Meet Rukaiah Edhah: The Changemaker Who's Making Sustainable Tech Actually Cool (And Profitable)

Sister, you're about to meet someone who turned a gap year into an empire and co-founded an AI sustainability company – but here's the thing: she's figuring it out just like we all are.

Our host Hawa sits down with Rukaiah Edhah for the kind of conversation that makes you think "okay, maybe I really can do this." We're talking real strategies for resilience, making data-driven decisions when everything feels uncertain, and how to balance big dreams with staying true to your values.

Whether you're dreaming of tech, sustainability, or just your next brave move, this one's going to remind you that you belong in these spaces.

What We're Diving Into:

• 00:00 The Beginning of an Idea
• 01:03 Introduction to the Guest: Rukaiah Edhah
• 02:02 Desert Island Essentials
• 03:16 Rukaiah's Journey in Tech and Entrepreneurship
• 06:32 The Gap Year Business Venture (this part hits different)
• 12:23 Founding Masari Tech
• 20:11 Balancing Innovation and Personal Values
• 21:26 Navigating Multiple Industries
• 21:38 Advice for Young Muslim Women in Tech (screenshot this part)
• 22:05 Embracing Failure and Learning
• 22:49 Challenges Faced by Muslim Women
• 23:28 Cultural and Religious Distinctions
• 25:27 Personal Journey and Background
• 27:01 Future Aspirations and Mentorship
• 27:54 Sustainability and Fashion
• 33:47 The Importance of Delegation
• 35:59 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Come for the inspiration, stay for the practical wisdom that'll actually change how you see your own possibilities.

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

Chapters

• 0:12 Rukaiya's Defining Moment
• 1:03 Welcome to Muslima's in Motion
• 3:23 Early Tech Projects and CS Journey
• 6:51 Gap Year Business Venture
• 13:55 Building Masari Tech for Sustainability
• 19:25 Tackling Fashion Industry Waste
• 24:14 Staying Grounded While Innovating
• 29:08 Future Vision and Entrepreneurial Wisdom
• 37:39 Closing Thoughts and Divine Inspiration

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:12

The screen glows softly. In the dimly lit room, the curves are blanked. A moment of hesitation, then decisiveness. Somewhere in that moment, rukkaya Adha made a choice, one that would shape her future. Before she co-founded Masari Tech, before she built five AI-driven software projects, before she became a force in the intersection of technology and sustainability, she was just a girl with an idea, an idea that refused to be ignored. This is the story of how she brought that idea to life.

Speaker 3: 1:03

Salaam everyone, and welcome to Muslima'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. Today's guest, ruqayya Idha, is a rising star in tech and sustainability. From founding a private label brand on Amazon during her gap year to co-founding Masari Tech, an AI-driven sustainability company, rekhaya's journey is a masterclass in resilience, innovation and aligning passion with purpose. Let's dive into her inspiring story, all right. So Assalamu alaikum, rekhaya, it's so nice to finally get to speak with you. I've always seen your work online and I'm truly excited for this interview. How are you today?

Speaker 3: 1:53

I'm doing amazing and I'm really excited for it. I'm really excited. We have a lot to cover today. I'd like to I always like to ask my guests a question before we get started, which is you're stranded on a deserted island. What three things are you bringing with you on that island?

Speaker 1: 2:13

Oh, wow, I like that. Hmm, what three things I will bring with me? So there will be food and water.

Speaker 3: 2:21

Well, I don't know, because it's deserted. So actually, to be fair, honestly, a lot of people have asked that and it's kind of hard because people try to choose between like the water and the food and this and that. So I don't know, maybe I'm being a little too tough, maybe I should include food and water, but just in case there isn't, what would you bring?

Speaker 1: 2:40

Then food and water, but if there is, then take with me a yoga mat, I will take with me a book. And the third thing, a pillow or a tent. What do you think?

