How Executives at Louis Vuitton and Visa Really Use LinkedIn with Ayesha Ameer of Mentoria Digitals
Episode Description
Personal branding isn’t about perfect pictures or chasing likes - it’s about whether your audience actually learns something from you. In this episode, Emily Jean sits down with Ayesha Ameer, founder of Mentoria Digitals, to unpack what real LinkedIn influence looks like, why executives from Louis Vuitton to Visa are investing in personal brands, and how founders can build visibility without burning out or losing authenticity.
From starting her career in a marketing apprenticeship at 16 to helping leaders generate 20M+ impressions, Ayesha shares what she’s learned about positioning, consistency, and why “looking polished” is often the fastest way to dilute your brand long term.
In this episode, we cover:
Why personal branding is less about you - and more about your audience
The biggest LinkedIn misconception holding founders back
How to move from 5 likes to real opportunities on LinkedIn
The difference between vanity metrics and long-term brand equity
What executives from Louis Vuitton, Visa, and Emirates do differently online
How to build a LinkedIn presence without a ghostwriter or agency
The role AI should (and should not) play in your content strategy
The cringiest LinkedIn trends that quietly damage your brand
How Ayesha scaled her agency without burning out
Why imperfect, human content consistently outperforms “polished” posts
Time-stamped topic guide:
00:00 - Why perfect posts often hurt your brand
02:23 - Meet Ayesha Ameer, founder of Mentoria Digitals
04:46 - How Ayesha discovered LinkedIn and personal branding
06:22 - Why executives are investing in personal brands now
08:40 - The biggest misconception about personal branding
10:00 - What actually moves the needle on LinkedIn
12:15 - Where beginners should start (no agency required)
14:42 - Adapting branding across luxury, fintech, and startups
17:02 - Systems and tools to scale without burnout
20:10 - AI content vs authenticity on LinkedIn
22:21 - Overcoming fear of showing up online
26:54 - Cringe LinkedIn trends and vanity metrics
30:21 - Personal branding red flags founders ignore
32:34 - What’s next for Mentoria Digitals
37:10 - The one thing Ayesha never compromises on
Whether you’re a founder just opening LinkedIn for the first time or a leader tired of posting content that goes nowhere, this episode is a reminder that real influence is built through clarity, consistency, and genuine value - not aesthetics alone.
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Episode Transcript:
Ayesha Ameer (00:00)
I've worked with people from Louis Vuitton, from Visa, ⁓ Emirates, and we've achieved millions of impressions with them. That's my branding. I would say it's actually less about you and more about the people you're targeting with your audience. Your brand is built on how well you help your audience, not how well you just present yourself. You've got the perfect pictures, 500,000 likes, and honestly, when you read the content, it doesn't really give you anything. Because of that,
they're damaging their brand in the long term. You're not actually building a personal brand, you're just posting pictures. First thing I always say is just...
Emily Jean (00:43)
welcome to or welcome back to Founders in Jeans. I'm your host, Emily Jean. And before we get into the episode, I just want to say a huge thank you so much for listening to my podcast. It means the world to me. It is a really special project to me. It's very close to my heart. And yeah, before you get into the episode.
I also wanted to say that if you enjoy the show, feel free to leave a review on Spotify or Apple, wherever you're listening to this, and also to follow us. You can follow us on Spotify, of course. You can follow us on Instagram at FoundersinJeans You can also find me on Instagram at Emily.Jeans.
or you can look me up on LinkedIn. I'm always happy to connect with people on there and I have a lot of good conversations from listeners. Also, you can always leave a bad review for us. I'm totally fine with that. And in fact, I think that's exciting. I would love to know what we can do to improve. So you can also leave comments below and let me know what you enjoyed, what you didn't enjoy. I actually do read every single one.
We also have a newsletter that comes out once a week so you can get all the updates from us. also put in
some weekly business and marketing updates in there, as well as some personal notes from me. You can subscribe to that on my LinkedIn, also through the Instagram and in the show notes below. Anyways, that is all from me. I'm so excited for you to listen to this episode. I hope it's a good one and I'll chat to you soon. Bye.
Emily Jean (02:23)
Okay. Ayesha Ameer founder of Mentoria Digitals. Welcome to Founders in Jeans I'm so excited to have you today.
