Finding Her Voice

Picture a fifteen-year-old girl from Mumbai, watching in amazement as her cousin communicates effortlessly through a device, despite having no words of her own. In that moment, witnessing technology bridge the gap between silence and expression, a spark was ignited that would lead her across continents and transform her understanding of what it means to help others find their voice.

This is the story of Rinki, and like many of our career journeys, it began with a profound personal connection to purpose. What we will see is how purpose can evolve.

The Path to Speech Pathology

In India, where academic excellence in science typically funnels students toward medicine, Rinki found herself at a familiar crossroads. “If you enjoy the sciences and want to help people, you’re programmed to think that medicine will be the right path,” she explains. But two profound personal experiences would reshape her journey.

First came her grandfather’s stroke, which brought the reality of communication disorders into her own home. Then, during her first visit to the United States, she encountered her cousin with cerebral palsy using an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. As a recent winner of India’s national debate competition, Rinki had always equated communication with verbal eloquence. Watching her cousin express complex thoughts through technology challenged everything she thought she knew about communication.

The decision to pursue speech pathology in India came with its own set of challenges. With only four programmes in the entire country and little public awareness of the profession, Rinki’s choice raised eyebrows. “My parents said, ‘We’ll support you, but are you sure you want to do this thing that nobody knows?’” she remembers, gratitude still evident in her voice for their trust in her conviction.

The American Dream

As Rinki completed her undergraduate studies in Mumbai, she quickly recognised the limitations of speech pathology training in India at the time. The field was still nascent, focused primarily on paediatric cases in outpatient settings. Her growing interest in medical speech pathology, particularly in areas like cognition and swallowing disorders, led her to look beyond India’s borders.

The United States, with its advanced medical training programmes and innovative approaches to speech pathology, beckoned. After a rigorous two-year application process, Rinki was accepted into one of the top ten speech pathology programmes at the University of Texas, Dallas. This achievement, while momentous, was just the beginning of a challenging journey.

“There were moments of microaggression and racism, stemming mostly from ignorance rather than intention. I don’t feel like I was very well supported.” Despite these obstacles of adjusting to a new culture and country, Rinki persevered, driven by her vision of becoming a medical speech pathologist.

The real test came after graduation. With only a 90-day window to secure employment before her visa expired, Rinki found herself in a race against time. “You’re not only competing with the rest of the country, but the employers also have to pay for your visa, which is thousands of dollars,” she explains. The stakes were immense – failure meant returning to India, her dreams of practising in America, unfulfilled.

On the 75th day of her visa period, after applying to more than a hundred positions and facing countless rejections due to visa sponsorship requirements, Rinki secured a position in an acute care hospital – a coveted role that would lay the foundation for her future career.

The Immigration Dance: Finding Strength in Constraints

The complexities of the American immigration system became both a constraint and a catalyst in Rinki’s career journey. Marriage to her high school sweetheart, who was pursuing his medical residency in the U.S., brought new geographical challenges. Each move dictated by his training requirements meant Rinki had to rebuild her professional life from scratch.

When her husband’s residency took them to upstate New York, Rinki faced her first major career compromise. The competitive New York market proved resistant to visa sponsorship, forcing her to look beyond the prestigious acute care setting she’d worked so hard to enter. This led her to nursing homes – a setting often viewed as less desirable in the profession.

What could have been a career setback became an unexpected blessing. “That’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” she reflects, her voice carrying the wisdom of hindsight.

This stark contrast reignited something in Rinki that connected back to her original purpose – being a voice for those who struggled to communicate. The challenges she witnessed in nursing homes – patients on modified diets for years without reassessment, the lack of advocacy, the isolation – transformed her understanding of her role as a healthcare professional.

Advocacy and Innovation

The transition from acute care to nursing homes revealed systemic issues that would fuel Rinki’s evolution beyond traditional clinical practice. While the hospital setting had provided structure and resources, the nursing home environment exposed gaps in care delivery that demanded creative solutions.

This frustration, combined with her growing understanding of systemic challenges, led her to seek opportunities beyond daily clinical work.

Drawing on her early fascination with AAC technology – the same technology that had amazed her as a teenager – Rinki began exploring ways to bridge the knowledge-practice gap in her field. She recognised that many clinicians struggled to access and implement evidence-based practices, often constrained by limited resources and time.

This realisation led to her first entrepreneurial venture in 2015: the development of a mobile app for dysphagia therapy. “I basically wireframed – now I know it’s called wireframing, but I like sketched out an idea for an app,” she explains, pulling late nights after long clinical shifts over six months to transform her clinical insights into a practical and affordable tool for fellow professionals.

The app was just the beginning — it allowed Rinki to see firsthand how technology could be leveraged to share clinical expertise and create impact at scale. Building on this momentum, she founded the very first online community for medical SLPs, which has now grown to nearly 50,000 members, providing a space for clinicians to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another. She then launched a virtual dysphagia journal club, creating an avenue for clinicians to apply research in a practical and accessible way. 

