I grew up believing in dreams — but also in the quiet warnings that shadowed them - "be ambitious, but be careful." So when I walked away from a stable corporate career in a global multinational to build something of my own, I didn’t just choose a new path — I stepped directly into a space filled with fear, doubt, and questions I didn’t yet know how to answer.

For ten years, I pushed through that uncertainty.
Building a life and a business in a foreign country, with no contacts, no backing, and no guarantees.
There were several moments of triumph — a big client, a breakthrough project — that kept me going. But the truth is… I never felt settled. I never felt safe. Success would arrive and leave just as quickly, and I lived with the constant feeling that I hadn’t truly overcome my fear — I had only learned to hide it well. And then, at some point, everything felt like it was falling apart. Not because of the business…but because of the burden I had been carrying for years — the fear, the self-doubt, the quiet confusion about whether I was enough, whether I belonged, whether I would ever break through. All the thoughts I had buried finally rose to the surface. And strangely, in that moment of collapse, something shifted. Seeing my fears up close made them less frightening.

The failure I had been avoiding all my life suddenly looked familiar and I began to wonder: What lies beyond the fear? That question became the turning point for me.

I had carried the idea of The Thin Line — a project I loved but never dared to begin. I worried about everything: What if it fails? What will people say? Who am I to make a podcast? What if no one likes it? But then I realized: My fears have no idea who I really am. It doesn’t consider my 20+ years of experience working with leaders. It doesn’t know my resilience, or the battles I’ve already fought. My fear only knows the version of me that stays afraid, doubtful, uncertain — the version that forgets its own strength, experience, and potential. 

So I started The Thin Line. Not because I had conquered my fears, but because I finally chose to acknowledge them.  This podcast is my crossing. My way of reclaiming confidence, clarity, and purpose. 

I am crossing my thin line every day.
What about you?

Arunava Deb

Host of The Thin Line | Husband, Father, and Explorer of Life Beyond Fear