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What AI Can’t Replace: The Human Story with Vishma Mistry
17 Plays3 months ago
At The Second Voice, we explore the inner conversations leaders rarely say out loud.
What happens when the thing you’ve built your entire career on — your words, your creativity — suddenly feels replaceable? For copywriter and storyteller Vishma Mistry, facing both a life-altering stroke and the rise of AI became an unexpected mirror. This is the story of rediscovering humanity in a world obsessed with automation. If this episode resonated, it is likely because the second voice is active in your leadership too.
Connect with Vishma
https://www.mistryofwords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mistryofwords/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishma-mistry-84082634/
Hosted by Luisa Hogan, leadership resilience strategist and founder of Vermelho Consulting.
Luisa works with founders, executives, and senior leaders who carry real responsibility and want to lead with steadiness, clarity, and self-trust under pressure.
Her work focuses on nervous system regulation, leadership identity, and the inner dialogue that shapes how leaders show up when things are hard.
Work With Luisa
If this episode sparked reflection, here are ways to go deeper:
• Leadership resilience workshops and advisory
• Keynotes and curated live experiences
• The Steady Leadership framework and private sessions
Learn more at: vermelho.com.au
A Note From Whisper & Thread
The Second Voice is proudly supported by Whisper & Thread.
Whisper & Thread creates intimate apparel embroidered with quiet, internal messages designed to interrupt negative self-talk.
Each piece carries a reminder on the inside. Not performative. Not loud. Just for you.
Because leadership self-talk does not start in the boardroom.
And confidence is built in the moments no one sees.
Explore Whisper & Thread at: whisperandthread.com
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
What happens when the thing you've built your entire career and business on, your creativity and your words, suddenly feels replaceable? Our guest today is a copywriter and storyteller, and she faced both a life-altering stroke and the rise of AI, and both of those things became an unexpected mirror for her.
00:00:20
Speaker
This is her story of rediscovering humanity in a world obsessed with automation. Welcome back to the Second Voice Podcast, where we uncover the conversations that leaders don't say out loud.
00:00:33
Speaker
I'm your host, Louisa Hogan, and today we're diving into what it really means to rebuild purpose and identity when technology like ai and life try to rewrite your story for you.
00:00:47
Speaker
My guest is Vishma Mistry and she's a five star rated copywriter and a content marketer. She's the founder of Mystery of Words and passionate about helping businesses build their personal brand and achieve their goals with creative storytelling. She's got over 10 years of experience in copywriting and online marketing and branding. But more than that, she actually has a very inspiring story that I'm so excited to learn more about and for you to hear about. And it includes rebuilding her business after having a stroke. And I can't imagine what that must be like. And also navigating changes with businesses now preferring to use AI over
00:01:31
Speaker
copywriters for content creation. So, Vishma, I can't wait to hear more from you. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited to have you here with us. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
00:01:43
Speaker
No worries. Well, let's let's delve into your background. Tell us a little bit more about who you are, what your story is, what you're currently doing. Let's start from there.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, so... um As you all know, my name is Fishman Mystery and obviously that feeds into the name of my business, Mystery of Words. um Originally, I'm from the UK and I moved to Australia um about 14 years ago now. So my career initially started off as a marketing professional, so educated and and so on with, um yeah, with marketing. And, um,
00:02:24
Speaker
started my career in that sense. And um and then, yeah, I yeah think I was about 25 when I realised that writing is a passion and a skill that I naturally also have.
00:02:36
Speaker
um Albeit, yeah, I kind of, in the meantime, what I did was to sort of pursue that. I did freelance journaling sort of, which allowed me to do a bit of writing in that sense.
00:02:50
Speaker
um And then, yeah, in the meantime, it was obviously still continuing my marketing career. And while I was in that marketing realm, so i was working at an IVF and fertility clinic for, yeah, almost eight years.
00:03:04
Speaker
And, um yeah, like all the marketing documents, website copy, everything was coming my way. And I realized, oh okay you know, I'm doing all of this um professionally.
