Produced By - Hustle, Motherhood & Business: Making It Work Without Burning Out | #100: Fatima Khan

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

Fatima Khan is a LinkedIn coach and personal branding expert who helps coaches, consultants, and B2B founders turn their profiles into lead-generating powerhouses. With a six-figure consulting business and a reputation as one of the Top 24 Marketers to Follow in 2024, she knows exactly what it takes to stand out. Recognized among the Top 200 LinkedIn Female Creators Worldwide, Fatima shares her strategies through LinkedIn Tea, a newsletter and coaching program that has helped thousands grow and monetize their personal brands.In this episode, Fatima gives us an inside look at how she built a thriving brand on LinkedIn, scaled her business, and grew a following of over 65,000, all while balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood. She shares actionable insights on creating content that attracts opportunities, staying consistent, and making real progress toward your goals. If you want to take your LinkedIn game to the next level, this is a must-listen.Connect with Fatima:https://linkedin-tea.kit.com/7c05eb478bhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/fatima-rasheed-khan/Timestamps:00:00 – Fear of posting on LinkedIn01:14 – Intro: Who is Fatima02:37 – Realising LinkedIn’s potential04:04 – Job hunt struggles and motivation06:12 – Regret about starting late07:14 – Why LinkedIn is different09:45 – Overcoming fear of judgement11:26 – Finding your ‘why’13:35 – How her strategy changed17:04 – Power of LinkedIn community18:09 – Staying consistent through engagement20:15 – Building support through comments21:09 – Consistency struggles22:53 – Balancing brand and business24:41 – Routines as a new mom26:42 – Advice for entrepreneurial mums29:16 – Escaping comparison30:51 – Becoming an inspiration32:14 – People who shaped her journey35:48 – Tips for growing on LinkedIn39:15 – Why storytelling works41:07 – Sharing transformation stories41:33 – Using AI for content42:06 – ChatGPT vs DeepSeek43:21 – Prompting AI better45:33 – Staying updated on AI46:55 – Her creative past48:07 – Dream to return to painting48:34 – Expanding beyond LinkedIn49:08 – Meaning behind “LinkedIn Tea”50:02 – Book rec: How to Win Friends53:45 – Final advice: just start Connect with Tomas:X: https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠Stan: https://stan.store/TommenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠Unproduced:Newsletter: https://unproduced.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unproducednotesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Ddo8ibDlLYoaP7FFLIWMore:Links: https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://producednewsletter.substack.com/⁠The Podcast Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25420030/Tools & gear that support the show:Metricool: https://f.mtr.cool/HRJBZKRiverside: https://riverside.sjv.io/vDnDodFavikon: https://www.favikon.com?fpr=tommenRa Optics: https://ra-optics.myshopify.com/discount/TOMMEN?rfsn=8803777.591d19JamX: https://jamx.ai/podcasters-offer?ref_id=e02d48af-ef66-4e76-b804-c2e8d282a8bfSome links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you find them useful, using these links helps keep the podcast running. Thank you!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I was quite afraid to start posting, start building my personal brand. At the time, I had about 700 connections, all of which were my past employers, my ex-colleges, my friends from university. And I was so afraid to start posting and get, you know, the judgment from all of them. I sat on the idea for a while. I was following all these people that I mentioned. And eventually I landed a job, you know, by going through a lot of rounds of interviews and rejections. But when I started my job, I thought to myself, you know, this is the time, you know,

I have to take my career seriously. I have to start working on my post and van on the side as well. And I'm so glad that I did because in just eight months, I was able to quit my job and start my own business from the bottom up. And I've not looked back. So I'm really glad that I took the leave. I believed in the platform. And I think the reason why I very quickly grew on the platform and I've been able to stay so

consistent with my efforts is because I had a very strong why. I knew why I wanted to build a presence. Before we dive into today's episode, please hit that subscribe button. Your support helps us grow and inspire more people on their journeys. Thank you. Hello, Fatima. Thank you for joining us today and welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, Thomas.

So Fatima, in case there is someone who does a new, can you please introduce yourself? Absolutely. So my name is Fatma, as you're very rightly pronouncing it. I am a LinkedIn coach. I work with B2B founders, coaches and consultants to grow their presence on LinkedIn and get attention. I started my coaching business off the back of my own personal run, which I started building on the platform about two years ago whilst I was working as a social media marketing manager at a 9 to 5.

And in my first year of building my presence on the platform, I was able to crack the code, I would say. I very quickly drew on the platform. I got ranked as top 200 female creators worldwide on LinkedIn. And my DM started receiving a lot of inquiries, people asking me if I could help them out with their journey on LinkedIn. And that's how I started offering coaching on the side of my full-time job. And eventually I left my job to pursue it.

And it's been about a year since then. And I'm still working with so many people. I have worked with about 40 people in my first year of business. and I'm right now in the process of transitioning from one-to-one coaching to group coaching. So that's essentially what I do. And currently, I think LinkedIn is my obsession, which is why I'm so excited to dive into this podcast with you. We're very excited, of course, to discuss this topic.

And do you then remember what was like the moment when you discovered its potential? Maybe that it's more than just online CV, but there is more behind it? Definitely. I do remember that. So my very good friend, Indy, if you know her from LinkedIn, she started building her personal brand while the two-ups were in universities. She's my batchmate. And she was able to land a job off of her presence on LinkedIn.

And meanwhile, I was struggling so much to find a job after graduation. And I was a top graduate at my university, despite of my academic achievements and, you know, my polished CV. I had worked at Fortune 500 companies in the past. Despite of all that, I had a really difficult time landing a job. And that's how I turned towards LinkedIn. I wanted to expand my network.

