Home Based Entrepreneur – From Welfare to
Millionaire Muslimah
by: Victoria Caldwell
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Website Link: http://o2epodcast.com/
Article Link: http://o2epodcast.com/home-based-entrepreneur-saiyyidah/
Hey everybody and welcome back to the “From Ordinary to the Extraordinary
Podcast.” And today we have an extremely special guest today and looking at
her bio, you know, she has such a huge resume and it would take me literally
five minutes just to read everything so I’m just going to give you some
highlights of just who we have the honor of speaking with today.
Her name is Saiyyidah Zaidi and she is a positive psychologist and expert
growth coach. She is an international speaker and is known for her training
and seminars on entrepreneurship, work faith balance, positive psychology,
high performance and abundance. She is the first winner of Niche Hero, an
international business competition and has been personally mentored by
Sheikh Muhammad AlShareef and her personal mentors include Tony Robins
Brendon Burchard and Sheikh Muhammad Akram Nadwi. She is the world’s
only positive psychologist and certified business coach and one of one
hundred and fifty certified high performance coaches globally.
Most recently she is founded Millionaire Muslimah (which is a movement to
create and grow ten thousand Muslimah of businesses). So, again I’m only
reading just a few of her accomplishments and I can say this is an extreme
honor to have you online with us today. Welcome Saiyyidah, how are you
doing?
Saiyyidah: Assalamu Alaikum, Hi. I’m doing really; really well it’s an honor for
me to be here.
Host: You know I almost don’t know where to begin, so the easiest thing for
me to do here is to start at the beginning. How did this whole entire journey
get started? You don’t seem like you have enough years on your life to have
accomplished all of this.
Saiyyidah: I got my first job when I was eleven so maybe I started really
young.
Host: Okay. Now, what was that job?
Saiyyidah: I was working in a play scheme, you know like you would have
these summer schools where the kids go and I was an assistant there and it
actually thought me a lot about leadership about diversity because we had
kids from all over the world there but also kids with baring abilities as well So
there were severely disabled children all the way to fully able body and had I
not had that job I wonder if I would have ever interacted with such a variety of
people so, I did learn a lot about myself.
Host: Oh wow, that’s excellent. And so what catapulted you into the world of
entrepreneurship?
Saiyyidah: So, when I was growing up I think the kind of traditional idea of a
career that I had was you go to university, you graduate, you get a job and
then you just go through the ranks and eventually you retire and that’s what
would have happened for me. And, you know I was doing quite well because I
had made it to director in local government and I did it quite fast which was
pretty miraculous in itself.
But I think I did it through working hard and making good connections and
getting the right support and knowing where my gaps were. But how did I then
take the leap from what you would say was a traditional 9 to 5 career into
working for myself; And I think it was pretty much because I was just unhappy.
I realize that even though I was doing the job of my dreams in British
commerce, I wasn’t spending time with my family. My decision-making ability
was being determined by people who were around me and I no longer loved
what I was doing and I just had enough and just wanted to get out. And so I
thought okay, leave, because I had already been coaching people. And so I
thought okay, let me just get out of there and try and find a way for how I can
make sense of this skill that I have and see what I can do and that’s how I
have ended up doing what I do now.
Host: Wow that was a pretty high level position that you had.
Saiyyidah: Yes. Even now I can hear my mom in my ears saying to me, “why
did you leave your job?” Because you know, when you work in the
government position you get a nice pension and you have the healthcare you
have everything taken care of. And it was just like I said, I had have enough
and I know it had a very significant impact on my family because all of a
sudden we when from 6 figures plus a year to very, very little. But I think it
was the right thing to do because it’s more important for us to be happy and
whole than for us to be slaves working for something that we don’t believe in.
Host: Absolutely I totally agree. The courage it takes to leave that kind of an
income you know. It says a lot about the individual as a person and you know,
you have just been a blessing to everyone that has been able to be mentored
by you that you actually took that leap and decided this is enough.
Saiyyidah: Yea, It’s a blessing for me that I have the support of my husband
who I remember having a conversation with him and he just said “Do what
makes you happy and we will deal with the consequences.” And had he not
said that I would probably still be working in that job now because of the
security that it gave and so I think it’s really important for us to make sure that
we surround ourselves with people who love us not just on a superficial level
but love us so much that they want our happiness for us.
Host: Yes that’s extremely important especially in this journey because it’s not
an easy journey. So you made this decision to quit that job and then what?
