In this episode...

Laura: 0:00

Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it. Okay. Sophia Noreen. Let's dig into this I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here

Sophia Noreen: 0:25

Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family and self care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day. There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you. This episode of the Boss It Podcast is brought to you by Unstoppable by Boss It Club. This membership and community is amazing for anybody who's looking for not just business development, but also personal development. We understand that the world of business and your personal life are always intertwined and you cannot work on one without working on the other. The first zero to five years are the hardest, and we know that you need as much support as possible. This membership is chock full of practical and resourceful advice for anybody who is just starting off in a business, or has been in business for a while. During each enrollment, you'll receive a mini-course that will help you with either business or personal development and also workshops and one-on-one coaching. Head to bossitclub.com to learn more about this very unique and very resourceful community and membership. Hello. Hi everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boss It Podcast. Today, I am super, super excited to introduce you to Kulsoom. She's a life coach and she is incredible. This girl definitely has resilience. Kulsoom is a life coach, a counselor and an author. And she holds a safe space for women where they can work on being mindful and also their healing. She's absolutely passionate about what she does. And she has an Allah centric approach. Guys, I'm super excited to share this interview with Kulsoom. We spoke about a lot of things that you can apply in your own situation As a new entrepreneur or somebody who is successfully running their own business, these are life lessons that she has had. And I think you're definitely gonna take a lot away from this episode. Okay guys. Let's go meet Kulsoom. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another amazing episode of the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I am so happy to be joined with Kulsoom. As you heard from her bio, she is a personal coach for women and I can't wait to hear her story. I'm super inspired already. So Kulsoom, how are you doing?

Kulsoom Kazim: 3:01

Good. Thank you so much for having me here. I'm super, super excited. How's it going with you and COVID?

Sophia Noreen: 3:06

Oh, my goodness. Kulsoom just had the pleasure of meeting my youngest daughter, who just keeps busting into all my meetings. So that's essentially the trend, like working from home, doing my thing, and then managing the kids' homeschooling at the same time. So a new world for us, I suppose.

Kulsoom Kazim: 3:20

Yeah, that's true.

Sophia Noreen: 3:22

So as we know, you are a coach, correct? And I want to know a little bit about your story. But before we get started, I want to know what your mantra is and what keeps you going every single day.

Kulsoom Kazim: 3:33

Yeah. So I have two mantras if that's okay. First i s "Lord of the impossible". So God is Lord of the impossible. And the reason I believe that is I believe we need to have a higher purpose. There needs to be something that we're all working towards at the higher purpose apart from the material happiness that we're all looking for. So we need to aim big and need to believe that God is going to make it possible for us to achieve that as women and people of color. And I feel like we really need to start aiming big. And so Allah the Lord of the impossible is definitely something I try to live by. I actually have products coming out with that on it. I'll give you guys a sneak peek later of it. So that's the first mantra. The second one is "Just do it!" And it's not mine. It's Nike's logo. But I find that I'm telling it a lot to my clients and I follow it a lot because I find that as people we try to go towards the feeling of something before we actually get into it. I want to feel good before I start my weight loss journey. I want to feel good before I start my business. And there's no, like, how do you know if you're ever going to. Get that feeling. And so you just need to do it, just go for it. If you have a business idea, just go for it. If you have a goal that you want to do, just go for it. So these two mantras are something I try to live by, for sure.

Sophia Noreen: 4:45

That is so fantastic. And I think you're right. I think we do play small a lot of the time and that could be because of our formative years and just the way we've been raised and just the story we've told ourselves. And then Yeah, just do it. I totally agree. I also have recently switched my entire mindset and just trusting myself a little bit more and then saying, okay, if I have this intuition, why am I not acting on it? So let's just do it. So I love, love, love that. So your story, how. Did you come about with these mantras? Or did you have a journey that brought you to that space? Or how are these mantras impacting your journey today?

Kulsoom Kazim: 5:20

It's such an interesting question because when I think of, my story, I'm just an ordinary girl that is doing all these great things. But then I look back on my life and I'm like, you know what? No I'm much more resilient than I like to give myself credit for. And if I look back at my life, it hasn't been easy. I'm a woman. I'm a person of color. I'm a Muslim. You face a lot of difficulties just in your society and in the world. And especially with all these social norms. You have to look a certain way. You have to be a certain way. So definitely those challenges. And then my own personal challenges. I had a miscarriage last year, like the year before that. And so all of these things make you much more stronger and they shape your perspective in life. So I feel like my story is just an ordinary girl who had big dreams. I've always wanted to be a counselor. I've always wanting to talk to people since I was in high school. And then eventually I just made it happen. And it's like my life lessons that I bring into my session. And I found that when I started my journey for coaching and counseling, unfortunately, there were a lot of people that weren't as supportive. I was let down by a lot of people because I find that there's a lot of competition in the world. If you're doing something, they don't want you to do something. So I was let down. But I chose not to focus on that. Because at the same time, so many people that were so supportive right off the bat up until today, I find that I thrive because of the love from people and the support from people. So I decided just to focus on that support. And I think it's the combination of support and your own wisdom that you just do stuff and go for it.

