"She Was Lost for 10 Years. CSH Helped Her Rediscover Her Identity." | Madhu Keerti | Ep. #30

I was a very good student, but due to some circumstances, uh, there was a huge gap of almost 10 years. I was confined within my family only, and there was very little interaction with the world. I wanted to do so much, but I lacked confidence. This was the turning point of my life. And in one line, I just want to say that CSH has helped me to rediscover my lost identity. I felt like crying because somehow I was not satisfied with myself that I can't do this, but I didn't give up. I also got a certificate of Most Confident Storyteller of the Month. That was most beautiful moment for me. But now I am in this position that whatever will happen, I don't know, but I am in this position that I can face everything, every interview. At least I can speak in front of anyone. This is the main important, main beautiful outcomes from this journey.

But what is more important is that you persevered, you kept on working, and that's what, that's what we see as Madhu 2.0. I would definitely like to call that the new version of Madhu. And yes, the work is still not done. You are just getting started, but you have a great start. Hello, welcome everyone to another finisher interview. And this is a milestone interview because this is the 30th finisher interview that we're doing in Confident Storytelling Hub. So yes, if you are not aware, in Confident Storytelling Hub, one of the big things that we do is having these monthly challenges. And when members complete a certain number of videos and other tasks, that's when they become a finisher. And one of the things that I love to do is the people who become the first-time finisher, I love to personally interview them. I love to know about their journey, their ups and downs, and that's how we have done this. So this is the 30th interview and we have somebody whose journey is truly remarkable because I remember a few months back. When she joined, she was in that shell, she was in that cocoon where she was not able to, first of all, open the camera and talk too much. To see from there to being able to do what she's doing right now with so many amazing things is a journey that is really gratifying. So help me welcome Madhu Keerti, who's our next interviewee. So hi Madhu, so, so excited to have you in this interview.

Hello, sir. Thank you so much for this beautiful platform.

You're most welcome. So tell us about yourself, who you are, where you're from. Tell us, give us a brief introduction about you.

Before I introduce myself, I would like to say that every person has their own unique journey, and mine is about growth and learning. My name is Madhu Keerti. I am from Greater Noida. I am an MBA graduate and recently I have completed a course in health and nutrition.

Amazing, very nice. And why and when did you join this community, Confident Storytelling Hub, and how long have you been part of the same?

Very interesting question, sir. This is Uh, I want to say that I was a very good student, but due to some circumstances, uh, there was a huge gap of almost 10 years. I was confined within my family only, and there was very little interaction with the world. I wanted to do so much, but I lacked confidence. I hesitated to speak to other people. But luckily, one day I got to know about CSH from one of my family members, Sweta Sinha, and I joined this community before 2 months ago. And you can't believe that this was the turning point of my life. And in one line, I just want to say that CSH has helped me to rediscover my lost identity. So I want to thank all the CSH members who helped me, and I want to thank you so much, sir, for this beautiful presentation. Platform where I am growing day by day.

Thank you so much, and this is so beautiful. And yes, uh, yeah, we all want to thank Sweta Sinha. And for those of you who have not watched her interview, you should go back to the channel and watch her interview because she has also given an amazing, powerful finisher interview. And, and coincidentally It is just the one before this one. So go and check out Swetha's interview as well. And yes, I think Madhu, what I love about your journey is that there are a lot of members who come up, who have their own things going on, and you had your own things going on as well. But when you came, you surrendered to the process. The real transformation happens when people surrender to the process. So a lot of people do not completely surrender, but when you joined, Whatever we ask you to do, you, we ask you to create video, you created, even though you were not sure what to create. We talked about, okay, give the feedback, you gave feedback. We talked about become a captain, you became a captain. So this is what the real transformation I can see, the reason for real transformation. So let's move ahead. I want to ask you about your experience. You have now, uh, participated in two different challenges, one as a participant, and then you also became a captain also. So what has been your experience of participating in these monthly challenges and what are some of the top 1 or 2 learnings out of those?

My experience, first of all, my experience was amazing. CSH helped me a lot. It helped me to become more consistent and to step out from my comfort zone. And the 3 learnings that I got from this challenge was, first is that confidence comes when you keep consistent and you keep going. Yeah. And the second is, earlier I didn't know about what is storytelling, but now I can say that storytelling is All about your feelings, your emotions added with your experience.

Absolutely.

And the third is the feedback. Feedback is very, very important for our improvement.

Love that. All the 3 lessons that you shared, the consistency is the backbone of confidence. I always say that most of us are not born confident. And if you want to be confident, then you need to earn it by taking consistent action. So love that. And then giving and getting feedback. I think that is the beautiful thing. And coincidentally, we started focusing more on that when you joined the community. So that has also helped you. So if I ask you, what were your favorite tasks, one or two tasks, what did you enjoy the most? What would you say?

So, uh, my favorite task was about, uh, preparing my own video, my own story, narrating my own story, and, uh, posting that on the CHS group. That helped me a lot in my improvement. Gradually, it helps me a lot.

Amazing, amazing. Now let's also talk about Not everything is bed of roses. Not everything is easy, right? When you start, it's very exciting, but then the reality hits. You also come across a lot of challenges and problems and all. So I'm sure in your journey also you would have faced certain challenges. So what were some of the one or two top challenges that you faced and how did you overcome those challenges?