Ayesha Ameer (02:32)
Perfect, thank you for inviting me on. I'm excited to speak and get into LinkedIn and all the personal branding stuff and see how it goes.
Emily Jean (02:39)
you
Of course, yeah. So for people who are not familiar with you, why don't you introduce yourself in your own words?
Ayesha Ameer (02:49)
Yeah, so my name is Ayesha Ameer A lot of you might know me from LinkedIn and I basically help founders and executives grow their personal brand on LinkedIn. I've worked with people from Luton, from Visa, Emirates and a bunch of other places and I help out small business founders as well. So that is what I do and I run an agency. Yeah.
Emily Jean (03:13)
it. we actually met on LinkedIn and I'm kind of a, LinkedIn is very new to me, but I think it's a very underrated platform. I think you've done a really good job of making LinkedIn feel less like a bragging contest and more like a tool people can use in their businesses and such.
do you explain what you really do to someone at a dinner party?
Ayesha Ameer (03:44)
Yeah, so first of all, LinkedIn overall, I totally recommend people pop onto it and use it. It's good that you're on there as well, by the way, because I know a lot of people who should be on there and should be making use of it because compared to other platforms, LinkedIn is less saturated. There's more opportunities, especially if you're like a business owner or someone who's professionally trying to grow more. But in terms of myself and like if I'm explaining to someone why do I like
I apply anything like that. I would say I just help people grow their personal brands on LinkedIn so that they can become known and they can talk to their audience about what they do, their story, anything about them so they can get more opportunities. So in basic terms I would say that.
Emily Jean (04:28)
So I want to work backwards a little bit. In terms of starting Mentoria Digitals, was there a specific moment that you realized personal branding was kind of bigger or there was more of a need for people in that field? What kind of led you to start?
Ayesha Ameer (04:46)
Yeah, so I'll take you back to when I joined the platform and when I created my profile, which was like day one back in the day. This was, I'm going to say maybe three years ago, three, four years ago, I was doing a marketing apprenticeship and my manager, said, you know, you should get onto LinkedIn, you should go your personal brand on there, go look at the other people on there. And we were also growing the company page on LinkedIn, by the way. So it was good that I got into the platform, got to learn about it because
I was like maybe I think I was like 16, 17 years old. very new to the world of social media, branding, marketing, all of that. I'd just left high school and then gone into an apprenticeship. So then my manager told me join LinkedIn. And then from there, I saw a lot of people on the platform that were sharing their story. They were doing great stuff. I got inspired by them. So then I decided.
I want to do it as well. want to see how this goes. And initially I didn't want to start an agency. didn't really go into like branding. I was actually more into like marketing because that's what I was doing in my apprenticeship. So like general marketing and focused on like social media overall. And then from there I just dived a little bit deeper, found my bubble on LinkedIn and I got inspired by a of people who I still follow to this day. And now they're like my friends, like they know me from the platform too. So
that is kind of where it started and I realized that there is opportunities over here and then when I finished my apprenticeship I went on to building my agency which is Mentoria Digitals and then I'm still doing that now and helping people go their personal brand on LinkedIn.
Emily Jean (06:22)
Yeah. And I know that you've worked, you listed some before, some really big C suites with like also to some really massive names like Louis Vuitton, Visa. What do you think is drawing these leaders to personal branding now more than ever?
Ayesha Ameer (06:39)
I think because they're wanting opportunities. They know that they have the expertise and they want to share it with the audience. They want to stand out and they're realizing the value of personal branding. So that is why like you'll notice a lot of people nowadays, a lot of the founders of different companies and executives that are coming more on the platform, that going more on social media, they're sharing more of their journey. Like I put out a post today actually about PayPal.
and they're basically hiring ahead of CEO content because they realize that you know it is good when the executives from the company or the founders show up on social media and they show who they are, they share their story, you get more opportunities from it and I've been on the platform for about three four years now and I've noticed more of these people coming onto the platform because they know that they can get opportunities from it if they do it right so I think that is why.
Emily Jean (07:34)
Yeah, I definitely think it's very underutilized. was actually just telling someone earlier, like it's a low commitment, high reward platform at this point in time. And I know it's evolved a lot over the past couple of years that actually I'm curious, how long have you been on LinkedIn for?
