A few years ago, my wife Ana joined an online English meetup group to polish her conversational skills. Students were paired completely at random.

She was matched with a woman named Natalia, who lived in Russia.

It started as standard small talk—just getting to know each other’s backgrounds. Then, the coincidences started stacking up.

Natalia mentioned that her husband was a window shade installer. To pick up new installation tips and trade techniques, he regularly followed a Brazilian installer living in the US.

Ana froze.

Natalia froze.

Natalia grabbed her phone, scrolled furiously through her apps, and opened a podcast page to show Ana.

It was my podcast: No Strings Attached.

Her husband, sitting thousands of miles away in Russia, had been following my work for years.

“Did You Know You Have a Follower in Russia?”

When the online meeting finished, Ana called me immediately.

“Did you know you have a follower in Russia?” she asked, before bursting into laughter.

I had no idea what she was talking about. It wasn’t until dinner that evening that she sat down and shared the whole story with me. As Ana described every detail, I sat there in total awe.

What were the odds?

Two women, paired at random across two different continents, connected through trade content I had quietly put out into the world without ever knowing who was listening on the other end.

That story broke something open in me.

From Broken English to 100 Countries

When I opened Shades In Place twenty years ago, I started writing email newsletters in broken English simply to sell window shades.

That was the entire plan: send a few maintenance reminders, hopefully earn a referral or two, and keep the business running.

Those early newsletters eventually led to the podcast, and later down the road, to my book.

But nobody told me my message would reach Russia.

Nobody told me strangers would stop me at trade conventions and say, “You don’t know me, but I follow you.”

Nobody told me that writing honestly in my second language, in a country that isn’t mine, with grammar someone else had to help fix, would build something that crosses oceans, industries, and time zones.

“Nobody Told Me That” — the title of my book keeps proving itself true every single day.

No Strings Attached has now been downloaded over 6,000 times in more than 100 countries.

One hundred countries! I haven’t even visited most of them. But somehow, my voice got there long before my feet ever did.

The Receipt from the Universe

That’s the truth nobody tells you about putting honest, heartfelt work into the world: you don’t always get to see where it lands.

You just keep showing up, sharing your expertise and your story, and every once in a while, the universe sends you a receipt to show you it matters.

So, I want to leave you with one question today:

What have you been holding back from sharing because you’re not sure if anyone is listening on the other end?

Warmly,

P.S. — Somewhere out there, a shade installer in Russia might be reading this. Hi. Thank you for listening. This one’s for you.

If you’ve been reading these newsletters but haven’t listened yet, the podcast is the same Roger, with the same honesty (and a Brazilian accent, of course), just in audio form 👉 No Strings Attached

About Roger Magalhães

Entrepreneur | Speaker | Storyteller | Author
Different brands. Same high standard.

Connect & Explore:

Official Website: RogerMagalhaes.com
Businesses: Shades In Place | Trading Up Consulting | Blinds Online
Book: Nobody Told Me That
Podcasts: No Strings Attached (US) | Garra Brazuca (BR)
Blog: Explore Previous Articles & Insights