What’s up everybody. My name is Misbah Haque and today I wanted to share a little bit about how I got my dream internship. From my podcast. It was something that was in my fitness career, a very big milestone that helped me, open the doors for a lot of other opportunities. And so I wanted to share a little bit about that because you might be in a similar position or you may be sleeping on some of the opportunities. You can take advantage of, simply by sharing and using your work. Okay. So I’ll take you back to, okay. 8, 8, 9 years ago, where I read this book called the Invictus mindset. It was an e-book. It was out of, you know, San Diego, California, CJ Martin was this lawyer that had transitioned and became a, you know, this epic CrossFit coach.
She had led, you know, a lot of individual athletes and team athletes to championships and, uh, the podium.
I was curious at that time.
And it really, aside from that, there was a lot of business success that I admired in terms of how he was making a full-time living. Not only for himself, but for, you know, all the coaches and the staff that he had under him. How I was so curious about how that works. Right? So the podcast for me began as something that, uh, I clearly was somebody who was learning. I was curious, I wasn’t coming at it from like a, I’m a coach. I know everything standpoint because it, I felt like an imposter that felt fake to me at the time. I was, you know, I had some, a lot of personal training and coaching under my belt. But I was learning from people who knew a lot more than me.
And, I started off talking to a lot of Olympic weightlifting coaches because that’s what I was pursuing. And what I was interested in, as I started to get more interested in the business side of things.
Somewhere in the twenties!
I remember I think around, in the episode, somewhere in the twenties. Somewhere between episode 20 and 30, I believe I had, CJ Martin on. I’ll tell you, the one thing that I learned from this whole experience was to follow up. Okay. Because he’s somebody who is super busy, um, and a lot of people that you’re going to be talking to are in that same boat. So I’m sure that I could have, you know, when I didn’t hear anything back the first or second time I could have, you know, stopped following up. But because I kept going, even though it maybe took another month and a half to get CJ on, when I did, we had a wonderful conversation. And not only that, I would say another month and a half after where I had now started to kind of be like, I want to learn.
I want to get completely out of my comfort zone. I want to go somewhere in California to learn from somebody. I remember at that point I had started just looking into who could I learn from? There were a couple of different, uh, people that made, made that list. But with CJ, I reached out to him and I was like basically, I said, I’m willing to work for free. I really just want to absorb and learn from you. There’s something creatively that, searching for, and I want to hone and develop out there. I’m not sure what that is, but I would love to be a part of the community and absorb what you guys are doing. Any opportunities that you guys have available. I would love to hear about it. You know, I said something along those lines and it, I was putting myself out there.
Seeking an internship position!
Right. But he came back to me and said, you know, there are no paid positions right now. They just, you know, got done hiring and whatever for, their different locations. But there was you know, an internship opportunity that basically, was available. And if I wanted, he could hook me up with the directors and I could interview for that. Of course, I said, yeah. And I didn’t know what to expect out of it, but I ended up getting that interview. And I remember even part of them, the like application process for that. One of the things, this is where the podcast comes into play a second time one, it got me this conversation too. It allowed me to look back at specific episodes where I had learned specific things. And I told stories about why that was important to me and, why I loved podcasting.
And it was very different relative to what other people were probably put on their cover letter. But I felt proud that if you went to, at that time, it was like airborne mind.com was my website. If you went there, you could see all these conversations that I had done. And I had written blog posts at that time. Also, I was really into writing. So I was writing for other magazines. And I would say that creativity is really what helped me get through the door. Because I remember there was even a section about, Hey, link to blog posts that you’ve written or like write one or something. And I had plenty that I could reference. Um, and I, later on, got to write and be published on the Invictus blog, as a part of kind of that whole experience.
I was really excited.
So it was such a dream come true to get, to kind of connect with these people that I had read about years ago.
And I never could have imagined meeting them outside of, maybe that conversation that I had, but, I ended up finally hopping on that, interview and I was wearing my Invictus shirt, the audio wasn’t working on their end or something. Right. And so were three people, uh, in the interview and they were all kind of, it was very awkward because for a couple of minutes it was just like, oh man, no, they can’t hear me. I’m all right. This is a weird start already. I hope they don’t hate me, but it ended up working out. I was honest. I was myself and I really leaned on a lot of what I had created. Like I was excited about the airborne mind show and what I was doing.
And they could feel that and sense that, and, there was this collaboration almost in a way, that happened there. Where I was upfront and said, look, I want to learn from you guys.
Do you make money from your Podcast?
I want to have some of your coaches on. I want to, meet new people and anyway I can contribute and help you guys. I’m happy to now, here’s the thing I didn’t get paid. Right. I didn’t get paid for, picking up moving to San Diego, you know, living out of an Airbnb for, two months. And I had this date in my mind, right. That was like, I got to figure something out by August 15th. This is costing me a lot of money to go do this. But I really know deep in my heart that this is going to pay off something out of this is going to come back to me. And, it’s just, it felt like the next right thing to do. And a lot of people ask me like, do you make money from your podcast?
