Empowered Women Empower Women: Suma's Story of Luxury Retreats and Life Lessons

In this episode of Muslimahs in Motion: Professional Pursuits, I’m so excited to welcome Suma of Suma Speaks—a life coach, psychological wellbeing practitioner, and founder of The Striving Woman. We dive into her journey of empowerment, community building, and professional success, uncovering how she creates meaningful spaces for personal and spiritual growth. From launching pre-Ramadan retreats to offering life-changing coaching, Suma’s work is all about uplifting Muslim women to step into their power. Tune in as we explore the importance of community, radical self-care, and trusting in Allah’s plan while striving for greatness. Your heart is going to catch fire. 🔥
 
Guest Info & Links:

• Instagram: @sumahx_
• Linktree (all resources): linktr.ee/Sumaspeaks

 
 You’ll walk away with:

• ✨ Empowerment insights: How Suma turned her passion for psychological wellbeing into a thriving coaching practice
• 🤝 Community building: The philosophies behind The Striving Woman and why sisterhood matters now more than ever
• 🕌 Pre-Ramadan Retreats: How she blends luxury experiences with spiritual prep for sisters to truly connect and grow
• 🌿 Tawakkul framework: Acceptance, action, dua, and sabr—practical steps for telling your mountain how big your Allah is
   
  Grab your qahwa, find a cozy corner, and get ready to light up your own path to greatness. And hey—let me know which tip resonated most by dropping a comment or sliding into my DMs!
   
  Chapters:
  00:00 Intro & Hook
  00:45 Who Is Suma & What She Does
  03:20 The Striving Woman: Origins & Impact
  08:10 Pre-Ramadan Retreats: Purpose & Prep
  12:55 Strategies for Psychological Wellbeing
  18:30 Building Community in a Digital World
  24:15 Radical Self-Care Practices
  29:40 Trusting Divine Timing in Your Career
  34:05 Final Reflections & Takeaways
   
  Follow along on Instagram @muslimahsinmotionpod and join our sisterhood with #MuslimahsInMotion—because you deserve a space to grow, belong, and thrive.

Take Break ! Stretch and whatnot and check out our Qahwa Collective !! 

Chapters

• 0:00 Suma's Philosophy on Greatness
• 7:43 Introduction to Muslimah's in Motion
• 16:39 Meet Suma: Life Coach and Wellness Practitioner
• 36:04 Building the Striving Woman Community
• 46:53 Facing Challenges in Community Building
• 58:43 Finding Balance Amid Multiple Pursuits
• 1:06:15 The Pre-Ramadan Retreat Experience
• 1:15:17 Lessons from the Journey and Tawakkul

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I would rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity. I really don't enjoy having goals for the year. It makes me feel under pressure and it takes away the freedom. It takes away from the canvas that Allah has for me. You know like when Allah just has a free canvas and he's already written all these amazing things that are going to happen in the year, and then you restrict it to something so small, I'm like, yeah, allah, just do your best for me this year. Do your best. Allah will never lose my reward. He'll never waste the rewards of those that do good and whether it's in this life or the next, you will reap that reward.

Speaker 2: 0:45

Salaam everyone, and welcome to Muslimah's in Motion Professional Pursuits. I'm Hawa, your host, and here we celebrate the achievements of Muslim women while exploring strategies to balance the life you dream of with the life you're living today. Join me as we dive deep into the world of Suma, of Suma Speaks and, trust me, her story is going to light a fire in your heart. Suma isn't just a life coach. She's a dream architect, a community builder, a sister who looks at the world and says we can do better, be better and grow better. And between us, those sisters retreats she creates. They're not just events. They're transformative experiences that rewrite narratives.

Speaker 2: 1:25

We're about to unpack a journey of empowerment that goes way beyond professional titles. We're talking real talk about balancing the life you're living with the life you're dreaming of. Sound familiar? Yeah, I see you nodding. So go ahead, grab a warm drink, get comfy and let's dive into a conversation that's going to feel like that heart-to-heart chat you've been craving. Suma's story, it's our story, it's your story. Ready to get inspired, let's dive in. Salaam, suma. Thank you so much for your time and joining me today. How are you today?

Speaker 1: 1:59

I'm good. Thank you, waalaikumussalam. Thank you for having me on the podcast. I'm really honored to be here with you and I'm looking forward to our conversation today. Inshallah, inshallah.

Speaker 2: 2:11

Thank you so much. I'm humbled because I've been seeing your stuff for a while now and, honestly, everything you're doing mashallah is amazing and you know, it's just such a needed, groundbreaking thing, I think, a sister's need. Of course, we're going to dive into that for a second in a second, but before we do, I always like to start off with a quick little question with all my guests, and that question is if you were on a deserted island and you had only three things you could bring, what are the three things you're bringing with you?

Speaker 1: 2:42

That's a very interesting question. I would bring a book to write in like a journal. What are the three things you're bringing with you? That's a very interesting question. I would bring a book to write in like a journal, A journal, a pen. I don't know what the last one would be, Definitely a book and a journal. But I don't know what the third thing would be. To be honest, Maybe something that could feed me, Something that would keep me me.

Speaker 2: 3:07

keep my first point you know something like that good choice, good choice. Honestly, that's fair. I don't think I've heard anybody say like food or sustenance. I've heard water like a water filter or something. No food yet, so good thinking.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:25

So, yes, so, as we begin, I'd like to start with asking you the question who's Suma, what is your story and, essentially, what got you started on the path that led you to do what you're doing today?

Speaker 1: 3:37

Thank you. So my name is Suma. Guys, I am Suma Haidara. Guys, I am Suma Haidara. I am ambitious, I am bold, I am very creative. I refuse to be limited. My tagline is I would rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity. That's something that a lot of people hear from me, because I am someone that I don't look down on average quality, but I don't see average quality for my own life, for my own destiny, for what Allah has called me to be. So that is Summa. But in terms of what Summa does? I'm a life coach. I'm a psychological wellbeing practitioner If people don't know what that is, it's a low, intense cognitive behavioral therapist. I work with patients. I'm in the mental health field. I'm also the founder of the Striving Woman, which is a women empowerment organization, slash company for people that just want to be empowered, and the tagline is building, bettering and becoming so. It's for women that want to meet each other, striving greatness in sisterhood and also just come out of their comfort zone and learn to be the best version of themselves. I also have a modest wear line called Mon du Classique. I have a podcast called Tuffcess and I have a YouTube channel. Alongside all these things, I'm a wife, I'm a sister, not yet a mother, but, inshallah, one day of them, all of them amazing things. So, yeah, in terms of alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah or praise, be to allah always.

Speaker 1: 5:12

In terms of how I got to where I'm right now, I've always wanted to work with people. So since I was young, I knew I wanted, wanted to work with people, to help people, and my biggest goal was to be a pediatrician. At first I wanted to be a pediatric doctor and then when I got to college so college in the UK is not university, it's one step before university. So when I got to college, I was thinking I don't think being a doctor is for me, because it's too much Like your whole life is dedicated to the hospital and that's not a life that I see myself living. I think for me. I value freedom, I value flexibility and being a doctor wouldn't provide that for me. So I thought what's the next best thing to you know, helping people and still being able to have that freedom? And I thought, oh, you know, let me go into psychology. That's something that fascinates me. I studied psychology in secondary school, so I felt like you know, I'm going to go into psychology. So I ended up having getting a psychology degree and then I had a, I did my postgraduate, so you could say it's a master's and kind of in well-being practitioner, and I became a qualified well-being practitioner and that's what I've been doing since then.

