Shamila Iyer - Content Solutionist

As a professional writer & editor, I will turn your complex ideas into content that connects and engages your audience. And as a published author, I bring my knowledge and expertise to my author mentoring sessions. I will help you take your book idea from a rough manuscript to a polished and published book.

Writing Consultant | Author Coach | Book Editor | Content Writer

I spent 11 years as a stay-at-home mum.
During that time, I worked with publishers such as Pearson, Macmillan, and Oxford to write college-level textbooks in various subjects. I also mentored and coached part-time Business students. 
And dabbled in a bit of writing and learning.

Key Roles:
🔸Wife, mum, chauffeur, cook, personal shopper, time-keeper, and volunteer. 
🔸Freelance writer and researcher. Multi-tasking procrastinator.
🔸Published book author and developmental editor.

My writing superpower 💪🏼? Make something so simple even I can understand it.

Author | Writer | Editor | Researcher | Life-long Learner

Esayidi TVET College

Other Roles: Head of Business Unit; Project Manager; Senior Lecturer; Lecturer 
Key Responsibilities: 
🔹Managed all campus academic matters, projects, curriculums, and staff. 
🔹Responsible for liaising with parents, the community and, industry; drawing up operational plans and 
    organograms; compiling monthly reports and, assisting the Campus Manager with various 
    administration tasks.
🔹Co-ordinated and marketed NCV activities and programmes in Finance, IT, and, Engineering. 
🔹Recruited, trained, and, mentored new lecturers. 
🔹Supervised & conducted performance appraisals of lecturers.
🔹Ran management communication classes for Hearing Impaired students.
🔹Lecturing duties included teaching, lesson planning, and, the setting of exam papers.
🔹Designed and developed original learning and teaching materials.
🔹Increased student pass rates on a national level.

Acting Deputy Principal: Academic & Campus Co-ordinator for the National Certificate Vocational 

Central Johannesburg College, Parktown Campus 

Key Responsibilities: 
🔸Lecturing and lesson planning across faculties. 
🔸Subject Head: Communication N6.
🔸Ran Language Laboratory programmes for ESL (English Second language) students.
🔸Developed learning and teaching materials and assessments.

Business English and Management Communication Lecturer

Durban University of Technology

Academic tutor, ELS specialist in the Educational Development Unit, and Lecturer in the Department of Communication.
Key Responsibilities:  
🔹Conducted language tutorials for faculties of Arts, Commerce, Engineering, and Science.
🔹Lectured across all faculties – Communication.
🔹Participated in curriculum design and development initiatives.
🔹Developed the course and wrote the syllabus, guides, tests, and exam papers for the bridging course in the Faculty of Commerce.
🔹Conducted English evening classes for adult foreign language students. 
🔹Ran post-graduate tutorials for teacher education students.
🔹Designed and implemented assessment programmes for English language proficiency.

Academic tutor, ELS specialist, Communication Lecturer

Write | Edit | Coach ⁓ I work with aspiring writers, authors, businesses & professionals to create content that connects. Human to Human. *Book Nerd. *Chip Addict. *Coffee Lover.

Want to know how I can troubleshoot and fix your content?
Start with the 'why' 👇🏼

𝑀𝓎 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 📖
My love for reading led to my passion for words and language. I studied English Lit, Linguistics, and Education at University, which triggered my early career as an English Language Specialist. This involved teaching and designing learning materials for ESL, EFL, and English 1st Language students in Higher Education (HE).

I moved on to lecture Management Communication and other Business subjects in HE. I am a strong advocate of real-life teaching, teaching transferable skills, and lifelong learning.

Progress in my career led to course and curriculum development projects and culminated in educational management at the TVET college level. I enjoyed the challenges and problem-solving aspects of academic leadership, managing and mentoring a diverse group of lecturers across varied disciplines.

I took a long break from my full-time career to be a stay-at-home mum — my kids needed a chauffeur. During this time, I indulged my love for reading, research, and writing by creating content for textbooks as a part-time freelancer. I 𝐜𝐨-𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 for Macmillan, Oxford, Heinemann, Pearson & Juta. 

I confess I enjoyed the multi-tasking and the adrenaline rush of meeting deadlines – coffee helped!

My kids have finally flown the coop (they needed a little push – Gen Zs, 🙄).
𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹 📙


The end of that story 👆🏼 but wait, there's a sequel 👇🏼  


Turns out my background and experience make me the perfect person to take your brilliant but complex ideas and reshape them into content regular people understand. 


Book 2: Content Solutionist 


𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 

🔹Troubleshoot and fix your content, but also,

•Creatively optimize your ideas or raw material into understandable content 
•Make sure your content truly connects with your readers 
•No fluff, no bullshit, just honest writing and feedback


🔹Provide author coaching, writing advice, and manuscript reviews, but also,

•Developmental editing of non-fiction content
•A bit of ghostwriting - articles, posts, books
•Line & Copy Editing


🔹And

•Create ebooks, textbooks, guides, and workbooks 
•Research and write long and short-form articles


Ready to solve your content issues? I have over 22 years of mentoring, coaching, editing, and writing experience. Let's put together a personalized package that works for you.


For bookings and rates
DM or Email: shamilaiyer@gmail.com
🌐shamilaiyer.com


DIY-er? Check out my hashtag: #writingtipsfornonwriters

There I said it. And I've even put it in my LinkedIn headline... 

...between some em dashes (my other weakness). Does that make me less human or more human?

Crunch.

Any fellow chip addicts out there?
Want to form a support group?

Shamila Iyer

Nonfiction editor, writer, book coach. I help authors, thought leaders, and professionals refine their voice, shape their message, and craft content that connects. Hopeless chip addict and 3 dash user.