Ayesha Ameer (07:52)
I think I joined towards the end of 2021. So it's been almost four years I would say. But like at the beginning, first year, year and a half, I was like a ghost on the platform. I was just looking at other people. I know a lot of people when they join the platform is like that. When in the beginning, they're trying to get used to it and understand what's going on, look at people, find their bubble. Same thing happened with me as well. And then from there, I realized what I want to do going forwards.
Emily Jean (07:56)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Ayesha Ameer (08:19)
and then built a network around me and just kept on growing and growing.
Emily Jean (08:22)
Yeah, that's a great, that's a good point. think that's generally the kind of path that people take on LinkedIn. So I guess I want to ask you, what do you think is the biggest misconception people have about personal branding, especially on LinkedIn?
Ayesha Ameer (08:40)
I
would say, you know, like in the name it says personal, so personal branding. I would say it's actually less about you and more about the people you're targeting in your audience. Because this is the thing that comes up a lot when I'm working with founders and executives when we're working on their personal brand. They just think it's all about them. But yeah, it is about your story. It's about your experiences. It's about how you can help the audience.
Emily Jean (08:47)
Mm-hmm.
Ayesha Ameer (09:09)
But you really need to understand what do they actually want. essentially on LinkedIn, your brand is built on how well you help your audience, not how well you just like present yourself. So I would say it's great you're sharing your story and experiences, which is key. Like you have to do that, but also realize that you have to look at, okay, am I just sharing random things that I'm really going to value my audience? So am I actually giving them substance?
Emily Jean (09:25)
Mm.
Ayesha Ameer (09:35)
so that they see that I'm a person of value. That's one thing that lot of people miss out on.
Emily Jean (09:36)
That's nice.
Right. Yeah, that's a really good point. I think a lot of people get discouraged because they go on LinkedIn and still post for multiple months without seeing a lot of traction. From your experience, what do you think actually begins to move the needle?
Ayesha Ameer (10:00)
You know, a lot of people when they joined LinkedIn right at the beginning, you know, it's so easy when you go see the other profiles and they've got like hundreds and thousands of likes and engagements. There's so many people around them and the content is performing so well. And you want to get to that point. That was me at the beginning as well, by the way, like I was getting maybe five to 10 likes on a piece of content and impressions less than a thousand. This was for a long time. And then slowly you pick up on things.
So for me and my clients, there's different things that we focus on so that you can actually move the needle and get closer to your results. So that would be the first thing I always say to focus on is looking at your positioning. So who do you want to target and what do you want to be known for? What makes you stand out? Those three things I would say are key. And then based on that, you would focus on everything around your LinkedIn.
That would be your profile, your content, your commenting, DMs, what offer do you have in place? So this is what I do with all of my clients, by the way, where we help them with fixing all of these areas on their profile. I always describe it to my clients as a bit like a puzzle because you've got all the different pieces of LinkedIn and then when you put them together, it's like the bigger picture that you're creating. So your profile optimization will be like one piece of the puzzle.
Emily Jean (11:10)
Mm-hmm.
Ayesha Ameer (11:25)
then you've got like your content strategy, then you've got your offer and there's a bunch of other things. So it all comes together and when you're missing one of those things from the puzzle you kind of don't complete the bigger picture so you don't get the best results. So if you are wanting to move the needle you have to focus on all the different areas but the foundation of it all is your positioning. So that's the first thing I'd focus on and then go on to everything else.
Emily Jean (11:37)
Mm-hmm.
Right. I think that's really smart. I also want to think about too, for people who are literally just starting on LinkedIn and are not so much, like haven't been posting on there before, and they don't have a ghost writer and they don't have an agency or anything like that, what is the first thing you tell them to do that doesn't apply to positioning? Like maybe back to the basics more.
Ayesha Ameer (12:15)
first thing I always say is just start because this is the thing a lot of people they join the platform and they're just looking around what's going on they don't really take it seriously so when I'm like coaching my clients the individuals I'm coaching I tell them that you know you just have to start and take the steps because you refine as time goes on and you figure out what works for you and what doesn't that same thing happened to me at the beginning I do that with my clients as well
Emily Jean (12:20)
Mm.