Sophia Noreen: 6:51

Yeah. I love that. That's awesome. So just understanding a little bit more about your story. The first time you realized that you wanted to do counseling or coaching was when you were in high school. Was there a specific thing that occurred or was there an event that occurred that brought you to that spot where you said I know this is what I'm meant to do and I want to do it. And did you hesitate at that point?

Kulsoom Kazim: 7:12

I think I've always been sensitive. Since high school, I was always sensitive. And people always told me you're so stupid, you're so naive. Why are you so sensitive? You shouldn't be so sensitive. You shouldn't cry. And me, like a lot of the other women I speak to, felt like I needed to be heard and I wanted people to talk to and I just needed some support. And as I started building myself up. I was like, you know what? There's a hundred bajilion people out there that need that same support. So I think it was motivation. And I think the reason I'm able to connect with people is because I've gone through a lot of the things that they've gone through, like confidence that you have. Self-esteem issues. The different struggles that we go through. So I think it was just that motivated me. And there wasn't one single point that I was like, I need to do this. I always just knew I wanted to do this. I always imagined myself as someone talking to people.

Sophia Noreen: 8:00

Okay, great. So there was not like a single moment where you're like, you know what? I'm made to do this. This is like you had the intuition and you're like, I know that I can make this my craft and give back in this way.

Kulsoom Kazim: 8:11

Yeah, for sure. All the time. I think it was what I wanted to do from the getgo ,for sure.

Sophia Noreen: 8:15

Oh, that's amazing. Okay. I want to know a little bit more. I want to know a little bit about the ups and downs because you did dwell on it. You did allude to people being not as supportive potentially being let down by a few of either friends or family or community. Do you want to shed some examples or give us a little bit of a sneak peek of that? Because everyone knows that when you start something new, there is an uphill climb. It's not always easy and you can't always expect that level of support from everyone.

Kulsoom Kazim: 8:42

Honestly, I would love to give you like a huge list. But it's actually not like that. I know as I did mention it, but it was really like maybe one, two or three examples. Other than that, people have been so supportive. From the get-go my family and my friends and the community t here was so much support that it's almost overwhelming. There were one or two people that were in the professional field, in my field, that I reached out to for advice and support and they were just kinda like, here, come book a session with us and we'll help you. And I was like, I just need advice. I didn't really need a session. It's fine. I'll find my way. And I did find my way and I don't hold grudges or anything like that. It was just interesting to see that's the kind of dynamic we have when people need support. And so now I try my best to offer support to people who want to start their coaching and counseling business. But apart from those one or two little examples, I find that I don't really have too many. People have been so supportive. I feel like I try to pass that energy as well. Just like the positive support and yeah, the good people.

Sophia Noreen: 9:39

Great. I'm so happy to hear that. Yeah, it's so true that sometimes even if it's a small batch of people, even two or three, and then you have a hundred or more supporters, those two or three really do stand out and they do become part of the story, which is really interesting because it is innate. We are innately responsive to seeing not negatives, but obstacles or barriers. Because as humans, for survival, we don't look at always the cherries and the tomatoes that are blossoming in front of us. We'll look up and see if there's like a dangerous predator. It's completely natural to be focusing on or without knowledge potentially focusing on those one or two, even though they're not that big in the grand scheme of things. They're just people who have put up a barrier for us. But you were pretty skilled and you worked around it anyways, which probably goes back to your mantra. Because even though somebody may have said, you know what? Yeah, we want to help you, but we're going to put a price tag on that, the timer providing. And you're like I'm new starting out. I don't have whatever the dollar amount is to be mentored by you right now. There was still a way for you to gain that information, which is fantastic and shows your resourcefulness.