Where did you find yourself?
Saiyydah: {Laughter} I found myself unemployed and in bed for six months
and I will tell you why. Because I felt like maverick actually leaving my job and
it was the best thing I ever did. But then for the next six months all I could here
was my mom saying to me “Why did you do it? And When are you going to
get a proper job?” and all of that. And it was really hard so I would describe it
as if I actually went into mild depression because I didn’t know what I was
going to do next. And it was really hard picking myself up from that because,
you know, I still had clients I had to coach and I still had people that I was
working with. So, in some ways it was like I was living two lives because I was
having to deal with so much of my own stuff yet support these other people
and I felt lost.
And I’m not sure what turned it around but I have to say, you know, I was
asking God for a lot of help and something must have happened because six
months or so after that I just realized I couldn’t carry on living my life like that.
Because if I did I was just going to go back to what I was feeling when I was
working for the government. Then at least I had decent money coming in and
this time I didn’t have any.
Host:[Laughter] If you gonna suffer at least suffer with money! huh
Saiyyidah: Exactly. So that’s when I kind of thought okay, pull yourself
together Saiyyidah, you’ve got to sort this out you need to get on with working
out what you need to do. And that was really when I realized I had to setup my
own business. I had to learn all this stuff about what a blog is, what is social
media. I didn’t even had a Facebook page. I didn’t even know how to spell the
word blog let alone how to write one. And so it was like I was going back to
school and I struggle through all of that. But because I have done that, you
know, I thank God I’m now in a position where I can take care of my kids and I
know what they’re doing on a daily basis. We can live wherever we want to
and travel wherever we want and it’s fantastic and I wouldn’t change that for
the world.
Host: Yes, I travel quite a bit and I like traveling too. And you’re in
beautiful Scotland right now. And you know it’s interesting that you also
brought up taking care of your kids and being able to be especially for
women who feel like they’re always in this tug-a-war between taking care of
their children and having a career in which is in one way of taking care of
themselves. And I find that a lot of women feel that they lose themselves
when they stay home, not that they’re not contributing they just feel like,
especially leaving a job and staying home, which I think is a fantabulous
decision. But a lot of women are in that position where they’re feeling like,
well, how I decided – I made this conscious decision to stay home or to quit
my job but then they find themselves in that space where, “oh my gosh, now
I’m a permanent caretaker”. I mean it’s completely rewarding and then at the
same time there’s still some sense of wanting to contribute in other areas.
Saiyyidah: Yes, absolutely and I think it was interesting for me because I took
time off when my kids were babies and then I went back to work. And it was
only because I’ve been through that experience that I relate to what you’re
saying because I feel I need to work. I need to use my intellect. Then if I’m not
doing that then I’m whole and I’m not happy and I love my children at the
same time. So where do we find the balance for all of that because there’s no
point in having kids if you’re not going to look after them properly and raise
them right. But at the same time you have got to look after yourself and it can
be quite challenging to strike that balance between your needs and your
children’s needs. And I think that we have this wonderful gift of the Internet
and computers and I think it’s actually enabled us to be in a position where we
can work very effectively from home.
You got to find the right balance, but you can do it. And I think that we live in
times that are quite complicated but also there is a lot of liberation that’s
available, should you seek it.
Host: Yes. It’s being amazing for me, not that I have children to worry about
but I come in contact with a lot of women and I hear the same story in different
ways but one put it to me, she said, “you lose yourself” .And that was scary for
her because she was thinking, even though her children weren’t small they’re
going to grow up they’re going to have their own lives one day and then
what’s going to happen to all of the education and the intellect that I have and
how do I create a life outside of my children when I have been doing this for
so long. And that scared I think even more women that will actually talk about
it openly but it’s definitely something that the internet had made extremely
possible to fulfill both and you been helping women to do just that, pretty
much.
Saiyyidah: Yes. Now that I have done this and I’ve been through five-plus
years of struggles of ups and downs, you know, days when there’s no hair left
to tear out. [laughter] But the thing is once you that once you’ve been through
that journey you have an idea of how to streamline it and make it easy. And
so, what I do when I work one to one with people is just that I’m helping them
to start and to grow their businesses because I really do believe that if you
have a skill set then it’s important for you to share it with others so that they
can then develop as well. If you keep it to yourself then it’s like a muscle that
you’re not exercising and that’s the bit for you, but when you make other
people realize their potential as well then is like creating ripples. And you
know, if I can just shake the earth a little bit and help to support some
amazing women become financially independent, become kind of free
mentally as well as physically then that would be pretty awesome.