And for me, the money isn’t straight like through sponsors or anything like that, the money is in the opportunities, right.
Opportunities to connect with!
That come to you as a result of doing the podcast. So what ended up happening was the manager at the time there asked me to, uh, interview because they, you know, were actually hired by the end of my internship. I got asked to do that because I really crushed it in that opportunity that I had, their whole curriculum I got through in like 50% of the time or whatever. And I really just, showed my appreciation in whatever way I could. I was also if I’m being honest at the time I was going through a very rough time, like mentally, and emotionally I had gone through a breakup. I was like, it was like being in front of the dream people, that I wanted to connect with.
And then at the same time, like feeling very self-conscious insecure and, and all this stuff, cause you’re also in a new place and you’re adapting.
Connecting with different people.
I felt like a beginner again, you know, cause in my gym and my area, I was like, at the time I was so how to get an opportunity unity through your podcast. I think it’s making sure that in your industry, whatever it is, you are having conversations with people who are your peers. And you’re having conversations with people who you look up to, who you admire, who have had an impact on you. It’s more important. I found in hindsight to go outside of your industry. Connect with different people because it does make a difference in terms of really showcasing your brain and your curiosity. Somebody can go to your YouTube channel or go to your Spotify. And really quickly hit anyone of your episodes and kind of gets a feel for what your energy is like. What are some things that are important to you?
Are you silly? Are you funny? Are you smart? Do you think differently? All of these things can work in your favour as you’re now. Like my prediction is the next decade. It’s going to be about the work that you can produce versus the degree or the stamp of approval that you have. So even while you might be going through college or whatever certification you might be going through. I think it’s so valuable to document as you are learning because that’s all I did. I documented while I was learning. And I tried to make a connection to the audience and people that were eventually listening, but it was really, a pursuit of curiosity. I genuinely like selfishly and a lot of times was asking questions that were, focused on how it would help me at the time.
Professionally or Personally!!
But there was something that happened that I didn’t realize until later on, which is an audience connected with me because of that, right. That curiosity other people could pick up on. And you can read that in the reviews and whatnot. And, that was a really cool effect, right? So creating a body of work, everybody’s going to have a body of work. And whether that is something that you do professionally, something you do personally, it’s something you want to leave for your family. It’s something that you want to leave for your community, the industry that you’re involved in, to me, it’s a way, of contributing and documenting, you know. Whatever I’m doing. It may not get the most downloads, right?
You don’t need a million downloads to get a really cool opportunity that felt a little bit out of reach, um, and to showcase like, Hey, these are a lot of conversations that I’ve had.
Respect the Employer.
These are things I’m exploring within the said topic, right? Um, Hey, I talked to this person who I think you might find interesting. I would love to make a connection between the two of you. You all of a sudden have a lot of value because I’ll tell you this. For me, it was CJ, right? It was capturing something that helped him promote what was important to him at the time. You know, it brought awareness around what he was excited about, what his gym, was focused on. If you think about it, somebody who employs you, you want somebody who would respect the effort and the attempt, right? The at-bats that you took, with exploring and being curious and putting yourself out there. I respect that more than I do. Somebody who has whatever, just like the image, knowing it all. And, a very, militant marketing style.
That’s not really, something that has, I just never felt like you know, fit into that. For me it was just about like, all right, here’s what I’m interested in. And over time as life goes on, it’s been five years since I started a podcast. And, I still publish to that, show, I took a little hiatus cause I, did a hundred episodes, you know, on another show and I helped somebody else co-host and produce one, but it’s still cool that there are all these timestamps throughout my career that can be referenced. And a lot of different professionals I’ve talked to that, things I’ve learned that I still go back to and that can still be consumed and are being consumed by a lot of people. So getting an internship or getting an opportunity through your podcast is, is going to require some creativity.
Move out of your comfort zone.
Right. But think about connecting with people that are outside of your comfort zone, connecting with people that you naturally want to talk to. And there is something when you put yourself out there, you will start to, these opportunities will start to come to you. Yeah, that’s really what I have to say on this. In another episode. And another time I will tell you about how it ended up getting me, an actual job. And that also came from my podcast. This ended up giving me a full-time gig for several years. So I will get into that, but for now, getting just your foot in the door. And getting to absorb yourself in a certain craft or certain field. You know, at least in the fitness industry, this is very applicable.
This might vary depending on what industry you go in, but this concept of building a catalogue and a body of work and something that you can ship point to.
Something that’s very digestible and consumable. People might not even go through all of it. But the fact that you’ve put the work in to create this, you get brownie points in a lot of people’s books, and that could be your clients. That could be your potential customers. That could be, people, peers, and mentors and teachers you’d never know who is listening on the other end. So I hope this was helpful if you have any questions, drop them in the comments, um, and, and make sure if you enjoy this video like, and subscribe. But thanks for watching.
