Hi, friend =)
…I’m Soundarya Balasubramani, aka, Pooja.
…I’m Soundarya Balasubramani, aka, Pooja.
Are you an aspiring writer? ✍🏻
🎁 I have a gift for you: I launched a short book recently on my journey to self-publishing my first book, Admitted.
It contains the mistakes I made, lessons learned, excerpts from my audio journal, & covers every step of the journey I took to self-publish: ideating, writing, designing, editing, printing, selling, & more.
What’s the price? $0+. I’ve set the minimum price to be $0, but you can pay more if you wish to support me. 50% of whatever you pay me will go towards the non-profit Rooms to Read. 🤗
me
Who am I in 50 words
By title, a 25-year-old author, course creator, and product manager. In the past, a student consultant, researcher, academic gold medalist, & founder of a social organization.
By nature, a curious girl with simple needs, an imaginative mind, and a playful heart who likes memorizing quotes, singing in solidarity, & dancing while brushing.
My personality type: ISFJ-A
I (54%), S (53%), F (74%), J (72%), A (56%)
The A refers to Assertive Defender.
Don’t let those five letters fool you though. I can be extroverted, logical, intuitive, or spontaneous. It’s a spectrum. It always is. For both you and me.
I feel emotions deeply–both good and bad. I don’t open up to people quickly. I respect people for their traits and habits. I like to be friends with all; but if someone proves to be a negative influence, I will be indifferent to their existence.
3 words, books, quote
The 3 words to describe my ideal self: Compassionate, Knowledgeable, Confident.
Some of my favorite reads: Educated, The Fountainhead, How To Take Smart Notes.
One of my favorite quotes: Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius. — Edward Gibbon
the world
What I care about in 50 words
Helping prisoners of birth get equal opportunity through education.
Improving the way we read, learn, and build good habits.
Enabling the world to use technology to build a second brain.
…also: Poverty, freedom of speech, right to privacy, acid burn victims, breeding innovation, sharing knowledge.
I’m curious to learn about
People. How people learn, make decisions, build relationships, innovate, think well.
Products. Scaling a product 0-to-1, taking “long”-views, building passive income.
Practices. Building & maintaining good habits, learning mental models, metacognition.
…and: neuroscience, behavioral economics & psychology, history, creative non-fiction, shooting documentaries.
How I want to contribute
We’re all here to (a) learn and (b) serve each other.
I want to serve you, my community, and the world in a few ways: building impactful products, creating content (articles, books, courses, documentaries), and giving back through catalytic philanthropy… or TL;DR
Founder. Content Creator. Philanthropist.
you
About this blog in 50 words
This blog has eclectic topics: I write about my life, societal issues, good products, career advice, and recently neuroscience and digital tools. The blog grew with me. You can chronologically trace back the source of wonder I found in writing, back to 2014.
Use the menu-bar or search function to navigate the 100+ articles.
Ways I can help you
I want to help everyone I meet: you can see it in my personality type. I think we all do–it makes us feel useful. Aside from my articles, please:
#1: Look at the resources I’ve provided on product management, writing, and tools.
#2: Check this document where I’ve (thoughtfully) answered 30+ FAQ.
#3: Join my newsletter community of 2,000+. Read past ones here. Resuming in Jan 2021.
You should reach out
I’ve told a lot about myself (maybe too much?). I love sharing. I also love listening. You should reach out to [email protected] if:
You have ideas on ways we can collaborate to write, create a course, or work on an app.
You found a typo on my blog!
You just want to say hi =)
read my work
10 Lessons I Would Teach My 15-Year-Old Self
I turned 25 on July 20th, 2021. If I could go back in time by 10 years, here are the 10 life lessons I would teach my 15-year-old self.
Making A TV Show Pilot: A Climb To The Top
What is it like to shoot the pilot episode for a TV show? I got a first-hand look into this as one of the cast members for A Climb To The Top, a docuseries showing the stories of people climbing a literal and metaphorical mountain.
My 4-Week Retreat In Hawaii
What happens when you follow your intuition? This is the story of how I followed mine to spend 4 weeks in Hawaii and the lessons I learned.
You can pop into my inbox by emailing [email protected].