My Writing Journey: How Life Took Me from Academic Administration to Authorship & Entrepreneurship

Some journeys are planned, some are chosen, and then there are some journeys that quietly unfold while we are busy living another life.

Mine was one of those.

I never had a career plan that said I would become a content writer, a co-author, a freelancer or an entrepreneur.

For a large part of my professional life, I was deeply involved in academic administration. My days revolved around responsibilities, coordination, people, processes, deadlines and everything that comes with managing an academic environment.

It was a demanding role, but it taught me things that I still carry with me — discipline, patience, communication, organisation and the ability to keep moving even when several things need attention at the same time.

But there was always another side of me — the writer.

I have been passionate about writing for as long as I can remember.

During my school days, my diary used to be my best friend. I wrote everything in it: thoughts I couldn’t say aloud, little incidents, emotions, dreams, disappointments and sometimes simply things I wanted to remember.

My diary never interrupted me and never judged me. It simply listened.

Back then, I had absolutely no idea that this little habit would one day become such an important part of my life. I had no clue that my best friend would serve me this way in my present life.

Perhaps that is what we call loyalty.

I used to write then, and today, some of my writings become someone’s voice — someone’s thought, someone’s expression or someone’s way of saying something they couldn’t put into words themselves.

Whenever I hear that my writing has expressed something another person was feeling, I feel blessed.

Always.

When the World Became Virtual

The pandemic changed the world in ways none of us had imagined.

Our homes became offices, bedrooms became workspaces, dining tables became meeting desks, and video calls replaced face-to-face conversations. Work-from-home became our everyday reality.

We were physically separated, yet virtually connected almost all the time.

That phase introduced all of us to a different kind of life — a virtual reality where our screens became our windows to the outside world.

Somewhere during those days, I started writing more.

I wasn’t thinking about becoming a writer. I wasn’t thinking about building a personal brand, understanding algorithms or developing a content strategy.

There was no business plan behind what I was doing.

I simply wanted to share something positive.

I started writing little thoughts for people around me virtually — thoughts about hope, life, courage, positivity, resilience and the small things that could make an uncertain day feel a little lighter.

Those were difficult days for everyone, so perhaps I was also trying to remind myself that there was still something beautiful to hold on to.

Slowly, people started reading.

Then they started responding.

A message would arrive. Someone would share a thought. Someone would tell me that my writing had helped them, and someone else would encourage me to keep writing.

Gradually, I understood that my words were travelling farther than I had imagined.

The pandemic had taken away many things from the world, but for me, it unexpectedly gave me something too.

It gave me the courage to listen to the writer who had been waiting quietly inside me.

In many ways, the pandemic became my unexpected elixir.

Learning the Craft Behind My Words

Once people started connecting with my writing, curiosity took over.

I wanted to know more.

How does content actually work beyond simply writing what I feel?

How does a blog article connect with a reader?

How can words create an impact?

How does content marketing work?

How can writing become a professional career?

Could I really work as a freelance content writer?

Those questions took me into a completely new learning phase.

I enrolled myself in courses related to content writing, content marketing and content strategy. I studied how articles are structured, how audiences behave, how brands communicate and how a piece of content can serve a purpose beyond simply filling a page.

I learnt about writing for different niches and different audiences.

More importantly, I learnt that writing is not just about beautiful words.

It is about understanding the subject, understanding the reader, understanding the purpose and understanding what a person or brand actually wants to communicate.

That learning slowly opened the door to freelance content writing for me.

I discovered a professional world where there was flexibility, independence and variety. I could work on different projects, explore different subjects and continue learning while building something around a skill that I genuinely loved.

Every assignment became another classroom, and every client became another teacher.

The Unexpected Door Called Authorship

Just when I was beginning to understand where writing could take me, another unexpected opportunity arrived.

I got an opportunity to participate in an anthology as a co-author.

I had never planned this. It wasn’t sitting on my list of things I must accomplish.

But sometimes life doesn’t wait for our plans.

An opportunity comes, and we simply have to decide whether we are ready to walk through the door.

I did.

I participated, I wrote, and eventually I received certification and appreciation for my contribution.

For me, it was more than a certificate. It was a little confirmation that the words I had been writing all these years had found another home.

The journey continued, and gradually I started receiving freelance writing projects from different parts of the world, including the USA, UAE and Australia.

Each project was different.

Each client had a different expectation, audience and purpose. Each brief challenged me in a different way, and I kept trying my best to give every project the respect it deserved.

Because I believe writing is not about simply completing a word count.

There is always a person on the other side who is trusting you with their idea, their brand, their story or sometimes even their reputation. That trust matters to me.

My Competition Has Always Been With Myself

There was one thing I consciously decided very early in this journey: I would not compete with anyone.

Not because I don’t admire other writers — I do.

I read, observe and learn from people around me. But I never wanted my journey to become a comparison chart.

I didn’t want to constantly ask who was ahead of me, who had more clients, who had more followers or who was earning more.

My competition has always been with myself.

The woman I was yesterday is the person I want to improve upon today.

