Anchoring Against the Slippery Slope: A Candid Interview with Rashmi Airan

“In December 2014, I was across from my 10-year-old son at a high-top table, sitting knee-to-knee and as I looked into his eyes I said: ‘Today, Mommy had to plead guilty to a federal crime.”

I stumbled upon Rashmi Airan’s LinkedIn profile while doing some research on companies and prospects one Friday afternoon. Because at the time I was focused on the compliance area, Rashmi’s profile kept getting recommended to me, so I clicked on her LinkedIn profile picture, and am so glad that I did. Rashmi’s professional history and her life story are mesmerizing and with each layer of the onion I peeled back, I wanted to discover more. So, I sent Rashmi a LinkedIn connection request and followed that up with a message for a quick discovery call. We agreed after that call to spend more time together to interview her and share her fascinating story and more importantly her mantra-like message of ethical vigilance. After spending time in a federal prison and a Florida County Jail for unethical activity, Rashmi evangelizes this concept, in the hopes of helping others avoid her fate.

Darin Hartley (DH): Can you please tell me about your background and upbringing?

Rashmi Airan (RA): I am the eldest of three daughters from a first-generation Indian family. The pressure to succeed and to strive for perfection because of these and other factors drove me to be the best at everything I pursued. I wanted the perfect family, the perfect children, the perfect community, and the perfect career. I wanted financial success. With this financial success, I knew I would be able to pursue my philanthropic needs in the Miami community where I lived. My father came to the United States with $8 and ultimately achieved great success alongside my mother in engineering, real estate, and, later, as a practicing attorney. My parents’ success drove my need for achievement even more. It burned like a furnace inside me and is part of the reason I have had many career successes.

DH: What was the arc of your career?

RA: I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina and my post-graduate work from Columbia Law School. After working briefly at Morgan Stanley, I graduated as a Kent Scholar from law school and then worked for several major firms across the country. Eventually, I started a small private…