Get ready to be inspired by Aarti Parmar, a multi-talented coach and brand specialist! In this episode, she shares her story of how she became a seasoned expert in her field and discovered her passion for coaching. With her unique expertise, Aarti helps companies define their brand identity and message, and maximize their impact on their audience. This week, join us to learn how stepping into the unknown can lead to a fulfilling and successful career. Trust us, Aarti’s insights and experience are not to be missed!
Episode Transcript:
Narrator [00:00:00] Creativity and a learning mindset are essential to succeed. Learn how these innovators put these skills to use to become the best in their fields. Welcome to Innovators two know brought to you by ideamix.
Sam [00:00:17] Hello. Welcome to Ideamix radio. Aarti Palmer is a coach and brand strategist. Not only does she have an extensive background in marketing creative work, but she brings a unique spiritual angle to her work guiding the organizations she works with to mindfully maximize their impact. Few Fun facts about Aarti the Karate Kid movie inspired her to become a black belt in taekwondo. She’s done a fire walk, believe it or not, and her personality is that of an optimistic empath, which will definitely explore further later in the episode. So stay with us. Aarti, welcome to the show.
Aarti Parmar [00:00:57] Thank you. Thank you for having me. So excited to be here.
Sam [00:01:01] So, Artie, I want to talk a little bit about your early career, which was such a influential time for you. You went on a six month journey that then turned into a ten year journey of adventure and self-discovery in Malaysia. Tell us a little bit about that journey.
Aarti Parmar [00:01:21] Yeah, sure. So, yeah, at the at the age of 22, actually my early twenties, I just always had this ambition to work and travel abroad. And I said to I did my university and graduated and all of that. And I said to my parents, you know, I want to, I want to travel and work abroad. So I’m going to go out for about six months to Far East Asia. So I toddled along through contact. So I ended up in Singapore. I’m from Singapore and then got went went to Malaysia whilst I was in Malaysia. I then ended up working with an ad agency and through the ad agency I then met some local business partners and basically they were like, look, you know, you do graphic design. This person does this color separation, this person does printing. Why don’t we set up a one stop shop? At which point I was like, I’m actually really green in doing graphic design, and I’ve got zero experience of running a business. So, you know, why would I do that? So. Basically they were like, look, there’s dime a dozen. Graphic design is out there. If it doesn’t work for you, we’ll get somebody else in. And I just had one of those moments of like, oh, yeah, I’ve got nothing to lose. You know, I was early twenties. I had no sort of big responsibilities or anything. And I was like, Yeah, if it doesn’t work out, I’ve got nothing to lose. So I went in with that kind of mindset and I pretty much kind of went straight into the deep end. You felt like when you starting a business and you unknowingly starting the business, you start preparing yourself, whereas this was a little bit different and I kind of just went into it and basically, you know, it was very, very much lots of learning whilst I was doing well.
Sam [00:03:10] Trial by Fire, it sounds like, Which has been a theme in your life.
Aarti Parmar [00:03:15] Yes. Yeah, it really actually has been. So you know that basically that six months ended up being ten years. You know, I completely wasn’t expecting to be there for ten years. The journey unfolded. We were doing some amazing work and with some amazing clients, you know, which range from one person businesses to global brands. And this was, you know, a small little design printing kind of, you know, company and grew a team. I ended up going very quickly from graphic designer to doing business development to being out there, doing networking, to managing, you know, accounts for our clients and stuff like that, doing a bit of admin. It was a bit of everything really. You know,.
Sam [00:03:59] The advantages of working at a startup in a sense, right? Where you, you got to do a lot of different things. So early in your career, which was so deeply educational. While if you’d been at a big place, you would have been much more siloed and, you know, learning, But learning one thing.
Aarti Parmar [00:04:18] Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. So you know that ten year journey in Malaysia basically ended up being a real kind of mind opening experience. You know, from the people that I met, I met people from all walks of life, from all around the world, from all different sort of positions, culture, You know, it was just in in every sort of way. It was, you know, a mind opening experience. And, you know, I met, as I mentioned before, I met a very special person to me, which was part of opening the mind even more was my spiritual mentor who’d watch it now, say my late virtual mentor. So, you know, meeting him.
Sam [00:05:05] How did you meet him?