I had just moved here from Pakistan. I was new to the country. I did not know anyone in the space of marketing within the UK. So to make sure that I'm never in that position again where I have to rely on my CV as my only saving raise, I started connecting with a lot of people on LinkedIn. Eventually, I found quite a few profiles who were building their POS and Rans. one of them was Sophie Miller and she was hosting these webinars on parcel branding.

I signed up to each one. And there was this one with Leah Turner and her discussing how LinkedIn just transformed their business. They've been able to build multi-six figure companies off the back of their presence on the platform. And I thought to myself, that's exactly what I want. You know, I want to take control of my career. I don't want to rely on my CV and just hope for the best, apply to a bunch of places. I want to make sure that opportunities find me.

But that was at the time just a thought in my head. I was quite afraid to take a leap. I was quite afraid to start posting, start building my personal brand. At the time, I had about 700 connections, all of which were my past employers, my ex-colleagues, my friends from university. And I was so afraid to start posting and get the judgment from all of them. So I just kept, I sat on the idea for a while. I was following all these people that I mentioned. And eventually I landed a job by going through a lot of rounds of interviews and rejections.

But when I started my job, I thought to myself, you know, this is the time, you know, I have to take my career seriously. I have to start working on my post and brand on the side as well. And I'm so glad that I did because in just eight months, I was able to quit my job and start my own business from, you know, from the bottom up. And I've not looked back. So I'm really glad that I took the leap. I believed in the platform. And I think the reason why I very quickly view on the platform and I've been able to stay so consistent with my efforts is because I had a very strong why. I knew why I wanted to build a presence.

At the start, it was to build a network in the marketing industry, become a key person of influence, which then just, you know, it gets snowballing into me getting opportunities one after another from my presence on the platform. but I think it all started with just having a vision, having a strong reason why I wanted to build a presence on the platform. I really like listening to it because I could feel like that I could relate. That also when I was at 20, I was like, why didn't I start earlier building my brain? Because then once I would graduate, you would have such a great head start and it would make everything easier.

So I think what you just described, I'm pretty sure it can be like a great message for people who are listening, maybe to start earlier and don't underestimate it. Definitely. I think everybody regrets that when they finally start building the Postal Run. Why did I not do it sooner? Because the benefits are exponential and the compound effect is so real when it comes to positive running.

The more consistent you are. I think the earlier you are, the better because more opportunities come your way. But I would say better late than never. I'm glad that I finally did it. And whether you're in your 30s, in your 40s and your 60s, just start is what I would say. I agree because I remember recently I saw like a statistics of people on LinkedIn. And it was compared to other platforms where you could see that there is such a low number of people using LinkedIn actively compared to other platforms.

And then from those people, if you look at the number of people who post consistently, it was still such a low number. So I think if you look at this, it shows you the perspective, how there is still so much a room. so much space to go there. So definitely don't wait or don't think that it's late to start. It's never left. 100%. And what I feel is that building your presence on LinkedIn is the easiest as opposed to other social media platforms.

And I'm saying that from experience because I have in the past tried to build a brand on Instagram. I've tried to be on TikTok. I've tried to be on all these other platforms. But they are very difficult because you have to create, create visual content, which is not everybody's cup of tea. but everyone can write. Anyone can write.

You know, you just have to write how you speak. You don't even have to write in a certain format to be on LinkedIn. Well, you do when it comes to formatting, but it has to be your own words. So writing is the easiest form of content creation. And LinkedIn offers that. Why, there are other, you know, formats that you can definitely post on LinkedIn, but writing format is still very supreme on LinkedIn, which I think is the easiest way to start creating content and start building

content. So it's such a pity that people don't explore that. Yeah, I totally agree. And also, you can follow and connect with people who share such valuable resources, such as sometimes people overthinking how to start or don't know. But if you follow the right people, I see like literally daily guides or advise how to start, how to start doing that. For example, I think just a few days ago, you posted, it was a post about algorithm, if I'm not mistaken. So like resources like this, if I saw it when I was starting out, it will give me like a great head start. So, you know, if you know who wants you follow, it just helps you a lot. Yeah, I learned so much when I became active on LinkedIn.

I learned so much from following, you know, the people I mentioned earlier, Sophie Miller, Leah Turner. People are posting highly valuable content. You know, they're giving away all of their secrets for free, how they're running their businesses. And with the video feed now that's come in, LinkedIn is promoting a lot of people to post, content about the day in their life and you get to see what actual entrepreneurs are doing. So there's a ton of value on the platform, which I don't think is there on other platforms with the same capacity, 100%. Yeah.

And one point that stuck with me from what you mentioned before was that you were maybe a bit afraid or scared to post in the beginning, like from the reception of others, which I think It's something that I can relate to it because when I was starting out, I felt the same. And I'm sure that so many people are there like that. So what advice would you give to someone who's in such a position? Yeah, I have actually had three people, three clients come up to me. We've had these discovery calls where they want to start building a person brand. They have these really incredible businesses already, but they want to scale those businesses.

So just scale their reputation. And I've had, you know, at least three people, I don't. remember incredible profiles back down at the last minute they're like, I'm not comfortable with sharing my story. I'm not comfortable with sharing my photos on LinkedIn. And I see that happening so often, which is such a shame because there's so much potential, you know, beyond these things. You're so focused on the judgment of others that you don't even explore your own potential. So my advice to anybody who is thinking about, you know, building their personal brand on any platform, whether that's LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, anywhere. Don't let that excuse be the reason

why you're not doing it. Because if you're not doing it, this, I'm sure there are more reasons to that. It's not because of the judgment, because when you start posting, you'll realize the judgment doesn't matter. The people who, they may judge you in the beginning, but when they will see you win, nobody is going to judge when they see you winning. So focus on winning, focus on learning, and focus on just growing from there because these people are not going to pay your bills. Your personal brand will definitely be able to pay your bills in the future. So think about that. I think about, you know, be focused on. And again, Thomas, I would go back to my answer at the beginning where I said,

having a why is so important. When you have a why in your mind, when you know why you're doing something, your strategy is going to be aligned with that. When your strategy is aligned with your why, that's when you're going to see the desired results. So if you don't know why you're creating a boss or rising in the fall space, you'd probably not get the results that you want. So your strategy needs to be aligned with your goals.