After five years of loyal service, my old profile photo has officially retired.
It was time. The poor thing has been holding fort since the day I became active on LinkedIn.

It started as a “quick temporary upload”… and then it stayed. And stayed. And somehow became part of my brand by accident. I used it everywhere →LinkedIn, my website, my email, my Calendly, and even Zoom.

My entire online existence was held together by one accidental headshot. 

RIP

A fresh set of photos is rolling out across my socials, starting here.

So if you head over to my profile or visit me on IG and think,
“Who’s this person and what has she done with the Shamilasaurus who never does selfies and hates headshots?”
Relax, it’s still me. Just emerging out of my cave, and discovering Light(ing).

How often do you update your profile photos?

On Friday, I joined thousands of women who gathered across South Africa, united in a powerful call to end gender-based violence and femicide. 

#GBVF

GBVF is one of the most devastating challenges that our country faces. Friday’s march was a reminder that we cannot remain silent. 


#enoughisenough

The initiative was organised by Women for Change, a non-profit organisation dedicated to combating gender-based violence and femicide. The campaign began with the country turning purple (e.g., social media profiles) and culminated in a nationwide 2-hour shutdown on Friday. 

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched and then lay down for 15 minutes of silence—each minute for a woman killed every day in South Africa.


#nationaldisaster

The aim of this protest (dubbed the G20 Women’s Shutdown) was to get the government to act on GBVF and declare it a national disaster. After an online petition signed by over 1 million people, our president announced at the G20 Social Summit being held in Johannesburg that GBVF will be classified as a national disaster.


🟣 We did it!


Over a million voices breaking the silence that has lasted generations.


But this is only “the beginning of the change we fought for.”

A collage of photos showing women marching in protest of gender-based violence.

Sometimes, when I’m pondering over whether the author used the right word or phrase, I have to remind myself:
 
But is it in the author’s voice? 
Should I leave it as is because it matches the author’s style and tone?
 
As an editor, you itch to “correct” everything, but not everything needs “correcting.”
Sometimes, it’s better to leave well enough alone.
That’s how you keep it real.
 
 ***

PS: Despite the latest trend on LinkedIn, I won’t be changing my gender anytime soon.
Besides, the beard is not working — menopausal hot flushes ‘n all.
 

Not everything needs editing.
 
#genderbiasalgo #keepitreal #yourvoicematters

We cannot challenge what we refuse to name.

When we name our experiences, we reclaim our power.

Gender-based violence is a global crisis, and healing begins when we stop whispering about it and start confronting it with clarity and courage.

Yesterday, I posted about how we in South Africa held a protest march to raise awareness for GBVF among other reasons. (https://lnkd.in/d_Q3pthn)

Today marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV globally. 

📘
In my work, I help people find their voice. But GBV reminds us how many voices are still silenced long before they reach a page. During these 16 Days of Activism, may we:

-listen more closely
-speak more boldly
-create spaces where every voice can rise, and
-where every story can be told

Shamila iyer | Writer, Editor, Author Coach
Honouring voices, protecting stories.

16 days of activism against gender-based violence awareness poster.

Can LinkedIn join this conversation and tell us what's going on?

Brand Strategist for High-Performing Founders & Service Providers | I position you as the Category Leader so you stop losing deals to competitors | Strategy • Messaging • Content Systems

Women are changing their gender to "male" on LinkedIn to prove the algorithm is biased.
And it's working.

Visibility shouldn’t require women to sound less like ourselves. Yet here we are.

All over my feed this week, women are changing their gender markers to “prove” a point – and the results are loud, undeniable, and honestly painful.

Engagement jumps.
Comments triple.
Reach explodes.

The bias becomes visible in real time.

And I get it.
It’s important work.
It quantifies what many of us have felt for years but couldn’t “prove” in a way algorithms take seriously.

Here’s the tension I can’t shake:

If we keep performing masculinity to be heard… what are we training the algorithm to believe about our real voices?

Because short-term proof comes with long-term consequences:

Maybe....
→ We risk signalling to the platform that feminine-coded communication isn’t “valuable”
→ Diluting the diversity the algorithm should be learning to amplify
→ We risk becoming attached to the virality instead of the message
→ We slowly lose the nuance, softness, depth, and empathy many women naturally write with
→ We normalize the idea that adaptation is the only survival strategy

And that’s a cost I’m not willing to ignore.

This isn’t about calling out women experimenting.
It’s about asking a critical question:

Are we documenting the bias… or accidentally reinforcing it?

There has to be another way....
....a better way.

One that strengthens our collective voice instead of bending it.

Rachael (whose article sparked this reflection) said something powerful:

“Instead we could all find ten women’s posts per day – follow them, engage, and amplify their voices.”

And dare I add – resharing their content with the same energy we’re giving this experiment? Maybe that’s the real secret sauce.

Imagine that.
Thousands of us intentionally raising the volume of women who are already writing with excellence, insight, and emotional intelligence.

We are not gaming the system. We are reshaping it – one amplified voice at a time.

And perhaps it’s time LinkedIn joined the conversation. 

So here’s my stance:

We don’t beat bias by becoming less of ourselves.
We beat it by being so visible, amplified, united, and supported – the algorithm has no choice but to learn.

This conversation isn’t about virality.
It’s about voice.
And how we choose to protect it.

What do you think?
Is there a better way forward than swapping genders just to be heard?

I’d love to hear thoughtful perspectives – especially from women navigating this tension in real time.

Need help yanking that book out?

I take great pleasure in doing that 😁 

Find out how I do it, here 👇 
www.shamilaiyer•com

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