Host: It’s amazing. We’re going to get into that a little bit later what you have
cooking up for that which is an amazing program that I am so excited about
and it’s just oozing you can’t even see it right now but I’m just oozing with
excitement because when I saw you post about it I almost jumped out of my
chair. And Monica saw it she probably saw it before I did because she’s just
on Facebook more. But oh wow, we were just so excited talking about it so
we’re going to talk a little bit about back later because I want to kind of end
with that. Okay, so in this whole process what would you say would probably
be your biggest mistake that you said you made?
Saiyyidah: Hmmm The biggest mistake would not believe in myself. So when
I looked back to those six months after I leave my job, that only happened
because I didn’t believe in myself and it can be anyone who say just a few
words to you and they mean it or they say those words with the best of
intention because they care for you. But sometimes what happen is that you
process those and that’s all you hold onto and it destroys your confidence and
your ability and it means you just do absolutely nothing and I look back to that
time and I feel as if I wasted six months of my life and it’s not something that I
ever want to do again.
So anybody listening if you want to do something you just got to believe
in it and you just got to get on with it and not allow anyone’s negativity
or bad words or whatever it is to get in the way of you believing that you
can deliver and you can do what you want.
Host: Yes. I think that’s extremely important and I like I said it eighty percent
mental.
Saiyyidah: Yes, and even in the work that I do with my coaching clients and
the work that my coaches do with me, it’s all about us standing in our own way
and as soon as we learn to step out of that and actually step into the one that
is our best possible self, then the world will come to your assistance and I
think we forget.
Host: Yes or don’t know it, because how long it’s even taken me if all other
things I’ve done it’s taken me even a long time to come into some of these
realizations myself and it’s amazing when you realize it and inexperience it.
And what I realize is that we’re not really (unless you were born in a
household that did this very effectively) we’re not traditionally raised or taught
to really trust ourselves. we’re taught to be like someone else or we’re
successful if we are in this particular category… we are doing this… even
from learning and that could go on forever but, we are just constantly being
fed that we need to be something else; indoctrinated in a way to where that’s
the only way we know to think.
Saiyyidah: It’s really interesting because I think that with that traditional
education systems, with the way the media is with all of this stuff going on it is
indoctrination. And people are being created out of the system that will just go
and plug themselves into businesses earning minimum wage and not really
having the best life that they could. Yet as soon as you step out of the system
and you try and do something different, it becomes very transparent of what’s
going on. And I find it fascinating as there are people all over the world and in
terms of their wealth situation they vary from living off minimum wage all the
way to multimillionaires. And there are a lot of people who are opting out of
the system because they realize that they don’t want for their kids and future
generations what they had for themselves growing up. So I think the world is
going to be a very different place in the next few decades.
Host: Yes, hopefully for the better. And that’s why we are here to be a part of
that change. So what’s your view on the big F word Failure?
Saiyyidah: I think that there’s a lot that we can learn from failure. And I think
that you’ve got to make it your friend. When I started out that first blog, and
remember I didn’t even know what blog was I had to have so much help even
just to set up a Facebook account. And would you call it a failure, nobody liked
my first blog post I had to hunt down people who would be interested in what I
was doing and it was a real struggle. And that thought me that you’ve got this
thing about determination and just keeping on going. But through all of the
mistakes that I have make and you know, I’ve had launches where I gone into
it and thought that this is a fantastic and literally delivered something very,
very quickly and it has been amazing but then sold like five or ten and it’s a
failure. But the learning that you get through that failure is phenomenal and it’s
the application of that. So for me, personally, I want to keep failing because
then I keep growing. Do you know what I mean?
Host: [Laughter] Oh Absolutely and you know I’m a master of failing but then
again like you said that’s what allows you to keep growing. In some cases you
can’t learn it other ways, it’s like this is the path where you have to jump over
this hurdle and you can’t get to the other side unless you go through that
hurdle and then you can look back and say, “okay, now I see why.”