And that's when you will see results that you really want. and that is going to motivate you to keep going. So to be consistent and to have motivation, it's so important to know why you're doing something in the first place. So if you are thinking about building a Boston brand, just have a real honest moment with yourself as to why you're building it. If you know the answer to that, if I go back to the three people who back down,

they didn't know why they wanted to build a Boston brand. They just saw a lot of people posting on LinkedIn and they were like, this is interesting. They did not want to, you know, build a Boston brand to grow their businesses or for any XYZ reasons, they just could not figure out why they wanted to build it, which is why they backed out. And I think you just have this honest conversation with yourself,

and that's how you will know. I like it. I feel like that if I figure out my why in the beginning as well, it will make things easier too. So I agree with this advice. And if I may add something, I would say that it may also come to spotlight effect, because sometimes we think that, you know,

I hit the post and everyone, suddenly looking at me and going to judge me, but then you post it and people don't really care. Or they may be rather supportive than judgmental because why would they judge you? So be aware of spotlight effect, that it's not as, I don't want to say you are not as important as you think, but it's not true that everyone will be looking at you and waiting to judge. No, in fact, you should say that. You are not as important as you think. You know, you live in your own bubble, but then when you post on social media, there's a ton of people

posting. So you definitely get lost in the crowd and that's when you realize, oh my God, okay, to get attention, to be someone, I have to, you know, learn the platform and do so many other things. But yes, that's actually a very good thought to have in mind that you are not that important.

So just post and just figure out from there. Yeah. And then as we are talking about the posting, can you tell us what was it like for you kind of discovering your, let's say, LinkedIn strategy, such as what you are going to post, when you are going to post, and kind of experimenting and exploring until you get where we are now?

Yeah. So I would say my strategy has remained very similar from the start, except that I, I think I've changed what my goals become from the platform. So at the beginning, I was not posting to generate clients. I was not posting to find, you know, any sort of business. I was posting to build a network. I wanted to find more people in the space of marketing who I could connect with. build a relationship with in case I need a job in the future. I know people in the industry

who I can, you know, have access to to guide me with respect to, you know, my CV or just refer me to jobs and things like that. So when I was posting, I was posting a lot around marketing and just trying to become a person of influence in the field of marketing. And with that, my strategy was to post a lot of educational content. And by posting a lot of educational content, you know how they say the teacher learns the most in the classroom. I was learning. so much by educating others, by posting all this educational content on marketing. So it was one reason for that was very selfish that I was learning so much from the process of creating content. So at the start, it was a lot of educational content. But then when I started receiving inquiries

and I delve into building my coaching business, I started posting a bit of my story as well as to how I transitioned from, you know, a 9 to 5 marketing person into an entrepreneur, things like that. So with, I think every time my goals from the platform differed, you know, they would change by posting strategy, would change my content plan would change with that. And now I think whenever, you know, I actually don't do selling continuously. I sell periodically. I sell in seasons.

So when I need clients, I would pivot my content strategy to do more social proof, do more case studies, do more sales stuff. But primarily now my intention with my content is. to inspire people. It's to inspire as many people as I can to start posting on LinkedIn. Because when they do that, they are going to want to have a coach in the future. In a way, I have then, you know, preparing them for my sales content. But honestly, my intention is to just, you know, let people know about the potential of LinkedIn, how it has transformed my life. So I do a lot more storytelling now.

I do a lot more inspirational content to encourage more people to explore the potential of LinkedIn. I think that's how my strategy has pivoted. And then when I'm looking for clients, I would definitely explore that avenue as well. So in general, if I would recommend anyone, what type of content strategy you should have, it should be, like I said, aligned with your goals. But do a bit of educational content,

do a little bit of storytelling to nurture your audience. Educational content would be to reach as many people as you can within your industry. And then do a bit of storytelling to nurture the people who are coming into your community, let them know who exactly they're listening to who exactly they're, you know, connecting with. And then definitely introduce your offer, talk about that. You also want to make sales on LinkedIn.

So do a bit of that as well. That should be about 20 to 10% of your content. I really like the approach to kind of tailor your strategy to the goals that you've got. I think it's really smart. And when you mentioned about the inspiring or inspirational content, I think it must be very fulfilling because like when you share the content that inspires people and you read the messages or DMs like people are saying that it inspires or motivates them. What does it feel like? It must be very nice, isn't it?

Definitely. I think that's the best part about LinkedIn, the community. The community is so welcoming. First of all, if you start building a presence on LinkedIn, people are going to be so welcoming towards your efforts. And then they are so supportive in rooting for you. I have changed so much in the past two years whilst, you know, building my possible. brand and my business. And I have had people stay with me from the start and rooting for me till the very end. And, you know, I've had so many people grow with me on the platform. I've helped so many people grow on the platform. So I think the community is definitely the best part about LinkedIn. And this is one of the reasons why I enjoy being on the platform. You know, so many people say that they get bored of creating content or they get bored of engagement. I actually do not get bored of engagement. Engagement is what fuels me every day to boss. I love, you know, commenting. I love

chatting with people in the comments. And that is precisely why I think I have been posting on LinkedIn for so long and I continue to do so. Yeah, it was actually one of my questions would help you to stay consistent. So I think you kind of answered now. Yeah. Yeah, definitely, I would say definitely my why. The reason is to build my coaching business.

