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The comp number. The title bump. The role that never got posted.
It all gets decided in rooms you're not in, and nobody hands you the notes.
So we started passing them around.
soumya
kelsey
We met the way most useful things start: two women comparing notes. One of us knew what the comp band actually was. The other knew which manager was worth working for. Neither piece of information was written down anywhere, and both of us had spent years wishing someone had just told us.
So we kept telling each other. The texts got longer. The calls got scheduled. Friends started asking to be forwarded things. And at some point we looked at what we'd built between two phones and realized: this is the thing. Not a course, not a coach — the notes themselves, passed between women who are rooting for each other.
The Birdie Brief is that habit, made bigger on purpose.
soumya
kelsey
every switch, someone said we were starting over
Hi, I'm Soumya! 👋 I'm so glad you found your way here.
I was born into a family of teachers and always felt a bit of a misfit. I was into engineering and geometry, but also felt creative — that's how I ended up majoring in architecture. In my twenties, I chased every kind of work I could get my hands on — architecture, policy, dance, nonprofits — trying to figure out where I actually fit.
Then a freak accident revealed early-onset arthritis. I was 26. Doctors told me to slow down, take it easy. I did the opposite of that. I had this burning feeling that we get one life and it's too short to "take it easy," and I wanted to spend it doing work that was challenging, personally meaningful, and globally impactful.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about choosing the unconventional path: it's lonely. I struggled to figure out who I actually was versus who I'd been told to become. At every stage, the thing that changed everything was someone who'd already walked the path taking me under their wing.
That's why I'm building Birdie. To build the rooms I wish I'd had. Because doing hard things alone is exhausting — but doing them together is fun.
Ratan Tata put it best: "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together." So let's go make something exciting happen — together, one conversation at a time. I hope you feel supported, empowered, and like every quirky part of you belongs here.
I'm Kelsey! 👋 You can't see me, but I'm absolutely brimming with joy knowing you're here.
I was a creative writing major who barely graduated. No joke. I carried the shame into my first jobs, quietly certain someone would work out I wasn't supposed to be in the room. Then a boss took me under her wing. She encouraged me, she saw something, and she pulled me out of the shame and into the idea that maybe, just maybe, I could do something big.
That was the moment. I knew I wanted to build spaces for women who are sick of being told their goals aren't realistic. I've spent the eight years since on it. Really, my entire working life. When I met Soumya, we wanted the same thing, room for women's biggest careers to take flight.
I've felt lonely in my career. I've had more moments of self-doubt than I'd fit here, and long stretches where nobody saw what I was capable of. Birdie is my answer. The newsletter, the events, the membership, all of it exists to put a team of kickass women beside you for the whole climb.
Really, it's me building what 28 year old me would have killed for but didn't have. I hope it brings you companionship and knowing that you're exactly where you need to be.
✻ FOUND IN AN OLD NOTEBOOK
I want to own and run a company that helps women. These dreams scare me because I'm afraid they're too big and I couldn't possibly achieve them.Are these stupid goals? Are they too big for someone like me? I don't have an MBA from Harvard. I didn't make straight A's.
I wrote this five years before Birdie existed. I went and got the MBA, though not from Harvard. I still haven't written the book. The company helping women is this one.
If you're where I was, writing scared goals in a notebook and wondering whether they're too big for someone like you, you're exactly who we built this for.
WE RUN EVERY ROOM OURSELVES
Every gathering, every series session, every reply to The Brief. That's not a scaling strategy. That's the point.
Some conversations don't fit a newsletter or a room. Grab twenty free minutes with us and tell us what has you stuck.
✻ START WHERE IT STARTS
It starts as one email a week. It becomes company for the whole climb.