Kulsoom Kazim: 10:45

And yeah, you're right. I feel it's more about them than it is about me at the end of the day, because I was still able to Alhumduillah find my way because of, I guess ,the mantra "Just do it." It's fine if you can't help me. There's so much other support that was around to help me. And also, it's really Allah at the end of the day. God, that's helping you with all of this. So you just trust God and just go for it. Yeah. Alhuduillah. Positive, That's what

Sophia Noreen: 11:06

I say, too. In my own journey and just reflecting, I can very easily focus on the individuals who may have, not put up barriers, but may have let me down in regards to opportunities with my own expectations. Because there is no obligation from anybody to help anybody. But then I guess in our expectations, we put ourselves out there with the hope to relinquish or benefit from that relationship or from that interaction. But, in the end, it just goes to show you that you have to keep being persistent. You could have easily at that point have said, I guess this is not really for me because I'm not getting the help I need from these other two individuals. But you didn't do that. You didn't succumb so it's great. I mean our own journey, I think we had the same thing. Actually, the reason why we went for the bigger stores, to be honest, was because the smaller stores weren't giving us opportunity, which is interesting. Beause you would think it would be opposite.

Kulsoom Kazim: 11:51

And I thinke you have that expectation because you know, that's how the Muslim community is supposed to be. And that's how the community is supposed to be in general. Even if you're not prominent in the Muslim community. I find that as people, we're just supposed to be helpful. And I guess that's maybe an expectation I have, and it's not really about the money at the end of the day. For example, if someone's asking for money to mentor you, maybe that's just how it is. It's fine. But I noticed that even after I came out with events or starting things, those people were not sharing it. So I was like, okay, this is much more deeper than just that thing. And I guess it's expectations, but I don't know. I feel like I liked that expectation because it keeps us helping other people. I don't want to expect that from people. I want to expect that from people. When I share my life story in general, I don't focus on those people because it was just so like irrelevant. I have so much support and so much positivity that likee two examples don't even matter at the end of the day,

Sophia Noreen: 12:45

They don't. The reason I touched on it is because for new entrepreneurs, they get really stuck. Another thing I think that your story speaks to is just again the barriers and how some people don't actually move forward and just do it, as your mantra says. Because they don't know how to proceed forward. They're stuck because that barrier has now come and put a barricade between them and their goal. How do you navigate that when you are speaking to your clients? Or how can you shed some light just based on your own experience?

Kulsoom Kazim: 13:13

It's so unfortunate because it's really two-fold. I would love to say as individual, just move forward and find a way and you'll figure it out. But it's not that easy because at the end of the day, this message is going out to the community. And I want to tell the community that you have to be the one that has to be supportive of new entrepreneurs. So if you have advice and you know how to do for example, like I'm launching products and I've never launched products and I know nothing about it. And so the journey for me is so lonely, but I'm getting by It's going to have a lot of support and asking questions, but some people don't do that. They give up right away. And as much as I would love to tell them don't give up and you'll be fine and just move forward, it's not as easy when you don't have the support from other people. So I guess my message is to the community. If you have an art and you can share it with other people and there's other people who want to get into the same thing and then share your knowledge, I promise it's not gonna harm you. I promise it's not going to hurt you because everyone brings in their art in their own unique way. If there's another coach or counselor, they're going to do it in their own unique way. Competition needs to stop and we need to help young entrepreneurs.

Sophia Noreen: 14:18

110%. And I actually had a similar situation where somebody said, oh well, there's so many people doing the same thing. And I said you know what? Doesn't matter. Because especially when it comes to product-based businesses and even service-based businesses. One, for service, you can't service the world, right? You can't be your coach to every single person. You can't do event planning for every single event. You can't be a wedding planner for every single wedding. And then when it comes to products, everybody has their own creative style that they can add to say, for example, gift wrap. If you want to do gift wrap, I don't care if there's 10 other companies doing gift wrap. There was actually a really good quote once. Basically they said that if there was no competition in business, we would only have one grocery store chain.

Kulsoom Kazim: 14:59

Yeah, exactly. All right. We have so many and people go to all of them.

Sophia Noreen: 15:03

Because it's serving... every grocery store chain, this is a broad example, serves a different population and a different need and a different geography. And so your product or your service is focusing on one specific individual and helping them solve that problem. So I totally agree. I feel, yeah, the competition in the community sometimes comes off stronger than it should. And that can be taken in two ways. That can be taken as, oh my gosh, she's so good, or he's so good that there's a threat. Or it could be taken that they're more insecure about their own self and their own abilities, so it's not a reflection on you.

Kulsoom Kazim: 15:38

What I would say is to the people that are struggling, try not to focus on those people. Because it's just going to bog you down and it's going to create... I'm really big on beliefs. The beliefs you carry about people and things just go on and on. And I wouldn't want to go on with the belief that people are not supportive and people are not helpful. So if you have had those examples, like you said excuses for people and you just move forward. Try to find the people that are supportive. Because I promise you, if there's one or two people that are not supportive, you'll find 5 or 10 more that are supportive and are helpful. And if you focus on that, if for your mental health, it's just so much better than to focus on all the negativity that comes your way, it's just a very positive way to look at things.

