You Were Never Meant to Do This Alone

🎧 Episode Title: You Were Never Meant to Do This Alone

A true story of quiet struggle, invisible kindness, and the leadership lessons I took from a dining hall in Upstate New York.

📝 Episode Description:

In this deeply personal episode, I share a story I’ve never fully told before.

At 22, I arrived in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York with two suitcases, a borrowed winter coat, and no roadmap for how to belong. I was a graduate student from India, working in the campus dining hall—reporting to younger undergrads, scrubbing floors, serving food, and learning to survive in silence.

What I didn’t expect was how that cold, fluorescent kitchen would teach me about leadership, kindness, and the courage it takes to be seen—and to let others in.

This story is about invisible labor, immigrant loneliness, hyper-independence, and the tiny moments of grace that change everything.

If you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or unworthy of help, this one’s for you.

📌 In this episode, you’ll hear about:

What it’s like to be an immigrant student in a small-town American campus

The emotional cost of hyper-independence

Leadership lessons learned from mopping floors and missed eye contact

The pizza slice and cup of cocoa that changed everything

Why “being seen” is the starting point for empathy and trust

How this shaped the father, teammate, and leader I became

🎙️ Host: Adi Agrawal - executive coach, transformation advisor, father, and storyteller.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bridge.adiagrawal.com