Speaker 1: 6:31

In terms of whether it's been a passion since I was young, I wouldn't really say so. I'm very creative, so I love drama. When I was young I loved singing. Funny enough, I used to sing a lot when I was younger and I love writing poetry. So I'm a very creative person. I'm not like I wouldn't say I was the smartest in school. I think I'm more wise than I am book smart, but I've always learned how to be better in my academics, so I could make it far if I just revise. You know that of person, but it doesn't come naturally to me. So yeah, I guess that's a bit about me in terms of where I, how I got to where I am at the moment.

Speaker 2: 7:13

I love that and I like that because, for a couple of reasons, a lot of us, especially first generation, you know, immigrant kids our first instinct obviously is like to give back to the family. So what is the biggest STEM career engineer, doctor, this thing but you are not only able to kind of diverge from the most, what is it the commonly trodden path, and not only do that but like, make something of that and for yourself and do something that not a lot of people can say, which is they're doing something that they genuinely enjoy and have a passion for. And, of course, I'm sure or maybe not let me not be presumptuous, but when you decided to make that shift, did you deal with any, I guess, adversity, whether it was from friends, family, people who thought that, oh, sometimes, as young girls, people have these expectations on us and so when they even sniff us going the opposite path, they're like oh no, no, red flag, red flag. Could you talk about that?

Speaker 1: 9:46

Yeah, so not really. I don't think I experienced any adversity. So just a bit of background. I come from a family of six, so I have four older brothers and my oldest brother passed away in 2022. But I also have a little sister as well. So I'm like second to last, but I've always felt like the oldest in my family. So it's like nobody can boss me around, nobody can tell me what to do because I'm the eldest daughter. When it's four boys and then the elder daughter, it's like, yeah, it's a bit different and I'm actually the first to graduate in my family and nobody's ever graduated yeah, my mom's not gone to uni, my aunties, my uncles nobody's ever graduated, so I'm the first to graduate, so nobody really had an opinion.

Speaker 1: 10:32

I guess it was just she's just doing what she's doing and I guess they were proud of the fact that I was pursuing a career in general, so it was never a thing where I had any pressure or anything like that.

Speaker 2: 10:45

Yeah, oh mashallah, See, I like to hear that, because a lot of times you hear the opposite. But it's such a refreshing thing, hamdulillah, to like hear that, for the sake of it, your family was just proud of you and that's such a beautiful thing. That's such a beautiful thing, yeah, no, honestly. So I know you said you studied psychology and then went into the wellness space. I mean, what about that stuck out to you really? I think I hear a lot of. I have a lot of peers who you know. Maybe they study psych and maybe they go to teaching or therapy.

Speaker 1: 11:17

but what made you're doing therapy on them, but you'd I feel like we are the first door in the world of therapy. So well, practitioners are the first door. Then if somebody wants to do further exploration into their childhood and stuff like that, they can go and do other forms of therapy like psychotherapy, dynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy. But we only address what's happening in the now. So cognitive behavioral therapy is all about the present moment, that your current situation. How can we change that to, to make it better and to improve your well-being? And I like that because I didn't want to have the responsibility of healing someone. I'm just part of the journey but I'm not the final stop. So well-being works for me. It's like I can do some work with you, but if you don't heal with me, that's okay, I'll sign right that's not.

Speaker 1: 12:28

It's not bad, yeah exactly so, because I'm an empath, I feel things really deeply. So being a therapist and being an empath is not really the two don't match well. It can be hard sometimes. So I think, yeah, I mean I am actually looking into probably going into further training to become a qualified cognitive behavioral therapist, but I'm not sure yet. I'm still thinking about it because I already do coaching as well and it's a lot of energy.

Speaker 2: 12:56

Yeah, no, I'll make it easy. It's just really nice to see like Muslim women, especially like black Muslim women, in the mental health space. I have a couple of friends who are trying to break into that as well. So it's just nice to kind of see, like how we're slowly becoming, because I think it's important, right. You know, a lot of times those of us who have gone to therapy or go to therapy it's one thing to have a therapist, but to have a therapist or a wellbeing practitioner who actually understands the context of being a Muslim woman or Muslim minority, I think I mean those are in short supply. So truly, truly, thank you for what you're doing. That's really appreciated.

Speaker 1: 13:34

You're welcome. Honestly, I'm glad to be in this space. I speak to people all the time. I speak to over 40 people a week, like touching maybe 50 people a week. So I'm always giving, giving, giving and supporting people and you know it's really fulfilling. You know, you hear so many different stories. You help people, you see all kinds of emotions and it can be a lot sometimes, especially when you're dealing with your own things. But Alham and contribute to people's lives.

Speaker 2: 14:04

There's no surprise then that you decided to go into the coaching and like community building space. So you know, from being a community creator to building these spaces for connection. Tell me how you got started doing that and kind of what inspired you to create these communities.

Speaker 1: 14:32

For example, with the Striving Woman that actually started as Summer Speaks first. So I always knew that I had wisdom beyond my years. I just turned 25 in December and everyone always thinks I'm older because of the way I speak.

Speaker 2: 14:49

Honestly, it was good being there. It was like the wiseness you spoke about, because me I turned 25 in October and I thought I was talking to my older, my older sister or something, mashallah.

Speaker 1: 15:01

So thank you honestly. I always get that. So I noticed that about myself from a young age and I've always given advice to people etc. So I kind of turned to like giving advice during the COVID era, like 2020, even prior to that I was hosting and stuff, but more showing my face like actively online I guess it was more like during the pandemic or around that time I was doing a lot of lives, et cetera, and I just kind of I established Summer Speaks whilst I was in university, so like 2021. Summer Speaks whilst I was in university, so like 2021.

Speaker 1: 15:40

And then I think 2023 was when I rebranded the whole thing to the Striving Woman, because I realized that it wasn't just about me, it wasn't. It wasn't just for me, it was for the women, and women were connecting with it, women were appreciating it. I didn't want it to be about me, to be honest. So I changed it to the Striving Woman. I still kept my Summer Speaks name but, as like my speaker kind of brand, my coaching brand. So my coaching brand is separate to the Striving Woman now. Before they used to be intertwined, but now I'm Summer Speaks as a separate entity. But the Striving Woman is the Striving Woman. It's for community, it's for women, it's for empowerment and everything. So, yeah, I think it was just seeing how impactful these spaces were for women and realizing that we're all very similar and sometimes you just need a space to just be you and learn a bit more and evolve in yourself. And, yeah, I feel like I really needed to provide that space for people to just connect. So that's how I went into the community space, I would say.

Speaker 1: 16:40

And then with coaching, I've always wanted to be a life coach. Funny enough, like since secondary school, I said, oh, I'm going to be a life coach. I think I like the idea of coaching people. I've always done something Like when I was in primary school, I was a school council, then I was a student ambassador for four years. Whilst I was in primary school, I was a school council, then I was a student ambassador for four years whilst I was in school and then in uni as well. So I've always done something like that's just a bit I don't know. I'm always mentoring, I'm always doing something. So I felt like, let me just be a coach, like let me actually become a life coach. So I launched my coaching business in June in 2024. Alhamdulillah, since then it's been going amazing.

