How I Have Manifested All Of My Dreams Including Writing My First Book
Community Spotlight Sep 13, 2020
Annie Koshy is a multi-media maverick who after leaving a long-term relationship, decided to change course and focus on all of her dreams. One by one, with zeal and flair she managed to check them off of her list. Now having released her first ever book, she shows us how she managed to put her head down and make it all happen.
I am a bohemian, creative free spirit made for the world of media. I love the glare of the lights, the energetic connection to the audience, the storytelling, the long days on sets, stages or just being in the studio.
My journey to be the model, host and media personality was not something that I ever imagined or set out to do in my career. My thoughts were pipe dreams, figments of my overzealous imagination, until I manifested them into becoming a reality. I think we have all written a physical or mental ‘bucket list’ of what we want to achieve in life. For a while I thought it’s just a list of dreams that will remain just that, dreams. Then one fine day reality hit.
The persistent and regular appearance of silver streaking my hair and the onset of my first wrinkles that told me that time was marching on relentlessly. That thought became a litany in my head. Suddenly, I had a sense of urgency to dust off my list and take a good stock of my life as I felt my days felt numbered.
Change is always difficult and it is especially difficult when it is not something that was in the grand scheme of plans. In 2017, I left a long term relationship and that was the catalyst that sparked my full-time pursuit of my dream to make a name in the media. But the journey was fraught with challenges and heartbreak as I had to break many cultural barriers of expectations and relationships. For someone who had lived a very sheltered life, I found myself moving into an apartment with myself as a roommate. I had to reacquaint myself too with who I was, break down years of insecurity and traditions in order to metamorphosis into who I was meant to be. For the first time, I started living today, as the person I wished to be tomorrow. I started to emerge from the cocoon I had hidden in.
In 2018, I became a published model with one of the city’s premier modelling agencies, garnering mainstream attention through my commercial work. My ads have run throughout North America, and I have hosted on multiple stages in Canada, US and India. Today, I’m recognized as a multi-talented media and events personality, trained global keynote speaker and emcee. What I did, in essence, was gather all the experiences I had accumulated from my disciplined work ethic, my aptitude for branding clubbed with a magnetic personality that was perfect for networking, and set out to rebrand myself.
There was still something that was missing. The one dream that I knew I truly wanted and that was to become an author.
As a teacher, knowledge and the acquisition of it has always fascinated me. Books were an escape from the strict upbringing that I had. An opportunity to see places and learn of people that I never imagined I’d experience in real life. The passion for reading led me to one of the most rewarding and challenging periods in my life as I taught IB English to students from grade 6-10 in an international setting. The challenges of being in a different country combined with learning and then teaching at the same time kept me on my toes. I didn’t realize it then but all those moments led me to the successes I would receive much later in life.
My book, How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, released August 2020, lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career. One of the biggest breakthroughs I had was when I truly understood what I had to offer, as a brand and as a professional. Now, through my own process, I’m able to walk you through the process, and give you the ideas you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with clients. There’s so much of my decades of life experience that I share through the stories that help to reiterate the brand and associated energy.
Life has really come full circle for me. I am thrilled beyond imagination that I have accomplished so many of my initial goals that I’ve had to create an entire new stack of them!
All Photos Courtesy of Annie Koshy