Today we’d like to introduce you to Neville Billimoria.
Hi Neville, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born in India to an Indian dad and an English mom
The English kids ostracized me as Indian
The Indian kids ostracized me as English
This set me on a journey to make sure everyone felt included, knew they belonged and felt valued and supported.
Went to UC San Diego and got a degree in Mass Communications
Learned critical thinking skills or as our Provost shared, “a liberal art education is what you have once you have forgotten the facts and figures”
Graduated as Valedictorian and Student of the Year from Muir College, but in a recession and could not find employment.
Ended up working in advertising after cold-calling a local Ad Agency with an obviously Indian name and got on the payroll by saying, “don’t pay me, I will generate business for you and then you can add me to your payroll”
Grew them into the top 30 agencies in San Diego.
Launched my own agency and focused on the emerging Biotech market because my Dad was a physician and I was not intimidated by “buzzword bingo” or Napoleonic Complexes.
Grew a local biotech from nothing to $30MM in sales, by bringing emotion into the clinical and staid healthcare marketing space and was now regarded as a biotech marketing expert.
I assured everyone I didn’t know diddly squat about biotech but a lot about human behavior.
This led to a large number of biotech, healthcare and bioscience accounts in the emergent bio-science expansion in San Diego.
With our first child on the way, sold my agency to Saatchi and Saatchi and provided executive coaching, organization development and business development services to local leaders.
Got recruited to a VC-backed start up working on distributed computing, using the idle cycles on devices inside large organizations to address supercomputer level problems like economic volatility, fighting AIDs at home and looking for extra-terrestrial life. This dotcom, “dot-bombed” as the path to profitability was uncertain.
A recruiter asked me if I would be interested in a senior vice president position at a financial institution.
I said, “do I look like a banker?”, but was willing to talk to anyone, hit it off with the then CEO of Mission Federal Credit Union and have been there building the brand, growing membership and leading our corporate giving and Community Foundation efforts for 23 years.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Graduating as Valedictorian and unable to get a job was a struggle.
Growing a local agency into the top 30 in San Diego with a promise of an equity play that did not materialize was a struggle.
Working for a not-for-profit and balancing value and values was a struggle.
Staying true to your values and purpose, with changing leadership, market conditions, and cultural sentiments is and remains a struggle.
Change is certain. Growth is optional.
We must find ways to turn our stumbling blocks into stepping stones!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Growing up in India, I had deep respect for the wisdom traditions.
The West seemed materially rich, but spiritually impoverished.
The East seemed spiritually rich, but materially impoverished.
The wisdom traditions: martial arts, yoga and meditation gave my Eastern side an expressive conduit to bring another dimension of myself to life.
I finally decided to bring the two aspects of my personhood that I had kept separate together with the “business of wellness” and the “wellness of business”
I started teaching traditional martial arts at UC San Diego as a student and have been doing that now for 43 years, teaching thousands of students, many of whom have grown to be Sensei and now have their own students all over the world.
Bring the best of both the scientific method of the West and the wisdom tradition of the East has been a purposeful journey that I remain deeply grateful and proud of!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I loved going to a sports club with my Dad and learning to play tennis.
Today, I still play tennis three times a week and have added pickleball to my schedule.
I also value “play” writ large, playing in two bands.
Einstein said, “play is children’s work”.
I disagree.
Play is all of our work!
Pricing:
- Fostering Energy with Kindred Spirits is Priceless!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aoinagikenshukai.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevillebillimoria/
- Other: https://soulfoodfriday.com/
