# Break..Build..Become | Lakshmi Priyaa TT | TEDxSJIM

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRAMUib4f7o
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/eRAMUib4f7o
Generated: 2025-11-14T18:07:29.347+00:00

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## Quick Overview

The speaker, Lakshmi Priyaa, narrates her journey of rediscovering her passion for chess after prioritizing motherhood and corporate life, demonstrating that resilience and reinvention are continuous choices that involve embracing failure and making brave decisions to align with one's true self, ultimately leading to success in both her personal and professional endeavors.

**Key Points:**
- Lakshmi Priyaa lost her first chess tournament at age nine, scoring a big zero, but her passion remained.
- She prioritized motherhood and corporate life over chess, leading to a feeling of being lost and invisible.
- Her rediscovery of chess as her first love involved consciously choosing it over a perceived safer career path (MBA over Psychology).
- She realized that reinvention is not about avoiding failure but about embracing it as part of success, using her past weakness (weight gain) as a strength for motivation.
- The speaker successfully coached the Indian chess team for the World Youth Championships for three years and later worked at TCS, but the core feeling of 'reinvention' was the desire to share her passion, leading her to start her own venture in personal care products.
- The essential lesson is that resilience is daily practice, and one must make the 'bravest choice' to align with their true self, even if it means sacrificing comfort or facing initial fear.

![Screenshot at 00:09: The speaker introduces the theme of reinvention by contrasting life unfolding as planned versus when life unravels everything already planned, setting the stage for her personal story of adapting and choosing a new path.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-00-09.png)

**Context:** This TEDx talk by Lakshmi Priyaa TT is a personal narrative about overcoming self-doubt, societal expectations, and the feeling of losing oneself after making life-altering choices like prioritizing family over a deep-seated passion (chess). She uses her experiences in competitive chess, her subsequent career pivot to the corporate world in Germany, and the eventual decision to pursue entrepreneurship in personal care products to illustrate the concept of continuous reinvention and resilience, emphasizing that true success comes from aligning with one's authentic desires.

## Detailed Analysis

Lakshmi Priyaa shares a deeply personal story about her relationship with chess, which was her first love, and how life's expected paths—marriage, motherhood, and a corporate career in Germany—initially caused her to sideline this passion, leading to feelings of being lost and invisible. She recounts losing her first chess tournament at age nine, which was a significant blow to her ego, but she persevered. Later, after moving to Germany for work, she faced the struggle of balancing corporate life with her desire to pursue chess and her family commitments. She realized that her initial career choice (MBA over Psychology) was a 'safe' but ultimately unfulfilling path. A pivotal moment occurred when she decided to prioritize her passion, even though it meant sacrificing the perceived stability of her corporate career and facing the fear of failure. She re-engaged with chess, even coaching the Indian team. Upon returning to India, she continued to build her second career, embracing the 'reinvention' mindset. She concludes that failure is part of success, and true reinvention involves making brave choices to align with one's core identity, evidenced by her later success in entrepreneurship, which was fueled by the passion she rediscovered. The core message is that resilience is built through small, consistent daily practices, and one must actively choose their path rather than passively accepting what is handed to them.

### Early Life and Chess Identity

- Lost first tournament at age nine, scoring zero
- Chess was her first love and identity, which she temporarily abandoned for corporate life and motherhood
- Felt lost and invisible after prioritizing others' expectations.

### The Corporate Pivot and Realization

- Moved to Germany for a corporate job; found balancing work and family difficult
- Realized her MBA path, chosen over Psychology, was not fulfilling
- The gap between her life and her passion created internal conflict.

### Embracing Reinvention

- Decided to give chess another shot, joining a local club in Germany
- Realized that success involves embracing failure, as failure is part of success, not its opposite.

### Key Takeaways for Resilience

- Resilience is daily practice through small routines (like one German word a day)
- She learned to 're-invent' by choosing to pursue what she truly wanted, like taking on the challenge of coaching the Indian chess team.

### Final Lesson

- The bravest choice is to align with your true self, which empowers you to become any version of yourself you want to be, regardless of societal norms or initial fears.

![Screenshot at 00:01: The initial TEDxSJIM logo slide, setting the context for the presentation.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-00-01.png)
![Screenshot at 00:09: The speaker introduces the concept of life unraveling outside of planned scripts, a key theme for her story on reinvention.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-00-09.png)
![Screenshot at 00:39: Slide showing a chessboard with the text: "RESILIENCE: If all you do with your setbacks is give up, you get a life with no wins!"](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-00-39.png)
![Screenshot at 01:09: The speaker discusses losing all her chess matches in a tournament, emphasizing the initial sting of failure.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-01-09.png)
![Screenshot at 02:23: A slide appears showing a silhouette of a head with puzzle pieces, representing 'CHOICE' and the mental struggle the speaker faced.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-02-23.png)
![Screenshot at 03:36: The speaker reflects on her father's validating words after her initial chess failure: "Well done, I'm proud of you."](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-03-36.png)
![Screenshot at 07:33: The speaker transitions to discussing her corporate relocation to Germany and the challenge of navigating a new environment without knowing the language or culture.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-07-33.png)
![Screenshot at 09:01: The speaker shows a slide titled 'CHOICE' with an image of a hand moving a chess piece, symbolizing making active decisions in life.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-09-01.png)
![Screenshot at 11:30: The slide changes to 'RESET & REWRITE,' showing German and Indian flags, representing her shift in focus after returning to India.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-11-30.png)
![Screenshot at 15:14: The speaker highlights that her true trophy was the mirror, representing self-realization about her true desires.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-15-14.png)
![Screenshot at 19:34: A slide appears summarizing the five truths about resilience and reinvention, including 'Forgive yourself' and 'Find your community.'](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/eRAMUib4f7o/00-19-34.png)