00:03:16
Speaker
And one day I had a light bulb moment and thought, probably just do this like as a side hustle, you know, get some extra pocket money in. And so, you know, COVID hits in and I was like, oh, okay, well, you know, I'm doing this, but I can also, I've got time now, like, you know, you're at home and you have that extra time to sort of do stuff. So I was like, okay, I'll set this up. And then obviously you go back to the office and things change. So yeah. And then I happened to quit a job, um,
00:03:48
Speaker
without going into another job um for various reasons. um And, um yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, guess one can only do so many jobs, right, like job applications. So I thought I'll give this a go. And, yeah, I signed up to a job board um with Kate Toon.
00:04:12
Speaker
And, yeah, Then I just started pitching and for somebody that's an introvert, at picking up the phone and actually you know getting out there was one of the biggest challenges at the early stages that I had to overcome because it's easy to hide behind an email.
00:04:31
Speaker
But I think the best um yeah the but the best relationships are built through phone calls and that one-on-one rather than hiding behind an email. so Yeah, ah and then fast forward five years, here I am.
00:04:47
Speaker
So I do copywriting for businesses, as you know, and um copywriting involves everything from websites, blogs, socials, all that marketing, all that communication that you put out there, that brands put out there.
00:05:03
Speaker
But I focus more on human-to-human connection, um not human-to-machine, machine-to-human or human-to-machine. And the the I guess the main foundation of the type of work that I do is also storytelling. So I like to infuse that story element of the business and to really understand who they are, what they do, why they do it, the essence of them.
00:05:31
Speaker
And I guess the second leg that I have at Mystery Awards is brand design. um So yeah, that's a passion that I kind of discovered while I was also working on websites as a marketing professional and realized how colors, fonts, imagery kind of connect with audiences.
00:05:53
Speaker
So I kind of went in and sort of did some self studying on that to see, okay, well, what, what really has an impact on branding? And how do we connect with them from that psychological perspective? so Yeah, so I do infuse that. So if somebody comes to me and says we want to build a brand, a logo, it's very much working with them on one-on-one basis and going, right, what's your brand story? What are you trying to tell? Who are your audience?
00:06:22
Speaker
And, yeah, and then using that psychology of fonts, colours, imagery to combine all of that with the story that then comes in with the words. Yeah. Amazing.
00:06:33
Speaker
Amazing. i just, I love, you know, the evolution of you and how you've discovered these passions along the way. And I want to take a step back because, you know, at the beginning you said you were working somewhere and then you thought, oh, I could do this for myself and, you know, do it as a little bit of a a side hustle. What was the self-talk there? Because we're all about self-talk on this podcast. Like why why were you saying we can do it as an extra pocket money and not delve in then and start a whole business? What was holding you back?
00:07:02
Speaker
in in that time? I think initially at the time, obviously you think responsibilities, you know, you have mortgages, you have, you want to put food on the table and you know, be standing on your own feet. So, and considering that I've never been in that, I mean, I know I've studied um international marketing and business, but I've never delved into that business element at the time.
00:07:28
Speaker
Like I have done parts of it, so I have that knowledge. But when you have been in a corporate world for so long um and then you have obviously other responsibilities, I think the responsibilities are the main things that really hold you back from taking a leap until obviously you do land flat on your face and you go, right, I need to do something here. um So, yeah, for me that was that was the that was the initial thought process at the at the beginning when it kind of,
00:07:58
Speaker
you know, because i was still in my marketing job at that point. And it was like, okay, well, you know, I'm not getting anywhere here. So maybe this will help in the meantime as well while I look, you know, navigate everything else in life. And it's not easy to just leave a job without going into another job. here Because, yeah, I mean, you know, that that the best thought process you have is the responsibilities that you have. Yeah.
00:08:28
Speaker
So true, but it's amazing how that there's always a catalyst. that I mean, when I started my business nine years ago, my consulting practice, you know, it was because I too found myself in a situation where I kind of thought I had no choice. It's like, well, I either either do this or, you know, I might not have work. So, you know, here we go. We've got to do it. And and it's funny because looking back, i'm like, wow, would you have been as successful if you hadn't been in that position? Or is it a case of you could have just done it earlier if you realized it wasn't that bad? You know, it's kind of a Do you need the catalyst or is it, you know, something that you could have just done? Like people listening, you know, thinking about starting their own businesses.