Speaker 3: 2:53

Well, I like the pillow, because we all need that touch of like humanity, like that comfortable touch, and then maybe, hopefully, on the island, there's like big banana leaves that you can kind of make a tent with. So I like that Cool, cool, cool. All right, so we'd like to start off by asking like tell me about your journey. What sparked your drive to innovate? How did you manage to carve a space for yourself across tech, sustainability and entrepreneurship?

Speaker 1: 3:25

Okay, so I'm Rukaiya and I am a computer science student at Mercy University. I also have a minor in business. I'm a junior and in my first two years of college I was able to create more than five software products, where I played both roles as a project product manager and a software engineer. And now I am the founder of a startup, masaritech.

Speaker 3: 3:53

So yeah, Wow, that's amazing. So you said five where you were a product manager and software engineer. Could you tell me a little bit about those?

Speaker 1: 4:02

Yeah, so they were part of programs that I was a part of. So, yeah, we kind of like have like. In the first program that I was part of, we had to build three projects and we had to do that with a team, so we needed a project manager role, but also our main focus was software engineering, because the program is about software engineering. So that's what I did. And then during my sophomore year I was part of another fellowship where we had to build five AI full-stack projects and we also had a challenge to reach 1,000 users with our final one, and we were able to do that in just two weeks.

Speaker 3: 4:49

That's amazing. So as somebody who's had both sides of the coin kind of experience right First, I'd like to ask which one do you prefer? Do you prefer product management or software engineering?

Speaker 1: 5:01

I love both, but I prefer product management more.

Speaker 3: 5:04

Nice software engineering. I love both, but I prefer product management more Nice. So how do you feel like that kind of glimpse into that product management space has allowed you to be a better software engineer, and vice versa?

Speaker 1: 5:13

Yes, but also because I kind of have an entrepreneurial spirit and I think that with product management I can channel that and I can innovate and do whatever I have to do. But I also have good organizational skills. So I'm the one who always manages the tasks, makes sure that everybody is making or doing their tasks and making their part. So, yeah, that's why I really love it.

Speaker 3: 5:40

Yeah, that's important and sometimes it's needed because a lot of times, depending on who you ask, sometimes software engineers kind of need that. I mean it's important to have like a sense of organization structure, like, yeah, everybody likes to like have the memes where they complain about product managers, but they can also be very important in the sense of like kind of keeping everything kind of, I guess, aligned in a way, because I mean, the reality is, when you're a software engineer and you enjoy what you're doing, you feel like you could do it forever. But in the real business world you do not have forever. Likely you probably only have two weeks in a sprint to do stuff. So it's important to keep things on track.

Speaker 3: 6:20

Now I am saying this do I agree deep downside? That remains to be seen as a software engineer, but I think it's really cool that you were able to have both sides and both perspectives. So, speaking of perspectives, you took a very unconventional path by launching a business during your gap year. So tell me about that. What was the business, what was the experience like, and how did it redefine your approach to risk and resilience?

Speaker 1: 6:50

I love that question. So during my gap year, what I wanted to do was to try everything I can. So even before I did that, I played with every Adobe tool you can think of. I did Photoshop, I did video editing. I did everything just to make sure that I will major in something that I really like. I already know that I have passion for entrepreneurship and tech since I was eight, but I just wanted to try things.

Speaker 1: 7:20

And then, with my business, that was the big thing that I did and I really took it seriously. I invested a good amount of money on it. I invested a good amount of time and I've learned so much. Even though that I was reading a lot of business books in that period, the experience was something else and I've learned how to do it all, especially that I was a solopreneur. So I learned how to source products, how to do market research, how to negotiate, how to hire people I usually like hired freelancers and, yeah, I've learned so much. But it's also gave me that edge of feeling confident to take risks and in the same time, it's built my resilience and it also showed me other parts of myself that I did not know that they existed, if that makes sense.

