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Lessons from this week's guest Sarka Risch - LinkedIn coach, TEDx speaker, Forbes featured founder — on finding your voice after decades of playing it safe.
The big idea
The decade gap is more common than you think
Sarka signed up on LinkedIn in 2012. She started posting in 2021. Nine years in between.
Not because she didn't have something to say. Because she didn't believe she had a story worth sharing.
She was living across countries, working in tourism and marketing, learning languages and still telling herself: I'm not interesting enough for this.
Episode Highlights
Watch the Full Video Here
▶ 01:10 How it all started for Neha
▶ 14:50 Lessons learned from building her mental health practice
▶ 21:20 Redefining what it means to be a “healer” and entrepreneur
▶ 33:10 Advice for anyone afraid to start
Hey there!
You’re reading Creator IRL-a newsletter by Sapna Sinha that takes you behind the scenes of a creator’s journey. Every issue shares the real stories-the wins, the struggles, the messy middle-from creators building life on their own terms. Quietly, intentionally, and far from the highlight reels.
Let’s dive in.
Sapna Sinha
THE INTERVIEW
Welcome to Creator IRL.
From the Behind the Scenes Podcast with Sapna Sinha
"I believed I don't have a story, I don't have my voice, I didn't believe in myself - till I realized I have a story that can inspire and help others."
The thing that unlocked it wasn't a content plan. It wasn't a viral post. It was a shift inside- in how she saw herself and what she believed her experiences were worth.
That's where this episode really lives. And that's what this newsletter is about.
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The strategy side
5 things that actually work on LinkedIn
01 LinkedIn is a networking event. Not a content feed.
You can have the best content and go nowhere if you haven't built actual relationships first. Comments, DMs and genuine conversations are the real algorithm. Treat it like the world's largest networking room and act accordingly.
02 Clarity before content. Always.
Before you write a single post, answer three things: What are your goals? Who is your audience? What do you want to be known for? Positioning starts on your profile and lives in every comment and DM after that. Get clear first. Create second.
03 Your experience is the only thing AI can't replicate.
Generic tips and how-to content? AI can generate that all day. What it can't do is your specific mistakes, your actual learnings, the view from inside your journey. If you remove your name and it could have been anyone it probably should have been no one.
04 Invest from your future self's perspective.
Sarka's framework for deciding whether to hire a coach or invest in growth: don't ask "do I have the money?" Ask "from where I want to be does this bring me closer?" Scarcity thinking evaluates costs. Growth thinking evaluates distance covered.
05 Plant seeds. Not masterplans.
Do five small things a week consistently and let compounding do its work. The people who grow on LinkedIn aren't the ones with the best ideas. They're the ones who kept showing up when it felt like nothing was happening.
The soul side
The part most LinkedIn advice skips entirely
Sarka doesn't separate her spiritual practice from her business. She talks about Joe Dispenza retreats, Vipassana meditation and manifestation in the same conversation as positioning strategy and LinkedIn growth. And she's not embarrassed about it.
Her point is simple: the outer work only moves as fast as the inner work allows.
What she actually believes
Our thoughts, our beliefs, our feelings and our words create our personal reality. Not poetically. Literally. What you radiate you attract. So if your inner narrative is "I'm not ready" or "I don't have a story" no amount of posting strategy will fix that first. The mindset is the foundation. Everything else is built on top of it.Worth a reframez
Worth a reframe
On big moments
TEDx and Forbes didn't make her. They confirmed what was already building. If you're waiting for a big milestone to validate your work you've got it backwards. The big moments come from the work. Not the other way around.
On gratitude as a tool
Sarka talks about gratitude not as a feel-good habit but as a state changer. Write down what's going right. Feel it. Let it pull you out of scarcity. She believes we attract what we radiate — and gratitude changes what you radiate faster than almost anything else.
One thing to try this week
Write it as if it already happened
Pick something you want. A goal, a version of your work, a life you're building toward. Write it down in the past tense.
"I am so grateful that I..."
Then feel it. Even for thirty seconds. Your brain doesn't differentiate well between what you've lived and what you've vividly imagined. The more you rehearse the outcome the more you move toward it.
Sarka does this. Her clients do this. And she would tell you it's not woo. It's just how the mind actually works.
Her words on fear
Fear is part of the journey. Not a sign you're doing it wrong. Every time something negative comes up stop and ask: what is this situation teaching me? When you see every challenge as a chance to learn and grow you stop being afraid of the hard parts. You get curious about them instead.
If this landed with you share it with someone who's been sitting on their story a little too long.
Want to hear the full conversation?
If you also have an awesome journey and wants to share with the world
Until next time,
Sapna
P.S. If this newsletter resonated with you, forward it to someone who needs to hear that they're not alone in this journey. an.
What's Next for Creator IRL
This is just the beginning. Creator IRL exists to celebrate the builders, the problem-solvers, the dedicated creators who are shaping our world one person at a time.
We're not interested in the highlight reels. We want the real stories. The messy beginnings. The moment of doubt. The simple message that changed everything.
If you know someone building something meaningful — not for the gram or the algorithm, but because it matters-we want to hear from them.