Speaker 2: 17:21

Yeah oh, I love that, alhamdulillah, so that's so amazing. So I can assume that community just means a lot to you then, because I mean truly, like you said, these spaces are needed. I'm not Obviously it might be a little different in the UK, but, like here in the US, especially like these kinds of like spaces where sisters can just be and interact are in such short supply. I have a sister as well. We started an organization back a couple of years ago. Because of that.

Speaker 2: 17:53

We found, like when we went to university so I grew up for context, and I was probably the only Muslim in my classroom a lot of the time, so it wasn't really until we had like Sunday school, you know that I would go to, but I kind of lost touch with those sisters. It wasn't until university or college that with those sisters. It wasn't until university or college that, you know, I met like true Muslim sisters that I could feel like have these like long-term relationships with, like long-term sisterhood type things, and I was like, wow, like I would really love everybody else to. You know, have that right, this sister. We actually grew up in the same community but you know we would only you know it's different in the sense where, like, we would go to the main community masjid, maybe like twice a year. That's just how we grew up, like, especially in the States, everything's far, whatever. So this is how it was.

Speaker 2: 18:52

Anyways, long story short, we were reconnected in university. We were like, wow, this is so great, alhamdulillah, we're all coming back to Allah and, you know, we're all having our moments. So let's create that for other sisters. So we kind of created that because, like you said, I mean these things. Life is already so difficult. Like the last thing you need to do is go through the difficulty alone, no-transcript, right. So you got to go out and do that and that's really respectful mashallah.

Speaker 1: 19:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:46

Thank you. Yeah, of course so were there. With that being said, building these types of things, especially to the volume that you built it, mashallah, it couldn't have been easy. So, if you don't mind me asking, what are some challenges that you might have faced while, like, trying to build this community, trying to foster these like genuine, meaningful connections?

Speaker 1: 20:10

Thank you for the question. I would say it's hard doing it by yourself, because I only just thought of a team in 2025, well, end of 2024 slash 2025. And even then I'm struggling because I don't know how to delegate. Like I, I think of something, I just want to do it. I don't want to wait on somebody else to do it for me, I just do it you know.

Speaker 1: 20:33

So it's really hard. You'll experience loads of burnout. I do a couple of events, so sometimes maybe you might not hit your ticket sales and then you have to use your own money to cover some expenses and people don't see the struggle behind it and even when you're like pricing tickets at a certain level, they might think, oh, this is a bit expensive, but they don't realize that there's a lot of costs that need to be covered to make an event successful. You know I've had two, but I've created my first big, big, big event in 2020 freeing, and that was the she strives, she thrives event in London, and it was a big event like. We had over 50 guests, we had a panelist, we had.

Speaker 1: 21:13

It was amazing, alhamdulillah, but it was a. It was very stressful. It was very stressful. And then I had the pre-ramadan retreat. So that's the first ever pre-ramadan retreat. Nobody else has done that before, and that was also stressful because it was a weekend away. And then I've got an upcoming event, which is another pre-Ramadan retreat. That's going to be in Morocco in this month. Inshallah. How exciting, alhamdulillah.

Speaker 1: 21:39

It's very exciting, but so stressful, like today, when I was saying I was busy, it's because I was trying to sort out a lot of the things in relation to the retreat and for me, if I don't have full focus like if I start something and I go away from it and I try to go back to it again it just I get confused. So I like to just sit down and just dedicate time to just completing something. So those are the challenges. It's hard to it's hard to please everyone.

Speaker 1: 22:08

It's hard to really allow your ideas to come to fruition without the finances and or with limited finances, and you limited finances and you want to help people, you want to support people, but it gets really tough and you have to charge, you have to get the tickets out, you have to push the events and there's nothing I hate more than marketing. I don't enjoy marketing. I'm just one of them. People that's like if you want to buy it, just buy it. If you don't want to buy it, don't buy it. I'm not going to force you to buy it, but with marketing.

Speaker 1: 22:37

It's like you have to be in people's faces.

Speaker 1: 22:39

And it's just like I'm such a I don't. I think maybe that's just like the ego in me, or the Gambia or Central East in me, like I've got a bit of pride, like no, if you want to force it down people's world, you know too much. Every day, posting the poster like ah, are you that desperate? Like no, that's how it feels to me. I just feel like cringing in myself because, oh man, yeah, but you have to if you really want your brand to go out there.

Speaker 1: 23:10

You have to show up, you have to be out there, you have to market, you have to message people and I think that's the hardest part for me, that is the really hard part for me. But aside from that, alhamdulillah, there's a lot of rewards as well, and you learn every single time you do something, you learn from it, you grow and, inshallah, I can have the courage to really develop my team further. So I'm doing less work and it's less stressful. You know it's actually being the work is being distributed across the board and it's not feeling like a lot on me because I do that and then I coach and then I work full-time and it's a lot.

Speaker 2: 23:49

It's a lot.

Speaker 2: 23:50

Inshallah, man, I'll make, bro. Thank you for talking about that, because, man, I thought I was the only one. I was like dang, how's everybody just doing this so well? And it's like having a job and then doing other things on the side and then like planning events, and then you got to do your main, like it's a lot, it's actually very stressful. And, like you said, I mean the financial main. Like it's a lot, it's actually very stressful.

Speaker 2: 24:21

And, like you said, I mean the financial part. Oh, baby, like alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, seriously, because like, we have jobs and things. But the thing is like this is a different scale. When you want 50 people, 20, even 20 people to come to an event, I mean you got gotta think about food costs, you gotta think about, you know, venue, you gotta think about drinks, all the things that come into this. I mean this stuff adds up right and you know, obviously, like you said, you want to help people and, you know, may I make it easy for all of us to be big buck people so we don't have to pay, we can charge zero dollars for things.

Speaker 1: 24:55

I know I mean, I mean honestly yeah, it is.

Speaker 2: 25:00

But you know also there's a balance and I have found something too those, a lot of times people do want to support and help. So one thing I've been experimenting with, or trying to inshallah with, like the next event is kind of doing like a what is it? So almost like a sponsor, so like for sisters who can afford it, you can pay for your ticket and then like, let's say, you want to help a sister out and like, do like a sadaqah, right, then you can always sponsor somebody else's ticket. So then you know those sisters who truly, truly cannot afford and you know, if you can't really afford it, like you can say, hey, you know, reach out, say, hey, sis, assalamu alaikum, I would really love to attend, but right now my finances are real tight, you know.

Speaker 2: 25:44

Just providing, trying to like find a balance right, because I've found in the past where you know I'll do an event and people would be like, oh, how well, you know, you should have asked us, we could have helped you with X, y, z, we could have helped you with this, we could have came a little earlier. And it's funny because I mean, like you said, you're the oldest sister, so you're just almost like pre-wired to just want to take care of everything. I feel you, I'm the oldest, so like I get it. It's like you don't want to ask for help, you don't want to, you know, bother anybody because just like, okay, I can do this. I'm you didn't ask to do this, so let me just take care of it. Right, my priority is taking care of everybody.

Speaker 2: 26:22

But I think one thing I've been trying to learn too is like people also want to help us too. So, alhamdulillah, I'm glad that you're considering, you know finding expanding your team, because it's not easy, man. You're doing so much mashallah Like, and you've come so far. I can't imagine you know doing it solo the way, and you've done it so well, solo mashallah. So may Allah make it easy for you Seriously.