I want to, you know, whatever I'm teaching to my clients, I want to test it out for myself. So I keep experimenting with content on my own profile so that I'm, I'm teaching people what, you know, something that I've done myself. So that is very important for me to, my services to be authentic. I think one of the reasons why I'm so consistent on the platform. And then secondly, I really enjoy it. I enjoy the community aspect of it.

I don't have a VA answering people in the comments section. I do that myself. I check out all the comments that I possibly can because I receive quite a bit, quite a few of them. So I check out all the comments myself. And you know, something that I personally do, I'm not sure if not the norm, But something that I personally do is the people who comment under my post in the first hour, I would personally go and check out every person's profile and just browse through their content and perhaps give back.

I would always leave a comment on their profile as well just to make sure that, you know, I'm building a relationship with my audience. So I quite enjoy that. I don't get forward with that. I hope that after people listen to this, they will do it even more. And it will take you much more time to check everyone's profile. Yeah, it takes quite a while. which is why I end up not replying to so many people under my own comment section

because I'm so busy commenting on other people's posts, but I like that. But to be honest, I try to do that too, although understandably it might get a bit overwhelming or very time consuming. But I like to try to repay the favour. So like when someone shows up, no offense, but if it's not like AI comment or a super generic one, then I try to go there as well and, you know, comment and show the effort or support. because I think another point is that, for example, when there is someone like you who comments on content of a smaller creator,

I think it's also nice motivation or support. Because if I imagine when I was starting out, or I mean, I'm not a big creator, but if someone like a bigger creator commented on mine, I would see it just as a nice motivation or support to continue. So I think what you're doing is just a beautiful gesture. Definitely. And that has actually been very instrumental in my own journey when I first started. out. I remember the first boost of engagement I got was when Matt Parker commented on my post and Sophie Miller would comment on my post and that would bring like a community of people then

engage with my content because there's so many people who are, you know, seeing their comments on their feet. So definitely that makes a huge difference. And I think that is how it should be. You should be generous with your time. If you are on the platform to build a community, then you should be generous with your time to engage in other conversations outside of what you're producing on your own. I think that's how you continuously grow as a person as well, when you engage in those conversations and just open yourself to different perspectives. I like it. I think it's a great message to the audience. Don't underestimate it and try to be supportive to smaller creators as well. Yeah, 100%. Are you struggling to stay consistent on LinkedIn? Fan post helps you create high quality

posts in minutes so you can write faster, show up more, and stress way less. built by creators for creators. It's the easiest way to grow your presents without burning out. Try it free at fanpost.com. And have you actually ever had like a moment when you felt like, I don't know, that you want to give up or that you don't enjoy it as much as before or you never felt like that? Oh my God, Thomas, all the time. Okay, while I enjoy it, I do get joined out and I do, sometimes I want to focus on my

on my clients, on my work, because it gets really overwhelming. And especially the reason why I'm transitioning from one-to-one to group coaching is because I'm blessed as well. But I have so many people reach out to me asking for my coaching offer. There's so many people I have been neglecting. There's so many DMs I haven't answered. And that's because I just don't have the time because I'm also very busy creating my own content.

So sometimes that comes in the way of building my business. And that sort of balance is something. I'm still struggling with and I do get frustrated with. At times, I think maybe I should just hire a team to build my personal brand so I can focus on my business or what should I do? I'm always, to be honest, this is my current struggle. But at the same time, you know, go back to my why. Why am I still building my password?

Why am I doing it myself? Because I want to stay authentic. I want to stay connected with my audience. I want that, you know, that's really important for me in terms of my own. business because my own business is all about LinkedIn and how to grow a presence there. So if I'm not doing my own person running, you know, I just have this debate in my mind and that just gives me to keep going. But I definitely have moments when I want to quit and when I want to, you know, just focus on a business and not so much on building my presence. But like I said,

you just take a break, maybe vanish from the platform for a couple of days. And then you start to miss it and then you start to miss your routine. So I guess that's what I do. Actually, so, glad that we discussed this because I remember when it kind of, I don't want to say, started blow up, but when I started also getting a bit more engagement and DMs, I felt like that suddenly, I wasn't used to it, so it felt a bit overwhelming. And suddenly you get a lot of DMs and you want to be helpful and supportive and you are grateful for that. But at the same time, it's kind of becoming too much because understandably it can be like 24-7 just answering, I don't know, comments, engaging and doing LinkedIn.

So I'm glad that we can hear it from someone like you, like a bigger creator and talk about also this side that maybe some people don't realize that of course it's amazing. You've got a following and everything. But at the same time, they are like, I don't say negative side, but there is something behind it

that maybe people don't discuss as much. Yeah, it comes with a lot of that as well. I would agree. Because then you don't want to disappoint people. They've been so supportive of your journey. And at the same time, these conversations could, convert into business.

Business conversations, they could potentially become clients, but then it's impossible to keep up with everyone. So it's totally natural. You have to be, you have to prioritize with the conversations that you're having. You have to prioritize the schedule, definitely. And what then is it that helps you kind of to switch off or what is it that you do in your free time or when you want to have a break? Yeah.

So it took me a while to really build a routine, I would say, especially since I had not been an entrepreneur in the past. I've been a corporate person for so long. A 95 is when you would work and then I would switch off after that. But now when you become an entrepreneur, you know, you're working around the clock. You're constantly obsessing over your work. So it took me a while. I would say I'm still, I'm still finding a routine. But something that has helped me build a routine or just become more productive with my work is time blocking. So I block my LinkedIn time, my engagement time in the morning, one hour. And then I I send my son to nursery.