Ayesha Ameer (12:43)
We don't know from day one what's working and what isn't. We kind of work through it and then figure it out. And also the algorithm's always changing. What your audience wants is always changing. So if you're starting out, the first thing I would say is have a goal in mind. What do you want to achieve? And then just begin on it. Begin on your profile and optimizing it. So knowing who you want to target, what you want to present. And then you can tweak it as time goes on. It's always changing.
I'm also going to be changing my profile in a couple of days as well to fix up my targeting and this is something that you learn as time goes on. So you can work on that, strategy as well. As time goes on you notice what is bringing you opportunities and what isn't so then you focus on the right areas. And also follow the people in your industry and also in personal branding who are doing quite well so you can learn from them. Because at the beginning you most probably can't hire a ghost writer.
or like an agency to help you out. And maybe you might not want to, you want to learn it yourself. So I would say go in and follow those people and learn from them. Because when I joined LinkedIn, I didn't pay anyone for training or like learning how to use a platform or like learning about personal branding. I did it myself because there's so much information on the platform that individuals are sharing for free. And like every single day they're sharing information. So from there, you can...
Emily Jean (13:54)
Bye.
Right. Right.
Ayesha Ameer (14:06)
develop your skills and grow on the platform.
Emily Jean (14:10)
Right. I think that LinkedIn is, I really appreciate what you just said, because I think that LinkedIn is kind of very anti gatekeep. I saw somebody's post the other day that said something about like, if gatekeeping makes no sense, because if somebody wants to do it themselves, they will always figure out a way. And if somebody needs hand held holding, they will always find somebody to hold their hand and like help them along with that process.
Ayesha Ameer (14:17)
Mm-hmm.
Emily Jean (14:36)
so yeah, I really, I, there is so much free information out there. yeah. ⁓ I wanted to ask, so obviously you've worked with of over, you've worked with a lot of people over 50 leaders How do you tailor content for a luxury brand versus a FinTech founder, for example?
Ayesha Ameer (14:42)
Yeah, totally.
So when we work with our clients, like we work with so many different clients across a range of different industries, like we don't just focus on one. I know a lot of people, do that, but we don't do that. Because I do believe branding can be applied to like any industry, anyone, even if you're like someone who is like a house builder, you can still do your branding and stuff. You can still brand yourself or market yourself. So what we do essentially is we work on
strategy first for the client. whoever it is we look at who do they want to target, what do they want to speak about, rebuild your content pillars and those are key areas you want to focus on at the beginning so that you can create the right content to target your audience. So if I were to give anyone advice on how they can do it, it would just be to focus on those specific areas so your ideal client.
the topics you want to speak about. That's basically content pillars, but it probably sounds like fancy to some people. So I'll just say it's those specific topics that you want to speak about. And then there are a couple of different sections you can focus on as well. So you can focus on your story content. So talking about your experiences, you can focus on educational content. That is content where you're teaching the audience. You can focus on social proof and case studies. That's if you're like selling something. Normally
clients who are looking for opportunities and leads, that's what we do for them. So that's why, you know, when we onboard our clients, we look at, what is your overall goal? Like what are you trying to get closer to? Normally, if it's like a luxury brand executive, they probably want to share their expertise rather than like selling something. So we help them out with that and how they can share their ideas, they've learned and become a thought leader in their space.
And then if you have like a FinTech founder, they probably want to sell something. So then based on that, we look at their goals and create a strategy around it. And any client that we work with, that's like the first beginning step that we focus on.
Emily Jean (17:02)
I am curious, do you have any systems or structure that has helped you specifically scale without burning out?
Ayesha Ameer (17:12)
Yeah, you know like initially it's really really messy and you don't know what to do. You can't really figure it out. Then you figure out your own systems. You find what works for you and what doesn't. But one thing that comes into all of this which is really really helpful is using different tools. So I use a bunch of different tools. My team does as well and also keep in mind I have like a team that helps me with things so I'm less likely to burn out but still it's possible. So in terms of tools
Some that I would recommend that I use on a daily basis is I use Magic Post, which is like a LinkedIn AI content tool that writes out content, but you put your ideas into it and your thoughts and then it can create a post for you. So I do like that tool. I don't fully rely on it. I still make edits and changes and things. But if you're starting out on the platform and you want to write content, which is quite strong, you can use that tool.