00:09:13
Speaker
I don't know. It's like I feel like looking. think with your gut instinct. um Yeah. Yes, sometimes you need a catalyst. I think for me that was the catalyst where I left a job without going into something else and I didn't want to just sit around and not do anything.
00:09:28
Speaker
um But I think also like that passion drives you in a direction. um Like i said, you know, when I was sort of in my mid-20s is when I realized, okay, this is where the passion lies. And in that sense, I pursued, you know, freelance journaling and and tested the waters there and and tried to really go, okay, well, this is the first step. Where will it take me in the future?
00:09:54
Speaker
um i think yeah if you if I think, yeah, for me, it was just a gut instinct. It was like it's now or never. And once I got into it, i was like, I can never go back to the corporate world.
00:10:08
Speaker
I think everyone who starts a business and, that you know, is working in their passion will say that i I don't think I could ever go back to corporate world. um i love I love what I do. And, you know, i i think Taking the leap was the best thing I ever did. And most people that I talk to on this podcast as on entrepreneurs are like, no, I'd never go back. Right. So, yeah yeah, it's quite interesting. Tell me more about being an introvert. You know, I'm i'm an extrovert myself.
00:10:35
Speaker
So I love talking to introverts. My husband's an introvert. I love talking to introverts because it's it's just a world that I'm not familiar with. And I love that you say, you know, you can hide behind emails, but the best outcomes you're going to have are when you have those conversations and those and phone calls and the face to face.
00:10:54
Speaker
What advice can you give to the introverts out there who are in that same position, who like to hide behind emails? You know, how did you step out of that? hat what What did you tell yourself to give yourself the bravery? ah Oh, good question. um I think for me it was um sort of, yeah, I mean, i think it was just that, yes, there was a hesitation picking up the phone, I'll be honest. it
00:11:26
Speaker
And every introvert you will sometimes, some some may be great at it. um I know for me at the beginning when I was um in the marketing area, there was those hesitations of picking up the phone. And then I think that's what sort of drove me and go,
00:11:42
Speaker
and was like, no, you need to overcome this fear yourself now. If you're going to do this, you've got to really overcome it. And it's that self-talk to yourself. And, yes, those first few phone calls you will probably shake while you are on the phone. You will probably mumble a little. But um just remember, like, everyone understands. And you know what? The worst thing is going to happen is they will put the phone down on you. Yeah. And that's it, you know. or they'll just say, I don't have the time to talk to you. Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
And that's it. But I think once you kind of get into there, and and it's remembering that you're, you know, having a conversation. So try and relax yourself. I find that having a couple of bullet points as well would help for an introvert because I know as introverts, when you're trying to have a conversation, you kind of blank out a little because you're not in that comfort zone.
00:12:35
Speaker
um And I think over a phone call, that really helps because they can't see what you're got the script in front of you. yeah You know, yeah if you're out you'll be fine. And, um you know, you you stumble across, it's fine.
00:12:52
Speaker
The main thing is, yeah, just the only way you're going to overcome that is pick up the phone. And if it helps, try it a couple of times with a friend, ah you know, um and and just say like, okay, if i I'm just going to do a role play with you.
00:13:11
Speaker
Can you you know, and, and that can then help as well to push you. a couple of role plays, get that out there and then slowly build it up. Amazing.
00:13:22
Speaker
So how long has your business been going for now? So it's been five years, albeit. Um, so I did celebrate five years in February this year. Amazing.
00:13:34
Speaker
February was when I started my business. It's a good month. Yeah. And, um, But I've had a year's break in the middle because um I had a stroke last April, April 2024, which is a bit of a shock.
00:13:55
Speaker
um And, um yeah, and then obviously finding out that I carry a genetic mitochondrial disease as well, which has also driven me to create something else on the side called Cells of Courage.
00:14:10
Speaker
to raise awareness um ah because it's a rare disease that, um yeah, it's actually quite life-threatening in a lot of ways. There's no cure at the moment.
00:14:22
Speaker
um And, it's yeah, it's been a journey because I've seen how that had sort of – like my mom had passed away with it when I was a little girl at the age of nine and then my sister passed away with it.
