Focusing on the why and who, not achievements: Shailja Saraswati on Unstoppable Woman S4

New Delhi: Shailja Saraswati Varghese, who recently resigned as Chief Content Officer at Omnicom Media Group, is now focusing on building her own venture, currently anchored around Season 4 of her podcast and community platform, Unstoppable Woman.

Saraswati said three themes have remained central to her journey: “Storytelling that shapes culture”, “Mindfulness as a practice of transformation”, and “an unshakeable belief that inner work is what creates lasting outer success”. She added that what has changed is that she is now allowing these themes to sit “at the centre” of her work.

“This isn’t a pivot away from what I’ve done; it’s a continuation of it, at a more personal level,” Saraswati said. “After decades of building stories for brands and platforms, I’m choosing to hold space for stories that build people.”

In a conversation with BestMediaInfo.com, Saraswati said the shift has been in the making for some time. “It’s been 5 years, and I felt that it is a good time to now do something which makes me feel more alive,” she said. “Organically, I was gravitating more towards combining storytelling, mindfulness, leadership, all of that.”

She described it as a pivot after “spending 25 years”, adding that multiple strands of her professional and personal work now feel like they are converging. “It looks inevitable,” she said. “There was a larger purpose already defined somewhere. I was working towards it. It’s converging, and it’s very clear to me.”

Saraswati also spoke about her career path, saying she has spent 14 years in publishing and 10 years in agencies. “Storytelling, being one of them, is in my DNA. I really cannot take it out,” she said, adding that her craft has become “much more refined now”. 

She said she believes she can contribute more in the current environment with “more control” and “more alignment” with her own vision.

At the heart of the current chapter is Season 4 of Unstoppable Woman. Saraswati said the season marks a creative and philosophical shift, moving beyond gendered definitions of success to explore “the unstoppable spirit, an inner strength that transcends labels, titles, and traditional milestones.” 

She said the conversations are designed to be “intimate and unhurried, featuring people who embody 'resilience, conscious growth, and quiet courage', often “far away from the spotlight.’”

“This season isn’t about achievement. It’s about becoming,” she wrote. “About staying aligned when life asks you to begin again.”

Saraswati said the platform’s origins go back to the COVID period. “Back in 2020 and 2021, during COVID, a lot of us started pursuing something or the other,” she said. “So I started my YouTube channel. The idea was more to share what I had learnt over the years, so people feel calmer and have techniques of mindfulness.”

Women’s Day content later triggered the larger concept, she said. “I created a few videos on Women’s Day… on Unstoppable Women as a concept. That sort of triggered something in me,” Varghese said, adding that she felt many women “get stuck in these labels and identities”.

She said Seasons 1 and 2 were built around “Breaking Boundaries”, while Season 3 pushed further into “stories of resilience”. 

For Season 4, Saraswati said she is widening the frame. “Women's growth is not possible without other genders involved,” she said. “So, I am looking at the unstoppable spirit and largely focusing on the why, the who of the person, not really what they have achieved. Because for achievement, there are a lot of platforms. There are so many awards.”

On guest selection, Saraswati said the process is research-heavy and guided by a clear vision. “I do a lot of research. There is a very clear vision of the show,” she said. “There is complete alignment in terms of people who are not only unstoppable, but somewhere they have enabled others also to walk the path.” She added that each season has 24 episodes.

Saraswati also said Season 4 will bring more varied voices and will avoid boxing stories into fixed categories. “This season is different because I am getting a lot of different voices,” she said. “Putting it under gender or labels or brackets… that is not growth.”

Explaining why the theme remains personal, Saraswati pointed to her long-standing work in the social impact and transformation space. “I am all for women’s empowerment,” she said. “If you look at 20 years ago, I worked with NGOs and volunteer work.” She also said she has been associated with the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association of Human Values, among other initiatives.

Saraswati said her focus is shifting from recognition to enablement. “The point was to have had something that is specifically for enablement and growth, not talking about problems and just giving awards,” she said, adding that she wants to go deeper into “what transformation happened, what breakthroughs happened, what pivots they took, and how they took it”.

Saraswati concluded that she will share a broader vision in 2026 that is currently “under wraps, adding, “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.”

The podcast is available across all streaming platforms worldwide. Below is the teaser to season 4: