Inspirational Woman: Ani Naqvi | Executive Transformational Expert and Founder & CEO, Ultimate Results Group

Ani Naqvi is the Founder and CEO of the Ultimate Results Group, who are dedicated to achieving maximum positive impact for your life and your business. A Transformational Expert devoted to empowering leaders to live their lives fully, with clarity, alignment, and purpose. 

A survivor of the 2004 Asian tsunami, facing death, Ani’s life changed forever. In front of a studio audience speaking to Oprah Winfrey, Ani made a commitment to make the most of her life and this inspired her mission.

“To inspire, motivate and empower at least a quarter of a million people, to live their lives with passion, purpose, and joy, in honour of the same number that died in the tsunami.”

18 years on and she’s impacted the lives of many experts, entrepreneurs, business owners and C suite execs to unlock their true potential and continues to honour her mission.

An ICF accredited master coach with over 2500 hours of coaching and 1000 hours of Vipassana meditation practice over the past 5 years alone, she has experienced first-hand what is needed for true realisation.

Ani is an expert in the power of the mind, mindfulness, meditation, Ayurveda the holistic science of life, yoga, breath work, somatic release, mental fitness, neuroscience, neuroplasticity and NLP. Her signature process is a blend of varied modalities combining ancient wisdom with new breakthroughs in science.

Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role

I am currently an Executive Transformational Expert. My background is I was a former BBC Broadcast Journalist, then a senior executive across public, private and charity sectors. Having survived the 2004 Asian tsunami I told Oprah in an interview I knew I must have been saved for a purpose and that I would find what that was and now I have.

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

No lol, but I always wanted to be a foreign correspondent, inspired by Kate Adie and Michael Buerk, until I actually worked as a Journalist and then the reality of journalism rather than the idealism became clear and I no longer wanted to work in that. I realised reporting on things around the world doesn’t change anything and I always wanted to make a positive difference in the world and change things for the better.

Have you faced any challenges along the way?

Yes, more than most, I survived the 2004 Asian tsunami, after nearly drowning a number of times. I have had multiple brushes with death (3-4) and also serious health issues. 

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

It’s got to be organising the rescue effort in the hours after the tsunami once I realised, we were stranded and the scale of the disaster. They say that the true character of a person comes out in times of challenge and distress. In those hours I helped others, despite being injured myself, realising I needed to find out what had happened, organised, commandeered the only mobile phone someone had to call the BBC to get press coverage on our plight and got them to call the High Commission to get us and the hundreds of others stranded on that remote peninsula on the East coast of Sri Lanka. I was only 31 at the time but grown men, women and children looked to me to lead them as I took control and was the constant source of information throughout the 48 hours before we were airlifted. I took the last helicopter on the 2^nd day once everyone else had been airlifted to safety. That has to be my biggest achievement as in a time and place where you thought the world had ended, and everything you knew was turned inside out and upside down, you are nearly drowned, injured, scared, shocked, traumatised, I behaved and acted in a way that still makes me proud today even in my darkest moments of my inner critic berating me over the years.

What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?

Resilience, belief, knowing I have been saved for a purpose, my mission to make my life mean something meaningful in honour of the people that died in the tsunami

How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?

I think its great! Yes, I have mentored people, coaches, employees, etc, and I have been mentored at points too

If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Equality, what would it be?

Change the laws for women and children who suffer from any violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape etc. Right now, conviction rates are dismally low, which basically says we don’t count in law, so that is where I wish to focus my efforts in

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Listen to your body and your intuition

What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?

Well I have just been booked for a huge speaking engagement for a keynote, so I am busy prepping that. My future plans are to build a bigger, global brand, expand and take on more staff and coaches, and to win contracts from companies to do exec coaching for them and their teams, as well as training and development around resilience and wellbeing for the rest of the organisation.