Varun Khadri's Linkedin Analytics

"I've worked with everyone from Brad Pitt to the Beatles and I can tell you, the best people to work with are the people easy to work with" A client of ours said this last week when I was on a call with him. He's had a 30-year career in Media in NYC. I'd asked him about memorable moments from his career. This got me thinking about 3 things: - How important it is to be someone other people enjoy working with: it doesn't matter who you are if people don't like being around you. Don't underestimate how important it is to be liked in the working world. - Imposter syndrome can be your best friend: there I was, a 24-year-old kid working from his parents' house, asking this super successful guy questions about his life. But here's the thing - age, location, experience, all these things are irrelevant compared to expertise. This guy is listening to me and knows I'm great at what I do. So how the hell can I feel like I don't belong in the room? Back yourself!!!! You're here for a reason. The fact that you feel like an imposter is a sign you're pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. - People are just people at the end of the day. Respect everyone, but don't take them so seriously. All humans have the same innate desires. We all want to like what we want to do, we all want to succeed, and we all want people to love us. Nobody walks on water. So just treat them like any normal human beings. 📷 the place where all the magic happens

The counterintuitive career advice I wish someone had told me: Get good at ignoring noise. And harsh truth: 99% of things that come across your desk are noise. For context: I work in personal branding. I'm a writer. Something that comes with the job: - I follow 3738384 writers. - I'm subscribed to 5859493 newsletters. - I work with people who are obsessed with their craft. The one downside of all this is that I get a TON of info thrown at me every day. Most of it is useful. Most of it is from people who actually care. But the fact is that my brain only has limited capacity daily. It's impossible to action every edit the day of. It's impossible to hop on every marketing trend. It's impossible to implement all feedback instantly. It's impossible to replicate every viral hook template. I write 10000+ words a week. So being extremely strategic about what I give my time and energy to is CRITICAL. My actual job is writing. Everything else is a "good-to-have". Nothing else matters as much as producing high-quality writing. Anything that's not that is not priority 1. You don't win any prizes for being the most responsive guy. But you always get rewarded one way or another for being the most focused.

I'm turning 25 this year. And I'm not ashamed to admit: - I'm not a millionaire - I'm not my own boss - I don't like staying up - I do not like gossiping - I can't stand loud places - I've made so many dumb mistakes - I've lost touch with a ton of people - I'm not in the best shape I could be - I've tolerated people treating me badly - I've wasted more money than I'd like to admit - I know a lot of people but have < 5 close friends - I could be more successful if I got out of my own way This isn't celebrating mediocrity. Just reminding you that not being where you want is okay. You're only human. Keep working hard, but don't compare your journey to someone else's highlight reel.

Look, at some point, you've got to take a long, hard look in the mirror. If you're not where you want to be and continuously complaining about the hand you've been dealt... I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy or empathy for you. Eventually, you've got to give yourself some tough love and say ENOUGH. Sometimes you simply have to decide this is the last time you'll let someone treat you this way, or this it the last time you'll whine about this problem. You are not a victim. Yes - you might have had some bad stuff happen to you. Yes - you might have trauma or depression or bad bosses or toxic friends. But are you really going to spend your entire life letting these things limit you? Wake up. Nobody is coming to save you. Labels are not going to help you on their own. Self-awareness is good. Moaning about your troubles is okay. But what after that? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Yes, some days with be crap. Yes, change is hard. But remember that you are still the one in control. Stop waiting for a better life to magically fall into your lap. That's never going to happen. The life you want is on the other side of a few uncomfortable choices. But you gotta build it yourself. No shortcuts. No handouts. No victimising. Enough mate, pull yourself together.

A colleague asked me this morning what I’m grateful for today. I answered honestly: the ability to do the same quality of work hungover 😅 This is not a post about booze. And I'm not encouraging anyone to get smashed on a Sunday night. My point is that I've put so many reps in that my output isn't too fazed anymore if I feel like crap. I've pushed past fatigue, burnout, and sickness so many times to write that doing my job hungover isn't the end of the world. I've developed enough systems and mental frameworks that I now know exactly what to do when I don't feel like showing up and grinding. Again, I'm not saying YOU should hustle and work when you're ill or something. I'm just grateful that I'm at the point where I don't need to feel good to produce great work.

I was having a sh*t game. Just one of those terrible games where all you want is for it to end. One of those games when you want your misery to end, when you want to hide, when you hope you don't get the ball. I even kept asking my friend what time it was because all I wanted was to go home. I kept making stupid mistakes and conceding goals. As a result, we were losing 1-5. I was injured in 3 different places. I was sleep-deprived af. I was negative. Then - something happened. There was a moment when the sun rose through the clouds. It was a cloudy morning, and we'd started playing just after dawn. Suddenly, as first light burst through the overcast Bangalore sky, it struck me: "Wait a second, isn't this beautiful? Yes! This is amazing. Football on a beautiful ground on a crisp Sunday morning. This is so nice. Life is good. Who cares about winning - how lucky am I to even be able to play sports"? So what if you're injured, don't think of playing as a chore, it's ALWAYS a privilege. So what if you're sleepy, you have all day after the game to rest up, some people have to work on Sundays too. So what if you've made mistakes and are messing up? Sport is all about comeback stories. Count your blessings man, I reminded myself. It's so easy to be negative, even about things that you love. Talking back to my negative brain has made all the difference for me. Putting things in perspective and choosing to look at the bright side is a choice. When your mind defaults to complaining and negativity, fight back. P.S. We ended up winning 8-6, but that was all because of the team, they won despite their keeper (me), not because of him.

