Ash Rathod // No More Hiding
Episode 367 Aired on January 20, 2021
This week is the third week focusing on Mental Health on Design Recharge and we are going to talk about how when you stop hiding or worrying about how people will “respond” to you, the real you, you are able to build confidence and be at ease with all our imperfections. Ash has been an entrepreneur for a while and identified as a shy, quiet kid.
I hear that a lot as I talk to people. I hear people say they are introverted and it is hard for them to meet people especially in big groups or even get motivated about doing that.
Ash has a skin condition that developed after college called Vitiligo. When I met Ash I thought it must have been something he was born with, he was confident, smart, and well spoken. We didn’t talk about his skin or my skin. We talked about our businesses.
Then I saw a post he made on LinkedIn. Ash posted about his journey with Vitiligo and I was blow away.
It hit me because although Ash’s condition is one that was not easy to hide, we are all hiding something. Some things are so much easier to hide than others. But we all feel exposed or feel like we will be rejected if we share that THING we are hiding.
I knew this was a journey of his heart and mind and I asked him to be on the show during January because it was so moving to me. It gave me hope AND that is exactly what Design Recharge is about. If Ash can do it, so can we.
I hope you join us for episode 367 and week 3 of Design Recharge’s Mental Health Month in 2021.
Questions for Ash
- Ash, can you give everybody a little background about your start in marketing and design? How long you’ve been in business and what you do, who do you serve?
- You are a successful agency owner. We met online and you were passionate about what you were doing for your clients, then you made a post in 2020 that really changed so many things for you.
- I reached out again because of the post and I wasn’t alone. Can you tell us what you posted and how it changed your trajectory?
- When we grow up with something that makes us stand out or different it is hard. But we have a lifetime to get used to it.
- This was different but when I met you, I thought you were not affected by it at all and I assumed you had it all your life. How did your skin condition, Vitiligo, affect your confidence? How did you try and hide it?
- What prompted you to stop covering it? How did your confidence build by not hiding it anymore?
- What prompted you to share it on LinkedIn? How long did it take for you to finally hit post?
- Why LinkedIn? What is different about sharing these types of stories there? How did 1300 characters change your life?
- Because you saw such a significant response you understood even better the power of our personal narrative in what we do. How have you learned about storytelling?
- Do people ever say, “But I don’t have a story,” what do you tell them?
- It makes me think about things that I cover up or try and hide but it takes work to do it. And maybe my differences and quikyness adds value instead of takes away. I would ask the audience to think about this and take encouragement and hope from your story.
- Being You, encouraging others to be themselves, and being kind are three of your most important values. Why are these so important to you and your business?
- You launched a course, can you tell us about that? How we can learn more about it?
- How do you recharge? What inspires you?
- Is there a quote or something that you keep close to help you get through tough times?
- What is next?
You can always join us for the live taping experience and be part of the community. Come a little early and introduce yourself in the chat, tell us where you are located in the world and say hey! We start at 7:30pm GMT / 2:30pm ET / 11:30am PT / 9:30am in Hawaii on WEDNESDAYS.
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Follow Ash
http://bit.ly/StoryConverter (Course waiting list)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashrathod/ (my LinkedIn profile)