Charu's Offerings

Charu also coaches for Product Management and Executive Coaching. View all.

Charu’s Life Coaching Qualifications

Experience level: Director

Charu has helped clients get into these companies:

In the high-stakes world of corporate leadership at Microsoft and Salesforce, I learned that true success isn't just about scaling products—it’s about sustaining your life. I managed demanding tech roles while intentionally prioritizing my family, ultimately raising a child who successfully graduated from Stanford. I know firsthand the intense pressure, the guilt, and the calendar chaos that comes with trying to "have it all." Having coached 100+ executives and founders, I know that sustainable high performance requires a deliberate playbook, not just wishful thinking. My life coaching is specifically designed for ambitious professionals who refuse to sacrifice their personal lives for their balance sheets. Together, we will master the art of ruthless prioritization, establish unbreakable boundaries, and build a personalized roadmap for work-life integration. I am here to help you design a life where you can win at the office, show up fully for your family, and thrive without burning out.

Charu also coaches for Product Management and Executive Coaching. View all.

Why do I coach?

I coach because I know how intense and overwhelming the growth journey can feel. Whether you are trying to break into product management, navigate your first promotion, or manage the massive pressures of leading an organization while being the present parent your family needs—it can often feel like walking a tightrope without a net. As I was rising through the ranks at Microsoft and Salesforce, the turning points in my own career didn't happen in a vacuum. They happened because a few incredible mentors pulled me aside, gave me unfiltered feedback, and helped me see a path forward when I was trying to figure it all out. Coaching is my way of paying that forward. I’ve navigated the tech pressure cooker at every level, scaled both tech giants and early-stage startups, and raised a successful Stanford graduate. I coach because nothing fills my cup more than helping an ambitious person realize they don't have to choose between an elite career and a meaningful personal life. No matter where you are on your path today, I want to be the strategic partner, the sounding board, and the champion for you that those mentors were for me.

Work Experience

Senior Director of Product Management

Salesforce

October 2023 - Present

Executive product leader driving the vision, strategy, and execution for Missionforce, Salesforce’s cutting-edge product portfolio and business unit dedicated to defense, aerospace, and national security operations. Leading a large, cross-geographical team of product managers, I oversee the deployment of secure enterprise SaaS and agentic AI technology designed to modernize critical areas like personnel management, logistics, and high-stakes analytics. A significant portion of my mandate is centered around leadership cultivation, cross-cultural team alignment, and executive mentoring. Global Scale & Execution: Direct and align decentralized PM teams across multiple geographies, orchestrating product delivery for multi-billion-dollar enterprise and public sector frameworks. Executive Coaching & Mentoring: Actively coach and mentor Group PMs and Directors within the org, focusing on developing their executive presence, cross-functional diplomacy, and strategic long-term roadmap ownership. People-First Culture: Dedicated to scaling the team’s emotional intelligence, managing international stakeholder dynamics, and breaking down organizational silos to foster a high-trust, high-autonomy culture. Mentorship Angle: I am uniquely positioned to coach leaders on building high-performing, geographically distributed product teams, managing high-visibility enterprise products, and shifting from operational managers to high-empathy people-cultivators.

Principal PM Manager

Microsoft

September 2021 - March 2023

Returned to Microsoft to drive executive leadership, organizational scaling, and cultural transformation for the Microsoft 365 (M365) division in India. As a Principal PM Manager, I led a large, high-performing team of product managers, taking accountability for both macro product strategy and human capital development. Beyond product delivery, I dedicated significant energy to shaping the organization’s future talent pipeline and culture. People Leadership: Managed, mentored, and calibrated a large product org; spearheaded internal PM upskilling initiatives to elevate the product craft across the region. Talent & Culture: Served on multiple core corporate hiring committees and actively championed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to build balanced, high-impact teams. Mentorship Angle: I am highly equipped to coach senior leaders on managing large teams, navigating executive stakeholders, mastering enterprise SaaS at scale, and designing internal talent development programs.

Director Program Management

Yodlee India

September 2014 - December 2020

Hiring Manager

Led the cross-functional vision and delivery of business-critical FinTech products, managing a massive matrixed organization of 60+ people across product, engineering, marketing, and sales. In addition to standard product roadmapping, I focused heavily on operational excellence, customer retention, and organizational design to scale our financial platform services. Cross-Functional Scale: Orchestrated alignment across diverse business units (from dev to sales) to ensure seamless product-market execution. Operational Excellence: Built the Service Management team from scratch, designing robust service flows and SLAs/OLAs that significantly elevated customer satisfaction and retention. Mentorship Angle: I can coach mid-to-senior leaders on how to manage highly matrixed, massive cross-functional organizations, build operational frameworks that support product growth, and bridge the gap between product strategy and sales execution.

Founder & CEO

Kukucrate

January 2013 - February 2014

Hiring Manager

Founded and bootstrapped a subscription e-commerce company delivering hands-on, experiential learning activity kits for young children. As CEO, I wore every single hat—from product design and supply chain logistics to growth marketing and partnership development—giving me a profound, firsthand understanding of zero-to-one business survival. Rapid Scaling: Built a channel partner program from the ground up, scaling the business to ~1,200 paying subscribers within the first 6 months. Community Recognition: Recognized by the Bangalore startup ecosystem and featured in the national weekly magazine 'Outlook' as one of India's most innovative startups. Mentorship Angle: I love working with early-stage founders and 'scrappy' PMs. Because I’ve been a founder, I can help entrepreneurs navigate the psychological pressures of the early stage, validate product-market fit with zero budget, and design creative growth loops.

PM Manager

Microsoft

January 2001 - September 2012

Hiring Manager

My foundational career stint, where I transitioned from a Software Engineer into Product Management, learning the core craft of building software at a global scale. Over 11 years in Redmond, I worked across market-defining product ecosystems including Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Office, and Windows. This tenure instilled my core professional values: extreme customer-centricity, rigorous product discovery, and cross-functional execution across massive engineering organizations. Key Scope: Dropped the code as an engineer, owned end-to-end feature roadmaps as a PM, and learned how to scale legacy systems into modern platforms. Mentorship Angle: I love coaching early-to-mid-career PMs on how to make the technical transition from engineering to product, and how to navigate the intense culture of a silicon valley giant.

Charu was also given offers to work at

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  Google

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  Adobe

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  Amazon

Education

University of Missouri - Rolla

Masters, Computer Science

1999 - 2020

Completed my Master's in Computer Science, which served as the technical foundation for my 27-year career in product executive leadership at Microsoft and Salesforce. Coming from a small town in Rajasthan, India, where English was not my primary language, pursuing this degree in the United States was a pivotal, transformative milestone that required immense resilience, hard work, and adaptation. Beyond the rigorous coursework in software architecture and systems, this experience instilled in me the global mindset and problem-solving grit necessary to scale multi-cloud enterprise platforms and build high-performing product organizations from scratch. I leverage this exact blend of technical depth and adaptive resilience when coaching rising tech leaders and elite students navigating high-pressure academic or corporate environments today