Saiyyidah: But there’s also something really interesting that happened to me
recently because I have been doing a lot of travelling and I’m trying to learn
Arabic and I actually failed one of my levels like I failed the exam because my
attendance mark weren’t enough. And so that put me with a different class
and I had new people in the class. What was interesting for me through that
experience was that the second time around I was seeing things and learning
stuff that I missed first time round. So my depth of understanding was far
greater but also it’s the opportunity that was created linking with different
people and so for me I think failing that exam and failing in a traditional sense
actually open up so many more opportunities for me and it really struck me
and it made me kind of reflect on other things that I’ve failed up in the past
and how had I not done all of that maybe I wouldn’t be where I am now.
Host: Yes definitely totally agree or sometimes that failure is a blessing. It’s
definitely a blessing because it’s a process of you getting to that level of
greatness that is there.
Saiyyidah: Okay I will give you another story as well if I may; which is a few
years ago we got burgled and they took the lap top, they took my
backup and they took the back up of my back up and I was really, really
annoyed I was not in a good mood. And so I thought okay, what do I have
to learn and I had my period of having a few days to be angry and then I
thought okay, I’m not going to allow this to eat me up. I need to work out what
they need to learn from this. And the biggest message for me was that maybe
it was God saying to me that six months worth of work that I’ve lost it just
wasn’t good enough. Then I though okay fine, I’ve got to start again blank
piece of paper, new laptop and I just did everything again. And it killed me but
I’m so glad I did it because what I did the next time around was so much
better than what I had before.
Host: Wow! I don’t know if I would have even come up with that but you know,
that’s what happened I tried whenever something goes wrong I say okay,
what is the lesson because if you don’t get it you stay in it until you really do.
So I’m like, okay I need to really focus on what (and you have to really set
aside the failure aspect to really see the blessing in it). You have to set it
aside and say, okay, I prayed for this to happen it didn’t happen what’s the
lesson from it and how can I take away from it? Some of them are like “oh I’m
so glad that it didn’t happen the way I asked for it” because it would have
taken me off in a totally different path that I would have been doing and I
wouldn’t have been happy with even if it was successful. So I definitely
welcome those and we can only see so much ourselves so it’s awesome. So
what do you think is your biggest accomplishment?
Saiyyidah: It’s a really, really hard one and I hope that I haven’t done it yet.
And the reason I say that is because when I first got married and even before
I got married I had this conversation with my husband to be, about kids and all
of that. And I was very indifferent to having children I’ll be honest with you.
And then I did very well with my education and my career was going really
well. And then my daughter came along and I was like, “oh my God this is the
hardest thing I have ever done in my life.” And I hope that in decades to come
I will look back and I will think that that is the best thing that I have done in my
life because there is no point in us having this skill set and learning it if we
don’t nourish and create our children to be the leaders that their generation
needs. So from the work that I am doing I come to this late and I feel as if and
I feel as if I’m constantly catching up, but if I can give them the skills that they
need then they can influence their generation to be better. Then that for me I
hope that would be the biggest legacy that I could leave.
Host: Yes, I totally agree. So what advice/advices would you have for young
entrepreneurs, any entrepreneurs but especially those starting out?
Saiyyidah: Come up with an idea not a hundred ideas just one because
because I know that if you’re anything like me, I can come up with ideas for
businesses and blogs and all of this. I can come up with a million a day but
there just isn’t enough time and what happen is that when you have too many
ideas you lose focused and you end up doing absolutely nothing so use just
one idea. Be prepared to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes
because not learning that you that you do is priceless and just believe
that you can do it. These days because we have the Internet and social
media and all of these other things, you don’t even need a huge amount of
money to invest in your business you can start with zero. There is also
available that will help you build a mailing list with up to two thousand without
a penny being spent. I didn’t have that when I started out. You can start a
WordPress blog for free. So there is no excuse anymore not to work for
yourself and to have your own business. You just got to want to do it and
carve out a little bit of time every single day so that you could do something
towards that.
Host: Absolutely. Now you can do this with no money. You know when I
started and I started with a ecommerce site which I still have but that’s
another story. But there was some investment not a huge investment but
some other platforms and things that are available now just were not available
and the things that were, was really expensive and we had to bootstrap it for
such a long time just to get little things because it wasn’t as developed as it is
now. No WordPress & blogs and no social media. There was just setting up
anONLINE STORE pretty much was your way to go with and business. Then
you had to pay the monthly fees and you had to advertise and you had to get
training. So now I like that you put it that way that there is just no excuse if you
really reant want to do it and there is plenty of information out there to get it
done. So did you have any particular book recommendations?