Speaker 3: 8:13

No, that totally does and I really like that. I feel like a lot of times, especially in, like engineering and STEM fields, we feel like, okay, we have to take this path and this is the only path. It looks like Go to school, graduate in four years, just follow the most conventional way, graduate, get your job, whatever. But, like you said, you've learned so much from that experience and you have a lot of insight that a lot of people just plain and simple don't have, especially when it comes to building your own product or building your own business. I mean, experience is the best teacher. Like you said, you can read as many books as you like, but nothing will teach you like actually doing it For myself, right, I feel like I learn the best when I'm actually in the trenches getting my hands dirty doing things, and whether that's relevant to business or to engineering, right to building things, honestly, while it's good to read documentation and books on certain subjects, the best teacher is just going in and writing the API, creating your own database schema, like these are the things that will make that knowledge kind of stick in your head.

Speaker 3: 9:28

And whether that's engineering, business, whatever it is, cooking, you know what I mean. Or the best example is swimming. You can watch as many YouTube videos you want, you can read as many books on swimming as you want, but until you get in the water, how are you going to know how to swim? You're not, probably right right, so that's really cool. I like that. So, with that, that being your first venture, what was it, by the way?

Speaker 1: 9:53

um, it was a toys brand. It was for kids, um, especially the brother, so it was really cool. So it's kind of it. It wasn't my choice fully. It was based on what products are performing well, what people are buying and how much money I had to invest. So the market decided more what brand I will be building and I went with the data and it was successful. Actually, I was able to achieve 25% return on investment and it's because all the decisions that I was making was data driven.

Speaker 3: 10:32

I love that and that's a really important point too. A lot of times people just they get up and say, oh, I'm gonna, I don't know. People are just going to get up and have a business, right, but you don't know what you're going to sell. You have no plan, you have no market research and you really don't even know. A lot of people don't even know things like okay, how much is this market worth? How much if I start selling XYZ, if I start selling I don't know pencil bags today? What is the potential market? What is the worth of that entire market? What is the potential market? What is the worth of that entire market? People don't know things like that. So they just go out, they kind of do it for a couple of weeks and they're like oh no, I'm not getting any sales. I guess I'm bad at this or I guess I'll give up. But you went, you did your homework, you did the research and that's why you were able to be successful.

Speaker 3: 11:18

Nobody's saying you can't do what makes you happy or pursue things what you want, but you also have to be realistic. If you want to actually make money when you're doing your business, you have to do the work, do the research, look at, okay, what works, what is out there, what is there a demand for? So, even if maybe it's not exactly what you want to do, maybe there's a way that to kind of morph it or reach an untapped market, mix it into something that you want to do and then also, at the same time, something that people want, right. So I think that's really super cool and important and a good thing to add, because it's one thing to just jump out and start, but I feel like there should be almost like a benchmark, like a guide. You should have an outline for what you want to do, like, do what you want, but do it guided, approach it with the appropriate amount of research and whatnot.

Speaker 3: 12:13

I think that's super important, but, yeah, that's honestly really cool. So I mentioned that you have a business, you have a startup. Actually you have a business, so you have a startup actually, and it has a lot to do with sustainability AI at Masari Tech, right. So tell me the story behind that. How did that begin?

Speaker 1: 12:36

It was actually funny because I was focused on getting an internship. That was my plan and my co-founder reached out to me telling me about this idea and it spoke to my heart. I saw there is a potential and I love the idea, so I decided to join her and after that we've been doing market research, making sure that our idea again will be successful. We want to do data-driven decisions and, yeah, and it's still in the early stages we've been only doing that for three months, but I know that my co-founder had this idea for a while almost for like two years maybe but it's just an idea that she wasn't able to take actions towards it. But now that we are a team and that we have a clear path, clear goals, we are excited, and especially now that we were accepted to one of the programs it's the Founders Program and we are excited it will actually start after two days I love that.

Speaker 3: 13:48

Oh, that's so exciting, so do you mind telling us what the app is like? What's it about? Okay?