Speaker 1: 26:49

I mean honestly, thank you so much. I mean, at the moment we were like experimenting with the team. We have like a new, a like business strategist that I can work with. I think the biggest person I need right now is a creative assistant, someone that can help with the social media side of things. The content yeah, that part is hard and we have an outreach officer as well, but it's like because I'm settling, I'm getting used to having a team, I don't feel like I have a team because I'm still doing everything by myself, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 27:21

Yeah, yeah alhamdulillah, man, I'll make it easy. It's not easy because when you're so used to carrying everything on your head, it's like you don't even know what to tell people, because you're so used to like a lot of the work happens up here, like in your head.

Speaker 2: 27:36

Right, I have to say in your head because it's not visual, but you know what I mean. Like so, when you're actually trying to tell people what to do or trying to delegate, you realize, oh man, there's so much gaps in knowledge transfer and everything. Because it's like, oh, this person cannot read my mind. Even though it can be annoying, this person cannot read my mind right. So it's like even that in itself is a job Delegating, trying to figure out. Okay, how can I best tell this person how to?

Speaker 1: 28:07

do this, etc. Etc. So it's a lot, man, it's a lot. Yeah, no, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2: 28:10

I totally, totally agree, yeah so, with that, balancing all of these, these endeavors and everything I mean, how do you balance doing these community leading efforts and community building efforts, your podcast clothing line, your full time job? How do you balance all of this with your own personal and spiritual growth?

Speaker 1: 28:35

Yeah, it's hard. That part is hard as well Finding balance. Finding balance I think 2024 was a year of like burnout for me, because I just felt like I was constantly on this like hamster wheel and there was no end. And and to top it off, I have friends, people always inviting me to things. I have. There's so many weddings happening. I can't remember the. I can't count the amount of weddings I went to last year and you know there's always something every weekend is is busy. So the weekends where it's supposed to be like a like downtime, trying to catch up with friends, I'm trying to catch up with family. So last year was hard, but I have a year and, like I have a word to represent my year each year and this year the word that is representing my year is ease. Inshallah, inshallah. I just want a year of ease. So I can't say I have a balance at the moment, but I'm working towards having a balance, I mean in terms of how I manage.

Speaker 1: 29:36

Obviously, my full-time job is remote, so that helps alhamdulillah yeah, so I work from home and then my coaching as well can be flexible, because it's kind of like, on my schedule, slash the client schedule and like I might do fortnightly sessions with one person, do weekly sessions with another. I have protected time as well. So from like maybe 8 pm onwards, nobody can contact me I can't discuss anything with anyone, that kind of thing. Or even 7 pm, depending on the day. That like the day is, and the first days are like my nothing days. I just watch Nollywood, I just relax, I will, I'll work, I'll do my job, but after work I'm chilling, I'm not doing anything nobody contact me, even Saturday.

Speaker 1: 30:23

Saturday's a Saturday's a nothing day for me. It's just I might just go out with with like my friends, or I might spend time with my husband like just chill, you know. And then Sunday. I've only just recently stopped doing coaching sessions on the weekend, so I think this is one of my first Sundays where I'll be free free like not doing anything at all. Yeah, so I'm working on a balance.

Speaker 2: 30:42

I think this is one of my first Sundays where I'll be free free like not doing anything at all.

Speaker 1: 30:45

Yeah, so I'm working on a balance. I think at the moment I just manage things. I'm very organized, I try to write everything down, I keep up with everybody, my caseload in work and my coaching clients outside of work. So, yeah, I don't know how I do. Everyone, everyone always asks me how do you actually manage all of this? And then I'm just like oh, by the will of Allah, alhamdulillah, like you, know where there's. Allah, there's a way, honestly absolutely.

Speaker 2: 31:14

I listen, I, everything you're saying is like you're in my brain, because man like yeah, oh, it's like I can't remember the last like weekend where I had nothing, and I know that's not good. But I'm trying to implement at least, like sundays I don't leave my house like at all, because if I can at least do that, at least I can face okay, let me prepare for the week. Whether that's work, podcast content, that way I don't have to like, because you know, when you come back from inside it's like now you've got to spend like an hour decompressing from running around. And then here's like we have to drive everywhere. So the mental and the physical fatigue of being in a car, driving everywhere. Then you've got to come inside, you've got to relax a little bit, pray, recenter yourself, and then by the all that happens is 8 pm. You might've come from inside the house from five, but from all the decompressing everything, the day is over.

Speaker 1: 32:16

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:19

There's not enough hours. So, inshallah, may Allah just make it easy. I been trying to implement like asking, like in my duas, like just asking Allah for more barakah in my time, because I'm like you know what, if I can have more barakah in my time, I, even if I have the same amount of time, I'll still feel like okay, I got, I got it done, like I got what I needed to done, and have that sense of fulfillment. I think my issue is like some days it just feels like I did so many things but didn't complete anything. So it just feels like why, why did? Why? Like what was the purpose of this day?

Speaker 1: 32:52

you know what I mean yeah, no, I totally get you. I think it's really difficult, but, you know, do our helps, and having the right intentions help, and just wanting more for yourself. You will be able to find that balance. You will be able to manage everything and I think every day you're always learning how to better your day, how to better your routine, how to make things easier for yourself, and there's no harm in that. You're not going to get it all right straight away. It will take a bit of time, and I think people forget the fact that your early 20s is literally a time for learning, time for growing, trying to understand what works best for you. There's so much that goes into how a person deals with things, from their hormones, their experiences, their mood, especially women, so it's giving yourself grace as well, doing what you can.

Speaker 2: 33:47

So sorry. My Alexa just decided conveniently out of nowhere to go off. So I'm so sorry.

Speaker 1: 33:55

No worries.

Speaker 2: 33:59

The problem is it does this thing where it tells me what's next on my calendar. So right now she's telling me what's next on my calendar because, like I said, there's a lot and what helps me is just putting everything on my calendar, Like if it's not on my calendar it's out of my head oh same.

Speaker 1: 34:16

Oh, if that's not my calendar, my diary, my notes app my biggest assets on my phone.

Speaker 2: 34:25

That's a big one because, bro, if it doesn't exit here, the thing is, everything is just moving like 10 million miles per hour, so there's no time to like really just remember a new thing, because there's a new thing happening like every two seconds. And then I did the out loud thing because, even with all of that, sometimes I'm not even on my phone while I'm working on stuff. So it's like it's almost like this is like the last call. It's like, girl, you got to know now, even if you're not on your phone, this thing is going to tell you oh, in 30 minutes you got another, whatever. So, hamdila, though, yeah, I know, I feel you, I feel you, but you've spoken about the endeavors you pursued while coaching, especially your full-time work, your podcast now and your clothing line, you know how do you feel like they contribute to your overall vision of empowering others, and not just others, but Muslim women.

Speaker 1: 35:26

I feel like it's interesting because I think each part of what I do represents who I am, and who I am is somebody that empowers and helps people. So it kind of shines through everything that I do. So with the community stuff, it's kind of you know that one is there for community, for empowerment, but I guess the other things, like the podcast and my clothing brand. So I love fashion. I like dressing well, I like, you know, looking nice. I started wearing hijab when I was 21, being like evolving in like my style and in my identity as a muslim woman, and that's been fun and interesting.