Saiyyidah: Okay. So I really like Ten Thousand Hours by Malcolm Gladwell, I
love that book. I just think it has thought me so much about understanding that
whole process of growth, that one. I think the other book that I would really
recommend is a book called ‘How of Happiness’ and it takes you through
positive psychology interventions that you can do. And I know we’ve not
spoken much about positive psychology in this discussion but I think that there
is a lot to be said about you taking control of your psychological well-being
and that book has enormous amount in there, the different things that you can
try and there will be something in there that will fit you. For example I know
that one think that seems to be at the front of a lot of people’s mind are issues
with forgiveness, there’ll be someone in your family or your circle that you’re
struggling to forgive. Well, this book and the intervention that is in their really
helped me to work that stuff out.
Host: Is that called how happiness?
Saiyyidah: How of Happiness
Host: Okay. Those are two I haven’t heard and since you brought it up and
said it exactly as I was thinking, let’s define what positive psychology is just in
case there is some kind of confusion around it.
Saiyyidah: So positive psychology is the science of happiness. And it’s
interesting because if we look at normal psychology, inverted commas, it was
to taking people are feeling anxiety or depressed or have some sort of
psychological illness to a place where they feel normal inverted commas.
Well, positive psychology looks at the average person and takes them to a
place where they can go to and thrive and flourish. And that’s what really
struck me about this because what we are doing is that we’re saying yes there
is a whole load of psychology and interventions that are available for people
who need to move from one place to the other to where they can be living an
ordinary and normal life whatever that may be for that person.
But how do we then shift them forward to propel them so that they really are
living in to their excellence? And for me positive psychology has so many
tools and interventions that are there that help people to do that.
Host: Excellent, yea and that just leads right into entrepreneur, well, not for
our discussions personally into the entrepreneurship and just really stepping
out there and out there and being confident and doing something that you are
going to love and be happy doing.
Saiyyidah: Yeah, Absolutely.
Host: Definitely. You’re the only one I never heard the term positive
psychologist until I met you.
Saiyyidah: It’s interesting. I will tell you how I got into positive psychology
because I did some coaching training and I didn’t realized at the time how elite
it was but it gave me some really really good connections. And so I asked one
of my trainers and I said, what should I do next? Because a lot of my clients
were saying to me that they didn’t understand the reasons why some of the
interventions and some of the work that we were doing was working. So they
said why don’t you go and do a Master’s? So I found this Master’s in positive
psychology and they were only two places in the world that did it at the time.
One was in Pennsylvania and one was ten minutes bus drive from my house.
And it was one of the best things I did because not only did it really help me to
grow, but it also helped me to deal with, you know, we all have stuff that we
need to get over and it did helped me with that and it helped me realize that
just having an ordinary life is not enough for me.
I feel as if I’ve been created to do more than just live and raise my kids
and work 9 to 5 or whatever, I have to do more.
Host: Yes, and you have done quite a bit. So, let talk about this new project
you are launching.
Saiyyidah: Yes, Millionaire Muslimah. You know, It’s funny because it’s being
an idea that I’ve had in my mind for some time and it was a conversation that I
had with my Mom that just made me think, okay, now is the time for me to like,
get up off my butt and do something about it. And the aim really is to take the
work that I’ve been doing with people on one to one and actually put it in a
way so that it is more accessible to people. And to actually help primarily
Muslimahs kind of grow and creates businesses for themselves, so that they
are psychologically whole so that they have financial freedom, so that they
can live wherever they want to and so that they are in charge of the decisions
that they make for their lives rather than stressing about how they are going to
get food on the table, how are the bills going to get paid. Because that not the
way life should be I think there is so much more that we can have and we
shouldn’t be worried about some of the basics.
Host: And so what gave you this inspiration for this project?
Saiyyidah: It was the frustration of women having to compromise. As we
were speaking of before no one should really have to decide whether they go
to work or raise their children. No one should have to decide whether they
use their intellect doing something that they enjoy it or not. And, we
shouldn’t become slave to the 9 to 5 working in a job that we don’t enjoy.