Aarti Parmar [00:05:08] How did I meet him? Really good question. So eating out in Malaysia is so cheap, right? So basically, I was eating out breakfast, lunch and dinner pretty much every day. So I went to this cafe one morning and it was really packed and I saw a group of elderly people sitting on the side and there was one seat there. So I went over, What do you mind if I sit down and and I’m fine. And I was sitting there minding my own business, eating my breakfast, and I could hear their conversation and it just made me smile. And what I didn’t realize, I was smiling out loud, like I was like, Wow, that kind of thing. And they looked at me and I’m like, What are you smiling at? And then I realized I was like, smiling out loud. I was like, You know what? I’m just really enjoying your conversations. You know, They were having really good banter first thing in the morning. None of them were complaining about life or this or that or, you know, and I was just really, like, intrigued by, you know, what was making them so, so happy. Yeah. So then what ended up happening? I ended up meeting them for most mornings and for breakfast. So I became one of their friends, right? Yeah. And so one of the what I who I then call because he was elderly and I was just like, oh uncle kind of thing who I then called uncle. He was just all my friends running this seminar on mind to mind communication. And he does all these talks on effective communication and philosophy of life and that kind of thing. No. Oh, wow, that sounds really interesting. Yeah, I’d be. I’ll be well up for that. I’m interested. So bought My ticket went for this event and this uncle was. Oh, I must introduce you to. To Master Allen. Master Allen was the person who was delivering the talks and all that. No, no, he’s having lunch. Let me have lunch first. And he’s like, No, no, I must introduce yours. Okay, so here I am now, you know, very sort of timid and shy. And I went over to Master Allen. Hi. And these are. Oh, hi. Welcome. Are you enjoying this? So I was like, Yeah, I love it. And then, you know, he’s like, Come and sit down on that. No, no, it’s alright. You have your lunch and basically that conversation sitting around the table with him all is having his lunch and he’s got, he’s, you know, this big event that had like nearly a thousand people there and there’s going hi you know, ended up talking to him and his wife and, oh, you know what? You must come round and stuff. So we exchanged numbers and then. Thereafter. That was it. I kept coming around. He used to host talks in his home and that was it. You know, just then I it was like an open door invitation that I bought, you know, created this really beautiful bond with him, his wife. And and, you know, when he’s mentors or as he would call his masters that would come from Tibet and Thailand. Aarti, they’re coming over. You know, you must come and meet them. And I was like, Yeah, I’d love to. I’d love to. So, yeah, you know, I was very, very fortunate to have my first taste, I guess, of, you know, mindfulness and meditation in, in my twenties and just be surrounded by some really profound conversations which, you know, are still landing now, if that makes sense.
Sam [00:08:11] Yeah, totally makes. I mean, I what’s so interesting about your story is you were so fortunate to meet these people in your twenties. You know, usually the twenties are sort of a time of really just scrambling around trying to make sense of it. All right. And and kind of keep it together along the way and to be around these individuals to be exposed, first of all, to the idea of mindset as important, intention as important. And then to be able to incorporate that for yourself at such an early stage know. I mean, that is the mind opening experience, right? You know?
Aarti Parmar [00:08:53] Yeah, absolutely. Even now when I talk about it, it’s like it just feels like a whole different lifetime ago and it feels surreal. You know, I, I got this opportunity and I just feel so, so super grateful for it, you know, in that sense.
Sam [00:09:09] Totally. Totally. So one of the things you’ve said is. That it’s really a brand that gives a logo meaning and not the other way around. Right. And much of the work that you do sort of building on the work that you did at the start up in Malaysia in your twenties is that you help small companies and large ones and brands think about who they are, what they’re really trying to convey and how to maximize their impact. So tell us a little bit about. I think it’s fascinating that you’ve tied mindset to branding and marketing effectively, right? Not a lot of people do that or think of it that way. Tell us a little bit about, you know, that connection and how you help your customers implement it.