Speaker 1: 13:55

so masari tech will actually is a company that will create multiple products it's not only one product and they will be focused on fashion tech and promoting sustainability. At the beginning, we were like planning on doing a body scanning technology to help reduce returns so that the end user, the customers, you can see how it in your body exactly, and that was the idea that we really wanted to do. But then, as we were doing our market research and reading more reports, especially about where the fashion industry will go in the next few years, we've noticed that we will actually have. We had like a different idea that we will be creating, which will be a retail platform, but for access stock that brands have. Actually, I have some data that I will share with you.

Speaker 1: 14:51

So, for example, the fashion industry produces between 2.5 billion and 5 billion items of access stock.

Speaker 1: 15:01

So that's a lot of inventory, yes, and our, our platform will sell these products, but we will also have other features, um, like ai powered creation, so you, the customer, can see the clothes that you will most likely to buy, because ai is learning your style, is learning more about what you will buy or what you mostly likely will buy, especially that. Also, the data told us that 82% of shoppers want AI to reduce their research time, and also 74% of them walk away from online purchases just because of the shopping choice. So that also tells us that this is an important feature to add to the platform. And yeah, especially that also there will be other legal things happening in Europe. So, for example, brands will be required to report on the management of access stock this year, and it will also be illegal to destroy and sold products in 2026. So brands will need to find a way to sell their access stock. So that will be the first product that we will be building, and then maybe our second product will be the body scanning.

Speaker 3: 16:15

Oh, I really like that Because, yeah, that's so important. I mean we have all these like I mean I can imagine there's just so much waste because let's think about it. So I work in the supply chain and part of what I do, or the software I work, to accurately predict how much inventory you're going to need in a store, in a warehouse, in a distribution center, so then that way you don't have too much overstock and you're not obviously like understocked sales that are lost, that people could have bought but couldn't because the thing sold out too quickly. So I think this whole thing is really interesting to me because in spite of all of that I mean obviously not every company uses our stuff, but I'm not sure what other people are doing but it's crazy how much just waste is just out there.

Speaker 3: 17:20

And the fact that you guys are kind of like working towards improving that is a very huge thing, because I don't really hear much about that and you would think by now companies would think of this, but I guess when that's not your priority, your priority is making profits. Obviously you don't care. So I think that's an amazing initiative that you guys are doing Seriously. I mean this is very exciting stuff doing seriously. I mean, this is very exciting stuff. So a lot of times, with that being said, like sustainability excuse me can be framed oftentimes as a corporate responsibility or maybe even a policy issue, but you're approaching it through this innovative lens. What do you think people misunderstand about sustainability in the tech space?

Speaker 1: 18:05

I think it's just because we don't maybe have like he was surprised when I told you how much clothes are there or access stock. So it's just maybe the lack of data and information that we have. And again, like Masari Tech, like the thing that I'm really excited about Masari Tech is that it's focused on fashion and we know that fashion is one of the biggest industries that is creating waste. So that's what we want to do, and also to make brands happy, because there will be legal things happening. They will be unable to destroy their items and we will help them still make profits.

Speaker 3: 18:43

They need the solution.

Speaker 1: 18:45

Yeah, and also make the end user. That's why we have the ai creation feature and other features that we are planning, just to make the experience also enjoyable for the end user. And, yeah, and also make the planet happy yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 3: 18:58

No, seriously, that's super important. I love that. So what are some of the biggest challenges you might have faced trying to balance all these things? I mean, it's an amazing initiative you're doing, but amazing things don't come the easiest sometimes. So what are some challenges that you guys may have faced and what are some strategies I use to overcome those?

Speaker 1: 19:22

So, since we are still in the early stages, maybe there wasn't a lot of challenges that we've faced, but I think the challenge that we have is because all of us are full-time students and we also want to build and we are only three, so it's just time management, I'm going to say for now, but when we start building the tech and all that, maybe there will be a lot of challenges that we will face. But yeah, I think we will be able to solve them, especially that I was able to build my resilience with the other things that I've done in the past yeah, I can imagine like all of that kind of set you up for now, which is, honestly, honestly, really amazing.

