Rejected by a big company. Doubted by her boss. Almost quit CA. Then she got 84% salary hike and promotion. How?

Nine years ago, Meenal Goel stood at a crossroads—burnt out, disheartened, and dangerously close to giving up on her dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant. She wasn’t just grappling with academic pressure; she was also facing professional rejection and being told she simply wasn’t “good enough.” But fast forward to today, and Meenal’s story has taken a complete U-turn—one that ends with an accelerated promotion and a whopping 84% salary hike. So, what changed?

Meenal shared her timeline on LinkedIn and wrote that 9 years ago, she wanted to quit CA under pressure. Eight years ago, she was rejected by a major company. Seven years ago, her boss told her she wasn’t good enough. Six years ago, she couldn’t find a job role she liked. However, five years ago, she turned her life around and became a Chartered Accountant. Four years ago, she secured the role she had been aiming for, and finally, three years ago, she earned an accelerated promotion and an 84% salary hike.

She opened up about the long, difficult path that led her to success, proving that sometimes, rock bottom is the perfect foundation to rebuild on. She wrote that not every year or day will be successful, as there will be “horrible years and days”. She said that sometimes it may make you want to quit and lead to hopelessness, depression and loads of self-doubt. But instead of giving in to the feeling, she decided not to quit.


Meenal chose to lean into the pain and learn from it. Her post reflects a mindset shift—one that doesn’t see failure as a dead-end but as a detour that brings clarity. What worked for her? She wrote, “Review your steps. Find what works.” Instead of labelling failure as a bad thing, she says to focus on the invaluable lesson that each struggle and rejection will teach you. She concluded, “Everything will fall into place—only if you work hard enough.”