Ishita Gupta is such a force of nature and completely authentic.  Interacting with her was pure joy with some very interesting twists and turns mixed in for good measure.  She shared her soul here and in the process I had some major insights.

In her own words…

“On my way to attend medical school to become a doctor, I decided I’d be better off catering to my inner entrepreneur instead. I studied documentary photography (and made a short film about a Nobel Peace Prize winner), read blogs, and got accepted into Seth Godin’s Six Month MBA Program. Working with Seth and nine others, I learned real-world style entrepreneurship and marketing, and how to harness the power of the Internet.

This was one of the best experiences of my life, but also the hardest. I was a complete beginner in a new industry, but learned how to perform at high levels despite my fear. I learned self-reliance, how to surround myself with the right people and offer something, not run away from my fear.

In 2010 while in the Six Month MBA program, I founded Fear.less magazine, a digital magazine that profiles hundreds of authors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders on how they’ve overcome fear. I’ve interviewed Julia Cameron, Howard Zinn, Tim O’Reilly, Po Bronson, Chris Guillebeau, Leo Babauta, Danielle LaPorte, Robert Thurman, and hundreds more. I started it because I was scared and wanted to see how others dealt with fear, but I didn’t find other stories + advice specific enough. Fear.less is the resource I’d want to read if I felt fear. Today, over 15,000 people read Fear.less regularly and it’s grown to be one of the most in-depth resources about fear on the Internet.

I learned from Fear.less that my passion is exploring ideas people are afraid to-  like uncertainty, fear, shame, and failure. You can read my other multi-media journalism on these topics in my interviews with Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Alan Webber, and Steve Pressfield.”