Another thing that we use is Trello. That's for project management. So any work that we do for clients, managing communication with them, all of that we do it on Trello. And what other tool? Also, there's another tool called Authordop. Authordop is good for if you like wanting to format your content. So there's so many different tools that you can use, especially AI tools. I know a lot of people are against it, but if you use it in the right way.
going to save so much time. Like there's no point being against it honestly I'm a big person who thinks that AI is quite good, saves you a lot of time and effort so I will always support it even though there's people like oh there's people on the platform that like oh my gosh you lose your authenticity you lose this and that but if you use it in the right way you don't you just need to learn how to use it in the right way so that you can let your colors come through your expertise your thoughts it's basically a tool which will allow you to present yourself even better and produce even better work.
Emily Jean (19:02)
Right.
Ayesha Ameer (19:11)
when you leverage it in the right way you can bring out the best results. So yeah just having the right systems like that in place you figure out as time goes on too.
Emily Jean (19:21)
I think that's a really good point about AI. I know that there are, for me, I think I'm like an AI inevitable list. Like it's just as, it will be inevitable that everybody will be using it sooner rather than later. And so it's just a matter of using it as a tool and figuring out how to use it ethically and effectively, even more importantly.
Ayesha Ameer (19:43)
Exactly.
I saw a post on LinkedIn actually recently that mentioned something quite similar to that where they were talking about AI is going to come, there's going to be tools everywhere, AI is going to be everywhere. You just have to start to leverage it. If you don't, you're going to be behind. You're already going to be behind. So, you you might as well learn how to do it now. And I feel like initially when the whole AI boom and everything came, especially on LinkedIn, I think this was maybe two, three years ago.
Emily Jean (19:58)
Totally.
Ayesha Ameer (20:10)
Back then a lot of people were quite against it but now I feel like they're open to it, they're speaking about it because they realise the benefits of it.
Emily Jean (20:19)
Right, right. Yeah, I will say though, I can tell every time somebody, not every time, but I think for the most part, I can tell when somebody's using AI to leave a comment on my post. And I have to say guys, you could be way more creative.
Ayesha Ameer (20:35)
Yeah, I don't support
that by the way when it comes to AI comments and stuff because it sounds so... I've never used them and I like it when I go on to the content and actually digest it and reply and actually understand what's going on. And I think with AI comments, like I've heard of so many different tools being used. I've actually had different companies reach out to me to promote their tools. But for AI commenting, I've...
Emily Jean (20:37)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
100%.
Ayesha Ameer (21:02)
never been the person to because I just feel like the way they use it, you sound like everyone else. I've had posts where, you know, the post goes live after one minute, there's maybe five comments and all five literally sound the same because they're using the using a tool probably, probably like a similar tool that they're all using and you know, AI and because of that, they're damaging their brand in the long term. So, you know, I would
Emily Jean (21:18)
Yep, yes.
Right.
Ayesha Ameer (21:32)
100 % everyone in the audience, I'd recommend that you take care of that if you're doing that. You might want to keep an eye on it because with me, when I see someone using an AI comment and I can tell that it's not you, I don't normally block the person but I always have it in mind that this happened. So I don't know if the person is actually being authentic or not. So you just want to be human. People just want to know what you're actually thinking and saying.
Emily Jean (21:46)
Mm-hmm.
For sure. Yeah. You want to build authenticity. Yeah. well, so I want to ask you, have you ever struggled with showing up online yourself? Like what's that? know if I think that's a really common thing I hear with founders is like, and you mentioned that at the beginning, especially about personal branding, like how has that process been for you?
Ayesha Ameer (22:21)
Yeah so initially on LinkedIn I did really struggle with posting and sharing my ideas. I think everyone does when you're on the platform at the beginning because it's so new to you. You feel like everyone's judging you in some way shape or form and even myself because I couldn't really find anyone on the platform that was like me. Like I'm a hijabi, I'm a woman who's running a business and stuff like that.
So it was really hard for me to find someone that I could relate to. So because of that, at the beginning it was hard to post on the platform and share my ideas. But because I saw these other people on the platform who were performing so well, sharing their ideas, and there was a bunch of different people, then I was like, you know what, maybe I can do this as well. And then day by day, as I was posting more, I gained the confidence. And now I literally post and I don't really care. I'm like, I wanna share my ideas, so I'm gonna do it.
not just LinkedIn, I post on Instagram as well and also have a newsletter, all of those different things because I know you can get the opportunities from it. So, you know, and I'm also really happy about it because I get messages from people frequently where they say that, you know, you're inspiring me. I couldn't find anyone like you, like myself. So, you know, I'm so happy I found you and I love the content that you share. So, you know, it's stuff like that. As time goes on, you realize that impact that you're making.
and then you want to keep going, you just want to keep on helping people. So I think just start and keep going and it will work out.
