Some people are born to impact others with their strength of their determination, pure ambition and evolving talents. And content writer, mentor and author Meenakshi Girish is undoubtedly one such person.
Channeling her life-long passion for content and storytelling into a thriving career as a freelance content writer, Meenakshi’s most admirable quality is her genuine intention to help others blossom in their own paths.
An empowering mentor who shapes the careers of freelancers like her, Meenakshi’s adaptability and confidence shines through in her ability to transform her love for words into a helpful guide for others. In her latest book “The Freelancers Mindset,” Meenakshi does exactly that as she provides guidance on succeeding as a solopreneur in whatever field you choose.
With writing, speaking and mentoring skills that immediately has us taking note of her, Meenakshi is July’s Monthly Muse. Dive into our chat with her as she discusses her book, the intricacies of content writing as a career, the most rewarding aspects of mentoring and much more.
Read the full Q&A below!
1) Tell me a bit about your recent book The Freelancers Mindset. What sparked the inspiration behind this book?
My book “The Freelancer’s Mindset,” it came out last year. For context, I’m a journalism graduate and as I couldn’t find the right role during COVID I moved into corporate. After realising corporate wasn’t for me, I took my mother’s advice and began freelancing. Since I already had experience freelancing since college, my portfolio meant I was able to get a lot of clients. When people hear my story they often think,”Oh, freelancing is like an escape route.” It’s for people who are like, “Oh, I hate my boss.I hate corporate. I hate listening to someone else.I hate working on the weekends, after hours and all, so I’m just gonna escape and start freelancing.” But freelancing is not an escape.It’s an entire mindset shift. That’s where my book comes in.
You have to change as a person in order to start any solo thing, not only freelancing.It’s called “The Freelancer’s Mindset,” but it’s for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs. I’ve interviewed 20 people for it.The youngest person is 14 years old, and she’s earning lakhs per month as a baker. The oldest person is 65-70 years old, who is still writing academic, uh, school books for students. So it’s that freelancing is for everyone, and anyone can do it from anywhere if you have the right mindset going into this.
In terms of what sparked it, in July 2023, I was messaged on LinkedIn by this company called Karni Publishing about a writing contest. The winner of this would get a free publishing package while the second place winner would get a free Amazon book of their choice. When I came first in the contest, Karni’s founder Shraddha Thuwal, she motivated me to write this book.
“It’s not necessary that just if you are a creative person and you’re bursting with ideas, you can get into this field.That’s a huge myth.It’s a skill that you learn, not just something that you’re born with.”
2) You’ve been a content writer for several years. Take me through your writing journey, how did you get into content writing?
Content has been something I love since I was a child.It’s literally something I was born to do.I love telling stories.Even when I was a three-year-old kid, I used to follow my father all around the house, and I used to tell him stories. I just loved words and the English language. I used to read a lot of books like Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Sherlock Holmes. I loved how words could just grip you and make you feel something, and you get to have a trip down the author’s mind.I really, really love that, and I wanted to show people what it’s like being Meenakshi, which is why I started writing.I got into journalism. I learned how to fine-tune my language even more.I got to write so much.I got to publish a lot of my works, and I was validated a lot by the faculty, which made me write more and more.
Consuming content has been everything.When I’m not writing professionally, I’m journaling.When I’m not journaling, I’m writing stories and poems.When I’m not writing them, I’m reading them.I am consuming all the time.So, that’s how it was the obvious choice.I have been writing professionally for eight years, and there was nothing else.
3) What’s something people don’t understand about content writing as a career? Are there any myths or assumptions about this career path that you’d love to dispel?
People often think content writing is like you write whatever you want.A lot of people who come and ask me questions ask me, “Hey, I love writing.I love writing short stories and poems and all.How do I monetize my writing?” Personal writing, creative writing is different, but when you come to content writing as a paid profession, it’s less of what you want to write and more of what the client tells you to write.So when people ask me how do I monetize it, I always talk about niching down.I talk about finding clients, finding your brand voice and all that, and all those are brand new concepts for them.A lot of people are even turned off by content writing.They just wanna write what they want to write. Content writing is a completely different thing to that .
