Mainak Dhar talks about the power of personal branding and success in his new book " Brand New Start"

1.Share with us the story behind your new book " Brand new start" 

In the early days of the lockdown last year, I started hearing of people losing jobs and facing career uncertainty. I thought I’d help out with my experience in the corporate sector, and put out an offer on LinkedIn. Within a couple of weeks, more than two dozen people had reached out and I began chatting with them, helping someone with their resume, helping someone else prepare for an interview, or helping someone choose between different career options. I found myself repeating common themes- the importance of doing something because it’s a good fit with who you are versus chasing someone else’s definition of success; learning how to differentiate yourself versus just depending on labels of degrees and designations; and how to be more intentional in showing up at key ‘moments of truth’. I began asking myself whether it would be more helpful to more people if I could pull these thoughts together in the form of a book, and that’s how Brand-New Start was born.

2.How has been the journey of writing so far?

I had always been an imaginative kid, making up stories (including having an imaginary friend in school who sat next to me in class). I was eleven, and we were living in Canada at the time. I read an interview by Stephen King where he said that you became a published author the moment someone paid you a cent for your work. I took some stuff I had written, solved the next term’s Maths textbook and stapled the Maths solutions together with my creative writing, and sold my first ‘book’ to my classmates. I earned $12.50 as my first ‘royalty’ and came home and told Ma that I was now a published author. I published my first book while I was in college, and then I lost touch with the writer in me for a few years as I began my career. However, I reconnected with that part of me in a few years. I lost my mother in 2001 to Cancer and one of my last conversations with her was her telling me that she was sure I’d achieve wonderful things in my career but that she would love for me to have the same joy on my face that I did when I had been a little boy making up stories. I promised her I would write a book a year, and since then I’ve been keeping to that promise.

3.What is your idea of success? 

For me success is not about what I achieve or what I do, but the impact I leave behind on others. I’d like for my wife to feel that a life spent with me was the best way for her to spend her life. I’d like my son to remember me as someone who taught him how to be the best possible man he could be- both by following my example where I get it right and also learning from my mistakes, so he doesn’t repeat them. I’d like people around me to remember me as someone who genuinely tried to make a positive impact to those around him. Finally, I’d like readers to pick up my work and, even if in a modest way, feel that I have added something to them through my ideas and words.

4.How do you think your book can inspire and help people?

I’m not a big fan of ‘self-help’ books that pretend to have all the answers. So, readers should not pick-up Brand-New Start hoping to get instant solutions to all their career and personal branding issues. The best conversations are those which don’t necessarily give all the answers but provoke us to ask questions we otherwise may not have. That’s the biggest thing I hope readers take away from Brand New Start-questions they can ask themselves about how they can be more purpose-driven, what they can do to differentiate themselves and how they might show up at key moments of truth to create a more compelling and authentic personal brand.

5.What would be your message for the aspiring Authors across the world, especially in times of pandemic?

The general advice I always give aspiring authors is the following:

Read widely. The best way of understanding how to tell stories is to learn what kind of stories inspire you and how different writers bring their craft to life.

Write about what matters to you. Don’t try and write about something you think will ‘sell’. Write about themes you are passionate about. It will show in your writing.

Practice. Nobody writes a masterpiece off the cuff. Like anything else in life, your writing gets better as you practice. So don’t wait for the inspiration for the next great Indian novel to come into your mind. Write a blog, an article, a diary- anything that gets you writing.

Stick to it. Writing a novel is a long and often lonely process. So while inspiration may get you started, discipline is what will see you through.

However, in the times we live in, I’d add another piece of advice- which is to take it easy and make the time to focus on what really matters- our health, our loved ones and our community. All of us are going through stress and dealing with uncertainty, so don’t add the pressure of needing to write every day or achieve a writing goal. Make the time to connect with loved ones, take care of health, do what you can do to help others around you who may be in need. To be honest, those are much more important things now that just pursuing writing goals.