Speaker 3: 20:05

So with that I'd like to make a little shift. So balancing business, innovation, school and your personal values can be kind of complicated sometimes. So how do you stay grounded while pushing these boundaries in your industry and trying to make these new waves?

Speaker 1: 20:24

Okay. So the way I usually stay grounded is I love meditation, I love yoga, so I usually do these things, I usually take time off, so that really helps me. But also I'm somebody who loves work. I love work and I enjoy it so much. But also sometimes just taking some time off to reflect on things is really helpful, and sometimes the best ideas came during these moments.

Speaker 3: 20:53

I love that. Have you ever faced moments in your career where your identity as a Muslim woman and tech created these challenges or opportunities for you, whether that be through networking or anything like that?

Speaker 1: 21:07

I think this podcast created an opportunity for me because it's for Muslim women in tech, but I've never like faced any maybe negative experiences or anything like that.

Speaker 3: 21:18

So yeah, Well, that's good. Honestly, that's refreshing to hear, because you don't always hear that, but I'm actually really glad. Okay, cool. So you've navigated multiple industries and you've kind of built something from the ground up. A couple times actually, Not kind of, but you have built something from the ground up. What advice would you give to young Muslim women who are looking to kind of step into the technical space software engineering?

Speaker 1: 23:20

product management or just entrepreneurship, first, to try things and second, if you know that you're passionate about it, just do it Like, especially with entrepreneurship, because it's a risk and not a lot of people want to take that risk. But I always say, just do it. The worst case you fail, be friends with failure, be fine. And the worst again case is that you will learn from it and then you can take the learnings into your next venture or whatever you will be doing. And the best case you will succeed and be the entrepreneur that you always want to be.

Speaker 3: 23:55

So, looking ahead right, what is your next big dream, whether that's sustainability, tech or entrepreneurship?

Speaker 1: 24:02

So my next big dream is definitely entrepreneurship and holding Masari Tech to where we envision it to be and also finish my degree.

Speaker 3: 24:14

Inshallah, I can't wait. That's so exciting. I love that. That's an amazing thing. I think I pray that. I'm really excited to see y'all's thing come to fruition and I think it's amazing. I know you mentioned your co-founder reached out to you Like, did you guys know each other from before or anything? Or was that she just saw you on LinkedIn and was like, oh, let me just reach out?

Speaker 1: 24:36

Yeah, that's what's happened. So she just told me on LinkedIn. I reached out and then we had a meeting. Just she talked, shared the idea more and I loved it. I don't know if I mentioned that before, but since I was in high school, so many of my friends would tell me go into fashion, be a fashion designer. Some of them would say, say, modeling, things like that. But I did not align with my values. I did not create more waste, obviously, but when she reached out to me with the idea of promoting sustainability, I was on it and I loved it.

Speaker 3: 25:14

That's amazing and it's like it's a perfect, like we mentioned earlier. It's the perfect blend between something that I mean Mashallah, you look very good like clothes wise, I love your outfit, everything. So it's like you're mixing something that you really are good at and feel good in, and then also something that actually benefits the earth and benefits us, because it said in our beautiful religion, right Like we got to take care of the earth that Allah gave us. I mean this is important. He didn't just give it to us to just destroy it and throw trash and things. I mean especially, like you said, billions of dollars of waste. I mean that's just absurd.