A lot of companies will say learning and development is important to them. But when you look at the day-to-day of team members, you notice quickly that it’s not REALLY a priority. At Kurogo, things are different: - Every Monday, on the team standup, each of us brings 2-3 articles about what’s happening in the world and how it can be relevant to our clients’ industries. - Once a week, teams with different roles each have a team training each where the senior team runs through specific systems and processes that will make people individually better at their jobs. - On Friday, on the standup, everyone talks about one win and one learning from the week. This can be both personal and professional highlights. - All of us get a set budget every year to spend on whatever we want to learn. I just redeemed my allowance for a top graphic design course. - Each quarter, we have a day that’s solely dedicated to the team’s learning and development. We can do whatever we want that helps us improve our craft in this time. - Each month, the founder shares the month’s wins, losses, and learnings. He speaks about the business' goals for the next month. Nothing is gatekept. Actions speak louder than words. If you say learning and development is a priority, make sure your policies actually reflect that. Spending resources on your team’s L&D isn’t an expense, it’s an investment with the highest ROI.

My superpower is embracing my cringe. Some people think posting content is cringy. Some people think LinkedIn is cringy. Some think creating itself is cringy. I couldn’t care less. Because I know that: You’ll always be cringe to some people no matter what you do Everyone is cringe at anything at the start You’re only cringe until you make it On the contrary - I couldn’t dance or sing if my life depended on it. I can’t even hum my favourite songs or throw my hands in the air at a party 😅 I have a mental blocker that makes it seem too cringe. But there are people who love singing and dancing. They’d do it regardless of who judged them for it. The point is: build self-awareness about what you don’t mind being cringe at. Then, embrace your cringe and go all in on it. What do you love doing even if it's cringe to others?

Sometimes, I wonder - where have the years gone? I’m turning 25 this year. But I remember being 15 like it was yesterday. If I could go back in time and speak to 15 y/o me, these are the 3 life lessons I’d teach him: 1. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. I stayed in toxic relationships that were always bound to fail. Because I thought that love was all that mattered. Compatability is FAR more important. Love is the least important important thing. 2. 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱. Two months of playing with your mates all day - what I wouldn’t give to have that again. Unfortunately, long breaks become impossible once you start working. Even whilst in college, there’s always the pressure to intern. So enjoy the summer holidays as a kid as much as you possibly can. 3. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. Don’t wait for them to change. Don’t wish they suddenly get smarter and act differently. People only change when they either need to or want to. And nobody likes being told what to do. So don’t bother wasting your time trying to make other people change. Instead, focus on yourself and how you can become someone who doesn’t need others to change. What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?

Sometimes I wonder what I'd do without sport. My life would be so empty. Here's how I spent my Sunday today: - Woke up at 5 am to play Football - Came back home and played some FIFA for a bit on my PS5 - Then spent the afternoon watching RCB's IPL game (my sister's a fan) - In the evening, I watched 2 things at once: United vs. Wolves in EPL and MI vs. CSK in the IPL. What a glorious life 🙏🏻

4 years ago, I was doing a pointless degree in International Relations and Journalism. 3 years ago, I got into some of the best universities in the world for my Masters. 2 years ago, I was one of 200 people selected by LinkedIn for their Creator Accelerator Program. I was paid like 2.5L just to post here, which is wild. 1 year ago, I was given the chance to move across the world to my dream city (again). Today, I get to write for a living and build some of the most exciting personal brands on the planet. At each stage, I've doubted whether I was capable enough and worthy enough and smart enough. But I forced myself to act anyway. Imposter syndrome is good. Getting your foot in the door in rooms you have no business being in is good. I remind myself: You got here. You've earned every single thing that's happened to you. So who's to say you won't make even bigger dreams come true? Back yourself 👊🏻

Every day before I start work, I meditate for 3 minutes. I remind myself that almost nothing I'm about to do is something I haven't done a thousand times already. This helps calm the nerves a little and not be daunted by the workload. Then I reiterate that the work I do isn't about me. Everything we do as a business is to get results for clients. So leaving your emotions and ego at the door is key. Finally, I say a little thank you to the higher power that allows me to tap into my creativity every day. Everything I produce isn't mine, it simply flows through me. This helps me stay calm and composed through chaotic workdays. Do you have a ritual that helps prime you for work?

