About me
I originally wrote this for a publication on Medium but decided to share on my personal blog too. For any new visitors, I am a British-born Indian navigating through the challenges of an unconventional career path, sharing insight and practical advice for self development and career progression.
Hope you enjoy learning about me and my stories help to inspire you in some way.
Q1. What is the purpose behind your writing?
Just as I never saw myself as someone speaking on a stage in front of a large audience or even on a national BBC radio show for that matter, I also didn’t envision myself writing publicly for fun either.
Author’s personal image — BBC Asian Network Radio, London, UK.
In 2017 after running a successful first internship programme (for the company I worked for at the time), I was thrown into the deep end when I was asked to speak at a university event which showcased all the internship employment partners.
My understanding was that I would be speaking informally at our stand but upon arriving I was shown the auditorium where I would be speaking. Surprised and nervous, I took the microphone and planned to keep my talk as short as possible and only cover the basics of the internship programme. I just wanted to do my bit and pass the microphone back. I’m not sure what happened whilst I was speaking but I was no longer anxious and I was actually enjoying the experience. I felt like I had created good momentum with the students as they were listening, engaged and asking questions, validating that I was sharing valuable insight and advice.
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do”
After speaking regularly at different events and meeting more students, I decided to address the most commonly asked questions in one blanket article on LinkedIn. After receiving positive feedback and many follow-up questions, I wrote a few more articles and I realised that my enthusiasm for helping others and sharing what I had learnt throughout my career didn’t have to be limited to speaking events.
Author’s personal images — Speaking at a variety of events in London, UK
Being passionate about career progression, self-development, continuous growth and learning, and productivity, you will see that my writing covers all of these topics. After facing and overcoming many struggles throughout my multi-faceted career, I think it’s only fair for me to share these lessons and experiences with others. I used to think that everyone faced the same hurdles when they were starting out or trying something new but sadly this is not the case. I’ve seen some people fly through their career, promotion after promotion by only doing the bare minimum. And I’ve also seen people struggle to get any recognition for going above and beyond.
They say it’s what you learn through the tough times that make you appreciate the outcome more but not every step needs to be a struggle. If we can pay it forward and guide others, why not? In my eyes, learning and teaching go hand-in-hand — if you’re not doing one, you should aim to do the other.
Q2. Tell us more about your unusual career path
I currently work in B2B marketing as a generalist. Having acquired a broad set of skills throughout my corporate career, they have proved valuable in the many different aspects of my role including website management, copywriting, social media content creation, event management, data analysis and strategy development. I talk more about my career trajectory here but simply put, I graduated from the University of Birmingham with two degrees in Physics and then pursued an analytical career in the Financial and Banking Industry. To me this seemed like an obvious move as the numerical and problem-solving nature of Physics were often reflected in highly numerate roles in finance. My first article on Medium discusses this very topic Think like a Physicist.
It was after a few years of working as a risk consultant in the City of London that I embarked on the opportunity to support some in-house marketing with web development and event coordination. At the time I had no idea that this work would eventually lead to a career change and I would never look back — well, not so far anyway!
A year earlier I had taken up photography as a hobby, mainly to stop myself from spending all my free time in the gym! I knew that I had a knack for framing moments photogenically (hence the website name) from a young age and being in one of the most visually interesting cities in the world, I thought this could be a fun, creative hobby. I developed my photography website myself and enjoyed the whole process so when the marketing opportunity came along, I was more than happy to take the lead and get stuck in.
Author’s personal image — Tower Bridge, London, UK.
Q3. Do you have any other fun hobbies?
In my free time when I’m not writing, working out or taking photos, I love to read and listen to podcasts. I have read so many inspiring books and I’m looking forward to sharing my recommendations on this platform in the future. As a teaser, my number one recommended book is called ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight. If you haven’t come across this before, it’s the story behind the globally popular sports and lifestyle brand, Nike. It’s a business book but it feels more like reading about an exciting adventure.
Being one of four children, I’m definitely a family person and I’m very close to my siblings. I enjoy spending time with my family when I can, especially my three very young nieces! It’s endearing playing with them and watching them grow and learn. In fact, I’ve been tutoring two of them on Spanish and Science since last Summer when the UK was in lockdown.
If you’re wondering what happened with the third one, she wasn’t interested at all. But I give her a pass, as she’s only just turned five months old. :)
Pre-pandemic, I used to enjoy travelling and I was hoping to cross off a few more holidays last year which will now be delayed until it’s safe to travel again. My favourite holiday destinations so far include Japan, New York and of course being of Indian heritage, I love visiting India to see my Nani ma (maternal grandmother) and learning more about Indian culture and history.
Do you recognise any of the locations from my holiday photos below? Have you visited them before? Let me know in the comments!
Author’s personal images — a few holiday snaps
If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my About Me story. If you enjoyed learning about me, or if you have any feedback or questions regarding any of my articles or my experiences, I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with me by commenting on my articles or on my socials provided below. Also, if you’re on Medium, connect with me there!
Looking forward to engaging with you!