00:14:38
Speaker
when she was 16. And now my brother's also going through it at the moment. um And yeah, so it was a bit of a shock. ah So it's been a journey um in itself.
00:14:53
Speaker
but And at the time, I think ah for me as a writer, it was really weird reader and writer because I read a lot. ah Not being able to read and write was a shock like I wasn't able to comprehend words. So that was a bit of a shock. But it was a determination that has brought me to where I am today um and not giving up. I think once you understand, like, you have that determination within yourself and the willpower, I think anything, you can conquer anything. So, yeah. um So while I'm still in that journey of you know, this whole,
00:15:33
Speaker
new area of life in some senses are back and stronger than ever and I think hopefully that gives hope to other people inspiration um that you know if I mean did me this time last year who I was not able to even speak properly ah or and do the work that I'm doing now again so yeah so it's been a it's been a journey but I'm rebuilding so um I started, that so for Mystery of Words, it's kind of rebuilding from scratch like a phoenix. It's kind of re regrowing itself. so Wow.
00:16:16
Speaker
um That is so so, it's inspiring because so many people would have given up at that point, you know, and, you know, a stroke and then finding out about, know,
00:16:30
Speaker
the disease that you have, like all of that's pretty intense. And, and you know, did did you have moments of, I mean, you must've had moments. Like, i mean, this sounds like a silly question. Like you must've had moments of like, I'm never gonna have that all again, you know?
00:16:44
Speaker
Did that cross your mind or were were you, nope, I'm determined to get through it and I will have it all again. Like what what was happening for you? um for me, it's always been determination that I will have it all back.
00:16:58
Speaker
like I know it might all be in a very different form. I get that. Like, you know, it's like almost a caterpillar coming out as a new butterfly for me. um And, um yeah, no, I don't think I've ever let that go. And I think when something happens is when you realise who you are as a person. For some, that might be succumbing to the process and going, that's that's it, no more.
00:17:24
Speaker
ah For me, it was more of a drive. and a determination and that resilience of, no, anything's possible I'm going to conquer this and get through it.
00:17:36
Speaker
um To the point that, yeah, within like six months of being in that situation, i was like, I don't want to get back into my work. And my husband was like, no, are you sure you want be doing that?
00:17:50
Speaker
So even sort of six months in, I was like, well, I can't, you know, because the brain is a use it or lose it machine. and um And it's interesting because it's actually driven me also more to learn about ah neuroscience and neuroplasticity and epigenetics and how the brain works and so on. so And I'm glad that you know at six months I still did like the odd little bit of work for my clients because it's ah it's coming back in and you know you're like, what did i used to do? how did I do this before?
00:18:27
Speaker
But um it's interesting how the brain just knows what you used to do and it's kind of like and and I was doing the work like, you know, whether it was like just fixing up SEO for a client or, yeah.
00:18:40
Speaker
Well, congratulations to you because that's a remarkable achievement, a remarkable achievement, and I think you deserve to be proud of yourself for that. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:52
Speaker
It's inspiring. And anyone listening who's gone through something really difficult where you feel like I'm not going to come back from this, like take heart that you can, you know, and, um you know, certainly, certainly keep your eye on the prize in that regard if you can. Yeah.
00:19:10
Speaker
And then coming out of that, so, you know, let's let's move on to, you know, copywriting today and the age of AI. And what are you facing with that? Because it must be a bugbear of yours. I know that it's all over my feeds everywhere where people complain about being able to notice straight away any copy that's been generated by chat the dreaded chat GPT and the M dash that's everywhere. Tell me more about your thoughts on that and, and you know,
00:19:37
Speaker
what you're facing now in your business, you know, in in today in today's age? Yeah. um Look, I think number one, like I said, um for me, it's because obviously there's been that year's break and everything has changed in terms of the in whole environment with copy and AI and ai really lifting off.
00:19:58
Speaker
um That means that clients have moved on. And that means clients are now using a lot of AI because I've had conversations with them and they're just like, yeah, you know, we're just using AI to do that. ah We'll be in touch if we ever need anything, but it's AI.
