An Interview With Dr. Carla Marie Manly
Prioritize Self-Reflection: Dedicate daily time for solitude, meditation, journaling, or simply being with your thoughts. This inner work is crucial for understanding your needs and what you truly want for your life.
Growth is an essential part of life, both personally and professionally. Every day presents an opportunity to learn, evolve, and become better versions of ourselves. But how do we seize these opportunities? How do successful writers, leaders, and influencers ensure they are constantly growing and improving? What daily habits, practices, or mindsets contribute to their continual growth? In this interview series, we would like to talk to authors, leaders, influencers, and anyone who is an authority about “What We Can Do To Grow Every Day”. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ayesha Sehra.
Ayesha Sehra is the dynamic Founder & CEO of Grow the Social LLC, the fastest-growing social-first PR agency representing your favorite brands, influencers & thought leaders in Los Angeles and New York City. Taking the leap from her hometown of Toronto to California at just 22, Ayesha built her business from the ground up to earn her visa and demonstrate her value as a US resident. As a devoted community builder and ongoing student of life, Ayesha is the host of the Coffee and a Good Vibe, a podcast and event series bringing together the most inspiring celebrities, founders, and forward-thinkers for intentional conversations on mindset, mental health, entrepreneurship, and cultivating the life of your dreams.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a small town outside Toronto, Canada, with my parents and older sister. Despite coming from a very loving and supportive household, I never felt like I belonged there. I felt a strong pull to explore beyond Toronto and build my own life by design. I spent much of my time listening to podcasts with motivational speakers and began implementing their key habits and wisdom. This early drive led me to pursue my dream of moving to Los Angeles at 22.
To make this happen, I had to navigate the ins and outs of earning a US visa — essentially proving that I would provide value as a US resident. This led me to create a full business model, execute a business plan, and submit it to the US consulate so I could live in the US. While my family encouraged me to stay in Canada, my restless spirit and desire for growth pushed me to where I am today.
Can you tell us a bit about what you do professionally, and what brought you to this specific career path?
I am the Founder & CEO of Grow the Social LLC, a full-service PR agency based in LA and NYC. We specialize in brand PR, influencer marketing, and event production for various CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands and tech companies. We also represent talent and thought leaders, helping them build their platforms, careers, and networks. The agency evolved organically from my digital marketing background and talent representation work. My passion for connecting people led me to create a podcast called Coffee & a Good Vibe and to bring our network together for inspiring in-person events focused on health, entrepreneurship, and personal growth. Ultimately, our mission is to elevate brands and individuals through customized 360 PR strategies and authentic community-building, both digitally and in person.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Personal Growth. To make sure that we are all on the same page, let’s begin with a simple definition. What does “Personal Growth” mean to you?
Personal growth, to me, is a continuous journey of making progress. It’s about consistently pushing beyond your comfort zone to unlock your full potential. Embracing discomfort is the catalyst for growth, allowing you to evolve, achieve more, and build a life beyond your wildest dreams.
Why do you believe that it’s important to commit to growing every day?
Constant growth is essential for unlocking our God-given potential and living a fulfilling life. Our time on Earth is limited, and it’s crucial to seize every opportunity for improvement. By embracing challenges and stepping outside our comfort zones, we expand our horizons and become the best versions of ourselves. Personal growth isn’t just about achieving success for ourselves; it’s about impacting others and creating a positive ripple effect in the world.
What are the key upsides for those who mindfully engage in a journey of personal evolution?
By continually challenging yourself, you open yourself up to new experiences and create a more colorful, vibrant, and fulfilling life. It’s about realizing that discomfort often precedes every breakthrough. Every time I’ve taken a risk and pushed my limits — like moving to the US at 22 to pursue my career in PR — I’ve reaped incredible rewards. It’s a mindset of choosing growth over comfort, understanding that blessings often await on the other side of challenges. When you choose to be uncomfortable, you choose to grow.
When we stop evolving in intentional ways, what do you think are the biggest downsides?
Neglecting our personal evolution leads to a stagnant and unfulfilling life. We become complacent, limiting our ability to attract new opportunities and meaningful connections. By playing small, we block our potential and miss out on life’s abundant magic! Conversely, when we create a daily routine that pushes us to evolve, we unlock our full potential and generate more magnetism, attracting new and better opportunities and creating a more beautiful, joy-filled life.
What specific practices, if any, do you have in place to ensure that you don’t become stagnant in life?