Speaker 1: 36:08

I've always loved fashion. I've always designed clothes since I was young. I used to design people's prom dresses when I was like 18, so I moved from that to like actually having my own clothing brand. I thought of my clothing brand when I was maybe 17 or 16. So it's been something that I always loved and I think for me it's about expressing yourself but also being modest, like defining your own style and showing your own personality. Like anyone that knows me knows, I love color. I will wear colors.

Speaker 1: 36:43

You know a lot of people like the blacks, the grays, the browns. That's not me Like. I love pink, I love yellow, I love purple.

Speaker 2: 36:54

Like I love color.

Speaker 1: 36:55

So I think, with my clothing brand, it's to empower people to be themselves and to dress well, you know, and to feel good and to feel, feel nice in themselves. I think it's nice to look after yourself, it's nice to put things together and feel confident. It enhances your confidence, to be honest, when you look nice and you feel like you fit in somewhere. And you know, with modest it's not. Modest doesn't equate to sharia compliant, you know, I'm not saying that it's, you know, 100 sharia compliant, but it's something that helps people that are in the journey of transitioning into the hijab and understanding what the hijab is and making it work for them.

Speaker 1: 37:37

You know, and allah, sees our intentions and he'll perfect what we do as we go along, you know. So it's just about empowering women to just start and start from somewhere and to make their wardrobe feel nice and feel comfortable for them. So that's the clothing brand, and mondo classic means world of class you know I love I.

Speaker 1: 38:00

Everyone talks about the way that I carry myself. I don't really know what they mean, but if I'm, if I'm to guess what they mean, I mean they might think I'm, they would consider me as someone classy, someone that is carries themselves with elegance, and I think that's what I wanted my brand to feel like. I wanted it to feel elegant and classy and, you know, very feminine as well, because that's who I am and I liked my personality and who I am to show in the things that I do. So that's the clothing brand and, I guess, the podcast.

Speaker 1: 38:33

So the podcast is called Toughcess and it's all about the behind the stories of success, but looking at success from different perspectives. So being a successful mother being a different perspectives. So being a successful mother, being a successful friend, being a successful wife, you know, it's not just success in terms of career and money, but just success in terms of ihsan, you know, striving for excellence in all aspects of your life, really. And that's what tough cess is about. And I love to obsess, because it's just a space to really get to know the story behind things, behind people. I love stories, I like knowing more about someone beyond the surface and getting to know who they are and how they got to where they where they are right now. So that is what the podcast is about and it's nice because it empowers people to share their story even when they feel like they don't have a story.

Speaker 1: 39:27

Because the podcast isn't about your career in finance and your career in I don't know whatever you're doing and elevating and your money and making six figures and all this kind of stuff. It's not, not really about that. It's about everyday success, everyday things and, funny enough, I'm actually launching something soon, inshallah which actually it basically how do I even explain it? Links to what I'm saying in terms of celebrating little successes, and it's so important. I think that's why I brought the podcast, because people need to realize that they have a story to tell and their story is just as powerful as the next person that is telling a story of how they made six figures or how they elevated in their career. The everyday people are just as successful in their own way, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 40:15

Absolutely, and to that point I think it's so important. It's funny you say that because you know there's people I've asked to like speak on a podcast and they'd be like, oh well, I don't got nothing to say or oh, why do you want me to speak on it? And it's like, yeah, because you have a different perspective and you've lived your life Right. I think it's important to look at it in terms of like providing a platform for especially young Muslim women to kind of look up and just see people like them, like simply having that. I know it gets used a lot, but representation is super important. I think part of the reason why I actually started this podcast was because I just felt like, like, have you heard of the phenomenon of a Muslim girl brain rot?

Speaker 1: 41:00

no, no, yes.

Speaker 2: 41:01

So, basically, it's, this concept was like coined by the name was coined by this sister, which I don't have off the top of my head, but I'm going to link her stuff in the show notes. Where, essentially, you go online, what do you see about young Muslim women? You see matcha. You see Q cafes. You see marriage. You see Q cafes. You see marriage. You see the new XYZ hijab we all know the brand and there's just no, or little to no, content about personal development, education, mindset, just these personal growth, like these things that you know we see for young Black men, young men, women of different ethnicities and religions, but specifically targeted towards Muslim women, because we, like we don't necessarily follow the same path as the other people, right? So I feel like to have that would be super important, right? But it's not there. It's not there because all we're talking about is matcha and hijabs in marriage. And don't get me wrong, mashallah, all of these things are great in their own individual right, but I think it remains to be said that we need platforms, we need content that is more than that. It's about books like real, actual, like self-development books that tie to Islam and talking about how we can integrate Islam in our own personal growth journey or productivity. Like, what is that? All these topical I mean excuse me popular things, look under the Islamic lens, and not only that, an Islamic female lens. We don't have enough of these conversations, and I think, to that point, your podcast is very important and I think, inshallah, we'll see more of those because, like I said, since she has the sister has coined this phrase people are starting to wake up. They're like, oh, wait a minute. Yeah, all we's talking about is hijabbing and macha and wanting a man. And don't get me wrong, like I said, it's cool.

Speaker 2: 43:16

At the same time, though, there is more to life than that. Like we cannot have young Muslim women from like puberty on. Just I remember during like, especially during COVID, like pandemic, that's all you would see. It's just marriage, this marriage, this somebody got married, this I want to be married, married, married, and on both sides, women and men. And don't get me wrong, like we all know the rules of our religion, we're all young adults, okay, so these things are going to.

Speaker 2: 43:44

This is a thing that's going to come in your mind, but it is not always about that. You know who are you, especially as a woman. Beyond that, because the truth of the matter is, I think it's so important to develop yourself as a person and know who you are truly before you decide I'm going to be with somebody for the rest of my life, because imagine not really knowing yourself, waiting to know yourself truly before you're with somebody and obviously Allah knows best, everything happens for a reason. You don't want to wait until you're with somebody to know yourself and realize that the real self and the real you is not even compatible with the person you're with. Does that make sense?

Speaker 2: 44:21

People don't think about these things, and so it's like I think your platform is super important because it allows us Muslim women to beg the question okay, who are we beyond what? Society is not just general society, but Muslim society thinks of me. Who am I beyond a wife? Who am I beyond a mother? Who am I beyond a daughter? You know what am I doing for myself and for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You know these things are so important. So I really appreciate and love the message and the messaging behind your endeavors and your podcast is super important.

Speaker 1: 44:58

Yeah, totally, I totally agree with you. For sure it's a difficult thing to navigate because social media makes up such a big part of our society nowadays and the things that people are exposed to. But I believe when you put a lot in the center of everything, you know, that helps with a lot Like just kind of filtering out things and your aspirations, understanding your purpose, your why. You know it goes beyond what you see on social media. Like, when I'm speaking to my coaching clients, I always tell them to clear out their environment. And what does their environment mean? It just means their digital environment, their physical environment and internal as well.

Speaker 1: 45:38

You know your nafs, and not constantly dying to your nafs, but actually understanding how to fight against your nafs, because people think shaytan is the one always leading them to to do things or whatever, and he can only whisper, he has no power.

