It begins with research — a constant hunt for professionals who've achieved extraordinary heights in their careers. Then I start tracking them across professional networking platforms, building a short pitch, and reaching out — through emails, LinkedIn InMails, or in person at networking events — introducing Built, Not Born and inviting them into a candid conversation for the feature.

It's never as straightforward as it sounds. Before a guest finally sits in the chair, there's rejection, multiple follow-ups, scheduling and rescheduling around mutual convenience, and travel — by whatever means gets me there — to meet them on their terms, at their venue.

Then comes the real work: the interview. It demands deep research into their professional journey, their culture, their background — because my job is to break the ice before the conversation even starts, so the guest feels at home while unpacking their story.

It's an off-camera conversation, deliberately so — it lets me ask the tougher questions and gives the guest room to actually open up. Once their journey is documented in my own storytelling format, it goes back to them for fact-checking and approval.

Only then does the final story take shape — reworked for the website, distilled into a LinkedIn post, and reimagined as a carousel for a quick, visual read.

That's the journey every story takes before it reaches you.