Speaker 3: 25:50

So the fact that you're even putting efforts towards something like this, I mean I pray that it becomes a means of charity and sadaqah for you, because I mean this is big, like it's the things that people are doing behind the scenes or quote unquote behind the scenes, because people are not talking about this enough. I think, or at least I'm not seeing it enough. Maybe I need to change what I'm looking at, but I think it remains to be said that I mean this is an important initiative, especially we live in an age with, let's be honest, a lot of people love fast fashion, they love Shein, boohoo, all these stores, and it's great. But I mean, obviously we have a ways to go, because these things TikTok shop, these things have just become so normalized, and obviously no judgment, because sometimes it's a matter of you can't afford any other option, and may a lot make it easy for people in that situation. But if you can afford it, I suggest you don't buy from these things. I don't think they're doing anybody any good, really, and they're not great quality.

Speaker 3: 26:55

And people even God forbid throw clothes away, which, honestly, that was new to me. I didn't even know people threw clothes away until, like I think somebody had mentioned it offhandedly in like college and then it just never occurred to me. People throw clothing away, but it's a thing that happens and people take these cheaply made clothes with chemicals that are leaching out of them and you just throw them away and then they end up in a landfill. We don't need to do that. There's already so much waste that's happening. So the fact that, anyways, the point is the fact that you are contributing to this, I mean, is amazing, and I really I hope that you guys go super far with this Seriously. Thank you so much so, of course. Well, with that, I'd like to ask five years from now, where do you see yourself and your company? What legacy do you hope to leave behind? That's a big question.

Speaker 1: 27:47

So because there is a lot that can happen in five years, masari Tech you mean, or just in general.

Speaker 3: 27:57

I mean whether it's in general. I mean we can talk about Masari tech first and then kind of dive into general. It's up to you.

Speaker 1: 28:05

So I would say making Masari tech big enough, make products used and literally have an impact with promoting sustainability, because this is our main focus and our main cause, but also seeing our products being used by customers, like customers are buying from our marketplace, are enjoying it or having good experience. So I want to see that. And also definitely finishing my education. There is a chance that I will also get in or go and finish also my master's degree. I'm not sure, but it's something that could happen. You might see me move into SF. I have a lot of ideas and I love to and have like a plan not only for the next five years. I have planned for the next 20 years. Plan not only for the next five years. I have planned for the next 20 years. But sometimes it's just not clear enough. Sometimes I will put little bets that I might take wow.

Speaker 3: 29:07

So I mean, how do you even get started doing from 20 years from now because I'm gonna get stressed, even planning out the next year, which is a lot.

Speaker 1: 29:14

But I mean it depends on the planner. There are like a planner that will take each category your business, health, all that and then put it into where do you see yourself in that category in one year, in five years, in 20 years? And obviously we'll have some bullet points and then when it comes to the 20 years, you will only have one or two. It's not that I can't see.

Speaker 3: 29:41

I like that yeah, yeah, I like that actually. I might have to take a look at that actually. So I have a couple of questions for you, I think questions that, um, I wanted to do like this little hot takes and real talks thing, but we're just trying to try it out and see what works and whatnot. But I do want to ask there's a lot of pressure on young entrepreneurs to, quote unquote do it all. So, especially when you go on social media, you see, I mean these people kind of living the dream quote unquote. I mean these people kind of living the dream quote unquote doing their little incubators and going to accelerator programs and doing their marketing, whether that's through social media, building their product, just bootstrapping the whole thing and living on ramen and just living dreams and whatnot Do you think this kind of pressure helps or it hinders innovation?

Speaker 1: 30:45

Generally, as an entrepreneur starting out, you will have to do it all. Maybe I'm not a big fan of getting into multiple programs and there is no purpose. You should have a strategy why you would do that. You should also be patient, especially with time. I think a lot of young entrepreneurs try to shift things quickly or move fast. I think you should take your time and be patient and just take it slowly. That's fine and yeah, and I'm not a big fan of you do it all, but you should when you start out and then when you have a strategy to be able to delegate, because you, as the founder, should focus on the 20 percent that will bring the 80 percent of the result.

