Venkat Krishnan, the 365th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a superb memory. Not because he’s smarter than everyone else but because, years ago, he took a training course with one of the world’s greatest memory athletes. Almost immediately, thanks to the techniques he learned, Venkat experienced a massive improvement in his ability to recall information.

These days, Venkat has a business, Braintree Memory Solutions, which teaches people the same memory techniques, through his Mind & Memory Mastery program.

Braintree also offers strategic psychotherapy. That’s because Venkat discovered that one reason people can have difficulty remembering things is due to lack of focus, which in turn can be caused by conditions such as anxiety, depression and bipolar. So he learned NLP and became a trained psychotherapist.

Venkat’s expertise also crosses into the corporate world. Many people are at a career crossroads – perhaps they’ve been made redundant, they fear being displaced by AI or they’re feeling unfulfilled in their work. Venkat is able to use his skills to understand a person’s strengths and values, identify new career opportunities and coach them through the interview process.

In other words, through all his services, Venkat helps people better understand themselves and live more successful lives.