How Meditation Shapes Tallied’s Sunil Singh’s Journey

Growing up in a small village in the eastern part of India, Sunil Singh’s family had little means. In the first years of his life, his dad didn’t have a job. Water, electricity, and many other amenities were scarce. But he recalls fondly the human support that his multigenerational family provided for each other.

Since his childhood, a focus on connection has been a consistent thread, and for Sunil, that came to life through the practice of meditation, which he started in his early 20s, and which he credits helping to frame who he is today.

Today, Sunil is a Fintech serial entrepreneur in San Francisco—and one of Archie Group’s clients—whose latest venture is credit card issuance and management platform Tallied. Sunil aims to disrupt the legacy credit card industry by helping companies build credit card programs for their customers in 90 days versus the current 12 to 18 months and at a fraction of historic costs.

“Meditation has given me the foundation on a human level, from consciousness and who I am, how I operate in the world, how I think about things and respecting the decisions, the reaction or lack of reaction in some cases, and how I respond,” Sunil says. 

Mindful leadership

Sunil believes meditation is a fundamental resource that guides him as an entrepreneur and executive, and allows him  to be a more connected leader. 

“Meditation allows for failures, setbacks and even successes to be processed, and the understanding how to deal with it, while remaining grounded and moving on to the next thing,” he says.

He encourages his fellow tech colleagues and people in his community to embrace meditation to support their personal and professional lives—regularly volunteering to lead meditation workshops for them.

Staying humble

Meditation, Sunil says, is also a channel for controlling one’s mental health in a heavy working capitalistic society. He remarked how success can become a person’s identity and can cloud their understanding, their self-worth, and their role and contribution.

“If you think about the challenges in the day to day and the swings that you have to go through as an entrepreneur, it's a huge toll on your nervous system. It's a huge toll on your mental and emotional health. And I don't know how others do it. But for me, having that practice, having that foundation allows me to almost have a shield around me, which protects me from the volatility of the situation in advance and the people and all of the dynamics and really focus on what matters the most. 

He adds: "In a capitalistic mindset, meditation keeps you humble,” he said, “even when you are winning—so you don't get ahead of yourself". 

A quiet space

Sunil’s advice for entrepreneurs: Make meditation a part of your daily life. When practicing this technique, says Sunil, “you are not influenced by external physical and emotional stimulants. Rather, you are able to get in a space where you can shut everything down and then come back re-energized, invigorated to do the work that you need to do.”

With meditation, “I see myself really connecting into the vast realm of human consciousness as an individual and trying to do something meaningful in the world while I'm here,” he says. “It becomes a superpower.”

We thank Ilan Saks of Unstacked for letting us share excerpts of his interview with Sunil. To listen to the full recording, visit Unstacked here.