Ep. 42: Hira Ali Helps Professional Women Around the Globe Overcome Universal Challenges
"I believe that it's very important to reaffirm your self-worth. As women, we sometimes are a little shy of accepting our success and we dismiss compliments by attributing our success to external factors. I feel like you should own your success and when you feel undeserving, go back and review previous accomplishments or positive feedback. Recount the people you have made a difference to and it will show you that no one belongs here more than you do."
Hira Ali is the founder of three companies, ED Management Consulting, Advancing Your Potential, and Revitalize and Rise. She has trained and coached women in Pakistan, Dubai, and London and says women face universal challenges at work. Get inspired by Hira's positive message that we can all play a part in bringing an "avalanche of hope."
"Women are doing brilliantly, even internationally...success cannot happen overnight. It's going to take time. The important thing is, it is changing."
We discuss how Hira started her career path including founding three companies, her work in Dubai for working woman, moving to London for her husband's job and starting over, the universal challenges women face all around the world, women's struggles with imposter syndrome, emotional intelligence in the workplace, the importance of taking time to nourish yourself, her advice for handling stress, how the way girls are raised affects us later as working women, the power of the mind, and starting an avalanche of hope.
"Remain positive, keep on trying, never stop believing. Good things have happened before and good things will happen again."
What you'll learn:
- Hira is the founder of 3 companies; Advancing Your Potential, Revitalize and Rise, ED Management Consulting.
- Hira started as a junior HR manager in Pakistan 11 years ago.
- Her husband transferred to Dubai where she had no job so she picked up freelance training projects.
- Advancing Your Potential is a coaching and mentoring business and Hira also blogs on the website.
- Most of Hira's clients are based in London and are women.
- This made her see that there should be a women-only space so she started Revitalise and Rise.
- Revitalize and Rise is for de-stressing souls and overcoming challenges.
- Coaching deals with universal issues, so it doesn't matter where you are globally or culturally.
- Hira helps women with imposter syndrome and another common issue is stress.
- Hira has methods for helping women manage their stress and strong emotions by channeling them into activities.
- When dealing with a harmful work situation Hira guides women through breathing exercises.
- Women often won't access success and so need to reaffirm their self-worth.
- A gratitude journal can help with frustration, stress, and fatigue.
- Doing a gratitude journal is not just for women and can be practiced by children.
- The problem of women not owning their self-worth can often be attributed to how they were brought up.
- Hira wishes she'd had more confidence from a younger age.
Advice:
- Compliments are for you and not to be dismissed and attributed to external factors.
- Count the people you've made a different to and be assured that no one belongs here more than you do.
- Start a gratitude journal and write at least 3 things a night that you're grateful for.
- Being wrong isn't the end of the world and doesn't make you undeserving.
- Ask yourself "what’s the worst that can happen" and if the answer isn't death, then you should go ahead with it!
- Stay positive, because that will infect the people around you and you can start an avalanche of hope.
- This is the problem with us females, we feel like we're not worthy enough.
- We need to rise above these circumstances.
- Everything is better when I take that time for self care.
- Pain easily overshadows joys.
- Your brain is a very powerful tool ... telling yourself that you can do something makes a lot of difference.