00:20:14
Speaker
um So obviously, yes, from a copywriting perspective, it's re-navigating, well, where do I take the words from? um But my answer to AI and anyone that,
00:20:30
Speaker
is curious about copywriting and wants to get into that frame and is in that, you know, feeling like that uncertainty is at the end of the day, AI can't do what your brain can do.
00:20:42
Speaker
And I've noticed with AI is brands ah brands and the communication are becoming so generic. So same, same. There's no emotion to them. There's no empathetic. There's no story in them.
00:20:57
Speaker
that the connections that you would generally have, you're not having. And businesses are seeing that, I guess, from, ah you know, the sales that they have or just even like the engagement on on certain, you know, on their marketing and and content marketing and social media and so on as well.
00:21:18
Speaker
um And um I think one of the posts I did put out recently was – because I always get asked at networking events how AI has also affected me in copywriting, is um at the end of the day, if you want to, it's now more than ever, it's more important to be more human and to have that human-to-human connection, that one-on-one, you show up in your networks, you show up as a human being in every piece of um communication that you put out there. if you want to be in the forefront of ai um, because yeah.
00:22:00
Speaker
So I think now more than ever, that's my answer now more than ever is it's more important to just show yourself as a human being. Uh, I'm not, not just a bot.
00:22:11
Speaker
Um, so yeah. And I think, um, at the same time, I think it's also, I mean, I'm not giving up on, you know, the words I think, um,
00:22:24
Speaker
Words are really important and the words that we use are very important. so And I've seen like a couple of people where they will come back and go, can you fix this up because it's not hitting correctly or it's not getting that drive, it's not getting the business in, it's not connecting, um and it's very dry. So you do get that, but it takes time for them to do that.
00:22:49
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, otherwise at the moment, it's also then focusing on other ways of putting communication out. Yeah. I guess for you, it's about using your own copywriting skills to get out there to people that AI is not the be all and end all and that, ah you know, that human to human connection, as you say.
00:23:10
Speaker
is is is now more important than ever. I mean, I i noticed that in in LinkedIn itself. I just got so sick of all the same AI generated posts. It's all so samey. I just started creating less than a minute video clips of my thoughts. And those have got so much better engagement because people just scroll past copy now, just scroll past words because they're so sick of seeing any words because they all sound the same. So- I think that's where people like you can provide so much value and using your own skills to to illustrate that to people to say, hey, like this is still valuable. Do you think you'll you'll ever use AI yourself? And then just it like, can you use it as a a tool for you to save time? Or is it something that, you know, just it's just not there yet?
00:23:59
Speaker
Yeah, look, I don't have anything against AI. I think it's fantastic as an efficient assistant is what I yeah always say. it's It's a really efficient assistant. It will give you ideas.
00:24:11
Speaker
So then you take those ideas and you go, okay, like but you know how can I infuse myself into this? like you know Sometimes we need we need the assistance, right? um but And yes, in social media to save time, sometimes it's like, okay, well,
00:24:28
Speaker
you know, go to chat GPT and say, right, can you just give me an idea of the caption for this? But at the end of the day, it's not just copy pasting that from chat GPT, which a lot of people are doing because it's like, I mean, I get it like AI can spew out some very good ah words and like, you know, read quite accurate to what you're looking for in some essence. I get that. But I think you've got to look beyond the accuracy of AI because, again,
00:24:57
Speaker
AI is spewing out words from everywhere. It's capturing from other sources. So you've got to also be very careful and then, you know, to personalize it yourself, take that as a foundation and go, okay, how do I now put art, like, you know, as a brand, how how do we put this in as a story?
00:25:18
Speaker
How do we infuse our story, the essence, the message that we want to put through and so on and put that in yourself. Um, And you might still have little elements that are there from the AI.
00:25:32
Speaker
um But yeah, for me, it's it's more just an assistant that helps with efficiency. Amazing. yeah did you Did you ever in all of that have a real fear that you were going to be replaced?