So when he's in nursery for those couple of hours, I make sure that I do my deep work. And when he gets back home, I make sure that I spend time with him. So blocking my time and then making sure that I'm doing the work that I'm supposed to do in those hours, committing to myself and being true to that has really helped me build a routine that I'm now, I would say, I'm proud of,

as opposed to previously when I would just be working endlessly. I stay awake until 12 at midnight. writing my LinkedIn post for next day. So now it's become better when I've, you know, managed to block out my calendar, making sure that I'm following that to the team. And as a new mom, I still struggle a lot with a routine. Like my son, sometimes he would stay up to 10 at 9 when his bedtime is at 7. So, you know, your routine would then just go off. You can't really predict everything. But it actually helps to, you know, making sure that you're true to your calendar. I think you are done a great example to any moms out there because, of course, I cannot imagine what it's like, but it must be hard to juggle being.

It's so hard on the presents and, you know, doing the work. So have you got any besides time management tips or advice for other moms? Maybe if they feel like that it's impossible or it's hard, what would you recommend them? Yeah, so first of all, you don't realize how much time you have in your knife until you become a mom. mom or a parent, you have no idea how much time you used to have and you waste it in your past life. Now that I've become a mom, every hour that I get without my child, I make sure that I do something productive. So I'm constantly multitasking and I'm constantly making sure that I'm, I'm not letting all that time that I'm away from my child go to waste because I'm paying to send

him to someone else who looks after him. So it's, and the fact that, you know, he's so young and he's away from his parents at this age. It views me all the more to make sure that I'm utilizing my time the best possible way. But I think my advice to moms would be I jumped into the world of entrepreneurship really quickly after becoming a mom. I would say it's fine to prioritize your child. It's fine to prioritize your other life. It's fine to accept the fact that your career milestones may slow down when you become a parent.

and you might have other priorities, it's okay to accept that. I think that's one of the biggest struggles with people who are so career-obsessed becoming parents. They really struggle to find that balance. But you will eventually realize that your balance is going to get affected. So you just have to accept the fact that they are going to be days when you are going to be a bad parent. There are going to be a days when you are going to be perhaps bad at your job. And that's just how life is. You have to accept that.

You have to accept that your career. my stones might slow down and that's okay you will pick pace you know you will find a routine it took me a while to find a routine but when you do it you know everything becomes much easier so it's just a phase once that passes to you know you can jump back on the speed train and you can just pick pace once again yeah i agree because it's like you've got 24 hours per day and of course you cannot do 100% one thing and neglect the other one so you need to find balance prioritize and sort out your priorities, I guess. Yeah, and I see so many other creators on the platform on LinkedIn who are launching,

you know, multiple offers. And I often find myself comparing, am I not doing enough? But then that's just how it is now. I don't have the time that they do. I don't have that many number of hours. And that's fine. I just have to accept that. And I have to do the best in the hours that I have.

So it's important to not compare yourself to somebody who is not in the same position as you. sure that you never fall in that comparison trap is what I remind myself. I think you also rest a great point because now, as you said, that you might be comparing yourself to someone else. I think that like looking someone from outside, if I look at your online presence, you know, on LinkedIn, what you talk about and stuff that you want, that I would expect that you are on top of everything because, you know, you've got a great following, presents and everything. And now you mentioned that sometimes you struggle as well and that you've got

other things to focus on. So again, it's like you never know. Don't compare yourself to others if you don't know the whole story. And that's a very good point, Thomas. I saw this podcast by Jay Chetty where he said, if you ever find yourself being envious to someone else, take a close look at the person. When you actually see what they did to get where they are, then your envy would turn into inspiration. So whenever you find yourself comparing your work to anybody else is like being like, oh, wow, they've done so much in such a little amount of time, but you don't know how they've managed to get there. So when you start, you know, instead of becoming envious,

you get inspired by them when you study that person. So that's a very good point, as you mentioned. You can never assess someone fully without actually learning about their journey. Yeah. And now we are talking of inspiration. When you were starting out on LinkedIn, did you have idea or even a goal that one day you will be inspired? for others because like you know with your following people reaching out and everything I'm pretty

sure there are so many people who see you as a motivation so did you imagine something like that before i had not am so happy that I have been able to become an inspiration now I would say I mean I don't know but it's a very good thought and that's exactly what I'm chasing I want to create an impact I want to inspire as many more people out there because there's still so many people who struggle on the platform to find lead that That's the number one struggle with the people I made. Like they're not able to find the right people for their business. Or they're doubting themselves to reach out to people.

You know, outreach is such a bizarre concept. Like so many people are so afraid of outreach and things like that. So my goal with my presence is to inform as many people as I possibly can on how they can essentially use the tool LinkedIn to grow their businesses. There's so much potential. But people are either they're not informed of the potential of the platform. They don't know how to use it. Or they have all these doubts. in their mind. So I want to break both these blocks at the same time with my Boston brand.

Like I want to inform people, but at the same time, I want to inspire them to take the action that they need towards building their businesses or their boss and brands. So if I could make an impact in either one of these areas, I think that's amazing and that's what I'm striving towards. Mission accomplished. And what would be some, I know you mentioned some names already or when we were discussing in the beginning but what are some people that you follow now and that are your inspiration or that you learn from yeah so Sophie has been one of the biggest inspiration for me on lincoln and i very

recently recorded a podcast with her so this was last month it was such a full circle moment for me because she was the exact person who inspired my journey and now i'm i'm part of her community and we were able to sit down and have a conversation on lincoln and i was so surprised that she was asking me all these questions about growing on the black when it was her that inspired me to start building on the presence on the platform. I mean, she's massive on LinkedIn, but despite of that, she was curious to learn about my journey and how, what tips I have to grow on the platform. So Sophie is definitely one of them.