Can I write better?

Can I think better?

Can I understand a subject better?

Can I communicate something more clearly?

Can I learn something new?

That is the challenge I give myself.

My challenging soul keeps knocking on my door, and I keep answering.

I have always believed that we are in a learning process throughout our lifespan.

There is no age at which we suddenly know everything.

There is always another lesson, another experience and another opportunity to grow.

Whenever I feel I have travelled a little distance, I remember Robert Frost’s beautiful words:

“Miles to go before I sleep.”

For me, they are not about running a race.

They are about remembering that the journey is still alive and that there is always more to learn, explore and create.

If I Can Write for Others, Why Can’t I Create for Myself?

After writing for different clients, industries and niches, something started changing inside me.

One day I asked myself a very simple question:

If I can write for someone else, why can’t I create and write for myself?

That question stayed with me.

By then, writing had become much more than a professional skill. It had become a way of thinking, a way of creating and a way of expressing myself.

Eventually, it became a bridge towards entrepreneurship.

I launched Meraki Aura, my handmade creative venture where I started creating handmade candles, handcrafted home décor, resin art and accessories.

Suddenly, I found myself on a completely different floor — the dancing floor of alphabets, creativity and entrepreneurship.

This time, I wasn’t writing someone else’s story.

I was creating my own.

I was making products, experimenting with ideas, thinking about branding, creating product descriptions, photographing my creations and telling the stories behind them.

I was creating content around something that had come from my own hands and imagination.

There was a different kind of happiness in that.

When Writing Became a Part of My Own Creation

Meraki Aura taught me something I hadn’t fully understood before.

When you create something yourself, you don’t simply sell a product; you carry its story.

Every handmade candle carries the time, patience and thought that went into making it.

Every handcrafted piece has a reason behind its existence.

And when I write about something I have created myself, my words come from experience.

That makes the content different.

It becomes more personal, more honest and more connected to the creator behind it.

Today, sometimes people come to me asking for help in creating meaningful content.

And whenever that happens, I find myself thinking about my diary again.

The little diary that once listened to my thoughts is no longer sitting quietly in a schoolbag.

Its spirit has travelled with me.

I used to write for myself.

Today, I write for people, brands, businesses, ideas and stories.

Sometimes, my words become the voice of someone who knows what they want to say but doesn’t quite know how to say it.

What a beautiful journey that is.

To Anyone Who Is Waiting to Begin

If you are a beginner writer, freelancer, content creator, aspiring author, startup founder or simply someone carrying an idea inside you, I want to tell you something from my own experience:

You don’t need to know the entire road before you begin walking. I didn’t.

I started with a diary.

Then came my thoughts, then came readers, then learning, then courses, then freelance projects, then an anthology, then clients from different parts of the world, and eventually entrepreneurship.

Even today, the journey continues.

I am a mother, a professional and an academician.

I became a writer, a freelancer, a co-author and an entrepreneur, and I am still becoming.

That last part matters to me the most.

I don’t believe in arriving at a point and saying, “This is it. I have made it.”

There is always something more to learn, something more to experience, something more to create and something more to become.

So, if you are sitting with a blank page today, don’t be afraid of it.

Write the first line.

If you have an idea, give it a chance.

If you want to become a writer, start writing.

If you want to freelance, start learning.

If you want to build something of your own, start small.

You don’t have to become extraordinary on day one.

You simply have to be willing to begin.

My Hero’s Journey Is Still Being Written

Looking back, I realise that my journey wasn’t really about leaving academic administration and becoming a writer.

It was about discovering the different versions of myself along the way.

My professional life taught me discipline.

My diary taught me expression.

The pandemic taught me perspective.

Writing gave me a voice.

Learning gave me direction.

Freelancing gave me flexibility.

Authorship gave me confidence.

Entrepreneurship gave me another canvas.

And every chapter gave me another reason to remain grateful.

I never planned this exact life.

Life kept placing unexpected doors in front of me, and I simply kept opening them.

Perhaps that is what a hero’s journey really means to me — not becoming someone extraordinary overnight, not winning against someone else and not proving that I am better than another person, but having the courage to keep walking, keep learning and keep becoming, even when I don’t know exactly where the road is taking me.

Today, I write for clients.

I write for brands.

I write for ideas.

I write for myself.

And sometimes, I write for someone who needs their feelings to have a voice.

Today there are platforms with my writings, my shayaris, my poems, published in newspapers as ad contents and much more.

When that happens, I think of the girl who once sat with her diary and filled its pages without knowing where those words would eventually take her.

She didn’t know.

I didn’t know.

But perhaps the diary knew how to wait.

And perhaps that was its loyalty.

I used to write.

I write today.

And if my words can become someone’s voice, bring a little hope into someone’s day, or simply remind someone that they are not alone in what they feel, then I consider myself blessed.

Always.

Because this journey isn’t over.

There are still stories waiting to be written, ideas waiting to breathe, people waiting to be inspired and dreams waiting to become real.

And yes, there are still miles to go before I sleep.