There has got to be more to this and I think that as women are getting more
and more educated and becoming more aware of who they are. There is also
this thing about us not having to not having to ask anyone for money and I
think that is religionless and also it’s timeless. I do not ever want to have to
ask my husband for money to buy something that I want. If I want I like a nice
handbag I should just be able to go to the shop and buy one without thinking
of the consequences. And I know I’m being flippant when I say it but really
that’s something that I would desire for myself and I would desire for
everybody. And we shouldn’t be standing in the supermarket looking at two
loaves of bread and thinking do I go for the cheaper one or the healthier one
because we haven’t got the money to buy it. And these are the choices that
some people having to make. And so, what I’m working to do really is to help
women to be able to create their own businesses and grow their own
businesses so that they are no longer in that situation.
Host: Yes absolutely, it’s definitely something that so many women are
dealing with and not knowing how to get started and where to get started but
they have that desire, even if it’s just (and your speaking in pounds and I’m
going to speak in dollars) but even if they had an extra five hundred or an
extra thousand dollars in their pocket, that would just transform a world for
them. A lot of people think that they have to make so much money and some
just want to make enough and I know even when I started my goal was to get
rid of my commute and to not have to do that commute and to replace my
income working from home . Of course that was the goal number one and
then once you get there you can always take it further but you don’t
necessarily have to if that is okay with you. There are some women who are
going to be just fine with that and happy and then others who are just will just
want to say, “You know what, if I can do this I could do more” and that’s
freedom.
Saiyyidah: Absolutely. And I think what is interesting for me is that it releases
some of the stress and the tension and I think you are right, an extra five
hundred to a thousand dollars a month it will create freedom for people to go
on holiday, to take time off and not worry and maybe have a little bit of luxury
in their life as well. Things that I think the majority of people probably had
before their life circumstances changed.
Host: Yea, Definitely and that’s why I was so excited to see you doing this.
I’m just excited for all of the women who are just going to be able to benefit
and you are looking at over ten thousand over the next five years you
mentioned?
Saiyyidah: The next five years. A part of me thinks that figure is going to end
up being quite low because every day I get an email or there is a Facebook
message or something from somebody saying that they want to be one of the
ten thousand or they are struggling with something to start their own business
or there is an obstacle in their way.And so, I’m doing two things, one of the
things I’m doing is I’m making videos in responses to questions that
people are asking. And the other thing is I’m sharing the resources that I
use as well, because it’s going to be easy to use and accessible and I’m
trying to write it in a language that would have been easy to understand
for the person that I was five years ago not having any idea of any of this
stuff.
Host: Yes, exactly. I told you the other day I walked in the store and I was so
excited about it and I just started talking to somebody about it and she, “I want
to do it.” Now, this particular woman she’s a stay at home Mom . She is
decently well of and she doesn’t need to work she wants to work. And she is a
creative type just like you and she has a million and one ideas and even her
children are like, “Mom when are you going to actually do one of these?
They’re like, Mom another one?” and it’s so funny because I just peggedd her
because just listening to her and she is like, “I want to do it and I said you
know what? You should do it and she’s like yeah, keep me posted.” And it’s
just something, because she has all of these ideas in her head she just wants
to get them out and actually do something. And she was actually in a course
at the University trying to learn, take some courses on this stuff and I was like,
“No this is going to be better for you.”
Saiyyidah: Well, you know the funny thing is that I got an email today from
somebody who is a senior lecturer at the business school in London and they
signed up for the Millionaire Muslimah, and I was just like, “Wow! This could
go to so many different places if people of that caliber are signing up.”
Host: I was really so excited and when I get excited about something I get
excited about it and just really excited for this and that’s coming up in
September? So where can we listeners go to sign up for this?
Saiyyidah: You can go to www.millionairemuslimah.com and you can get
onto the VIP list and what I’m doing for the VIP list is basically sharing
resources and tools and ways for people to start off. There is also the
Facebook page which she is Facebook.com/TheMillionaireMuslimah and
there is where I upload answers to questions that people are asking.
And so if anyone listening have any questions about how to start a business
any obstacles they’re facing they can just message me and at some point
over the course of the next few weeks I will make video and reply to that
specific question.
Host: Awesome. We are going to update the site with all of these links too. So
hopefully everyone gets in while the getting is good because I’m pretty sure
that this one is going to fill up really fast In Shaa Allah. It’s amazing and I’m
just excited really excited about it and yes this is good stuff.
Saiyyidah: You know I’m really excited but I’m also really scared at the same
time because iI think there is so much that needs to be done in order for this
to work and what is awesome about what I’m trying to do (even if I say so
myself) is there are these ten thousand businesses that we want to create in
the west but also I want to match each new business that we create with a
micro finance project somewhere in the developing or in the third
world. So for me there is kind of like a balance there then because we’re
also supporting families who are in desperate need for some level of
financial independence as well as people in the west who are in a similar
situation but in a different way. And so I just think it would be absolutely
awesome for us to be able to create ten thousand micro finance businesses
as well.
Host: Absolutely and that’s what we’re here for, to serve humanity and this
serves both purposes and not only serving those who have access but serving
those who are even less fortunate than we are because we do you have a lot
and we have a lot to offer. Which is exactly why this whole project is so
important because now you going to be setting that legacy for others to step in
whoever they are and do the same thing for other people In Shaa Allah, in
their own way.
Saiyyidah: Yea Inshaa’Allah And that is what raises the hairs on the back of
my neck and makes me really excited.
Host: Yes, and that’s why we’re doing this because this is a purpose driven
project. It’s not only about money it’s about serving a higher purpose and they
don’t have to be independent of each other you don’t have to chose between
that and the wealth model or having money. A lot of time we think, well if we
are going to serve it doesn’t really fits in with sometimes with our
psychological view of making money versus being of service.
Saiyyidah: I think the thing that really inspires me at the moment is Tony
Robbins with his “Feeding A Hundred Million people A Year” and I just think
you know what, if I can even get slightly close to that, that would be pretty
awesome because look at the great work this guy is doing and yet he still
cares for people who are suffering and it’s inspirational.
Host: Yes, and at the end of the day it becomes that, that’s what it’s about
that’s what drives you. Money is okay, yes it’s great but that passion in
knowing that you are contributing and you’re doing something and you’re
helping someone and you’re making a difference, you just can’t buy that.
Saiyyidah: Yea, absolutely. And I tell you it’s funny because when I was
working in the government I always have this thing about I would give a
certain percentage of my salary away in charity and then when I started to
work for myself I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t do that anymore and
that started to became one of my big motivators. And because I have shifted
my mindset to like survival of family to giving in charity I think that there was
some blessing that may have been put into my work. Because at that
moment when I could go back and I could give in the charity in the same
level of what I was giving before honestly I felt so much gratitude just for
that moment.
Host: Wow! And then you increase even more in that and get all of the
barakah and blessing from all of the work that comes from your work. Well, I
could sit here all day and haven’t even scraped the surface on all of what you
have to offer and we have already been here 48 minutes. So, hope fully we
will be talking to you and hearing more about Millionaire Muslimah little bit
later. Is it only for Muslim women?
Saiyyidah: I have to say it’s for women only but it’s for any women who want
to come in and start their business, I mean, it’s going to be a program that is
geared towards Muslim women but I’ve had Catholic women in my program
before, I have had Jewish woman in my programs and what was always
interesting for me is they even send me emails and say that coming through
my program has helped them get closer to God and I just think that that’s
awesome.
Host: Yes, because I know that would probably be one of the questions
because at the end of the day I’m pretty sure that there will be some Islamic
elements to it.
Saiyyidah: There will definitely be an Islamic element to it yeah.
Host: Yes, but it wouldn’t take away from being able to absorb the information
and apply what is being thought. So that is definitely awesome and I’m so
excited and I can’t wait for it. So if you get a little bit scared I will be right there
to just boost you up and everything because whenever you are creating
anything and you put it out there, there is always that, you kind of feel like,
“Oh my gosh, am I really doing this?” But it’s really an awesome project and
now we can see where all of what you have done in the past have led up to
this and in Shaa Allah we will continue to go. So thank you so much for being
on I’m so excited for everyone to hear this. We’re going to post this.
If you want to listen to this, you can just go to our site and do a site search for
Millionaire Muslimah and it will pop right up. If you are listening to this episode
and you want to find it quickly if you missed whenever it airs, directly on the
site you can just type in Millionaire Muslimah and there will be a write up with
all the resources and links and contact information. Any parting words you
want to share?
Saiyyidah: Believe in yourself, get obstacles out of your way and just go for
whatever it is in your dreams In Shaa Allah.
Host: Okay, with that said we will signoff and we will see you on the next call
on the site and the site is o2epodcast.com and Millionaire Muslimah in the
search function. Ok be well, thanks.
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Website Link: http://o2epodcast.com/
Article Link: http://o2epodcast.com/home-based-entrepreneur-saiyyidah/