00:25:47
Speaker
Or have you known from the start, this is this is not going to replace me, I just need to make sure that I get that message out there? Yeah, I think look at the beginning,
00:25:58
Speaker
when obviously seeing clients having moved on and me starting right from scratch again, because, you know, um I think at that point, because I noticed things weren't working as they once did, like job boards don't work as well as they used to at one point. They had, you know, on their, you you used to see people post jobs. Now they don't. um And even when you're doing like pictures,
00:26:27
Speaker
people aren't interested, they're like, we've already got assistance where we're using AI. where So there was that initial when I first came back into the game early this year, was like, ah okay, is this going to be, you know, the end of?
00:26:44
Speaker
But um at the same time, i decided, nah, you know what, at the end of the day, the human mind is stronger and much more powerful than AI. in every way. So I had my i had my website redone um and I've been putting the messages out there to educate and inform from that human to human perspective.
00:27:10
Speaker
Awesome. And it will take time. It takes time, I think. you know When you're playing, when people are quite engaged with a new game, you're like you can't see beyond. But once that game gets a bit boring, you kind of come back to the original.
00:27:26
Speaker
I'm seeing that everywhere. I'm seeing that, you know, I do, ah you know, I'm a leadership Brazilian strategist. i do culture change management in organisations. And initially I saw a little shift where people were using AI to do their change management program.
00:27:41
Speaker
yeah Again, the human to human connection, they lost it. So AI can give you a really nice little framework, but then what it doesn't understand is that human connection and the human side of managing change and culture. And so my clients started ringing me saying, hey, we tried this thing. It didn't work. In fact, it failed dismally. Can you come and help me? And so now it's like on full circle where I'm starting to get more work because I'm fixing up things that AI kind of messed up you know? So I think more and more, you know, freelancers, consultants, all of that, yeah they're going to start to realize that you can use it as a tool, just as you say, a really efficient assistant. It's not going to replace you because you still need that human element of understanding how people connect, how people see things, right?
00:28:30
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. and I'm seeing that from a brand design perspective as well, not just with copywriting. I think with, um, Obviously, you've got Canva and you've got other AI tools but that allow you to build logos.
00:28:43
Speaker
Now, I think what's happening is obviously when you have a a human graphic designer and a brand designer that come together and try and build and build a brand with the logo, it's infusing that entire story into that logo. That logo speaks for what the brand is in some form. And like it really puts that message out there and brings out the essence of the business.
00:29:10
Speaker
Whereas with AI, what's happening is it become really easy. You put a few words in and it generates something. But I think what people need to realize is is that really you? Is that really going to connect? Is that other, you know, the colors, again, the fonts, the the iconography that you probably use as well?
00:29:33
Speaker
all of that that needs to be infused into it. AI can't give you what your brain will yeah conjure up through imagination and through understanding that story one-on-one. For me, when I sit down with a client, it's more sitting with them and understanding their story to the core um before going forward, whereas obviously AI is a whole different game. So again, that's also something that I'm seeing happen a lot. And you can generally tell when it something's been built with AI.
00:30:10
Speaker
For sure. It's so true. You know, when you sit down with, you know, brand strategist or somebody does brand, I mean, you can type in, and I know this from experience, you know, ah building my late, my second business. um And I worked with somebody who did our logo and our brand and our colors and everything.
00:30:27
Speaker
But you can type into AI a paragraph, but what a person does is they ask you lots of questions, and I'm sure you do this. And those questions, you might think the answers, like you're like, oh, yeah, i didn't think of that. That's really important to me, which you would never put in your little brief paragraph that you would plug into AI. A human really knows how to ask those deeper questions that get out the really important nuggets, right?
00:30:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for you, i mean, i mean, you've, you've gone through so much change. You, you went through your stroke too. And, you know, has your creative process changed too? you know, as your, as your, has the way you work changed? Are you more intuitive, more soulful? Has it changed your whole perspective on the way you work now?
00:31:21
Speaker
Let's just say I'm not doing the long hours that I used to at one time. That's definitely changed. I'm more kind of like, no, my health comes first. So, you know, I take it easy. I flow into the morning and flow flow out of the day. um But I think from a creative perspective, i've definitely become more confident and less fearful of putting myself out there before I used to just not,
00:31:49
Speaker
I mean, if you go back into my Instagrams and so on, you'd not see a picture of me or you wouldn't see ah me in a video, except for like, obviously, if I've been on a podcast. But um yeah, i was very kind of like conscious in that way. But now I'm just like, I really don't care. This is me and this is what i'm going to put out. And it's real, it's raw. And this is reality. There's a life. So here we go. so I think in that creative perspective as well, that's kind of helped in also how I engage with my clients and go, well, you want to not be all fluff or artificial because I know there's filters and this and that. But I think the real connection happens when it's just real raw.
