Enneagram 2.0 with Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes

Interview With Nisha Advani - S4 EP24 - A Social One's Personal Journey

Jan 23, 2026

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Enneagram 2.0 on a Tuesday? You heard that right! Our hosts have some exciting news to share!

In this very special episode, Urânio Paes and Beatrice Chestnut greet Nisha Advani, Enneagram coach and corporate consultant. In a heartfelt conversation, Nisha share meaningful insights on the enneagram, carreer and personal journey. Learn more about her:

Born and grew up in Calcutta, India. Middle daughter; attended to Catholic school (likely T1 Social culture) for 13 years. Came to the USA at age 17 as a Rotary exchange student; attended senior year at a local public school, and lived with a Caucasion family for a year in a small town where almost everyone recognized and enveloped me as "their" exchange student. It was a soft landing for a teenager who had come across the waters alone!

I came to the USA to study psychology and in my path, after a few detours, found social/organizational psych which was a perfect fit for a strongly group-oriented person. Always knew I had to be very well qualified and differentiated - in my family and social context, life in India was fiercely competitive and very much a numbers game. Got an MBA to support employability, worked in corporate in NYC for some years, and got my green card, surviving horrendous circumstances.

Got married to a man, who was well settled in India while I was working on my doctorate; happily he was very supportive of my finishing my studies half-way across the world. Changed my dissertation topic to do a more interesting cross-cultural study on conflict resolution (by this time I had spent a year in England and traveled quite extensively). Found it too difficult to finish my research in India and eventually returned to NYC; fortunately he moved to the USA about the time I graduated.

Worked in Organization and Leadership Development in different companies in California for almost 20 years and about 10 years ago started my own practice as a leadership coach and OD consultant. The Enneagram found me about fifteen years ago and I have been using it formally and informally in my professional work. I also volunteer in a South Asian domestic violence organization and am thinking through how to leverage the wisdom of the Enneagram and bring it into this organization.

I continue to work on my inner growth and am committed to regular mindfulness meditation and yoga practices, focusing most recently especially on understanding and developing somatic intelligence. The Enneagram has helped me let go much more of what my mind sees "should and could" be different and shift to a more holistic view. I believe I have a greater appreciation of "what is" without always trying to improve it and that has been very freeing. And, with all this, I am more relaxed and life is abundant!

To see more about my background, go to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishaadvani/

Like learning about the Enneagram from Bea and Uranio? Join a community of Enneagram enthusiasts and participate in live monthly webinars and Q&As with Bea and Uranio. Sign up for a FREE trial of CP Online membership at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://learn.cpenneagram.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Want to discover which Enneagram type you could be? Visit our webpage ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://enneagramcompass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn about the Enneagram test they created, Enneagram Compass.

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