Speaker 1: 45:53

You know the minute when you give power to shaytan, that's when he has power over you. But when you recognize he has no power, you know the one he has power over you, but when you recognize he has no power, you know the one that has power is allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's our nafs that we need to kind of tame our ego, our pride, and that happens with clearing out your environment and if that means your digital environment, just changing things around, filtering it so that you're seeing more of personal development, more of education, because it's out there, it's just we don't see it enough because we're following everything that is trending and everything that people kind of seeing is popular, you know, and that's the world that we're in at the moment. So you kind of have to tread softly and know what you're consuming so that it doesn't impact you that's true and that's actually a really good point, right?

Speaker 2: 46:40

we got to look internally and see like, okay, what can I clean? Cleanse my timeline of I think. So before I started podcast, I actually like left social media like maybe like a year or two ago and that was the best part of my like like that year, where there was just nothing.

Speaker 2: 46:59

I mean, yeah, I was behind on like a couple memes, but, like, at the end of the day, my mind was clear, my brain felt fresh. I didn't feel like this impending sense of like. It's weird when you're constantly like consuming things and you don't even realize what you're putting inside. It's like oh hello, like what's going on, you know. Like you just feel like you're always zooming, always on, but when you're very intentional about what you consume and what you even have on your timeline, I think that's also a very good point. It's super important to keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 47:34

For sure.

Speaker 2: 47:35

Yeah, yeah. So you've talked about your sister's retreats, which I find are For sure. What kind of inspired you to start thinking? You know what? This is something I want to give to my sisters, and what were the tools and mindset that you had to kind of bring it to life?

Speaker 1: 48:10

I grew up with not much, but I love luxury. Anyone that knows me knows I like things, but I would never buy designer or anything like that. When I say luxury, I mean how I feel in certain environments, For example like a nice hotel, romanticizing my life. You know what I?

Speaker 2: 48:31

mean that kind?

Speaker 1: 48:33

of luxury. Yeah, good like nice perfume, smell good like nice incense I don't know what everyone else calls it, but in Gambia they call it churay. You know, just nice or luxurious things that make you feel like. So I really wanted people to have that luxury feel or like that luxury experience, that not so much of the big cost but also linking spirituality with it, so obviously the deen with it. So I came up with the pre Ramadan retreat, and the pre Ramadan retreat is all about preparing you for the beloved month of Ramadan, because a lot of the times people say, oh my gosh, I can't believe Ramadan just came so quickly and it catches people off guard.

Speaker 1: 49:15

And what I realized about myself was that I would go into Ramadan really looking forward to it, but for some reason I don't get into the groove of things until like mid Ramadan and then by then Ramadan's nearly done. You know, maybe I'll be like doing my normal things, my normal ibadah, but you're still working, you're still doing things, etc. So it's hard to get into the swing of things. So I felt like a lot of people also experiencing the same thing of Ramadan will just catch them off guard. They will come and then they don't feel as prepared, and it's such an important month where you can make the most out of the blessings and the rahmah and the rewards from Allah SWT that you cannot afford to sleep on this month. You can't.

Speaker 1: 50:00

So you need to prepare accordingly for it, and I don't think we have spaces for that preparation. I don't think we have programs for that preparation. I don't think we have enough knowledge on how to prepare, because it's just people. A lot of people, don't even know the Islamic calendars. They just if it's not for Instagram, or of people don't even know the Islamic calendars. They just if it's not for Instagram or TikTok. They wouldn't even know which months we're in, you know, according to the Islamic calendar.

Speaker 1: 50:32

So, with that being said, and with that in mind, I think it was necessary for me to create a space or an experience for women to prepare accordingly for Ramadan. Like, what is Ramadan about? What are you going to do in the month of Ramadan? How are you going to make sure that you are genuinely prepared for it? Prepared for the Ibadah, prepared for the late nights, the early mornings, everything in between, not the festivities of it, or like the what, the commercialized stuff of it, because now people are using Ramadan for, like, the iftar stuff and etc. Which is all amazing, you know, but Ramadan is an important month and we need to understand the purpose of it and how we can make the most out of it so with the retreat.

Speaker 1: 51:15

It's giving people that luxury feel, that luxury experience, but also reminding them of Allah, you know, and reminding lot of like Islamic discussions, islamic based activities, wellness as well, looking after your mind, your body and just kind of preparing for the month, and and I didn't see anything like it and I thought it was needed, so I just did it myself, yeah, basically. So yeah, the first one was really successful, alhamdulillah.

Speaker 2: 51:59

So the second one.

Speaker 1: 52:01

I really wanted it to be different, a different, unique. I thought what better way to prepare for Ramadan than in a Muslim country? Morocco is known for its um traditional aspect of things like. It's very traditional, it's very authentic, it's very nice and the people are very friendly. I've been to Morocco before, I've been to Marrakech, so I really enjoyed my experience there and I thought, yeah, this would be a really nice place for people to just get away from the hustle and bustle and actually focus on preparing for Ramadan.

Speaker 1: 52:33

You know Ramadan is scheduled to be either the 28th of February or the 1st of March this year, inshallahallah. So having that one week before of just getting your mind prepared just feels like it would be needed. So I'm looking forward to this year, as stressful as it is because it's abroad, but I don't like to do things small. If I'm going to do something, I want to do it big. I want to do it properly. I want people to see it and think, wow, that is really nice, that is excellence. And, like I said at the beginning, you know I would rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity.

Speaker 2: 53:12

I might have to put that on like a background or something like on my desktop. That's so cool, like, truly, truly. Because, like you said, there's not a lot of these things, and especially living I don't know your experience, but living in the West sometimes it just feels like every day is hustle and bustle and you just got to go to work, come home, go to sleep, get up, eat, pray, go to work. That's why Ramadan just sneaks up on everybody, because it's like dang um, hello, capitalism is just being shoved in my face every day and I don't even have time to really think and process. Like this beautiful month of Ramadan, that's like literally around the corner, right.

Speaker 2: 53:55

So I think it's so important to not only provide that space, but provide it in a way that, like I don't know, like feels nice, because you know nice things are nice. Let's admit everyone. Okay, like these things are nice, you enjoy and you deserve nice things. Let's stop nothing wrong with I don't know, I like nice things. So the fact that you're even doing this trip to Marrakech, like man, I mean, this is very, this is amazing, mashallah, and I pray that y'all have a blast. I have no more, mateo.

Speaker 1: 54:30

No, honestly, I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like everyone looks forward to Ramadan. Everyone says, oh, my heart needs Ramadan. Ramadan feels like that very well-anticipated guest that comes and goes, and when you're expecting a guest, you clean your house, you clean your home, you look after the place, you prepare for this person, you know. So that's how I see Ramadan. If Ramadan's coming, you need to prepare yourself for it mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. It can take a lot out of you, so you have to prepare for this guest. You know the guest is staying for one month, and one month only.

Speaker 1: 55:08

And you don't know whether the guest is going to come again for you. So it's preparing for that, and that's why I love the pre-Ramadan retreat, and if people want to see more about it, they can follow me on TikTok and. Instagram and they'll see all the highlights of the retreat and there's still some spaces if people wanted to come as well. They're totally, they're more than welcome to. It will be ending by the end of this week, but yeah, inshallah, see, and that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 55:36

It's amazing because, well, everybody's going to be able to see it and then, inshallah, you know, hopefully get some more guests. But just having like an intentional space with sisters to just unwind and just enjoy and just really focus on what are my goals for this month? How much, how can I get the most out of this, I think so important. May Allah reward you. Seriously, there's not enough of these kinds of things. So may Allah reward you. May he make it easy for you to do many, many more of these in the future, inshallah.