Sophia Noreen: 16:16

Yeah. There's a saying about where are you focused is where your energy goes?

Kulsoom Kazim: 16:20

It's a big thing, but the more you say something to yourself, the more you're going to act upon that the more you're going to attract that type of thing as well. Think positive, stay positive, attract positivity. That's my other mantra, I guess.

Sophia Noreen: 16:31

I love that. Okay. Advice time.

Kulsoom Kazim: 16:34

Yes. I love giving advice because there's so much to give.

Sophia Noreen: 16:38

Great. Give us one or more pieces of advice for any new entrepreneur just starting out on their journey.

Kulsoom Kazim: 16:44

Serve powerfully. No matter what you're doing, do it with all your heart, do it with the most pure intentions ever. And with that, I believe you're going to get success. Because when you started diluting your intentions and you're not sure about why you're doing stuff, you're always going to get that result. But if you do think wholeheartedly, and for example, like in my profession, like you're serving people, right? So serve people wholeheartedly. When you sit in front of someone, be so mindful that they're the most important person in your life. And you're going to notice that's going to impact your session. If you're a product-based business, same thing. Whatever you're doing, do it wholeheartedly. Whether it's finding distributors, finding packaging and the marketing. So I guess that goes back to purifying your intentions and making sure that your intentions are very pure. That's my advice to everyone. No matter what you do.

Sophia Noreen: 17:31

That's beautiful. And works really well with people in such a busy environment. Sometimes you're distracted, right? Especially if you're in a service space industry. You'll be sitting with somebody on a call or you'll be setting for an event. But your mind is in two or three different places. And then sometimes the intention of the business is just to make a quick dollar. But sometimes that will show right on your execution. So that's really well said. Really well said. All right. I need you to give our listeners a little bit more advice on how you goal set. How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you manage your time? I find that it's really

Kulsoom Kazim: 18:03

important to say here that I'll give people what I do, what works for me. But this isn't like a cookie cutter approach because what works for me doesn't have to work for everyone. And so I do want to say that for goal setting and all these things, find a system that works for you. So what I personally do is I'm big on lists. I'm a maniac when it comes to lists. I write every single thing down and I plan in advance and I love agendas and I love planners and I just love paper. So I'm always writing. I'm always coming up with to-do lists. And I find that just helps me. I literally have a to-do list for my groceries for the month and then for the week, and then what I need to do for this and what I need to do for that. And that helps me a lot. So maybe you're someone like that and maybe that can help you. But maybe you need another system. So I would suggest find a system that works for you. So many different things work for people. Planning works for people so you can be a planner. Maybe just doing things might be something that works for you. So you can do that. But for me, I love lists. If you have a planner, I'm going to have it because I'm such a journal hoarder and I love paper and stuff. So yeah. Stationery companies love me.

Sophia Noreen: 19:10

Yeah. I'm also an agenda person and I had to reflect back cause I lost my way a bit.

19:14

I realized very

Sophia Noreen: 19:15

quickly in undergrad, going through the University of Toronto program was quite intensive. And essentially what I realized was I was the best at executing my plans and staying organized when I had a paper agenda. And I think what happened was, before the iPhone, so this is pre this is when, like I had my Motorola rocker and all that. At that time, I think because phones were not as accessible as a planning tool, people were using more of the paper agendas. Our university would give us a paper agenda, for example. And there is neurological connection between your hand and your brain. I know a lot of people love digital tools, which is great. I actually suggest a lot of people to use them in tandem. Do the to-do lists or agenda written. And then also put it in your, like block off chunks of time in your digital calendar, if that's how you're staying organized. Only because when you write it down, you're more likely to follow through on it. It works. And even in university, I remember I never did laptop notes. I always just wrote down notes, even though it hurt my hand at the end, but I don't know. There's just something amazing about putting pen to paper. It's really nice. Yeah. I love that. Okay, great. This is our final question, but it's a big one. How do you manage your mental health and your physical health being so busy?