Speaker 3: 31:30

So, yeah, you should have a strategy on that Nice mention of the Pareto principle OK, well, that makes sense. Actually, pareto principle Okay, well, that makes sense. Actually, there has to come a point where you kind of, like you said, let go of the reins a little bit and delegate, because sometimes the thing can grow to an amount where you're actually quite useless doing everything. And I empathize with that because it's like between trying to figure out like social media stuff and coming up with like new content and coming up with questions and reaching and outreach and recording and interviewing, it's a lot like it is. And you know, alhamdulillah, like I've reached a point where I'm like, ok, I just need to figure out. I figured out kind of what to delegate. It's just a matter of finding the right candidates to delegate, if that makes sense. But yeah, no, that totally makes sense. I think part of the strategy and part of the toughness of being a founder and being the boss or the CEO is figuring out who's the best person for the job and acknowledging that no, you can't do it all, but what you will do is find somebody who's really, really good at the thing you need to do and ask them to do it. That's how you do it. You know you can't do it all Right, otherwise it just becomes like an ego game. But yeah, no, seriously, thank you so much. I think I honestly learned a lot from your journey and everything. I think I'm really excited for y'all's project to come out, inshallah. I mean, I will definitely be following up in the future if you are open to that, like just to see where you are from, you know, from this interview, from the next, because I think this is a super awesome journey to follow and it's important because not only do you not see a lot of founders of color, but you especially don't see a lot of Muslim founders, right? So I think it's super important to kind of have that representation and also follow the journey of one and I'm not saying this in a like you know, representation for the sake of representation, which honestly, I just don't feel like it's a thing, I think. But at the same time, it's like you have a different perspective, you have your own experiences and everything You're clearly bringing to the table and it's clearly worked out because you've done the data-driven research, which is amazing and, again, something that we can all take from.

Speaker 3: 33:53

It's not enough to just say, oh, I'm going to go and do this thing and spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on it and if it doesn't work I suck. No, you got to do the work. You got to do the homework. You got to know exactly what your target customer needs, what your target market is looking for. Otherwise, yeah, you are just spinning your wheels and you're going to spend lots more money and lots more time and a little more pain trying to figure that out. Then, if you had just done the research and stuff, you don't have to go through all those little hiccups at the beginning Now, not saying there won't be hiccups, but there will probably be a lot less if you just do the homework Exactly, I agree, which is a lesson to learn. So, thank you. I always have a closing question for my guests and that question is you know what is your favorite ayah from the Quran and how does it inspire you or influence your approach to your career, innovation or your life?

Speaker 1: 34:42

So my favorite ayah is from Surah Al-Hadid and it says you whenever you are, and that's it. Like I can take risks and be fine with that.

Speaker 3: 34:56

Yeah, it's important, it's like it's comforting because it's sometimes, when you're going through things and you're just, you can feel almost alone, but knowing that Allah is like here with us, wherever, whenever, it's like it's comforting because you know, okay, I'm not ever truly alone and I can do this, I can figure it out, especially if my Lord is behind me. So I really like that choice. That's a new one. I have not heard that, so that's amazing.

Speaker 1: 35:24

I said it's comforting, as you mentioned, just thinking about not only that, but also feeling it. I literally feel that, and that's why I'm coming.

Speaker 3: 35:33

I love that. That's so amazing. Thank you so much, rekhaia. Like seriously, it was an honor. It was so nice to be able to chat with you. Thank you for sharing your journey. Where can our audience find you and follow your journey?

Speaker 1: 35:52

Definitely on LinkedIn.

Speaker 3: 35:52

I'm active there, so just follow me on LinkedIn and you'll be updated and everything. I love that. Well, thank you so so much. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for your time and your wonderful conversation. You know, I pray Allah put barakah in your endeavors and just makes y'all a success, because I feel like what you're doing is really important, and I mean definitely y'all like check her stuff out and give them their flowers and support, because I feel like this kind of stuff is important. You know we need this this, but, yeah, thank you so much. Assalamu alaikum, and I hope you have a wonderful day you too. Bye, right.