00:32:37
Speaker
Yeah, you'll have a podcast where there'll be a mumble or like the cameras flipped over and you're like, oops. I mean, happens. If that's how, you know, that's real life. out And for me, that's something that has helped my creative process as well to be like, you know what, it's not always going to be perfect because I know I'm quite a perfectionist. So I'm trying to overcome that element and just jump into things now. yeah not and Obviously not completely blown, but yeah, I think it's just um my creative flow has become a lot more flowy, fearless. like Amazing. This is it. This is the real the real game. And um I think also it's given me the confidence now as well to have those one-on-one sessions with people in person and actually just fully be out there in networking. I think, like I said, as an introvert, networking isn't the easiest thing to do as a business owner.
00:33:40
Speaker
um And especially when I think when you're in a, for an introvert, I guess when you're in a comfort zone and you're talking one-on-one, it's easier. When you're in a group of strangers, it's like you're, you're lost in a crowd.
00:33:55
Speaker
Um, but I think what's happened now for me is, um, yeah, um, I kind of, yeah, it it doesn't faze me anymore in that sense. I, I still sometimes will feel like, okay, like, you know, you retreat into a shell a little bit ah and that, that does come out, but, um,
00:34:15
Speaker
yeah, I think that that's something else that's changed is that getting out there. And again, that's that human human connection. That's very important with whatever we're doing in today's day and age. So yeah.
00:34:31
Speaker
What a reinvention, you know, like I love that you said like a, like a Phoenix coming out of the ashes, like yeah ah literally, you know, it just sounds like you've come out of this, you know,
00:34:44
Speaker
more, I don't know, more grounded, more, you know, connected, more, like better perspective about what's important. And as a recovering perfectionist myself, you know, um part of the reason why i started this podcast is I want people to hear the reality of what we do. ah You know, it's it's hard and we go through messy things and I have a messy office and part of my office has my husband's hobby shelf and it's, you know, messy. And like, it's just the way life is. It isn't these perfect um portrayals that everyone sees. And it's so great to hear how you've come out of it and just realized that and and are just, um you know, sitting into that and being in that because it's so important, I think.
00:35:31
Speaker
yep Yeah, yeah. and And I think for any business owner, not like, it's important to embrace the fact that you're going to have peaks and troughs in business and sometimes, yeah, you will completely crush to the bottom, but it's not giving up because there's always something better on the other side. um And sometimes it's a complete reinvention of the business.
00:35:54
Speaker
ah You know, you you build a foundation in one form and it's taken one direction and then, it evolves into something else. um several weeks So yeah.
00:36:07
Speaker
It so does. Nine years of consulting and my business does not look the same as it did when I started. You know, my interests have changed, my authorities changed, my experience have changed. And you know I've had clients who've totally shifted the direction that I went in because I realized what I was doing with them was really the way I wanted to go. And so I think you've got to embrace that when you're in your own business.
00:36:29
Speaker
and embrace the the the chops and churns that you're going to be having and um and not hold. My husband has this great saying and I never understood it when he first told it to me, but now I really understand it. said, hold the reins lightly, hold the reins lightly. And that's such a great little saying because so that's what you have to do. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
00:36:51
Speaker
So for you, you know, if you could give anybody navigating, you know, listeners, you know, if there's one person who might be listening who is going through a reinvention or feeling replaced or going through difficulty, you know, either by circumstance or anything, you know, what's what's your biggest tip that you can give them to help them, you know, take the next step?
00:37:15
Speaker
Don't give up. Yep. And perseverance. I think lot of business owners, you do um kind of when you're seeing things not happen, you kind of want to give up or you'll be like, this isn't working.
