Shilpa Bhagat, Co-founder of Fitistan, Entrepreneur, Wellness Advocate and Community Builder

There are women who inspire through success, and then there are women like Shilpa Bhagat who inspire through the way they embrace life itself — with resilience, empathy, adaptability, and extraordinary emotional strength. Entrepreneur, wellness advocate, community builder, mother, and leader, Shilpa’s journey is a powerful reminder that true achievement is not about perfection, but about constantly evolving while staying deeply present for the people who matter most.

As the co-founder of Fitistan, alongside Major Dr. Surendra Poonia, Shilpa has built far more than a wellness brand. Through initiatives that blend fitness, mental wellbeing, community, and the spirit of service inspired by the Indian Armed Forces, she has created a movement rooted in discipline, resilience, and purpose. From wellness programs to impactful initiatives like Soldierathon, her work reflects a philosophy that fitness should empower people not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too.

Yet behind the entrepreneur lies a mother whose greatest lessons came not from boardrooms, but from the deeply personal journey of raising her twins, Kush and Kaira. From navigating the emotional realities of IVF to discovering the unique strengths and passions of each child — one excelling in chess, the other in karate — motherhood transformed Shilpa’s understanding of success, patience, and unconditional love. It taught her that every child grows differently, every journey unfolds uniquely, and that sometimes the greatest gift a parent can offer is simply being fully present.

Whether it’s family dinners, bedtime conversations, strategy games, pickleball sessions, or learning new hobbies together, Shilpa has consciously built a home filled with curiosity, connection, laughter, and emotional safety. Her children describe her as “present” — perhaps the most meaningful compliment a mother can ever receive in today’s distracted world.

As a proud face of TheGlitzMegaSuperMom 2026, Shilpa Bhagat represents the modern woman who gracefully balances ambition with empathy and leadership with love. She embodies a generation of mothers who are redefining strength — not as having all the answers, but as having the courage to adapt, learn, fail, rise again, and continue showing up wholeheartedly every single day.

Over To SHILPA BHAGAT, Co-founder of Fitistan, Entrepreneur, Wellness Advocate and Community Builder

You wear many hats — mother, leader, achiever. Which role has surprised you the most, and why?

Honestly, every role has surprised me in its own way because there is no manual for any of these roles. Nobody gives you a script and says, “This is exactly how you become a mother,” or “This is how you become a leader.” Every journey unfolds differently, and that has been my biggest learning.

Motherhood surprised me the most because before becoming a mother, I had a very simplistic understanding of it. I remember when I was working at HDFC Bank, one of my colleagues worked till the evening and delivered her baby overnight.

At that time, I genuinely thought pregnancy was probably very easy and smooth for everyone. But my own journey was completely different.

I had to go through IVF, and it was emotionally and physically exhausting. That experience

humbled me deeply because it made me realize how different every woman’s journey can be.

Then came the surprises of raising children.

My son, Kush, started recognizing patterns very early. We used to live on the 45th floor, and during those elevator rides he began understanding numbers and addition simply by observing the lift panel. A friend noticed his ability to see patterns and suggested chess. That became the beginning of an incredible journey for him.

At the same time, my daughter Kaira, despite growing up in the same environment as her twin brother, evolved into a completely different personality: demure, calm, and deeply disciplined, eventually excelling in karate.

Even leadership surprises me every day. Today, while scaling a growing business and managing a large team, the sense of responsibility can feel overwhelming at times. But across every role, one thing remains constant: you have to keep learning, adapting, and showing up consistently.

In a world that celebrates hustle, how do you create meaningful moments of pause and connection with your children?

I think the one thing that has really helped me is my ability to be completely present in the moment. When I am working, I am fully focused on work. But when I am with my children, I am only a mother. I am not distracted by my phone, work calls, or anything else. I genuinely look forward to spending time with them, and I think children can feel when your attention is divided versus when you are truly present.

As a family, we have consciously built rituals over the years. No matter how busy life gets, we try to have dinner together. We play board games before bedtime, and every night we discuss our “rose and thorn”: the best part of the day and the part that may have troubled us. These little conversations have become such an important emotional anchor for all of us.

