“The greatest stories are those written in experience.”  ~ Raj Girn, Founder, The Open Chest^® Confidence Academy

Hi Friend,

Have you ever been told that your lived experience isn’t big enough to impact anyone, or you yourself don’t feel that anyone would benefit from the journey that you have been on?

Then this missive is for you!

Let me start by sharing a bit about my own limiting beliefs around the idea of feeling smaller than I actually am.

Keep reading my friend . . .

In 1992, I was met by a fork in the road that pushed me towards a path that was far beyond my ability (at that time) to fathom. My parents arranged a marriage for me in Canada, to a man I had barely met (a couple of times) – who was in the U.K. from Canada with his parents – in search of a wife.

For those of you who are not South Asian (like I am), will find my story horrifying, because the practice of arranged marriages were unpopularized many generations ago in western societies. For those of you from my community, you know too well that if you yourself didn’t have an arrangement like this, your parents or grandparents definitely did, as I did.

Although my life has taken on a different trajectory since then (divorce after a 10 year picket fence marriage, single parenthood, entrepreneurship etc.), the relevancy of telling my story was so far from my mind, because I was raised to believe thattraumatic experiences should never see the light of day. As a result, unbeknownst to me, the trauma I experienced – from being uprooted from everything and everyone I knew, to then moving to Canada from the U.K. (a country I had never set foot in until then), to then marrying a stranger (albeit the kindest man I’ve ever met) – took on a life of its own, especially after divorce.

Let me explain . . .

What had been locked away within me so tightly for 30 years, didn’t end up exploding as you would expect when I finally stepped into my freedom (although I had every right for it to). Instead, what happened, was that I was able to manipulate the trauma energy into a personal mission to create a platform (ANOKHI LIFE) to help people like me (the misfits), find sanctuary and a place to confidently speak their truth and to be validated for it. I got a lot of flak along the way, because people and institutions weren’t ready to accept what they themselves didn’t understand. But my steadfastness in my mission to normalize “different”, which is what “ANOKHI” means, was unshakeable.  

The single most powerful lesson that I have learned from creating this platform, is that every narrative has membership. Therefore, every narrative matters, has meaning, and should be acknowledged and celebrated in order to normalize diasporic experiences. ANOKHI has been the standard bearer for this mission for 20 years (and counting), by sharing such stories with absolutely no censorship whatsoever, thus providing an opportunity to minimize/mitigate tradition induced traumas.

This. Is. The. Power. Of. Storytelling.

So whether you’re looking to unpack personal trauma, help someone else do it, create awareness for it, use it to authenticate your brand/services/business, or something else, KNOW that your story is relevant to someone, so don’t keep it hidden in the coffers of your psyche. Let it out to be free, because someone somewhere needs to hear their story from someone who isn’t them, in order to understand that they too matter.

In this week’s The Transform Your Confidence Show, the theme is ‘Media & Communications’ and I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with two time TEDx speaker, pro-athlete, and mental health advocate, Darryll Stinson, in an episode entitled: “Creating Your Most Powerful Story For The Win!”

Click HERE to access this, because he shares how he built the confidence to tell his story after battling with suicide.

And before I let you go, I want to remind you that here at THE OPEN CHEST CONFIDENCE ACADEMY, we focus on 3 ways to extract your story (depending on what makes the most sense to our clients):

– Coaching, Consulting, and Mentoring Session: To work with me directly, one-on-one virtually.

– Guided Mastermind Course: To work independently through study modules, workbooks, a help desk, and a one-on-one consulting session upon graduation, to set your intention.

– Media Services: To then work with my team to create your brand, media, and marketing assets to tell your story if you’re looking to build your authority with it in business. 

If you would like to learn more, why not book a free discovery call HERE.

If you just have a question or two, feel free to email us at [email protected].I know there’s a big mindset shift for those of you not trained to look at opportunities for growth that reside in the alternative arena to what conventional wisdom has taught us, so my advice to you if that’s you, is to take a leap of faith and open your mind to look beyond your conditioning, and expand your horizons – my team and I can help you do that to meet you where you are!  

>>> We have worked with over 5,000 brands over a span of 20 years in the media and marketing space, so you’re in great hands when you’re ready to leap forward in your life, be it personal and/or professional in nature <<<

I hope to have the opportunity to work with you when you’re ready! And if that’s now, access the 5 courses HERE,our one-on-one services HERE, and if you’re not sure where you need help, book a free discovery call HERE.

In the meantime, thank you so much for hanging out with me here. I sincerely hope we bring some value into your world each week.

Until next week, take care of yourself and your loved ones!