One myth is that people think content writers have to be creative all the time.Honestly, I’m not creative all the time.People think that whenever someone asks you for content, you should have one ready brewing in your mind, and you should just tell it.Spontaneity is important, but content writers are also human beings.They are not creative all the time.They are not running on high energy all the time.It’s not necessary that just if you are a creative person and you’re bursting with ideas, you can get into this field.That’s a huge myth.It’s a skill that you learn, not just something that you’re born with.
4) You’ve also been a mentor, teaching people about the mindset for a successful solopreneur. What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give someone who wants to make a career as a solopreneur?
Don’t do it for the money, see it as something you love and you’re passionate about – money is a direct byproduct of that .It’s not the primary goal.If you go into something wanting money, you will survive in that month.What am I going to do next month?How am I going to thrive and survive month on month?It’s not the money.It’s about creating that bond.It’s about building a network.It’s about building self-confidence.It’s about having a strong portfolio, and that will speak for you every month.
“One most rewarding aspect is when you see this “aha” moment on a person’s face when you give them an answer to something that’s been bothering them.”
5) What challenges have you personally faced in your own career and how have you overcome them?
One problem I faced was very recently is that I’ve been on the service side of things but now with the book, it has become a product, and that’s when I realized I have no idea what product is.I have no idea how to market a product.I have no idea how to go and shove someone, something on someone’s face and tell them, “Buy this.” I’ve still not figured it out.I’ve sold maybe 100 copies of my book till now, but I was hoping it would be a lot more.It’s been over a year, so I still have challenges putting myself out there.I post content every single day on LinkedIn, but still it’s difficult for me to talk about myself, to market myself. Mentoring is different.My book is different.My podcast is different.I’m an active Toastmaster, so those speeches I give are different.The content writing services I offer are different.Just now my book’s audiobook came out.I’ve not even marketed that, like, at all.So a challenge I’m currently facing is when your income stream diversifies and your skills diversify and what you offer people grows, the way you market yourself and how much you spend, how much you learn has to grow too.You can’t be stingy with your money, and I’m overcoming it by just go through, grow through what you go through.The only way out is through.That’s what I’m doing.
6) What’s been the most rewarding aspect of mentoring? Any highlights that stand out?
One most rewarding aspect is when you see this “aha” moment on a person’s face when you give them an answer to something that’s been bothering them.You see this clarity in their eyes, and that’s great.
Recently one girl came to me and asked me, “I have writer’s block.How do I get over it?I’m very motivated.I come up with ideas.I do all the research.I have everything ready, but then when I open the empty Google Doc, my mind goes blank.I’m not able to fill the empty page.How do I get over this?” I told her this is the perfect place to use AI, not to write your content, but to break that starting trouble. Use AI and then you’ll no longer be looking at an empty page anymore. That block in your mind is gone, and now you can just start rephrasing what AI has said, rewrite that first paragraph, or just continue writing from what it has given you, and now you are in the flow.You can just continue writing.And when I gave her this solution, I just saw that veil lift from her eyes, and she had so much clarity.She was so happy, and she was like, “Oh my God, that makes sense.I’m gonna try that today.”
Another standout, there’s this one girl who read my book last year, and every time she talks to me, she references my book back to me.That’s the biggest highlight.That’s the most rewarding validation you can ask for as a writer.
7) What’s on your bucket list in terms of your career? Any achievements or goals that you’re hoping to achieve as a content writer, mentor or author in the near future?
As a content writer, I want to earn double the income as I am right now. I’d love to work for at least one established brand. In terms of mentoring, I want to impact more and more people each year. I want people to look at me and say I started freelancing because of her. As an author, I want to get 500 books sold and I’d love to attend literary events.
Buy Meenakshi’s book ‘The Freelancer’s Mindset’ here
(Images courtesy of Meenakshi Girish)
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