This journey eventually led her to partner with a researcher to co-found the world’s first online dysphagia education company - the Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP). What started as a response to practical challenges evolved into a comprehensive e-learning platform, empowering over 15,000 students and clinicians worldwide with low-cost, high-quality dysphagia training. Through STEP, Rinki has continued to influence clinical practice far beyond the walls of any single facility, reinforcing her commitment to innovation, education, and evidence-based care.

The Mississippi Surprise: Finding Purpose in the Unexpected

Life’s twists brought another significant change in 2019 when her husband’s career required a move to Mississippi. The decision faced immediate scepticism from colleagues: “Why would you move from New York to  Mississippi?” they asked, revealing deep-seated biases about practising in the rural South.

Yet at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, Rinki found an unexpected alignment of purpose and opportunity. As the state’s only academic medical centre, it served Mississippi’s poorest communities, presenting challenges she hadn’t encountered even in her diverse career.

“We saw people who were driving three to four hours just to see us and get services,” she recalls.

This experience in Jackson opened her eyes to the deep disparities in American healthcare access and reinforced her commitment to finding innovative solutions to healthcare delivery.

“I would have never thought that the best job I ever got 12 years into my career would be in Jackson, Mississippi,” she reflects. The academic medical centre environment provided diverse opportunities for teaching, mentoring, innovation, and interprofessional collaboration that enriched her practice in unexpected ways.

The Pandemic Pivot and Motherhood

The COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for deeper reflection about healthcare delivery and personal purpose. Witnessing the healthcare system’s response to the crisis exposed structural issues that had long simmered beneath the surface.

“During COVID, I saw more clearly than ever how much people cared about the business of healthcare,” Rinki explains. “More than patient lives, there were a lot of people who cared about how we could keep business running and reach certain revenue targets.”

At the same time, becoming a mother added another layer of perspective. The experience deepened her desire to do something more meaningful — work that wasn’t just about keeping the system afloat but about genuinely improving healthcare. It also made her more conscious of how she spent her time and energy, fueling a transition from chasing traditional career milestones to creating sustainable, high-impact solutions.

This realisation, combined with her growing interest in technology and innovation, led to a significant career pivot.

These shifts led to the creation of Theratactix, her digital health consulting company, where she could combine her clinical expertise with her passion for technology and healthcare innovation. The transition wasn’t without its emotional challenges – the identity crisis of moving away from direct patient care after dedicating so many years to becoming a medical SLP and board-certified dysphagia specialist was real.

“I literally left my home country to be this ASHA-certified SLP and now I don’t want to be an SLP involved in direct clinical care anymore,” she recalls the internal struggle. Working through this identity shift required reframing her understanding of impact, purpose, and contribution to healthcare.

Through this transition, she realised that real change in healthcare isn’t just about individual patient interactions but rather about scaling solutions that can transform entire systems. She began shifting her focus from metrics to mission — understanding that meaningful change, whether through product development, policy influence, or clinical education, could be just as impactful as hands-on care.

Embracing Multiple Paths

Today, Rinki navigates multiple roles - mother to a one-year-old boy, entrepreneur, digital health consultant, educator, researcher, and doctoral student at MGH Institute of Health Professions.  Her journey from Mumbai to Mississippi, from hospital halls to digital health innovation, reflects the power of staying true to one’s purpose while remaining open to life’s unexpected turns.

A core driver of her current work is preparing clinicians for the future of healthcare so they can be empowered to lead beyond the bedside. To address this gap, she is partnering with Bitelabs to launch the very first HealthTech and Innovation Fellowship for clinicians in the US and is developing a course for the Harvard health system focused on non-clinical career pathways and skills for healthcare professionals. It’s a perfect synthesis of her experience, allowing her to help others navigate the career transitions she has experienced firsthand.“I don’t want to lose that part of my identity,” she says about her clinical background.

Rinki's Wisdom:

• Let purpose be your compass, not your cage - the most valuable contributions may arise where you least expect them

• See limitations as launch points - the very things that restrict us can propel us toward creative solutions

• Your clinical expertise is currency that travels - it holds value far beyond traditional practice settings

Looking back on her journey from that fifteen-year-old girl in Mumbai to her current role as a healthcare innovator, Rinki reflects on what success means to her:

“It’s about making a difference in the lives of adults with cognitive, communication, and swallowing challenges - whether that’s through direct care, technology, or education. The medium might change, but the mission remains the same.”

Two ways I can support you right now:

1. If you are new to Career Cliniq, discover the Top 5 Mindset Traps keeping dedicated health professionals stuck with your free download here.

2. Work with me and get clear on your direction and purpose for 2025 with my life-friendly 30-day async coaching service, Evolving Strong.