at a glance: A scrip

Open article: A Script for Setting a Firm Boundary This Holiday (and actually get some rest?) by Joya Dass • 4 min read

A Script for Setting a Firm Boundary This Holiday (and actually get some rest?)

Two apps I'm using to optimize and stay organized as I host a retreat in Europe next week. (Steal them)

I am using the Roamy Travel app to plan all the places I plan to visit in Paris next week.

Here’s how it works.

I put in all the addresses of all the places I want to visit.
It maps out, by day, the clusters of addresses I can batch together.
It’s also on my phone.

Places in my Roamy app:
👉🏽The booksellers of Paris on the Seine for second-hand books. (Right bank: Between the Quai du Louvre down to the Pont Marie. Left bank: between Quai de la Tournelle and Quai Voltaire)
👉🏽Le Figaret at 16 Rue de Sèvres to get my initials sewn into my shirt.
👉🏽Maison Fabre at 128-129 Gal de Valois to stare at gloves.  
👉🏽Dressing Particulier at 1 Rue de Normandie in search of vintage belts. I picked up a Celine belt for $30.00 last year
👉🏽Louise Carmen Paris at Passage du grand Cerf to ogle the journal making
👉🏽Modo Yoga Paris, 21 Bd Richard-Lenoir to keep up my practice. The beauty of my Classpass membership is that I can book workouts anywhere in the world.
 

I now have teams dedicated to each retreat I host.

Neri and I are using the app Trip Plans to keep all the tickets and bookings in one place for Vienna. She can update in real time if, say a driver’s details have changed for our trip to the Schonbrunn Palace.

I can see the update right away.
The itinerary is also available to me if I don’t have Wifi.

God.
Send.

3 ways to setting boundaries with family during the holidays on things you *don't want to talk about* (your relationship status, your job status)

Think about making a list of your needs and how you might meet them. What topics are off limits and what are conversations you don't wish to participate in?

Set aside time to speak to your family about how you want to spend the holidays this year.  Some scripts in this video below.

Feeling extra grateful for this space and for all of you. Thanks for being part of a community that inspires, encourages, and reminds me daily why I love what I do. Wishing you a Thanksgiving rich with gratitude, warmth, and whatever dessert makes you happiest.

https://lnkd.in/etPu2FjR

Open video: How To Set Healthy Boundaries With Family | Healthy Family Boundaries | Tips On Setting Boundaries on youtube.com

How To Set Healthy Boundaries With Family | Healthy Family Boundaries | Tips On Setting Boundaries

Somehow there are a mere 20 days left in 2025.

All of my travel and where I will be living in 2026 is planned.

But here’s what I’ve learned—building a company, hosting retreats in Vienna and Corfu, taking women to big stages this year, and undergoing major surgery:

If you don’t pause to examine the year you lived, you end up reliving it.

Psychologists call this “recency distortion”—we overvalue what happened in the last two months and undervalue the arc of the entire year. (Source: Kahneman & Tversky, Judgment Under Uncertainty, 1974.)

Your nervous system needs integration as much as it needs ambition.

In today's newsletter is my own "7-Question Raw & Honest Lookback," backed by research and grounded in the storytelling work I teach.

For example:
Question 1: What Stories Did I Retire in 2025?

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” — Michel de Montaigne

Most of the friction we feel comes from attachment to old stories.

Cognitive scientist Lisa Feldman Barrett reminds us:

“Your brain is constantly predicting based on old stories—unless you teach it new ones.”

This question asks:

👉🏽What narrative did I outgrow this year?
👉🏽Which predictions about myself did 2025 prove wrong?
👉🏽Which identity chapter closed quietly without my permission?
👉🏽Research anchor: Identity “flexibility” predicts higher well-being and career satisfaction. (Kilgore et al., Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2022)

Goal: Identify 2–3 stories you retired—and write their updated versions.

This is not a productivity exercise.
It is a reclamation exercise.

I host these kinds of exercises in my 2026 Mastermind. I share systems for raw and honest storytelling that calls in clients. I share systems like these for scaffolding your identity.

The waitlist is here: https://lnkd.in/eyp4Hg8Q

Somehow there are a mere 20 days left in 2025. All of my travel and where I will be living in 2026 is planned. But here’s what I’ve learned—building a

Open article: The Raw & Honest 2025 Lookback
A System for Evaluating 2025  by Joya Dass • 5 min read

The Raw & Honest 2025 Lookback
A System for Evaluating 2025

A simple framework the next time you need to bring a room to its knees with your public speaking 

I am a former tv anchor teaching public speaking and living in a diff country every quarter 

Filling for my 2026 mastermind
Apply at joyadass.bio

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