How Yogesh Chabria Built a Multi-Crore Coaching Business (Life Lessons & Regrets)

My grandfather showed me two pictures, Lakshmi and Saraswati, and that lesson shaped my whole life. 🙏

That’s how Yogesh Chabria, award-winning speaker, author, and founder of Happionaire, began one of the deepest conversations I’ve had on Inside A Hustler’s Brain. We first met in his Mumbai office about 10 years ago, and this time we sat down in Mumbai again. 🎙️

We talked about selling, corporate speaking, giving more than expected, investing, AI, and love. (The conversation was mostly in Hindi, and this is my English summary.) 🔥

📊 In this episode, we unpacked:

• 🏺 Sindhi roots and the partition mindset
• 🪷 Lakshmi vs Saraswati: invest in knowledge
• 🚗 His first sale at five
• 🎤 From stage fright to corporate speaker
• 🍚 “Give one more handful”
• 🤝 Networking, events and in-person trust
• 💰 Investing, spending and staying balanced
• 🤖 AI, jobs and the value of human connection

🎥 Watch the full episode:

🏺 Sindhi Roots and the Partition Mindset

Yogesh and I both come from the Sindhi community, a trading community for thousands of years. His ancestors in Sindh were wealthy, but at partition they had to leave everything behind. 🧳

In the camps in Bombay, families shared one toilet with 200 people. Yet they told the government: “Don’t call us refugees. Call us displaced people.” “That’s the sense of mindset, the sense of what you brand yourself,” Yogesh says. 💪

They started selling again: his grandmother made papad and his grandfather sold it on trains. Within five or six years they were building businesses again. Selling was “in the blood,” and he compares it to what affiliates do today: selling to people on their phones, at scale. 📈

🪷 Lakshmi vs Saraswati: Invest in Knowledge

When Yogesh was a small boy, his grandfather showed him two pictures. First Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, sitting on a lotus. The lotus blooms even in mud. Money lets you build beautiful things, but a lotus isn’t permanent. At partition, their wealth was gone overnight. 🪷

Then Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, sitting on a rock. A rock is stable and solid. “So he told me: invest in knowledge.” 📚

He connected it to why I travel to events and spend serious money to learn from experts. That learning mindset gives returns for life. 🌍

🚗 His First Sale at Five

India was a closed economy in the ’80s. You waited a year for a phone and booked a TV two years ahead. Yogesh’s dad saw an opportunity: Dubai and Singapore were free ports. He took orders from neighbours, brought back TVs, washing machines, toys, and clothes, and sold them with his margin. 📺

Yogesh had a remote-control toy car that other kids didn’t have. When a friend wanted it, five-year-old Yogesh named a price much higher than it cost and told him to ask his parents. “I made my first sale at five,” and he gave the money to his parents. 🚙

The lesson: “When you can sell, your age doesn’t matter, your nationality doesn’t matter, your gender, your religion, nothing matters.” He also believes business is the best way to reduce conflict, because people who trade form a bond. 🤝

At 17, working as an event promoter standing beside a Ford Endeavour at a launch in Mumbai, he wasn’t supposed to sell cars, but he sold two in two days anyway. “If Henry Ford were here, would he sell the car? I’m like Henry Ford. I own this company.” The events company still remembers him. 💡

🎤 From Stage Fright to Corporate Speaker

Yogesh was born in Bombay and moved to Tehran, Iran, at five. In 8th standard, as one of the few students who spoke French, the principal asked him to read a French poem on stage. His hands were sweaty and his legs were shaking. After 30 seconds it felt a little normal, and by the end the fear was gone. 😰➡️😊

He kept going with elocution and debate, practiced, and wrote. When he wanted to speak at corporates:

• 🎥 He shot professional videos so companies could see how he speaks
• ☕ He met everyone he knew for coffee or tea and asked for referrals
• 🙋 He wasn’t shy to ask, because “when you ask, you receive”
• 📍 A CA he met over coffee invited him to speak at an insurance industry gathering in Amritsar, and “one event leads to another”

His speaking fees in India can go up to ₹15–20 lakh, and more abroad. But don’t start by saying you’ll only speak for ₹10 lakh. People see what experienced speakers charge but forget the 10–20 years of grinding, rejection, and failure behind it. 🧗

His first book came from helping a friend. He emailed an editor at CNBC TV18 about a job for his friend. She wanted to meet him and offered him a column on Moneycontrol. Six months later came a book deal. “Imagine if I’d not helped my friend.” 📖

🍚 “Give One More Handful”

Yogesh quotes Chanakya’s Arthashastra: if you sell 5 kg of rice, add one more handful. Most sellers give a little less. If you give a little more, trust grows, “and you will not lose much.” That’s the abundance mindset. 🌾

At an event for Rupa with 700–800 dealers at the Sahara Star in Mumbai, Yogesh spoke before brand ambassador Ranveer Singh. Ranveer took a selfie on stage with every dealer, which wasn’t in his contract. Each dealer would share that photo in their own city. “He wants to give more.” 🤳