Aarti Parmar [00:10:00] Yeah, absolutely. So I’ll tell you actually, firstly, how that connection even came about, because when I did move back to England over 11 years ago, I worked in our family business for a short time and then I ended up starting out my my own business. And when I first went out, I was like, Oh, I do design, branding, marketing. I do everything. And, you know, I was going out there getting jobs. I absolutely hated, you know, going round in circles. I didn’t really know what I stood for. I didn’t have any idea about my vision and what I was working towards. Nothing. Nothing. It just felt like I was just chasing another sale to invoice because I had a service to sell that. That’s pretty much how it felt. I then accidentally came across coaching and I had this epiphany moment of like, Oh my goodness, firstly, everyone needs this in their life, in their business, and so do I. And the importance of, you know, really taking ownership and having alignment with something is far greater than having a logo in the an a website. Yes, you do need that later on in a business. So whilst I started my business, came across coaching, became a qualified performance coach and in that time I was also now coming across brand courses and stuff like that. And I eventually became a certified brand strategist. So now bringing these elements of taking ownership, having alignment and the mindfulness practices and teachings that it had for me, you know, on going from graphic designer to now to educate and empower business owners to mindfully define their brand and to use it with intent, joy and impact. And why is that so important? Because I truly, truly believe that each and every one of us, through our products, through our services, can really make a difference in other people’s lives, through our brand. You know, a business sells a product and a service. Around that business is an identity and that identity is the brand that draws people to these products and services to get associated, to advocate it, to connect with it, to associate in that sense. So it’s it’s really actually a powerful connection to to have. And that’s how bringing all of these elements together is why I do what I do now.
Sam [00:12:37] So the way you’ve explained it is perfect and intuitive because. I really believe that interactions that each of us, any of us has with other people, but not just other people with things, with brands, with ads we see, with products we buy. Is a series of energy exchanges ultimately, right, where we’re expending energy on using something, learning something, getting to know somebody or whatever. And. As a result, it’s so intuitive that the energy behind the brands that create the products that we use is then of paramount importance for those brands and companies to be effective ultimately. Yeah, I always say, you know, a brand is an energy. It is. It is felt. It actually is felt. You know, I’ll give you all a test to do, you know, go over to some of these social media page, go over to the website, feel what you feel. You know, actually look at it, read the words, look at the images, and then notice the feelings that you get some some will be really dynamic and vibrant and that will reach out to you. Some, yes, might be very flat and dull. Is that intentional? Maybe not, But that is just how they are coming coming across and, you know, just the way a human has energy, so does. Imagery, words and everything else that you know where your touch points all for your brand also has an energy, even to a point to when you send an email that that has energy in it as well. Yeah, so true. So when we’re back, we’re going to have a quick primer on personality assessment. Stay with us. We think we. So, Artie, each of us has a personality type that’s measurable uncategorizable. That isn’t to say that our personalities remain fixed over time. Of course they evolve. But it also gives us, I find, really useful information about ourselves and our natural tendencies. So Myers-Briggs is a tool that you’ve used that we extensively use in our coaching at ideamix. And you described that in Myers-Briggs terminology. You’re an IAFJ. For our listeners, the I stands for Introvert, the N for intuitive, the F for feeling, the J for judging. Explain to our listeners what that means in terms of your mindset, how you deal with people and how you live your life.
Aarti Parmar [00:15:26] Gosh Yes, how it’s, you know, it’s one of these things, right? So you do the personality test and then you have your own sort of take on it through your own different experiences and beliefs and values that you have in life as well. So when I do do these tests, I do take it, you know, take it with a little bit of pinch of salt and also write, okay, what do I want more of and who do I need to become? I recognize that. Okay. The for example, the the introvert side. It’s really interesting because yesterday I was speaking to somebody and he was, Oh, you’re really quite a mix of extrovert and introvert. And I was I mean, that’s an interesting observation because I actually do dial up my introvert and then it dials down. So, you know, I get asked to deliver a talk and probably to that room, I’m an extrovert. You know,.
Sam [00:16:26] You’re a learned extrovert, basically, Right? Which many of us are.
Aarti Parmar [00:16:29] Exactly. Exactly. That. I will finish that talk. And I’m like, Right, I need to sit by myself. I need to, you know, just, just like, chill again and just leave me alone kind of thing.
Sam [00:16:41] Yeah. Regroup, regroup. Because in the end, there’s been that energy transfer where you’ve given a lot of yourself. And I think as introverts, we draw energy from the time that we spend on our own, right? Regrouping,.
Aarti Parmar [00:16:55] Definitely that reset is oh so important. And I’ve recognized that more and more over time because I was brought up in a family where we’ve got lots of cousins and family and, you know, we’re always getting together and that kind of thing. And I love that. I really, really love that. But I also over time have realized I also need time for me to, like you said, you know, well, like we said, to to reset in that sense.