And indeed, my good friend, as I mentioned, two of us are also partnering this year to host in real life events in London. We want to bring more of the online community in Boston. So that's something that we're working on. I hope to see you in one of those events as well. Do you know, when is it going to happen? Yeah, so we're still working on the logistics. We have to figure out the location, the place.

So hopefully in the next quarter, it should be in the next quarter. If you're around, definitely come to our event. I'll invite you possible. Big expectations. Definitely. And I'm excited to do this with a friend, somebody who, you know, who's also obsessed with LinkedIn as I am and the two of us coming together, bringing our community.

I hope that we are able to bring as many people to this event. And who else? Yasmin, I love Yasmin, Alec. He's amazing. And I... Yeah, have you opened away yet? I checked it with him, but we haven't recorded episode yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Have him on. He's amazing because I, last year, I did a webinar series. He was in one of the sessions. And he's just an amazing person to speak to. He, again, like the two of us, he's obsessed with LinkedIn. and he has these incredible insights. So he's amazing to follow. And again, he is doing, his mission is very similar to mine to inspire as many people with their entrepreneurship journey and with, you know, with their presence on LinkedIn.

So he's wonderful. I really like Yasmin. Yeah, I think he's got such big following. But still I feel like that he's, of course, we doesn't know each other personally, but I still feel like he's so authentic and nice. Although, of course, he's such a big name. So it must be overwhelming. and hard to keep up and everything. But I feel like it's genuine and nice person,

so I'm glad to hear it. He is. He's genuinely a very nice person. Like, he speaks to you, like you're a member of his community, which again, like, he is the actual person behind his profile. He engages with everyone personally.

So it feels like you already know him because you speak to him directly. Yeah. And sorry, I interrupted before if there was someone else that you wanted to mention. Yeah, I think the, these few have been very instrumental in my journey and I definitely recommend anyone to check out their profile and learn from them because Sophie creates a lot of informative content on social media marketing and Yasmin he creates a lot of great content around LinkedIn so definitely check them out. Yeah. And I think it would be shame not to ask you because right now you've got almost 65K followers as we are speaking, which, let's be honest, it's a huge number. So if you've got like any tips or advice in case people want to MS large following as well or something like that, what maybe helped you to grow, unless there is something behind consistency and posting quality content?

Yeah, okay. So definitely posting consistently and quality content. content but okay good question if i have to answer beyond you know the general advice because i think sometimes sorry sometimes people look for shortcuts but it's it's like not really shortcuts like you need to show up and post quality content so it resonates which is quite obvious but in case there is something even on top of it that you'll add yeah yeah so you see 65 000 but you don't see that i have been working for the last two years to build my following it hasn't been overnight When I started posting on the platform, I had about 700 followers. And I think I hit my first 10,000 in a couple of months.

And I did that by posting every single day. So posting consistently is definitely very, very crucial in growing a following and growing a presence on any platform, I would say. But at the same time, you have to, before you start building a processor brand, before you start posting, observe what's working on the platform. So many people don't do that. They just jump straight away into posting content about themselves, about their business. this, about, you know, whatever feel of industry they're in. If you start by observing, just make

a sense, especially on LinkedIn, where there are only a very few trends. There aren't that many trends happening. There are a few topics that always perform better than others, you know, topics about leadership, for example, and we all have some experience of leadership in some capacity. If you've worked in the corporate sector, you have definitely experienced leadership and you can talk about that, for example, and other topics that do really well on the platform, for example, remote working, your style of working, things like that. So just observe on the platform before you start posting on the platform. I think that will be so helpful in finding out how you can then contribute, because your unique selling point is going to be your story. So where does your story

fit in under these topics that are performing really good on LinkedIn? For example, as I mentioned, under leadership. What's your story in that subject? What's your story about remote work? Are you working remotely or do you enjoy going into the office? What can you add to those conversations? So have a thing, go around and observe what others are doing. And then when you start posting content, start assessing what the audience likes from you. People are going to engage with your content. So just have and people are going to start DMing you as well. Inquiries are going to come your way when you stay consistent on the platform. So make a note of then, again, then observe what people are asking from you,

what people are expecting from you. I would say 70 to 80% of writing is research. And only 20% is actually putting it on a piece of paper or on a LinkedIn post. So research before you post, and that is going to be so helpful in growing a strong personal brand. And secondly, I would say utilize your story. Storytelling is incredible in terms of nurturing your audience. When you grow up following, it's also very important that you nurture that audience.

You build some sort of a connection with them. They don't just become a number, but they become a loyal, a trusted member of your community. And you can only have that when you're sharing some sort of impact that has happened in your journey. Just share your transformation, share your origin story or share your progress. When you keep that connection with your audience, I think that's really helpful in growing on the platform in a sustainable way, that your audience also grows with you. I like it and I agree. I think sometimes people don't know what to write about,

but as you said, everyone has stories. You just probably know how to write about it, but then you've got, again, a lot of people writing about advice on how to write, so I wouldn't overthink it. And I think that's a great point that if you share stories from your own life, it makes people to relate.

And sometimes I think it comes back to what we discussed before that some people might be afraid to talk about, you know, what happened to me or not to discuss only highs, but also lows. But then I think it shows that they are authentic and more humane, and it actually makes people to relate to. So I would also say, give it a try because you never know if actually that might be what works out the most in the end. Yeah. In fact, the best stories I possibly like to read are transformations. Everybody has a win that they're celebrating, but how did you actually get to that win? You must have started from somewhere.