Emily Jean (23:53)
Right.
Practice makes progress. Right. Is there anything that has surprised you about working closely with such high level executives on personal content?
Ayesha Ameer (23:58)
Exactly.
Yeah, you know they have like really really crazy stories. They have some crazy experiences. So like when we're working with the clients, of course we have to speak to them, get the stories from them and listen to what they have to share and the different lessons. And I have had some crazy conversations with our clients where they're explaining a story or something that happened a few months or years back where they're sharing their experience or a lesson that they learn and they want to share with the audience.
I'm not going to mention any because I don't want to call any of my clients out but there are quite a few things and you learn so much as time goes on like I probably wouldn't have been able to learn any of these things if I wasn't doing the work I am so I am grateful I get to speak to these people who are individuals who are doing amazing things and I get to learn from their lessons while creating content.
Emily Jean (24:59)
I'm curious, if you weren't building LinkedIn brands for living, what would you be doing?
Ayesha Ameer (25:06)
I don't really know. So like after high school, normally, by the way, I'm in the UK, so the education system over here is normally what people kind of follow. Most of the people over here, you go from high school to college to uni to a job. I didn't do that. I went from high school to doing an apprenticeship to starting an agency. So that's quite like, it's very, very uncommon over here. You normally go down the traditional education route.
So because of that, I don't really know what I would have gone into because my apprenticeship was focused on digital marketing. So I'm thinking most probably something around that. But in school, I did really like maths and science. I was very much like the student that quite like STEM subjects. So, you know, maybe something around that. I have no idea. But I am I am happy with what I'm doing now because I get to really express myself and be creative with the things I'm doing. But maybe in the future.
I might go into something else because I feel like I do like branding. I don't know if I would be in it for the long term. Like I'd always want to do branding and stuff and run my agency or maybe have other things in the future too.
Emily Jean (26:15)
For sure. Well, what's nice too is you have a lot of flexibility with your job too, for sure.
Ayesha Ameer (26:22)
Yeah, it is great. is great. Like the pressure does come with being an agency founder, running so many different things. You're like everywhere. You feel like you're managing so many different things. But then there's also the side where you know, you're grateful for it. And another thing is I'm grateful that I've got my audience and I've got a base. So if it is ever the case, I want to do something else. Like I know how to figure it out and just work through it all.
Emily Jean (26:31)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, absolutely. I want to ask you some more kind of fun offbeat questions. I'm sure you saw I have that in the outline. It's always like my favorite part. Is there kind of, or I guess, what do you consider is the most cringe LinkedIn trend that you kind of wish would go away?
Ayesha Ameer (26:54)
Mm-hmm.
There's so many of them to be honest because you know like it's it's changed over time the platform but some of like the cringiest things you know like you have the AI comments which is kind of like it is a little bit cringe and I would also say you know like perfectly formatted to post so like
Emily Jean (27:10)
You
Ayesha Ameer (27:28)
everything is like on point you've got all the arrows and everything and then also when you combine it with like all of their pretty pictures especially the girls on the platform by the way where you've got all like the pictures that look so good and the perfect content and honestly when you read the content it doesn't really give you anything and the picture is just there it's just a picture and then you see how many likes and engagements it's got i'm like wow this is crazy you've got like 500 000 likes or plus and you know like it's fine if you do that but
Emily Jean (27:30)
Mm.
Uh-huh.
Yeah. Uh-huh. ⁓
Ayesha Ameer (27:58)
give your audience something like give them value or something that they can actually work with because you're going to do this but in the long run you're not actually building a personal brand you're just posting pictures and saying a few words that everyone's going to agree with that's not how you build a personal brand or become a thought leader so you know you can go do that but you know you might not get the best results in the long term with that so that's something and I speak about this a lot like when I'm for example like my business advisor
Emily Jean (28:11)
it
Ayesha Ameer (28:26)
I was speaking to him about the same thing as well. Where I was talking about, so he's like on LinkedIn as well. So he sees this type of content as well. And I was like, this type of content, it kind of just makes me want to unfollow all of these people that are doing this. Because you're just getting the likes for your picture or like for things which look good. But yeah, that's I guess that's a rant for another day.