I’ve worked at 3 leading agencies. At my past gigs, writers had zero ownership. I couldn’t speak to the client directly. Ever. I didn’t even have a Google account of my own. I was doing the same thing I do now, but those jobs really put the ‘ghost’ in ghostwriting 😂 Writers had zero ownership and visibility of anything. I didn’t realise how big of a red flag that was until I started my current job. At Kurogo, writers: - Directly speak to the client on calls - Take ownership of the content process end-to-end - Have all benefits employees do, regardless of location The flip side of this is that writers here have a lot more responsibilities than writers at other agencies. But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The personal branding industry is infamous for treating writers as disposable commodities. So, experiencing trust and transparency is a refreshing change.

I'm not rich. But I'm financially smart. I have no debt (not even student loans). I own no depreciating assets. I don't buy designer clothes. I pay my credit card bills on time. I don't go on super expensive trips. I don't buy things I can't afford. I have enough financial runway to quit my job tomorrow and be fine for a year. I have an emergency fund. And I invest a chunk of my salary every month. It's wild how doing just these commonsensical things right is rare today. Gen Z has it the worst - social media convinces them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like. I actually consider myself privileged to grow up middle-class and have basic fiscal sense drilled into me early. I still splurge on things that matter, but I make sure it's things I actually want. Not what social media or pop culture tell me matters. It's never been easier to succumb to lifestyle inflation or get stuck on the hedonic treadmill. But it's also never been easier to educate yourself about money. Choose right 🙏🏻

I was talking to a friend today who recently started her first job. She was complaining that she wasn’t learning and was doing monotonous work. Yet she also mentioned she was liking the ‘making money’ part. She told me it wasn’t enough to keep her motivated though so she was quitting. She felt that long commutes and working from the office weren’t worth it. 4 things I desperately want more young people to know: 1. If jobs were fun, they wouldn’t pay you to do them. There’s going to be some level of boredom and ‘suck’ at any job. Find something you can at least tolerate and embrace the initial uncomfortable monotony. 2. WFH is convenient, but WFO is unparalleled when it comes to forming real relationships. Optimise for in-person connection in the early stages of your career. 3. The bitter pill is that most people work because they need to. If you want to lead a good lifestyle and spend on things that interest you, working hard and making a living is sadly the only way. 4. EVERYONE starts by doing clerical, seemingly meaningless tasks. It’s weird but you have to work your way up to using your brain and being trusted with cognitively demanding tasks. Actual learning is a reward that’s to be earned. These are stupidly obvious facts but it’s scary how many young people don’t know them. Schools and colleges paint a very idealistic picture of what the working world is actually like. Gen Z enters the workplace expecting fun, excitement, and learning from day 1. Truth is: any job will always be hard at times. The sooner you expect it and learn to work with the boredom, the faster you can climb the ladder and start doing cool work eventually.

A day in my life as a writer at Kurogo: (Revealing my actual workflow for the first time) 👉🏻 On a typical day, I write 8-10 posts for clients + make edits + attend meetings. 👉🏻 I lead calls with clients once a month where I interview them and pick their brains to feed into the content I write for them. 👉🏻 Notion is our project management tool so I write on there, then use Grammarly for proofreading, and finally use AI for creating variations of hooks. 👉🏻 Every post I write has 4 layers of quality control before it goes to anyone else: the first draft, then proofreading, then designing the graphics, and then using AI to check if the post is the most engaging it can be. 👉🏻 I personally get to work on some really cool accounts, for eg: one of them leads a leading global media organisation of 1000+ people, and another basically pioneered online streaming. We’re hiring a content writer right now. You’ll get to build some of the most exciting personal brands in the world. You’ll have a lot of responsibility but also get a ton of proven systems and resources to support your work. Apply through the link in the comments and find more details about the role there! P.S. Fully remote role, I just needed an excuse to post this pic from London

When I was 21, I thought the goal was simple: Get the highest-paying job with the most impressive title. Bonus points if your relatives brag about it at dinner. But a couple of years in, I realised I’d got it all wrong. Here’s what I should have optimised for instead: ↳ Work with people who you feel dumb around The kind who stretch your thinking every single day. ↳ Choose a place that gives you real responsibility Where your work matters, not just gets buried in a deck. ↳ Go where you're learning constantly Even if that means more chaos, less comfort. ↳ Put yourself in rooms you're not “qualified” for That's where the real growth happens. ↳ Pick the environment, not just the brand Culture > clout, every time. Your twenties aren’t about proving yourself to others. They’re about building a version of yourself you're proud of. And most of that happens BEFORE the big title and the big salary. If I could start over, I’d chase impact, not income. Curious: what did you prioritise in your first job? ♻️ Repost this to remind your network to invest in learning when you're young

I became a writer not because it was my passion. But because I'd get frustrated and depressed doing anything else. I tried normal jobs, freelancing, content creation, academics - everything. Writing was the only thing that didn’t make me want to pull my hair out at the end of the day. Don’t get me wrong - I AM incredibly passionate about what I do. But I didn’t start that way. I didn’t love it at the start. I just hated it less than other things. Passion isn’t something you discover, it’s something you grow into.