To prevent stagnation, I prioritize self-awareness through daily visualization, meditation, and journaling. Every single morning, I start with meditation and visualizing what I’m creating in life. Then I follow that up with journaling to verbalize what’s coming up for me and take stock of my mental state. This practice helps me clarify my goals, create a roadmap for achieving them, and get fired up to make it all happen. By creating dedicated time for self-reflection, I maintain clarity about my aspirations and stay motivated to pursue continuous growth.
Is there any particular area of your life where you are most committed to growth (e.g., spiritually, professionally, socially, internally, relationally)?
I am most committed to spiritual and internal growth because I believe that’s where it all starts. Your outer world is simply a reflection of what’s going on inside, and your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship in your life, from family and friends to work relationships and beyond. By focusing on my inner world, it improves everything in my life.
If you could offer five tips to readers on how to stimulate and perpetuate self-growth, what would they be?
- Prioritize Self-Reflection: Dedicate daily time for solitude, meditation, journaling, or simply being with your thoughts. This inner work is crucial for understanding your needs and what you truly want for your life.
- Strengthen Your Faith & Belief System: Cultivate a positive mindset through prayer and connecting to a higher power, whatever that means to you.
- Master Your Time: Take control of your schedule by prioritizing tasks and eliminating time-wasters. Effective time management allows you to dedicate focused energy to personal growth.
- Evaluate Your Environment: Assess the people in your life. Surround yourself with uplifting individuals who support your growth journey and are committed to their own evolution.
- Set Clear Goals & Monitor Them Regularly: Create a detailed plan outlining your personal and professional goals. Daily, weekly, and monthly check-ins will keep you motivated and focused.
What advice would you give to someone who feels stuck and unsure of how to start their personal growth journey?
If you feel stuck, start small. Don’t overwhelm yourself with big changes. Focus on one small habit at a time, like journaling or daily exercise. As you build momentum and see positive results, you’ll naturally be motivated to add more growth-oriented practices to your life, and the results will compound.
And where should you start with your small habits? The first step on any personal growth journey is setting aside time daily to reflect, meditate, and/or journal, ideally first thing in the morning. It can be thirty minutes or five minutes — just create whatever space you can for yourself. You can use this time to evaluate how you’re feeling physically and emotionally, connect with a higher power, flesh out your goals, and map out a clear plan for bringing those dreams into your reality. As long as you prioritize this routine, this simple daily practice can and will evolve with you on your personal journey.
Are there any books, podcasts, or other resources that have significantly contributed to your personal growth?
My favorite digital content centers on mindset, wellness, and business. Gabrielle Bernstein’s work has significantly influenced my mental state and spirituality. Her books, podcasts, and YouTube videos have been instrumental in rewiring my negative thought patterns and cultivating faith in myself and the universe.
I’m equally passionate about health and wellness. Podcasts like Mind Pump and The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show have provided invaluable scientific insight for building a strategic fitness routine, developing an effective nutrition plan as a woman, and optimizing my well-being and performance, not only physically but also so I can show up my best in business and relationships.
Being a student of life is my highest priority, and I’ve made this a part of my career! I host my own podcast called Coffee and a Good Vibe, where I interview founders and entrepreneurs who have paved the way for me and have done the things that I want to do. Learning from their experiences has been incredibly inspiring, and my intention with the podcast is to amplify these stories and motivate listeners as well.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m starting a movement around intentional community and in-person connection. I want to cultivate more spaces where people feel a sense of belonging and can experience personal growth together. By intentionally curating environments with positive energy, I’ve witnessed the power of bringing together like-minded individuals toward common goals of personal growth, mental health, mission-driven entrepreneurship, and more. The magic happens when forward-thinkers become friends and realize they are part of something much larger than themselves — and that’s exactly what we’re building through our Coffee & a Good Vibe Live Events and Founder Dinners.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We would love for your readers to join our community for their highest growth! Head over to our website and social media hub at coffeeandagoodvibe.com. This is where you’ll find our podcast, Coffee and a Good Vibe, where we delve into inspiring stories and entrepreneurship journeys.
Follow @coffeeandagoodvibe on Instagram for a vibrant community and updates on our next in-person events. You can also connect with me directly on Instagram @ayeshasehra, where I document my routines and tactics related to mindset, health, personal growth & entrepreneurship.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Growing Every Day: Ayesha Sehra On What We Can Do To Grow Every Day was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.