Speaker 1: 56:09

I mean thank you, sister.

Speaker 2: 56:12

Of course. So, looking back, what are some pivotal lessons that you've learned from your community creation journey, your coaching journey? Just everything, I don't know. That might be a little big, but yeah, yeah, I mean lessons.

Speaker 1: 56:29

Oh, wow, that's, it's difficult, but yeah, it's good to. It's good to reflect as well. I'll say lessons I've learned is no, there's a saying. So I'm for, just for context, I'm half Gambian, half Senegalese and I love my culture. I love everything about my culture and traditions and everything, and I'm an old soul, so I love proverbs, I love them. So there's one thing that my mom always says to me in Mandinka which is like I'm going to say it in Mandinka, then I'm going to translate it In Mandinka it's.

Speaker 1: 57:08

Which basically means, if you're a good person, you will worry, but you'll never struggle. So the worry will come, the anxiety will come, but you'll never actually suffer, you'll never actually struggle because Allah will always have your back. Basically, you know, sometimes you'll sit down and you'll worry about like, how am I gonna do this? Yeah, allah, what is? I don't know how I'm gonna do this. I'm struggling, I'm worried, I've got anxiety, you know. And then Allah just comes through for you or he removes the burden from your heart and that's it, you know. So I believe in the fact, I believe in being a good person. You know, with everything that you do, do it with good intentions. When you have good intentions, you will see the goodness out of it and you'll see the blessings from it as well. You know, because you've done it with good intentions For me, even when I lose money in these things, or I lose a lot of time, or it's very draining on me the fact that people always message me and contact me and tell me how much I'm impacting their life in one way or the other, or they're having a beautiful experience on something that they never thought they could experience. Alhamdulillah, because money is nothing. You know, money by itself is nothing. It's a value that you add to that money. That is something. So being a good person is important. Having sabr is important. Those are the lessons I've learned as well.

Speaker 1: 58:31

Having sabr, being patient. You'll get a lot of rewards from patience, because it's the hardest thing to do do, but the quicker you're able to get to grasp with it, the easier your life will be as well, and you need to be prepared to be alone sometimes in this journey of elevation and building yourself. Community is important, but solitude is just as important and self-care is just as important as well. You can pour into people, but you also need to be able to pour into yourself, and I think that's a lesson that I'm constantly learning.

Speaker 1: 59:04

I have a habit of like overpouring and overdoing and constantly speaking to people and not really setting healthy boundaries for myself and protecting my own mental health and my own well-being, and I've learned that I can't help people at the expense of my own mental health and my own well-being, and I've learned that I can't help people at the expense of my own mental health and my own well-being. I have to find that balance between the two. So I've been learning how to find that balance, and I've also learned that your time will come. You know your time is always around the corner. You just have to be hopeful and have good expectations of Allah. When you expect good things from him, he will provide good things. I've realized that Allah is who you think of him. So if you think of him as a good person or a good Lord, shall I say, he will show up to you in that way. If you see him as compassionate, you will see compassion in your life. If you see him as merciful, you will see compassion in your life. If you see him as merciful, you'll see mercy in your life. But if you see him as as the punisher, or you focus so much on the negative, you will see negative in your life. So it's being positive, having good expectations, high expectations of Allah, and having Tawakkul as well.

Speaker 1: 1:00:17

You know, I recently was teaching this framework to my coaching clients, which is the four aspects of Tawakkul, or the four quarters of Tawakkul that I kind of thought of recently, which is acceptance. So acceptance of your situation is number one, acceptance of the decree of Allah. Number two is action. So once, once you accept, you have to act. Number three is then dua and then number four is sabar. So these four parts are what make up tawakkul, and I framed it around a quote that I was saying to my clients as well, which is don't tell Allah how big your mountain is, tell your mountain how big your Allah is. So that is trusting in Allah and understanding that you accept this mountain. You accept that there's a mountain in your life, but you are also acting towards climbing this mountain. So you're tying your camel, you're doing what you need to do, you're making dua for Allah to make this mountain easy, for you, for him to move this mountain, and then you're also being patient with the process. You're making dua for Allah to make this mountain easy for you, for him to move this mountain, and then you're also being patient with the process, you know, and you're actually trusting Allah and you're surrendering to Allah's will. You're not trying to control everything. You're not trying to micromanage Allah. You're trying to. You're actually allowing him to do the best in your life, you're allowing his will to be done in your life and sometimes that's what you need to do. You need to let go and you need to let Allah do his thing. So for me, I just put Allah in the center of everything.

Speaker 1: 1:01:49

From when I was young till now, I've never doubted Allah's existence. I've never doubted Islam. Like you know, some people go through phases and I don't judge them for it. There's so, so much information out there. I've never, alhamdulillah, never had that. I've never had that, honestly, like, even though I only started wearing hijab when I was 21,. That's like a thing of in my family. It was never a thing. You know, I didn't really see a lot of people wearing hijab or whatever. So it was never a thing of. I knew it was a. It was, like you know, an obligation upon me until later on.

Speaker 1: 1:02:21

So, that's why I made that decision later on, you know. But in terms of my actual faith in Allah SWT and how much I trust Him and how much I believe where he's taken me is great. That's always been there from a young age. So I know this might be a long winded answer to your question because there's so much that I've learned, but those are the key things I would say, and just be a good person really.

Speaker 2: 1:02:46

I mean no, like listen, that I feel like I learned so much from this conversation and I love that answer. You just encapsulated everything and in a way, I kind of needed to hear it as well. So, honestly, thank you so much. No long wanted answers here. Okay, like it was good, it's perfect. Thank you, you're very welcome and you should be proud of what you're doing as well it's hard.

Speaker 1: 1:03:10

It's hard building a podcast, it's hard building anything. It's hard having an idea, putting it to paper, then bringing it to life. People always stuff like the idea. They never even put it to paper or to life. So the fact that you are doing your thing, you're reaching out to people, you're putting yourself out there, may Allah make it easy for you and may Allah put barakah in all that you're doing and all the conversations that you have. May it touch the lives of many people. May it be a Sadaq of kajadi for you as well oh man, thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 1:03:40

I'm literally so honored that you even said that truly, truly, because when I look at what you're doing, I'm, I'm, I mean obviously, mashallah, all the mashallah, tabarakallah, everything. So to see what you're doing and to hear that I mean thank you seriously, like it's, it means a lot, because some days it's like even this week I think I was seriously battling like burnout, like it was really hard for me to like even post on the story, because every time I looked at any of the apps I was like, oh brother, between work and studying and this and working on other stuff on the side, inshallah, that will come to fruition. Sometimes you just want to be under your comforter, but alhamdulillah, because I think of it as Allah's mercy and his blessing. Right, it's like alhamdulillah to even have these kinds of problems, like truly, so honestly, hearing your journey and hearing your story just inspired me so much and, honestly, I learned a lot from you. So thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 1:04:46

I suppose we are almost coming to a close, but I do have a couple of things I want to ask you moving forward, like, what are your goals for this year? You know we're at the beginning, january, that January is a very long January, but we're at the beginning. Is there any goals that you have or any upcoming projects that are coming that you're very excited about? Obviously, if you can't say too much now, I understand, but just so the audience can know, so they can look to, I guess, look out for what you have planned.