Emily Jean (28:50)
Now I get that and I totally relate and I definitely am guilty of having done that myself. But yeah, it's interesting. There's kind of a trap I think you can fall into with LinkedIn that you get excited because you start to see a lot of traction, but that's not always your target audience, which is tricky because you get caught up then in the vanity metrics.
Ayesha Ameer (29:08)
Yeah.
Exactly and this is the thing don't get caught up in like the numbers if you're like building something that you want to be impactful over the long term or like get leads and clients Don't focus on impressions and engagements focus on the impact that you're making So a lot of these people, know, they're looking at the likes that they're getting or how many views and stuff But you have to look at what you're building in the long term and is it impactful and you know, this is why I don't
A lot of people say to me like actually you should post your picture more often on LinkedIn but I'm like I don't want to do that because I most of the time I am posting like carousels infographics or like text only posts that I've been going into that as well because I want to share the value, to share the expertise because I want people to work with me for the knowledge that I have not for the way that I look so yeah that is something.
Emily Jean (29:47)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yeah, absolutely. So I want to, I'm curious, and you might've just covered this, but is there a kind of personal branding red flag that you see? I guess if personal branding had a red flag, what would it be?
Ayesha Ameer (30:21)
I think it kind of links into what I mentioned before but like people make things look so perfect like everything looks so perfect but it's not like you if you want to connect with your audience the humans so you know you have to really share the lessons and stories and with my clients some of the best content and the content which is connected with their audience so well has been content which doesn't feel so perfect and it really does allow the person to come out and
share their experience and share their thoughts around different topics because people can relate to it then. You know because they're struggling with it but they're not going to post about it online but when they read a post about that certain topic and they realize my gosh someone is actually posting about this and I can relate to them they're going to connect with you they're going to want to see more of what you're sharing they're going to follow you they're going to join your newsletter whatever else there is and that's the way that you bring them in.
Emily Jean (31:17)
Yeah, I think that's a good point. And I know you had kind of covered that, but yeah, think authenticity is maybe the number one factor for bringing people closer and to helping people trust you more. Do you have kind of a, before you hop on a client call or even a high stakes, know, onboarding or something like that, do you have kind of a go-to confidence booster?
Ayesha Ameer (31:42)
I would say I just like being prepared because if I'm not prepared then I don't feel confident. I like to normally what I'll do is go through the information the client has shared and then from there I would prepare for the call make any notes I need to just go through the information and you know the thing is like
Emily Jean (31:48)
Mm-hmm.
Ayesha Ameer (32:03)
As you do more of these calls and speak to more people, you get more confident and you learn what works and what you should say. So, you know, if it works out over time as well, just be prepared and do the uncomfortable.
Emily Jean (32:16)
Yeah, absolutely. So I want to know kind of what's coming up for you next. I know that you've hit already some really big milestones, including 20 million plus collective impressions with your clients. Is there a kind of next milestone that you're chasing?
Ayesha Ameer (32:34)
You know I feel like with the agency we're working on so many different things and also like client content so right now a couple of things that we're working on is like updating the website we're developing higher ticket offers so that we can help even more people and focusing on my positioning the businesses positioning fixing that I think when you're running something you have to always be open to learning and growing which is why I've also hired a couple of people to help
with the agency so that we can bring better results, bring in better clients and also our current clients who have, as you've mentioned, we've achieved millions of impressions with them. So growing that even more and getting more opportunities from them. We don't just focus on impressions. We look at, okay, what opportunities are you getting when you're working with us and through your personal brand? So just always looking to improve and bring better results. We also launched an email course not too long ago, we updated that as well.
Emily Jean (33:26)
Mm.
Ayesha Ameer (33:31)
I've got a newsletter too, just a bunch of different things.
Emily Jean (33:35)
Yeah. Do you have like a dream client or a kind of dream brands that if you could pick, you would build a LinkedIn brand for?
