Tashya Viknesh — Dragon #11

From criminal law to SEO, content, LEGOs and hiring people smarter than you… that’s Tashya in a few words.

It took me 8 months to hire Tashya. I knew I wanted to work with her from the first meeting we had. Sometimes it takes a while for the stars to align. More than her SEO and content skills, it’s her contagious hunger for challenges that I felt would be her biggest asset. And I was right! This lawyer turned marketer is exactly the kind of person you need in a team.

What’s an unusual fact or story about yourself that not a lot of people know?

I have always been an open book so most people already know a lot about my life in general. But, an unusual story would be how I knew in my heart at 7–8 years old that I wanted to be a criminal lawyer.

This was a dream job I’ve had for years and my whole life after that was dedicated to going to law school, until I got there, I worked for one of the best criminal law firms in Malaysia and I saw the reality of our criminal justice system and realised that it was not for me. Overnight, I changed my mind. Overnight I put away a 13-year-old dream because I decided that I did not want to spend the rest of my life fighting in this criminal justice system. Another day there seemed too much and I was afraid if I did not stop now, I would wake up 20 years from now realising I’d wasted my life doing something that wasn’t making me happy.

The goal was to help people, I decided then that there are far better ways to help people. I still go the degree though, it’s just sitting in a box somewhere. It did teach me a lot, mostly the art of being able to use information and to use it to your benefit, which proved to be a great skill in marketing and content overall.

Is there one thing about your morning routine that you can’t live without?

I’m one of those people who wakes up ready to go. And since I have animals to feed, my morning routine mostly surrounds caring for them.

But, the main part of that morning that I cannot miss, and it’s not the best, but it’s scrolling through and watching some of my favourite creators and or listening to music.

I love watching concerts or live plays and I decided that since we’re all in lockdown, why not do that on Spotify or YouTube.

It’s given me this sense of happiness and the ability to shake everything off before the start of the day.

What books have influenced your professional life the most and why?

I came into the startup life like everyone else. I believed that there was a certain way to do certain things. And for each of those certain things, there’s a book, a podcast, or an influencer that shows you how to do it and that’s it, you’re set for life.

But over the years, and after reading countless books and listening to so many people, I realised that it didn’t really influence my professional life as much as real-life experiences.

I went from just a normal person in a team to taking over my manager’s role and leading a team of 8–10 people in 6 months all while having to deal with a global pandemic, having to let go of people, and having to now rebuild the team after all that.

No book, podcast, or video could ever prepare you for that. That’s when I realised that while books can help open your mind to a solution you would not have thought of, but NOTHING beats experience and having empathy to be in situations like those.

I know this isn’t the conventional answer everyone might be looking for, but taking things one day at a time has helped influence my professional career more than any book ever has.

What quality do you look for when hiring someone for your team?

Hiring for teams is probably one of the hardest things you would need to do as a manager. Not because they’re crucial to your team’s growth but I also ensure I hire someone that I can help grow as well. As a manager, the teammate isn’t just there to grow your team, but you as a manager are also responsible for their career growth.

Some of the traits I look for:

Empathy & critical thinking

• These go together because without the other it’s going to be incredibly unbalanced in a team.
• Empathy helps with ensuring everyone understands their teammates, the job at hand, and in the long run, also understanding the customers.
• Critical thinking to then take that empathy and apply it to the overall business to propel the team and themselves forward.

Drive & a growth mindset

• It’s easy to say growth mindset and drive but it really is an important thing to have. Without it, none of us will ever move forward.
• I enjoy hiring people who believe in what they can offer to the world and is always looking for ways to further push that and thrive.

Self-awareness

• Someone who knows what their strengths and weaknesses are and can verbalise them to not just me but the rest of the team so that we could all work together to fill the gaps.

Someone smarter than me

• I’m a huge believer in hiring smarter than yourself. The goal is to find someone that could do things that you probably can’t do or to fill gaps in the team that you can’t.
• Also, it’s a personal win for me if I hire someone smarter than me, meaning I get to learn from them as well and up-level my skills in the long run.

What’s the worst advice someone’s ever given you?

“Stay in your lane”

This comes in many different versions. “Stay in law”, “Why SEO?”, “Just write and do nothing else”, “Be happy with your job now, at least you’re getting paid”.

This “stay in your lane” concept has followed me around for years. Especially when I told people I was moving away from a legal career.

Over the years I’ve stopped having 5-year goals or a specific thing I want to be when I turn a certain age. I just know what I want to experience and the life I’d like to live and I base a lot of my decisions around that.

I’ve honestly, just gone with the flow and as cringe-y as that sounds, it’s gotten me to some pretty amazing places whilst meeting some of the most amazing people I have had the pleasure to meet.

I explore every door opened for me, I never say no to conversations or projects. Honestly, sometimes I kick down doors for myself. We are put there on this planet to just be and experience life.

If I listened to everyone who told me to “stay in my lane”, I would still be earning minimum wage, as an associate lawyer, running around getting coffee and photocopying case files for my boss.

Pretty happy where I am right now tbh ;)

Is there anything that has improved your life since the very first lockdown? It could be an investment of money or time, or a new habit, a gadget.

LEGOS!

Man, those things need to come with a warning label. I have anxiety in general, so when I started picking up Legos and realising just how much calmness it gave me, I got addicted.

It also gives you the satisfaction of seeing something you’ve worked on come to life. That feeling of fulfilment is pretty rewarding.

And recently, I’ve heard that it brings back 10x more returns in the long run compared to investing in gold ;)

What do you do when you feel stressed and overwhelmed at work?

Scream and cry. Jk!

Nah, usually I take 5–10 minutes off. I sit down and recollect my thoughts. I then list down everything I need to do because most times when I get overwhelmed it’s because I have everything up in my brain and not anywhere else.

Writing things down helps with 80% of it. The other 20% is understanding what’s most pressing and most important and ensuring I get that done first.

The other crazy thing is that most times I thrive on stress. I’ve come up with my best work when I have that 1-hour deadline. So, sometimes it could be a hit and miss.

But, lists! They work!

If you were a marketing tagline, what would it be and why?

Lead with empathy and kindness, in everything you do. Your customers will see it and they will follow.

Where can people find you?

LinkedIn! I am mostly a lurker but I’ve learned some pretty awesome stuff there.

Twitter. Where I mostly repost stuff about SEO, F1, and the occasional rant about the government.