What Rejection Taught Me

From a banker's polite “no” in Kashmir to the boardrooms of New York, I learned that rejection has its own sound logic.

- Khair Ull Nissa Shah

Rejection has followed me through every stage of my life. It came long before I became a CEO or worked across continents.

It started in Kashmir, where ambition has to push through barriers of doubt and delay.

Every idea meets suspicion, and every dream faces resistance here. But that resistance became my classroom.

It taught me to see rejection as the first step toward resilience.

When I presented my first business plan years ago, a bank manager looked at it and said, “Kashmir is not ready for this.” He said it kindly, as if saving me from disappointment.

I heard the same words from investors, advisors, and even colleagues. Their tone changed, but the message was the same: stay small, stay safe.

Over time I realized they weren't describing my idea. They were describing their limits.

That was when rejection stopped hurting and started helping.

Across two decades, working in real estate, retail, automobiles, and hospitality, I began to study rejection. It followed patterns.

I noticed that it appeared wherever imagination moved faster than comfort. I wanted to understand it, measure it, and use it.

That is how I created what I call The Rejection Framework, a way to decode rejection and turn it into growth.

The first step is asking: Does this person have the expertise to judge?

In India, people often speak with confidence that comes from position. A “no” from someone who has built something meaningful can guide you. A “no” from someone who has never taken a risk tells you nothing. It’s a sound you learn to walk past.