Why most brilliant people stay invisible (and how to change that)

I want to speak to the founders today.

The entrepreneurs. The coaches. The creators building something real—something that matters.

You’ve poured your soul into your product, your service, your mission.

But let me ask you this:

Why isn’t the world hearing you?

I’ve met so many brilliant people with game-changing ideas… who freeze the moment the camera turns on.

They hesitate.
They doubt.
They overthink.

And in a world where attention = trust = traction, silence is the fastest way to disappear.

This newsletter isn’t a list of hacks.

It’s a call to step up.

Because I’ve been there.

I spent years building Mindvalley from behind the scenes.
Wrote the copy. Scaled the business. Changed lives.
But I wasn’t the face of anything—because I didn’t feel ready.

I didn’t think I had the look.
Or the voice.
Or the presence.
Or whatever “it” is that thought leaders are supposed to have.

Spoiler alert: none of that mattered.

But it took me five key moments to learn that.

Moments that helped me stop hiding, start sharing, and grow an audience of millions—in a niche people once told me was “too small.”

So if you’re building something you care deeply about…
And still hiding from social media—overthinking your voice, your face, your age, your accent, your lighting, your cat walking across the screen…

I get it.
Because that was me.

Recently.

And what changed everything weren’t tactics.
They were stories.

Let me tell you the five that changed everything.

Keep reading.

1. Everything you think you suck at… Is hackable

The year was 2017. I was at one of our events in Portugal. The theme? “Expand Your Influence.”

Jay Shetty was there. A former monk turned social media juggernaut. Great voice. Great hair. Looks like he drinks charisma for breakfast.

After the event, I sat down to interview him.

Now picture this: Jay’s sitting upright, wearing a perfect outfit, talking like a polished philosopher who moonlights as a GQ model.

And me?

I looked like I’d just stopped by the clearance rack at H&M.

I was interviewing Jay Shetty on how he became a viral superstar. 

My posture was hunched. My voice was rushed. My shirt had probably been in my closet since the Obama administration. I hadn’t styled my hair. Or maybe I had, but it gave up on me halfway through.

At some point, I told him:

“Jay, I don’t have your look. Or your voice. Or your storytelling style. I’m 40. You’re 32. I’m too old for this. Who’s going to listen to me on Instagram?”

And Jay—with his usual kindness and just a hint of “stop being an idiot”—goes:

“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Then he gave me a crash course in how to show up. Seriously.

He taught me how to slow down my voice. How to sit with intention. How to use a blow dryer (I was 40 and didn’t own one). He literally showed me, step by step, how to get my hair to stand up like his.

This, my friends, was my bromance makeover moment.

And you know what I learned?

Everything is hackable.

Your voice. Your posture. Your presence. Your confidence. Even your hair.

You don’t have to be born with it.
You can build it.

A few weeks later I released my first Instagram post for the public.

A few months later I released my first viral video (a campaign ad against Nestle). It received 50 MILLION views. My life was about to change….

And all it took was for a friend to pull me out of my fears.

2. You’re not trying to reach the world. Just your world.

Let me tell you something strange about me:

I’m obsessed with Mongol and Hellenistic history.

No, really. Obsessed. I once flew to Uzbekistan just to walk the lands where Genghis Khan marched his army. No one asked me to do that. There was no business reason. I just needed to be there. Nerd pilgrimage.

And here’s the crazy thing:

I follow small social media accounts that post about this stuff. Super niche. Sometimes low production value. But I follow these accounts of historians and tour guides because…

They speak to me.

They’re not trying to be for everyone. They’re for people like me. Central Asia history nerds. 

That’s the real secret of social media.

You don’t have to be the next Tony Robbins or Marie Forleo or Alex Hormozi.

You just have to be you—loud enough for your people to find you.

That’s the biggest mindset shift I had to make.

You’re not posting to impress the masses.

You’re posting to attract the weirdos who see the world like you do.

And trust me, they’re out there. Probably scrolling right now. Waiting for a voice like yours.

No matter how small or weird your passion. There are people just like you out there (fellow weirdos in the best way) waiting for you to share. 

3. How losing everything made me step up

Let’s rewind to 2014.