00:37:30
Speaker
um Just persevere. Have faith in yourself. I think that's the biggest thing. and You've got to know that remember why you started this in the first place and have faith that, you know, things will change. i always say to my husband that,
00:37:48
Speaker
that you know after winter you've always got spring and summer and we all go through seasons so uh you're gonna like any ah like any season your business gonna go through seasons as well and things are gonna change year from year and so on um and you know what if you don't have that clarity at that moment step away just step away but don't give up um i think that's one of the best things ever because I think with everything that I've been through, one of the things that's taught me is sometimes you've just got to step away from everything and then you'll come back with some clarity in some way and it's just one step at a time. I think we get lost in the results a lot.
00:38:33
Speaker
um So it's do the work but and that and the results will show for themselves when the time is right and have that belief in yourself um because yeah, I think one of the biggest mistakes that as businesses we make is result, result, result.
00:38:53
Speaker
ah And I guess that's just the framework that we're built up with as well. Like, I'm not, you know, you want to see that monetization happening straight away. you want to start seeing that growth happening on social media straight away.
00:39:07
Speaker
um But, and you're you're putting in the work and you feel like I'm not getting anywhere. But I think, yeah, like I think one thing that I have learned is, um yeah, just just do the work and the results will show for themselves.
00:39:23
Speaker
Amazing. Yeah. what's What's next for you ah you? Do you feel like you're going to pivot or you know, what's what's what's your strategy? What's next for you? Well, I think for me, a Mystery of Words, ah I'm going to – I'm hoping to start a podcast very soon. Yeah.
00:39:42
Speaker
So just sort of share personal business stories a few tips and advice from my end. are Very easy breezy. um And so I'm still um I'm navigating that because obviously being quite new to the podcasting world, I wanted to do it right from the beginning, but I think now's a good time.
00:40:01
Speaker
um And ah from a brand design perspective, I am in the process of slowly building a one on one brand coaching sessions. with um so that's more to empower other businesses are to sort of go out on their own uh and confidently so i understand like obviously you know when you're an independent business or you're starting out your budget budgets can be a play um so you might not want me to do the work for you but you might want the guidance and i will have that one-on-one with you and i've had one client so far in uh
00:40:41
Speaker
He's a PT trainer. And, yeah, he's these um he's he had a one-on-one session with him and he's gone and created his own brand and so on with the right guidance.
00:40:55
Speaker
Well, thank you so, so much. if If people want to get hold of you because I love the idea of your coaching, I think that's fantastic because where were you nine years ago when I started my business? I would have loved somebody like you supporting me through that.
00:41:10
Speaker
How can people get hold of you? How can they get in touch with you? Okay, so for Mystery of Words, you can head over to mysteryofwords.com. All my contact details are there.
00:41:22
Speaker
ah And you can also find me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at Mishma Mystery and also at mysteryofwords.com. ah and um And even for the brand coaching,
00:41:37
Speaker
You can just head to the website for a bit more information on what that involves. ah The brand coaching page is not on the website live yet, but if you are interested in having a one-on-one brand conversation, I'll give Louisa my phone details or you can always DM me on Instagram.
00:41:58
Speaker
And as for the other project that I have in mind for Sales of Courage, ah The Instagram profile is already live, Cells of Courage. and that's soon going to be a podcast. And hopefully we can then start running some. It's going to be more like a foundation to help sort of fund towards research and hopefully find a cure one day. Amazing. Yeah. Amazing.
00:42:26
Speaker
Didn't get enough time to talk about that in more detail, but urge everybody to go ah and look that up and see the work that you're doing in that space. I'm sure it is amazing and as amazing and inspiring as you. Thank you so much, Vishma. It's been wonderful talking to I'll add all of the links to the show notes of this podcast so that you can get in touch. And for me, you know, ah i just found this conversation so valuable because in a world where we're chasing speed and efficiency, um
00:42:58
Speaker
I love Vishma's message of saying that the human to human connection is so much more important and also Vishma's message of don't give up because hard things happen but believe in yourself and listen to that voice that says you can and that you can keep going so thank you so much Vishma I have so enjoyed talking to you and i wish you all the very best with what you're doing and i couldn't think of anyone else who deserves it more so thank you thanks thanks your time No worries.