Another thing we enjoy is learning new things together as a family. We all love strategy games and music, so now we are planning to learn DJ-ing together. We also play pickleball together, and recently I was joking with my daughter that perhaps we should all learn Mahjong as a family because we enjoy anything that involves strategy and thinking.

What is one life lesson motherhood has taught you that no business school or boardroom ever could?

Motherhood has taught me how to deal with failure and uncertainty in a much healthier way. In business, people often talk about success very linearly, but motherhood teaches you that life is far more unpredictable and nuanced.

A lot of this learning actually came through my son’s chess journey.

I remember when he was playing the Under-7 World Championship in Russia. I was so emotionally invested in his games that even my facial expressions started reflecting stress and anxiety while watching him play. That experience taught me how deeply children absorb our emotions. Sometimes, as parents, our fear of failure puts more pressure on them than failure itself.

Over time, I realized that not everything you touch will turn into gold, and that is perfectly okay.

Even legends do not operate at 100% success rates. I remember hearing Shah Rukh Khan say that only a percentage of his films became successful. Roger Federer once spoke about winning only slightly over half the points he played professionally despite being one of the greatest tennis players ever. Even Sachin Tendulkar has walked onto the field and gotten out at zero.

That perspective changed the way I look at both parenting and life. You may not get every decision right.

As a mother, you constantly question yourself because you are making decisions for another human being. But you learn that failure is not final, and success is not permanent either. What matters is the ability to keep showing up, learning, and trying again.

If your children had to describe you in three words, what do you think they would say… and what would you hope they say?

Energetic.

Empathetic.

Hard working.

At the same time, I would hope they remember me as someone emotionally available to them. That matters a lot to me. I

I also hope they remember our home as a space filled with conversations, curiosity, laughter, and learning. We have always encouraged them to explore their interests independently.

Whether it was chess, karate, music, strategy games, or sports, the focus was never just on achievement. It was on enjoying the process, learning discipline, and becoming confident individuals.

Could you tell us a bit about your work and the philosophy behind it?

I am the Co-founder of Fitistan, which I started along with Major Dr. Surendra Poonia. At its core, Fitistan is much more than just a fitness venture. Our vision has always been to build a holistic health and wellness ecosystem that combines fitness, technology, community, and purpose in a meaningful way.

One thing that makes Fitistan very unique is our close association with the Indian Armed Forces: the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Both of us strongly believe that fitness is not only about aesthetics or physical transformation; it is also about discipline, resilience, service, and mental strength, values that our armed forces embody every single day.

Through initiatives like Soldierathon, which is a marathon with soldiers, we wanted to create a platform where civilians could not only focus on their own health but also develop a deeper sense of respect and gratitude for the people who dedicate their lives to protecting our country.

We also work extensively with corporates through wellness programs that combine online fitness challenges with offline fitness and nutrition sessions because today health has become deeply connected to productivity, mental well-being, and quality of life.

The philosophy behind Fitistan is very simple: fitness should not feel like punishment or pressure. It should feel like community, empowerment, consistency, and self-respect. And if, through fitness, we can also inspire people to value discipline, resilience, and the spirit of service that our armed forces represent, then I think we are creating something far more meaningful than just another wellness platform.

What does being “TheGlitzMegaSuperMom 2026” mean to you in today’s world — perfection, resilience, reinvention, or something else entirely?

I think it is much more about resilience, adaptability, and reinvention.

Life keeps changing constantly. Children grow up faster than we realize. One day they are completely dependent on you, and before you know it, they become independent individuals with their own personalities, opinions, and worlds. As parents, we also have to adapt alongside them.

I was actually reflecting on this recently. Earlier, whenever my children came home, the first thing they would do was run around looking for me. Recently, I happened to be working from home and was eagerly waiting for them to return from school.

They came home while I was on a call, and by the time I finished, they had quietly gone into their rooms. I jokingly told my daughter, “You didn’t even come looking for me.” It was such a small moment, but it reminded me how subtly children grow up.

Rapid Fire With Shilpa Bhagat
Coffee or calm morning tea? Morning tea.
Heels or sneakers? Sneakers.
Boardroom mode or bedtime-story mode? Bedtime-story mode.
Planner or spontaneous? Spontaneous.
One word your children use for you most? Present.
Mom guilt or mom power? Mom power.
Your secret superpower in one word? Adaptability