Ayesha Ameer (33:46)
There's quite a few people. One person that comes to mind who I've actually posted about on LinkedIn is an individual called Liana Deeb, but she's more popular on Instagram. And I think she's on TikTok, I'm not sure, but I follow her on Instagram. She is an individual who is a hijabi like me. She's in fitness area and she also inspires people like myself.
Emily Jean (33:58)
Mm.
Ayesha Ameer (34:12)
So that's why I'd want to work with her because I know she's built an amazing brand over on Instagram and also a bunch of people recognise her. She works with Gymshark as well. So, you know, I've seen her journey online. That's one person who I just look up to that person.
Emily Jean (34:28)
And I'm sorry, I missed that. was her name again?
Ayesha Ameer (34:30)
Leonid Deeb
Emily Jean (34:32)
Okay, I'm gonna have to look her up. Good answer. Okay, well, I wanted to, I don't wanna take up like too, too, too much more of your time. So I want to kind of get into some rapid fires. Do you have, my first question is, do you have a favorite underrated tool for creators?
Ayesha Ameer (34:54)
Yeah, so I mentioned this tool, Magic Post. I would say, you know, when you're starting on LinkedIn, it's a really helpful tool for anyone.
Emily Jean (34:57)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Is there one business book that you think is overhyped and do you have another one that is underhyped?
Ayesha Ameer (35:10)
So I haven't actually read that many business books. I wouldn't really know. The ones I've read have been quite good. Like I like books that are more about self-improvement, productivity, all of that stuff. I do listen to a few podcasts. I do like Diary of a CEO, which I think some people would disagree with me and they would be like, no, I don't really like this. But there's a bunch of good stuff on there. There's a book I'm reading now, which is by Sahil Bloom, which is about wealth.
Emily Jean (35:15)
Mm.
Mm.
Ayesha Ameer (35:39)
and I can't remember the book's title but it's about like time wealth and you know not just focusing on money but also looking at okay you're spending time with family you're balancing your life you're knowing how to work and be productive so a bunch of different things so I would recommend that book.
Emily Jean (35:56)
Okay, do you have any other like maybe a course or any other resources? It might be another book that like you find yourself recommending over and over again to kind of budding entrepreneurs.
Ayesha Ameer (36:10)
One book is Atomic Habits, again something that's quite well known but it's just one of those basic things which are quite good if you read it.
Emily Jean (36:13)
Mm.
Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. LinkedIn in 2019 versus LinkedIn now. Do you have three words to describe it?
Ayesha Ameer (36:30)
like the difference. I feel like it's much more it's more authentic now but still it isn't because of AI. Now people you know what they're using and stuff so I would say that and there's been more people coming onto the platform. I feel like there's less quality now. I don't know I feel like that because I've been on the platform for three four years so it's really hard to find those individuals are
Emily Jean (36:32)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Ayesha Ameer (36:56)
sharing content which is their thoughts and quite authentic to them.
Emily Jean (37:01)
Right. Good answer. Gosh. Okay, last question. What is one thing you never compromise on in your client work?
Ayesha Ameer (37:10)
That is a good question. I would say I always like to make my client feel like they're my only client. I don't want them to feel like really busy with other people. We can't prioritize you because like I don't ever want it to be like that. I want it to. I want each and every single client that if they leave us, they leave a good review for us, a good testimonial, and they feel like they were prioritized and we bring them the best results possible because in the long run, that is how I want to grow.
Emily Jean (37:18)
Hmm.
Ayesha Ameer (37:40)
and have a good name for us. just making sure quality work, we're providing that to them and also making sure that they feel important.
Emily Jean (37:45)
Yeah.
Yeah, great answer. Okay, well, I'm so excited I got to chat with you and hear all your different insights. Where can people connect with you and where can they find out more about your agency?
Ayesha Ameer (38:02)
So the best thing would be you go onto my LinkedIn profile. you search up Ayesha Ameer, then you can go into my profile and go to our website. You can follow me on Instagram, follow me on LinkedIn, whatever you want to do. And if you ever need help with personal branding, just book a call with me through my profile and I'd be happy to help.
Emily Jean (38:25)
Okay, great. Well, thank you so much, Aisha. I mean, like, this has been an amazing episode. I'm so glad I got to chat with you.
Ayesha Ameer (38:33)
Perfect, thank you for the opportunity and allowing me to speak and share my thoughts.
Emily Jean (38:39)
Of course, and that's a wrap.