So talk about that. Whenever you're sharing a win on LinkedIn, share it from the very start. Tell us where exactly did you actually start this journey and how did you get there? And it could be just one sentence that I, two years ago, I had zero following on social media. Today I have X amount of followers, for example. So it could be a plain statement like that,

but just give the people background of how you've achieved that win. And that makes such a difference in storytelling. And I think it makes it also much more relatable. Because if I see a big creator posting about success, I can be like, of course, because they are a big name. But then if you say that people might forget that even big creators had to start somewhere. So if you show like the laws or the beginning or the start or the background, it makes it much more relatable and I would say also achievable for those people who are just in the beginning.

Yeah, exactly. And what we previously discussed about converting envy to inspiration, that's how you do that. If you just talk about your wins, people are going to be envious. They're not going to see the full picture. But if you talk about the transformation behind that wind, like how did you get there? What took you to get there? And that's something that people would then take inspiration from instead. So it's a transformation.

It's a form of storytelling, which I think is incredible in terms of forming that connection with your audience. I totally agree. And as we are discussing, creating the content and writing the stuff. It will be shame not to ask you what is your take on AI. And, you know, AI in general or AI when it comes to content creation

and then maybe share your experience such as what you use. Yeah, AI is incredible. I think if somebody's not using AI in their content creation journey, they are five steps behind because AI keeps evolving. New tools keep coming up in this industry.

And it's so helpful to use AI in the content creation process. I can't even imagine going back now. Now that I know that I can use AI in my content creation process, I've become so accustomed to it. And there's so many people who complain that you've become lazy if you're using AI or you're not using your own brain cells and things like that. But the thing is, you're still the person behind the strategy.

You're still the person strategizing. You're still the one who is controlling the outcome. You're just using AI as a tool. So I use AI a lot in my content creation now at this point, and I'm obsessed with tools. You know, the first thing we spoke about when we entered this conversation was the tool that we're recording this podcast on. So I love tools in general. So I'm definitely obsessed with this wave of AI and learning about different tools.

And I've had the pleasure to partner with so many brands as well through my personal brand and get to know a lot of AI tools. The ones that I regularly use, obviously, chat GBT. And now deep seek is really, really good as well. I find the same questions getting different responses from the two platforms, chart GPD and deep seek. So I often keep them both open and ask the same queries and see how different they are. And they are quite different in responses. Can you say some comparisons or in what way they differ in your experience? I generally, I have a prompt for chat GPD that I use for writing.

So what I do is I use that prompt and I feed the topic that I'm interested in. Now I started doing that on deep seek. Sometimes the results that come out of deep seek are far better as opposed to chart GPT. It's hard to explain, but it's the same prompt, but the outcome is different is what I'm seeing from the two platforms right now. So I'm still in the phase of trying out both of them separately. But I feel like I'm trying to make use of every AI tool possibly to get my writing to become better because I'm obsessed with it. I feel like writing with AI is very tricky. A lot of people don't get it.

So with AI tools, I think there are so many that you can explore. And it all comes down to how you're prompting the AI to produce the outcomes. So definitely explore AI with writing as well. Make sure that you're prompting it right and just keep exploring it. My one tip with AI writing would be that feed the AI tool with the position. So for example, just let the AI tool know how they need to be thinking. Think as a copywriter to write this post. for example, or think as an HR consultant to write this post.

So when you tell the AI to take a position, the results definitely get better. So that's my one tip for prompting, I would say. I like it. And I agree because it's not about it. Yeah, to certain extent, it's about the tool, but it's primarily about the person behind the tool, such as what you feed it. Because sometimes I'm pretty sure you see it, like even in the comments, like terrible AI comments that are super obvious.

But then if it's someone else who actually does some effort, it makes all the difference. So don't be lazy, prompt properly. Absolutely. That's the thing. So AI, I don't have a problem with AI comments. I have a problem with people being lazy with AI comments. Like make an effort and make your AI comment sound like you instead of AI. Just that little extra effort can save your reputation.

Yeah, yeah, totally. And how do you keep up with the AI? I use someone who follows it. do read the news? Do you follow the right people? Or what's your strategy? Yeah, I think LinkedIn is full of amazing people to follow when it comes to AI. I very closely follow Ruben Hassid and Charlie Hills. They're amazing when it comes to dropping every new information, every new detail about AI. Especially Charlie has upped his game. He's doing so well in the space of AI.

Shout out to say Charlie. Yeah, he's amazing. Shout out to Charlie. He's amazing. And I've seen him last post at bizarre times. So basically whenever there's a new launch, he would post it immediately. He's not even posting at his fixed time anymore. Breaking the news, right? I've seen it as well. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So they're incredible people to follow when it comes to.

I don't have to read the newspaper. I don't have to read the news or anything. I could just follow these people. But I honestly, I feel the same. It's like a source of the news because you follow the right people. They serve it to, you know, like bite-tives so that it's not too long. It's an engaging format. It's right on time.

so it's just a perfect source. Absolutely. It's by its size. It's so easy to consume as opposed to reading long articles, definitely. Yeah. And just to be aware of time, as we will be finishing soon, I know that we discussed it before already, but what is it actually that you like to do if you've got any free time outside of your work, LinkedIn,

and your family stuff? Do you have any hobbies like in your free time that you enjoy doing? Yeah, I don't have much free time now that I'm mom but before that I so I've always been a creative person I used to paint a lot and there was a time in COVID when I actually built a business around it I started selling my paintings I used to sell my artwork and through that I was able to fund my education in the UK that's pretty cool I had no idea yeah yeah I had this Instagram page called pretty little um pretty I forgot the name but I I had this Instagram page where I would sell my paintings.

And that's essentially how I got into marketing. By building my Instagram page and I used to do a lot of paid ads to promote my art stuff. And it really took off. I was able to make a lot of money from that and then just, you know, that fee to fly to the UK. So that's something that I used to do. I don't paint anymore. Now I think in my free time, I just like to spend it with my son and just obsessed over different social media platforms. as much as possible, that's what I do.

