Build your business with vulnerability
On chaos, integrity, hate comments, and what the next six months are asking of me.
This is a breakdown of the latest MONSOON SEASON podcast episode — all the juicy takeaways extracted, and the good stuff distilled into a quick read for your ease.
▶️ Watch the full episode on YouTube
This one is different. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to say this but I will anyway, I’m not proud of the quality of this episode, but I am proud of myself for showing up and being disciplined, and uncomfortably vulnerable in this one. Not every episode will be a banger, and that’s something I know I shouldn’t say while promoting it, but hey, we do things differently here. My intention is just to keep showing up, and delivering vulnerability as much as possible, and that means sometimes not your best but giving it the best you can give in that moment.
This is a chatty one — I share a lot of what I’ve been cooking up in my creative business. And if you have ever felt behind before you even started your day, this episode is for you.
Timestamps
0:00 — Why this episode is unlike any other
2:20 — The long holiday weekend crash out
4:15 — Almost skipping meditation
6:10 — Brain dumping into voice notes and using AI to sort the noise
9:56 — My never ending to do list + the crushing pressure I put on myself
13:01 — Lowering my coaching prices and communicating with clients
20:03 — Being a guest on a podcast with a shaky voice and leaving it in
21:46 — My first hate comment and why I genuinely celebrated it
30:40 — What I am working on this week including my hero’s journey
33:42 — The themes for both halves of this year.
34:17 — Pitching myself as a podcast guest and going after dream guests
37:25 — Closing thoughts and what I hope you take from this
3 KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. If you feel behind you are not in the present moment.
The second I woke up feeling scattered and behind I knew my nervous system was dysregulated. That feeling of I need to catch up is never about the to do list. It is always about the body being offline. The fix was not pushing harder. It was five minutes of meditation. Even with Somali trying to resuscitate me the whole time. The chaos did not disappear but I could finally see it clearly enough to move through it one bite at a time.
2. Integrity is doing the hard thing before anyone asks you to.
I lowered my coaching prices and then reached out to the person I had already quoted a higher number, before she had even said yes. Every business guru would say that was the wrong move. But my highest value is integrity and that means closing the gap between what I teach and how I actually move through the world. She deserved to know. I did not wait to see if she would say yes first. That is what it means to lead from the heart not the strategy.
3. I am proud to share that I got my first hate comment!!!
Someone on the internet told me I suck at telling stories. And I laughed out loud. That reaction is not confidence for its own sake. It is evidence of how far I have come. The comment cannot land somewhere that is no longer available. If external criticism devastates you it is not because the critic is powerful. It is because there is an inner critic that already agrees with them. The work is not to avoid the hate. It is to build something inside yourself so solid that it simply has nowhere to go.
P.S. When you grew up with South Asian aunties, the randos commenting negative things can’t really penetrate or do much damage. Shout out to those judgemental ass aunties. This one goes out to you.
About Me
I’m Asa. I am a Bangladeshi-American meditation teacher, writer, and podcast host.
I believe vulnerability is the most powerful thing we have. Not as a tactic, but as the actual portal to building a life and a business that feels like yours. The more honest we are about who we are and what we struggle with, the more we give other people permission to do the same. That is the whole philosophy behind everything I create.
Born and raised in New York. Living in Charleston. I am a cinephile, a mango connoisseur, and a chai addict. So glad you are here — make yourself at home. 🤎
Want to go deeper? Here’s how:
🌧 Interested in 1:1 coaching? I offer a 1:1 Mentorship for solopreneurs. Book a connection call and let’s have a chat about where you are, and what you are building.
📍 Find the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts (search: Monsoon Season).
If this episode moved something in you, share it with one person who needs to hear it.
Stay soft,
🥭 Asa
My fave comment this week has gotta go out to my first online hater. What a gift!!! 🤍