Speaker 1: 1:05:24

I really don't enjoy having goals for the year. It makes me feel under pressure and it and it takes away the freedom. It takes away from the canvas that Allah has for me. You know, like when Allah just has a free canvas and he's already written all these amazing things that are going to happen in the year, and then you restrict it to something so small, I'm like, yeah, allah, just do your best for me this year, do your best. But if I was to say, like goals that I have, I mean I really want this year to be a year of ease for me.

Speaker 1: 1:05:56

Honestly, yeah, I really want to prioritize my myself more this year to be a year of ease for me. Honestly, yeah, I really want to prioritize myself more this year. I feel like I've always been someone that's helped others and poured into others and as much as I love doing that and I'll forever love doing that I really need to prioritize doing that for myself more. Just having more nothing days, having more free time to just think, allowing myself to feel what it is I need to feel, so you can support it for my own self as well. You know, within my world of therapy and the field of helping people, I've never actually had therapy myself or anything like that, so that's something that I would love to do this year, just for me, something for me.

Speaker 1: 1:06:49

I would love to grow all of my brands this year. You know all of them, from Tuftsess to Mondo Classique, to the Striving Woman and my coaching. I just want it to take bigger heights this year, inshallah, and be known, you know, and to enjoy as well. To enjoy life Like life is very short and I'm big on enjoying life. Chop life before life chops you absolutely so, and it comes with too much crinkum crankum and I don't have the capacity for it.

Speaker 2: 1:07:15

It's. I have never. I only know one person who knows what you just said.

Speaker 1: 1:07:20

So it's like the fact that you said that girl, if you know me you know, that I just I have one-liners. I'm always, because sometimes you don't have anything else to describe what you're feeling, but you just encapsulated it so perfectly in that statement.

Speaker 1: 1:07:43

Because life is just absolutely treacherous, if you allow it to be, and for me, I don't have time or the capacity to have a bad life. I think everyone has a choice. Choose happiness, carry your joy with you, enjoy life, do you? You? I think, for me, I'm big on enjoying myself, whether it's just going on a quick trip, whether it's just spending time with family, with friends. I love to laugh, I love to watch Nollywood, I love to what I love to like listen to Mbala. Every now and then, I just like to be me and just be myself. So I want this year to be a year of ease, a year of elevation and a year of joy. These are the three things that I would love this year to. You know, be for me, and I pray Allah.

Speaker 2: 1:08:29

May Allah grant it to you Seriously, may Allah grant it to you, I mean yeah, I mean. Such a beautiful way to conclude. So I always have a closing question what is your favorite ayah from the Quran? How does it inspire or influence your approach to your career, your life, the endeavors that you're doing?

Speaker 1: 1:08:52

So my favorite ayah from the Quran. I keep forgetting which surah it's in. So if you guys know, you know, let me know.

Speaker 2: 1:08:58

I keep forgetting which surah it's in.

Speaker 1: 1:08:59

So if you guys know, you know, let me know. But it's Allah does not waste the rewards of those that do good. Allah does not lose the rewards of those that do good. It's one of my favorite ayahs ever because it makes me feel like Allah will never forsake me. Allah will never. I will never carry last, ever. As long as I do things with good intentions and I have a good heart, whether I lose or not, or whether things are hard or not, I know my heart. I know that I'm doing things to make people happy, etc. Allah will never lose my reward. He'll never waste the rewards of those that do good and whether it's in this life or the next, you will reap that reward. So it just encourages you to be good, to be a good person and know that Allah will never forget you. He'll never leave you behind and you will always be on top. Even if you're not on top in this world, you'll be popular in the heavens, inshallah. So yeah, I love that ay, that I. I think it really encourages me.

Speaker 1: 1:10:02

I think that comes from a space where, you know, I you always hear that that saying of nice people finish last, or it shouldn't be too nice because people take advantage, etc. But when you're seeking the reward of allah, all of that doesn't matter. You know people's opinions, whether they think you could do more, or some people might see certain things and be like, oh my gosh, like why don't you do more with that, or why don't you charge more, or why don't you do this, etc. But when you're doing things with good intentions and you're doing it, you know to seek the pleasure of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. You need to be reminded that Allah will never forget you and he will always come through for you, you know. So that's what that represents for me and I just love it. So, yeah, that's my favorite ayah.

Speaker 2: 1:10:48

Oh man, oh mashallah, seriously Like just consistently just dropping gems.

Speaker 1: 1:10:57

Like seriously.

Speaker 2: 1:10:59

I know people will be saying that, but truly, truly, I enjoyed this conversation so much. I learned so much from you, mashallah. May Allah continue to grow your endeavors, to grow your businesses, to grow what you're doing, so you can just touch everybody you know, and he allowed to be a means of sadaqah jariyah for you. May he allow this to tip the scales in your favor on yamukiyama man. Like, seriously, what you're doing is big, it's important, it's necessary and thank you so much, seriously, for your time, for sharing your story, for sharing everything that you you've talked about today.

Speaker 1: 1:11:38

Seriously, I truly appreciate it. I truly do, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, I really really appreciate you having me. It really is an honor. I think it's. It's always nice, you know, being able to have conversations like this, so I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 1:11:54

And to anyone listening, that is, you know, on a journey that's going through their own thing, that's trying to navigate life, or feel like everyone's ahead of them, you know you're on the right page in the right chapter of your life, in the book that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, the best of the best, al hayyul al kayyum, al razaq al fatah, has written for you. You know that book is for you. You're on the right page, you're on the right chapter. Just take it at your own pace. You know, have sabr, have tawakkur. You know, with the beloved Ramadan coming, just enjoy it, because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. Make dua and be you. Don't ever feel like you have to be like anyone else to be successful. You are successful in your own right, in your own story. So be inspired, but also recognize that you're special in your own way. So that's my message for all of the people listening as well.

Speaker 2: 1:12:51

Absolutely, man. Thank you so so much. I would be remiss to not include where to find you. So where can we find you? Because I mean listen, people need to hear more, people need to see more, so where can we find you? What platforms? What's that?

Speaker 1: 1:13:11

yeah, so you can find me on instagram. That's just s-u-m-a. H-x underscore. You can find me on tiktok. It's the same name as well, because my name is unique. You will find me quite easily. Same with YouTube it's just Suma H, so S-U-M-A space and then H, and I upload my episodes weekly as well. I took a one year hiatus, but we're not going to talk about that.

Speaker 2: 1:13:38

These are the places where you can find me Listen, it's necessary. We're not robots, right? We're people, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 1: 1:13:47

So yeah, that's where you can find me and if you do want to join our community, you know you can, and it's called the Striving Woman on Instagram. If you just go on the link in the bio you can join the WhatsApp communities.

Speaker 2: 1:14:05

We're going to have a lot of things going on in Ramadan, inshallah. So yeah, feel free to join us. You're more than welcome. Thank you so much, ma. Seriously, I pray you have a wonderful rest of your day, thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 1:14:10

Thank you, you're welcome. You're very welcome.

Speaker 2: 1:14:14

All right, all right. As-salamu alaykum.

Speaker 1: 1:14:17

Wa alaykum as-salam, sister, thank you very.