And with the print, is it something that maybe you might come back in the future? Or is it like in the past and not anymore? I think I would come back to it in the future. But not in the near future, maybe in the far, far future. It's one of my dreams to have my own exhibition someday in life. I definitely want that to happen. So maybe after I'm retired. Yeah, it sounds, you know, one never know.

And with the platforms that you mentioned, does it mean that you are building your brand on other platforms as well? Or is it like a plan? I am planning on building my presence outside of LinkedIn. Now that I've mastered LinkedIn, I would like to explore other platforms. Also because I'm a social media marketing person at heart, I want to keep learning other platforms. And right now I'm focused on LinkedIn and building my newsletter, LinkedIn T. But apart from that, I want to share more of my story. So perhaps maybe on Instagram or TikTok, either of these two, let's see what happens.

Hopefully, sometime this year. Yeah. And you just said it. I wanted to ask you, why is it called LinkedIn T? LinkedIn T? Well, when I first started posting on the platform, I wanted like a buzzword that people could associate me with. I think that's one way to stand out when people start associating you with something.

And in my carast, I would title them as LinkedIn T. this is what's trending on LinkedIn. So initially I used to share all the updates that LinkedIn would drop, and I would call it, you know, me spilling LinkedIn tea. And that just became my headline and I have not, you know, removed it since. Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. I thought that it's maybe associated with British culture that, you know, Britain and tea, but I don't know.

I'm not a tea drinker, honestly. I prefer coffee more than tea. Paradox, yeah. And the question that I like to ask, kind of everyone, are there any books that were impactful to you and you would recommend? Oh, I love that question. I love recommending my favorite book. So my most favorite book, I would say, and this is something that I would recommend anyone, whatever facet of life you're in, whatever your ambition is, definitely read how to build and, how to win. Sorry.

I know it. Yeah, I would have prepared the name. I would have had I known this question would be asked, but it's by Dale Carnegie, incredible business owner. How to win friends and influence people. How to win friends and build an influence, yeah,

something like that line. It's an incredible book. And in the very first chapter of that book, he says that to understand the principles of that book, keep coming back to it, keep reading that book again and again. Because the principles mentioned in that book are so applicable to everyone's life.

And I've forgotten quite a bit of it. and that's something that I want to do again. So it's one of those books that you want to, you know, keep coming back to, keep reading and keep learning those principles again and again. He talks about how essentially people respond to, you know, communication. How do you basically break that wall with people to get comfortable with them? And he talks about these psychological principles that are so common when it comes to breaking that wall with people. And I think it's an incredible read when it comes to understanding your own psychological.

imagine how do you respond to different people and what sort of topics do you take an interest in? But you know what, Fatima? When you said that it's the book that you would recommend to everyone, I was wondering which one is it going to be. And when you mentioned this one, it will be probably my answer as well. It was like one of the biggest ones. I was so happy to hear this one. Have you read it as well?

I did. Yeah. I still remember when I read it for the first time. And I agree that it's like a book that it's worth really. reading regularly because I don't know when it's been written but it's been in a long time but it's still so valuable

even these days and I'm pretty sure it will be in the future so it was a great great definitely it makes you understand the psychology of a normal person like how do we break that wall with people essentially you know little tips of calling somebody's name

when you're speaking to them it makes such an impact and things like that I think these principles you're not aware of unless you read about them, unless you know you gain that knowledge. So definitely would help anyone out. Yeah, I was going to say that some things might sound obvious, but we don't really realize. So like, as you said, with the name,

it's one of the biggest takeaways. And I still remember that today. It's true. Yeah. And then we obviously discussed it already, but can you summarize where people can find you, follow you, and promote any of your services?

Yeah, follow me on LinkedIn. That's the one platform that I'm prioritizing as of now. Hopefully any other platform you would find out through LinkedIn. And my newsletter is called LinkedIn T. I'm planning on relaunching it this year, making it massive, making it a weekly issue. So in that you can expect LinkedIn insights. I plan on sharing my own insights. So I do a lot of tests on LinkedIn. As I mentioned earlier in our conversation, I like to make sure that I'm testing out the platform for my clients, I can tell them what's working and what's not working and things like that. So I plan on sharing those insights in my weekly newsletter as well. So that's something that you can follow if you're interested in the topic.

And yeah, just on LinkedIn. Awesome. And then the very last question, is there something that I should have asked you and did not or any final piece of wisdom or anything that you would like to share before we finish? Before finish, all right. I think my final advice would be to anyone listening, if you're feeling stuck or if you want to start building a possible brand or if you want to build a business or anything like that, something that I would recommend is to just take action. It's so important to start that thing instead of assessing and overthinking about it in your mind. Action is the best way to get direction. If I would not have taken action two years ago in building my boss. RAN, I would have never known that this is something, this is a potential that I have. I can coach other people in the industry now at this point. If I had never taken that action, if I had never started building my boss of Rahn, I would have never discovered it.

So it could be anything. It could be any, anything that you're interested in. Just take action and that is going to help you get that, get the direction. Yeah, it's perfect. I think a great piece of advice to finish with. So I want to say a big thank you, Fatima. I really enjoyed it. I think it was such a nice, positive and friendly wife.

I feel like that it flew so quickly, so we'll be happy to catch up anytime in the future again, or maybe in person in London in the meeting, they try planning. So thank you so much. I really enjoyed it, and I will keep following and supporting. And thank you. Likewise.

Thank you so much for having me. It was so lovely you speak to your Thomas, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person. Thanks for listening to Project Buy with Tomlin. Check the show notes for all. the links and don't forget to subscribe, like and share your feedback. Speak soon.