Uh, the challenges that— most difficult challenges that I faced The time when I had to record almost more than 15 to 20 videos to upload only one final videos.

Yeah.

And you can't believe, sometimes I felt like crying because somehow I was not satisfied with myself that I can't do this. But I didn't give up. I stay consistent with my dedication and hard work. We can say I finally completed the challenge.

Amazing. Amazing. And if I ask you a kiki question, so what was the time and number of retakes? I think I know the answer, but I'll just ask. Tell me about the first time that you did the video, how many retakes and how much time it take. Versus for the last one that you did, uh, how much time it takes for you to shoot and just record and upload?

Earlier it was 50, more than 15 to 20, and now it comes to maximum 5.

Wow, so 15 to 5 is a massive growth. And, and in terms of timeline, how much time it used to take and how much time it takes now?

Earlier it was like 1.5 hours like that, and now it comes to maximum 15 to 20 minutes.

Wow. That's again a massive, massive improvement going from 1.5 hours to now reducing it to 15, right? And your journey is not over. You are still in progress. I want to get to a place where it takes you 5 minutes. Just get onto the script, just record and do it in once. One take. And yes, we'll get there. You're working towards that. Awesome. And, and I'm also not surprised because this is the pattern that I've been noticing, uh, for most other people. The first video is the most difficult one and they will have a lot of imposter syndrome, a lot of, uh, self-trust issues, if I may say that. Yeah, I'm not good enough. This is not looking good. 'This is not perfect,' and going from there to also accepting. Do you agree that you have become more self-accepting by going through this process?

Yes, yes, I'm accepting myself now. I'm happy with myself. I'm happy with my growth. That is the most important thing to me.

Absolutely. And like you said, this is the most important thing that developing self-trust, accepting who we are. And then of course, there's always a scope of improvement, areas of improvement. But when we get into that comparison trap is where we kind of lose this battle. So amazing. So now if I have to ask you, what was your one main aha or breakthrough moment? You're like, this is it. This is where all the effort that I put, all the sleepless night, all the retakes and retakes I took, this was the moment that was worth it. So what would that moment be for you?

It was, of course, when I completed the challenge and I got the final certificate and all. I also got a certificate of Most Confident Storyteller of the Month. That was the most beautiful moment for me.

Absolutely. And that was definitely worth it because we could see, of course, not everybody sees your journey. Everybody sees the tip of the iceberg and you have done the hard work, but what was the work that you're putting in every single day and posting? That was beautiful. So now I want to ask you about the impact, right? We are doing something and we want to have the change. We want to know what is the outcome of that. So if I have to ask you, what would Madhu, your main outcome of going through all these couple of challenges would be?

I have told you that I have completed a course in health and nutrition, right? So when I was doing that course, it was going well, but a fear inside me every time that Yes, I will complete this course, but what will happen after that? After that, how would I face the interview? How would I face the challenge? Even how I will— I would sit in front of people like this type of so many questions. But now I am in this position that whatever will happen, I don't know, but I'm in this position that I can face everything, every interview. At least I can speak in front of anyone. This is the main important, main beautiful outcomes from this journey.

Amazing. I love that. I mean, when we have the self-confidence, that's when we can achieve a lot of things, right? And there are so many people who have so much of knowledge, But because they don't have the confidence, they don't get to where they should be there. So lovely. And I wish you all the best. So final couple of questions for you. First one is, what is your message for anyone, whether they are part of Confidence Storytelling Hub yet or not? What is the message that you want to give it to them so that they go on this journey of building confidence from inside out? Are learning about storytelling, communication, and public speaking? What's your message to them?

Well, my message is that I would like to say that don't wait for to become perfect before joining, just because, you know, progress or confidence comes from consistency.

Yeah.

So trust the process, stay consistent, and definitely you will see the result.

I love that. Thank you so much, Madhu. My final question, and yes, this is a cheeky one, but would you recommend people to join Confident Storytelling Hub and why?

Yes, definitely, definitely, sir. I would recommend people to join this CSH because this is a great platform to improve your self-confidence, your communication skills, and your overall growth in a very beautiful and supportive environment.

Thank you so much, Madhu, and your journey is a journey I am truly, truly proud of to see you coming out of yourself, to see you push through the comfort zone. Yes, you went through a lot of challenges. Yes, you had to take, do a lot of retakes, but what is more important is that you persevered. You kept on working and that's what, that's what we see as Madhu 2.0. I would definitely like to call that the new version of Madhu. And yes, the work is still not done. You are just getting started, but you have a great start. So thank you so much and wish you all the best.

Thank you, sir.

So yes, friends, this was Badhu Kirti, our 30th finisher interview. And if you're somebody who's looking for a place where people don't judge you, looking for a place where you want to challenge yourself, if you're looking for a place where you can not only learn but practice communication, storytelling, and public speaking, consider joining Confident Storytelling Hub. We have close to 175 members right now from 10 countries where each one of us are helping each other grow better, stronger, and effective communicators. So looking forward to have you inside community. And as I say, every time we are going to come up, we have many, many more interviews lined up. At least half a dozen more interviews are lined up. So just stay tuned. We'll be publishing in due course of time. And hope to see you also sometime inside this community and interview you as well. Wishing you all the best. And as I say, until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. This is Coach Haritosh Srivastav. I'll see you in the next interview.