Sam [00:17:24] Totally. Okay. So, Aarti, what role have coaching and mentorship played in your life?
Aarti Parmar [00:17:33] Coming back actually to Master Allen, late Master Allen. I never realized. So when I used to go and sit with him and ill be like ah master or I’ve got this going on, I’ve got this challenge, I’m not quite sure how to manage this or, you know, because I had a team of people, different people I was meeting. And he never gave me the answer. He never would give me the answer. It was like, you know, sometimes can you just stop talking and riddles and just just tell me, you know, kind of thing. It was only really when I came in, when I said I accidentally came across coaching and got an understanding of what coaching actually is. I was like, Oh, Master Allen was actually coaching me along with, you know, teaching me with this, with his spiritual practices and mindfulness and stuff like that. But a big part of it was, was coaching.
Sam [00:18:25] Asking the right questions.
Aarti Parmar [00:18:27] Asking the right questions. Yes. Digging deeper, you know, challenging me to think in different ways, to think of different, you know, solutions, not just be this one way of. And I was just like, wow, how powerful. So he’s he’s presence in my life. The coaching that you know that where I became a qualified personal performance coach that’s been massive influence in terms of who I am and then just I’ve always had an interest of personal development and that kind of thing. So those those things there have also played a massive role in, you know, understanding, coaching. And you know, in terms of mentoring, I feel mentoring can happen for a whole variety of people. You may not just need that one particular mentor you go to mentor and can come from conversations. It can come from people that have been, you know, in in obviously in positions that you want to be in but you haven’t been in. So, you know, just just having conversations. What does it look like to to to grow the team? How do you manage how do you manage yourself, your time, you know, how did you do it, that kind of thing.
Sam [00:19:39] Yeah, totally makes sense. So last question for you, Aarti. In a way you are providing to other people of what Master Allen provided for you. Coaching and mentorship. As whether it’s brands and then thinking through the mindset and intention behind what they are really trying to convey and put out into the world, or whether it’s individuals that you’re working with to personally coach them along their journeys. Tell us a little bit about the impact that you feel you’ve had on your customers.
Aarti Parmar [00:20:20] Mmm yes, gosh, if in fact, it was just a few days ago. I’ll just I’ll just share this little, little story with you because. A client was on a call with me and she said to me, she goes, Aarti, how do I not have the conversation? Had we not gone through your framework, your brand maximizer framework, I wouldn’t have shown up as this person. She got asked to be on TV and she was interviewed for her specialism in her expertise and the before her, what she said was like, because I would not have voiced up, I would have just sat there and just been a bit like, gosh, I’m not sure if I should say I shouldn’t say it. She goes after doing this broad maximizer framework, she goes, Although the others were on one page, she does. I didn’t feel afraid. To voice out and actually share what I stand for. I said to her when she started working with me. She was a little bit afraid to to voice out and say what it is that I stand for and that kind of thing. And I connected her with her own purpose. Why is she really doing what she’s doing and how? You know, part of that is then how were you going to embody this? What does that look like in this bigger, bigger vision? So her connecting with that, embodying that allowed her to go on to this TV show. And be the woman that she’s standing up for, for all the other millions of women that she wants to change the narrative for and navigate. So in terms of what impact does this have, it has impact on understanding the power that you have within you to make the difference that you want to make. And that comes from understanding why you want to make it and what’s going to drive that will with any brand, you know, what’s going to actually build a meaningful valued brand is the people behind it. And the people behind it need to believe what actions they need to take in order to get to that higher purpose that that that purpose, that vision, you know, that mission that they’re trying to accomplish. And that comes from really having clarity of what that means for you as a business owner, as an organization because of that understanding, isn’t there that impact isn’t going to happen.
Sam [00:22:48] Yeah, totally makes sense. Thank you for being with us today.
Aarti Parmar [00:22:52] Thank you for having me. You really, really lovely. I think I think we can probably talk for hours.
Sam [00:22:59] Absolutely.
Narrator [00:23:03] Thanks for listening. Please subscribe wherever you listen and leave us a review. Find your ideal coach at www.theideamix.com. Special thanks to our producer, Martin Milewski and singer songwriter Doug Allen.