We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sadiya Mulla a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sadiya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

The best investment I made was taking a formal degree in Psychology.

I was prepped, fed, and taught to be a doctor. A few months into my entrance prep – I realized I hated it. Blood, emergencies, tearing into body parts – that was NOT my thing.

Then I took a psychology class. It felt like a whole new universe. I was so pulled in. I laugh at Freud now, but back then, I was a fan of his mind. I decided to do my bachelor’s in psychology, too.

And so it began. Knowing the brain, seeing why humans fight, understanding that aggression is a core human experience and not something we can avoid – I saw every move, every action, every person with a “why did they do this?”

It showed me that humans converse less and project more.
It showed me that business is built on a healthy level of “aggression”, social support, and a sense of self.

It gave me the vocabulary to see things from angles we are rarely exponsed to.

It built me insight I carry to this day.

That’s my biggest move in business now.
It constantly tells me where I am wrong.
Where I am too much in my head.
And where I need to go next.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Every business has 1 forever need: great clients. Great enquiries. People who just get it. People who are ready to trust you and partner with you.

And that’s the toughest thing to nail.

When I started with LinkedIn, my mind quickly coveted ghostwriting for sales. I built strategies, worked with agencies, and grew our clients’ business for them, bringing in deals from $9k to 2mn.

I realized what I loved was seeing them access money.
I went deeper into sales, behavioral science, and what makes prospects tick and ick.

4 years in, that’s my core work. I reverse engineer sales for B2B founders with an avg. deal size of $60-200k. I don’t work with B2C founders unless they share a core purpose of building on LinkedIn – is it getting investors, starting another business, or just for fun? I don’t like the last one. :)

Having built inbound sales systems for 30 businesses now, what I love is the access I build for my clients. They are often surprised by the power of Inbound, since their last 7 trials didn’t work. That moment when they get their first inbound opportunity – be it a serious enquiry or a speaking opportunity – it fills me up.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Virality, fame, and “glory” are not what build B2B businesses. Social media sells us the followers – likes – fame – business idea. It’s only applicable for influencers and in my view, it’s slowly starting to fade. Because we only trust people we know, not people who lie about a product to make a buck.

B2B specifically has a different world. Although it’s integrating with social media, LinkedIn does not operate like IG or FB.

Buyers are quiet. Risks are huge. To trust a stranger is a heavy decision.

Rooms are filled with stakeholders facing problems they can’t solve.
Because they can’t find the right people for it.

They don’t care if you have 100k followers,
They want to know if your ideas apply to their specific conditions.

Posting about niche, high-processing topics will not go viral online.
It will make a huge dent in people’s minds instead.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I was working with a B2B real estate group; their founders were extremely reserved and not used to talking about their achievements. When I shared the strategy for their next project, they immediately said no. It was scary for them to be “loud” about their life story, work, or business. I hit a roadblock.

Now I had a choice to make:
Either go with what they say, even if it ruins the project.

Do what I proposed, even if it means taking the risk of the outcome.

I chose the second option. Drafted a strong email stating why their approach was lethal for their growth, and took full responsibility for the execution. After careful deliberation, they replied yes. But their reputation must remain intact.

Campaign went live. I was working hard. And then it happened.

Their reputation was LOUDLY increasing and becoming even firmer.
Investors were asking them to grab dinner.
Partners wanted to have a call.

They couldn’t believe it.
I could. I took the risk because I knew what would happen.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadiyamulla/