Welcome to the First “Enhance Your Life” blog post!
I started this website/movement about 6 months ago… and I am finally updating my content. In hindsight, and opposite of this title, I was being fearful.
I was scared of how my content would come across, how my ideas would seem, anxious over things which do not really matter.
As I was thinking about this earlier today, I got inspired to write and focus on the values of “Girls Who Strive” which I created about 6 months ago.
A girl who strives isn’t someone who is perfect nor is she someone who knows everything. She is just like you, and makes mistakes.
Irrespective of her downfalls, she rises.
She is someone who always keeps going for what she wants no matter what, and she ensures she takes notes of all the lessons she learns on her journey to her goals.
She is me. She is anyone else who fearlessly keeps reaching for the stars, no matter what, and together we are Girls Who Strive.
Once I remembered this and who I was at my core, my creative juices started pouring back in immediately.
The first idea I got was to give some insight into why I started this movement and everything that led up to it, including how being bold let to a huge opportunity for me.
So here I am, half a year later (insane right!), doing just that.
On November 12th, 2016, an article I was featured in was published by the New York Times. I still can’t believe it! The article is titled “Because I was a Girl, I Was Told…” by Mary Jo Murphy and Sona Patel. You can read it here.
Everything happened so quickly so I’ll backtrack. In late October 2016, I was scrolling down my Facebook timeline and saw a post by The NYTimes with “gender barriers” in the title name. I clicked the post. I quickly skimmed through and realized they were looking for personal stories from women on their experiences with gender barriers.
Half-seriously, I filled the form out and figured I would never hear back. To my surprise, I got an email less than 2 days afterwards saying my submission had been chosen AND they would love to photograph me! What!
I replied as immediately as I could that I would love to shoot and everything happened so quickly from then. I met with a photographer on my campus and we discussed some of the issues I faced and my background.
All of this, including the article being published happened in about 2 weeks. That is how quickly things can change when you step out and be bold.
After the article came out, I started to get messages on Facebook and LinkedIn from women of all ages. I had a college student tell me that reading the article encouraged her to stay in her STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math fields) program. I got support from older women in the STEM field to keep pushing and learnt their stories on how to break boundaries.
I never expected any of this when I shared my story and I am so glad to know that there are women out there like me, with similar passions and ideologies and that was one of the best feelings ever.
Reflecting on this, I asked myself, “What’s the worst that could have happened?” My submission not being accepted? That would not have killed me nor cost me anything. The upside was amazing and the downside would have been extremely minimal.
I try and use this line of thought as much as I can when making decisions. What are the pros and cons? Will the potential benefit be better than not doing anything at all or the potential negatives? If so, I go for it.
Obviously, not all decisions are that black and white but if you have an idea, try it out. You never know who out there will appreciate it (and you just for trying!).
Boldness also came into play for my current job and I believe helped me stand out from other candidates and land the job. I am an IT Consultant and my current role is as a Business Analyst. I started job hunting in September 2016, applying to sometimes 50 jobs a day (okay, I only did this once or twice, but still!), bent on graduating in December with a job offer in hand.
I landed a job interview for my current employer in October 2016 and got my offer in November 2016, during Thanksgiving break.
Before this offer, I had already made it to the last round of a Big 4 company interview, but I didn’t get the job. I was devastated but deep down I knew I didn’t go hard enough on the interview. If I was interviewing myself, I wouldn’t have been blown away. It ended well though because I learnt to always give my 100% and I ended up with a job that started earlier, February 2017 as opposed to June 2017.
Most of you job hunting or applying to internships probably hear people saying all the time how you should be yourself at work. Like you, I thought it was silly because I assumed I needed to be “professional” at work. I wrongly thought a professional was a person who always knew what they are doing at work, only spoke about work at work and was always thinking about work.
Now that I have been working for almost half a year now, I can say this is incorrect. People want to work with people. I know I do! People who have lives outside work, because “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” People who understand that you don’t know everything but you’re trying. Imagine having to only think about work? That would be miserable and highly ineffective.
During my second round of interviews for my current job, I found myself speaking to a woman who works in the telecommunications sector, which I am currently in I was asked what my hobbies were. I was so glad that I started blogging, because this gave me something to talk about in-depth. But wait…Feminism? Women’s rights? I thought to myself, “Am I going to come off as too political?!”
I quickly told myself that my thoughts were irrational, and if my interviewer who was female, did not like my interests, then so be it. If she didn’t like it so much that I didn’t get the job, so be it. I would hate to work at a place where my values and beliefs do not matter.
I told her about my website which would be launching soon (you guessed it, this one!) and my ideas on women’s issues. She held a dialogue with me and we really bonded over being females and understanding the stigmas that come with it. She also told me I was in great hands, for she had just had a baby and had adequate time off to recuperate.
Now, although I am not planning on having kids anytime soon, this meant a lot. Many women do not get such a luxury (a necessity really), of taking time of work to care for a child and having a job waiting for them.
4 weeks after the interview, I got the call saying they would like to offer me a position and I was over the moon. I am an international student so the fact I was able to get a job, at a great company, before graduation is amazing and I still feel so blessed.
I say all of this to let you know that being bold will open so many doors to you, doors you probably will not even see until they are wide open and brimming with opportunities.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you decide to live a little more fearlessly and to be bold with your ideas, because they are great and you are more enough. People who see your vision will support you, and in time, flock to you so do not give up!
Lots of love always,
Faridah
P.S. please message me any ideas you would like me to write about or discuss!