Whatever you do, put your heart into it. “It’s much easier to give 100% than to give 5%.” Respect your commitments, too. If you say 2:45, don’t show up at 3:45. ⏰

🤝 Networking, Events and In-Person Trust

We both believe in premium events. When you pay, you take it seriously, and you meet people who are serious about their business. Yogesh learned French because he paid for a class and showed up every evening. 💳

I shared how meeting Neil Patel at Affiliate World Asia in Bangkok changed my confidence, and how I later met him for lunch in the US where he shared SEO strategies for my blogs. Yogesh’s point: most people let fear or ego stop them from walking up to someone. Take the initiative, and at most they’ll say no. 🙌

For more on the power of events, read my interview with Affiliate Summit’s Shawn Collins. 🎟️

I also shared my own story. After a ₹6,000-a-month SEO job in 2012 and plenty of taunts, I started my blog. In 2014 I found a new friend circle in Delhi, and events gave me confidence and clients. “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” 👥

For more of my own journey, read my podcast on making money online with AI. 🔗

💰 Investing, Spending and Staying Balanced

Yogesh’s money lessons:

• 🛍️ Don’t buy to impress others. When money comes in, many people go on a consumption spree.
• 🪙 Start small: he began with gold and stocks about 20 years ago, then moved into real estate.
• 🔁 Spend the returns, not the capital: turn ₹100 into an asset and spend what it earns. Even a 7% fixed deposit builds the habit.
• 📚 Invest in learning: books, courses, and conferences pay back.
• 🏦 Keep an emergency fund, but not too much cash, or you’ll spend it. He told the story of two sisters who each got ₹30 lakh: the one who bought property saw it appreciate, while the other spent hers.
• 🎨 Have something beyond work. His nanaji’s stationery shop in Fort went bankrupt after he expanded with loans. “Nobody went bankrupt because they joined a gym or took a swimming membership.”

His best advice for anyone starting out: stop comparing, learn before you put money in, learn sales, and connect with real people. 🎯

🤖 AI, Jobs and the Value of Human Connection

I shared how AI changed my affiliate business: content that once needed a team of 20–25 writers and editors now needs one or two people plus AI, with a human checking facts. I also said that people who aren’t AI-enabled will lose out. 🤖

Yogesh agrees we’re in an age like never before: “If you’re ready to adapt and learn, it’s the best time. If you’re lazy, it’s the worst time.” A friend’s sister lost her Persian content moderation job at Meta to AI and had to retrain. 🔄

He uses AI too. For his two LinkedIn Learning programs, on goal setting and on time management, he recorded himself talking and used Otter.ai to turn it into a script instead of hiring someone. 🎙️

But he believes a full circle is coming. With so much AI-generated content, comments, and emails, people will want to meet in person to check if someone is real. “The value of human connection will go up.” Events, coffee, and meals with friends will matter more. ☕

💬 Love, Regrets and Life Lessons

Some of Yogesh’s answers in our rapid-fire round: 💛

• 👴 One person to bring back: his grandparents, who taught him so much and gave so much love
• 🏖️ Last 24 hours: on the beach, celebrating with his loved ones
• 😊 Last wish: to share joy with many more people, and be remembered as someone who spread happiness
• ⏳ Lessons from failure: give time to your loved ones, and take a pause when you’re angry, because some words can’t be taken back
• 🐘 Disagreements: “We agree to disagree”
• 📱 Being present: no phone at meals with family. He doesn’t even keep Instagram on his phone.
• 💘 Dating: skip endless swiping. Go to spaces you’re interested in and have the courage to say hi.
• 🌊 Spending: library and swimming memberships, travel, and experiences, not luxury
• 🍽️ A day with: Warren Buffett, to learn his investing philosophy over a meal

📝 Key Takeaways From the Yogesh Chabria Interview

• 🪷 Wealth is like a lotus, knowledge is like a rock, so invest in knowledge
• 🚗 Anyone can learn to sell, at any age
• 🎤 Fear fades once you start, so keep practicing
• 🍚 Give a little more than expected
• 🤝 Ask for referrals without ego
• 💰 Build assets and spend the returns, not the capital
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 In an AI world, in-person trust becomes more valuable

❓ FAQs About Yogesh Chabria

Who is Yogesh Chabria?

Yogesh Chabria is an award-winning speaker, author, and the founder of Happionaire. He was born in Mumbai and grew up partly in Tehran, Iran.

How did Yogesh Chabria become a corporate speaker?

He shot professional videos, met everyone he knew for coffee and asked for referrals, and got his first big break through a CA who invited him to speak at an insurance industry event in Amritsar.

What did Yogesh Chabria learn from his grandfather?

That wealth is like Lakshmi’s lotus, beautiful but not permanent, while knowledge is like Saraswati’s rock, stable and solid. So invest in knowledge.

What is Yogesh Chabria’s advice on money?

Don’t spend to impress others, build assets and spend the returns, keep an emergency fund, invest in learning, and have interests beyond work.

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If Yogesh’s stories inspired you, share this with a friend whose life could change after one conversation. 💬

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