Mindvalley had just lost its biggest revenue-generating program: The Silva Method.

Ten years of partnership. Gone. Just like that.

The new CEO of Silva decided to take it all in-house. Poached two of my employees. Cut me out.

It wasn’t just a business hit. It was personal.

We started losing money. Fast. I had to lay off 18 employees in Argentina.

And I remember sitting there thinking:

“I have no main author. I have no program. I have no face for the company.”

And then, life forced the question:

“What if the face… is me?”

I’d already paid $10,000 to a book marketer. I asked him for a refund.

He said no.
But he offered me something better:

“Why don’t you write the book yourself?”

So I did.

That book was The Code of the Extraordinary Mind.

It went on to become a global bestseller.
Hit #1 on Kindle.
It was translated into over 25 languages.
It opened doors I never imagined.

But here’s the real moral of the story:

If you lose the platform, become the platform.

Entrepreneurship isn’t about being safe. It’s about being seen. Especially when everything feels uncertain.

Have you been behind the scenes? Are you truly happy there? Do you feel there’s something prodding you to step up, to get on stage, to speak out your thoughts? 

Perhaps it’s time. 

4. No one f*cking cares. Just start.

Let me introduce you to Klemen.

Klemen is from Slovenia. He used to work at Mindvalley. He’s also one of the most courageous students I’ve seen in our Social Media Mastery program.

Why?

Because in Week 1—before we even taught him anything—he posted his first video.

His outfit? Let’s just say… it could’ve been a shepherd’s costume.
His accent? Heavy.
His lighting? Boldly experimental.
His delivery? Honest and raw.

Was it perfect? No.

Was it viral? Also no.

But was it real?

Yes. And that’s why it worked.

See, Klemen didn’t wait until he had the right camera, the right look, the right filter.

He just started.

And here’s what you need to hear:

No one f*cking cares if you’re not polished.

Your tribe doesn’t want a brand.
They want a human.

Start awkward.
Start shaky.
Start cringe.

But start.

5. The hair dryer that taught me the 3-second rule

Want to know what one of the most viral videos I ever made was about?

Hair.

Specifically—a joke video on how I get my hair to stand up.

Jay Shetty trained me. (Yes, really.) He showed me the trick with warm and cold blow-drying.

So one day, I decided to film a video explaining it.

But I didn’t open with:

“Hey guys, let me tell you how I style my hair.”

No.

I opened with:

“This is the weirdest thing Jay Shetty ever taught me…”

Boom. Hook.

You have 3 seconds to stop the scroll.

Most people start with:

“Hi, I’m Sarah, and today I want to talk to you about…”

No one hears the rest.

But if you open with something unexpected, weird, or curious—now you’ve got them.

The 3-second rule isn’t just a trick. It’s a superpower.

Here’s an example—this video about our upcoming Social Media Summit is crushing it in ads. All because I started in a way that’s weird and unexpected. 

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A post shared by Chelsey Goodan | Author | Speaker (@chelseygoodan)

Final thought for entrepreneurs

I’m not telling you to go viral.

I’m telling you to go visible.

To stop hiding behind product features and polished branding.
To show your real face. Your messy passion. Your imperfect genius.

If you want to grow your brand, your mission, your impact in 2024…
You need to get on camera.

You need to tell stories.
You need to build trust.
You need to connect.

And the truth is—you’re ready.

You’ve always been ready.

You just needed someone to call you out.

So consider this your callout.

Join me at Social Media Summit this weekend

If this spoke to you—if you’re done waiting for perfection and ready to start showing up fully—I want you to join us this weekend in our Social Media Summit. 

Over 3 days we will guide you through:

1. Confidence on camera
2. Crafting scroll-stopping hooks
3. Building community, not just followers
4. Sharing your story with power
5. Overcoming imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and procrastination
6. Creating simple, repeatable content that converts and inspires

Reserve your FREE spot at the summit.

Your story is not too small.

Your message is not too late.

Your moment is now.

If you like this type of content and want to see more of it, let me know what you think by commenting here 

See you inside,

 — Vishen

P.S. I still blow-dry my hair. Not because I care how it looks.

 But because it reminds me that everything—literally everything—is learnable.