Kulsoom Kazim: 20:24

Yeah. Ooh, that's tough. I do have a routine. I find that our routine, you just get into it. You just figure out what works for you. Especially after I got married, I was trying to get adjusted to different things. And then eventually I found a routine that works and I'm pretty much in the same routine. Like I have particular days which I cook on particular times when I have sessions. So the routine definitely helps. But I find that, combining that with mental health, especially when you're going through health issues or any kind of like things in your life, I find the first thing that helps me is mindfulness. So if I need to stop and let's say I got into an argument with my husband, making sure I focus on that and deal with that before I'm able to go to the next chunk. And if I, for example, I'm dealing with health issues and just being mindful of how I'm feeling and what that's doing to me. So if I'm upset right before a session, then maybe that's not the best time to go into a session. Because this isn't about you at the end of the day. You're going to mess things up for the client as well because you're not fully yet. So I'm really big on mindfulness. If you follow me on Instagram, I talk a lot about how to cultivate mindfulness and how to honor your emotions. Because in society, I find that we dismiss people's emotions and it's such a thing. And I, for the rest of my life, I'm going to advocate for honoring your emotions and accepting your emotion. So mindfulness is number one. Number two is my support system. I can't even tell you how big supports help, how important it is to have a support system. When I started my business, I'm telling you it was a support system that encouraged me to just keep going. And I had a miscarriage a year and a half ago now. So November, 2019. And the reason I'm mentioning that is because the way the community came to support me was eye-opening. I was like, yeah, people are going to come support me. Of course I have friends and I have, but it was like the community, like driving two hours just to come to my baby's funeral. And that is community. And I think it's because I know that I have the support system that it just makes you feel good. You're like, okay, if I fall short of something or not able to do something, I have people that are going to be able to help me. It doesn't matter how big your support system is. Find people that are always going to support you no matter what, whether it's family, friends, or just like your sisters in faith And that's very important. And then the third thing that helps me is purpose. Yeah, there was a time in my life where I was just like, what am I doing with my business? It's just because I wasn't all about the systems and the money isn't that drives me. Money is part of the business and it's fun. You make it and then you give it and it's I'm not going to lie it's great. But it doesn't drive me at the end of the day. And because I guess I wasn't connected with the purpose of why I'm doing this. And then the people and the coaches that I was getting help from were all about systems and you have to do this way and then do it this way. And I was, like I don't think so. You need to speak to 50 people. If you want to get 10 clients. And then from those 10 clients, you're going to, have three. And I was like, I don't think so. And so I had to figure out why am I even doing this? And when I connect my purpose and why I want to do this, everything became easier. I've never had

23:26

a time of Alhumduillah, Alhumduillah, I'm saying

Kulsoom Kazim: 23:28

this on public platforms that I've never, since I've started my business, had a time where I was not having any client. And sometimes I think about how is that possible not having any clients. But I'm like, I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm so connected to why I'm doing it. You just attract those people at the end of the day. And money is a great by-product of it,

23:47

which is fun. Alhumduilla Have a purpose,

Kulsoom Kazim: 23:50

stick to your purpose, make sure it's on every single day. So when you get out of bed you're not confused about why you're doing something and where you're headed to. Purpose. Those are three good things, right?

Sophia Noreen: 24:01

Love it. Every single one of them. And especially gravitate to the final point because I always say, if you're going to start something just for money, it's not enough motivation to keep you going. It's not the North star. It's going to fizzle out and you're going to burn out and stop doing whatever you're trying to do. So really align your goals, your mission with a sense of purpose. It can be your family, even whatever you want it to be, you can make it. But just make it outside of yourself. It can't be a self-driven purpose.

Kulsoom Kazim: 24:29

Yeah. I want to add something that really helps me. It's for any business, because whether you're a product business or a service business, I'm sure you have financial goals. But sometimes if you're trying to say, okay, I want to make $5,000 a month or I want to make $50,000 a year. That number isn't enough. So try to attach it to things that you want. For example, like I said, okay, I want to save up

24:51

money for Hajj in three

Kulsoom Kazim: 24:52

months. I want to be able to go on a trip by this time. I want to give $5,000 to my family. I want to give this much to charity. And I find that when you attach money to those things, you're just more easily motivated Yeah, it's really interesting. And it works.

Sophia Noreen: 25:08

Gosh, I've never tried that. I've never even conceptualize that. So that's fantastic. That's seriously fantastic. I'm going to definitely do that. Money can be motivating if you do attach it to something external and there's just dollar signs for myself or to anybody who's listening. Maybe that is a way of at least looking at your financial goals, because that is a big part of doing business. And we can't completely ignore the numbers. Your financials is like the life force of your business. So you have to keep an eye on them. And full disclosure. I don't do enough of that. So I have people helping, but it's better for you as the owner, founder, executive, to be able to do that. So then at least you can say with confidence that you're going in the direction that you want your business to go in. So I'm going to try that, Kulsoom. I'm going to try that trick.

Kulsoom Kazim: 25:49

Try it. Inshallah.

Sophia Noreen: 25:51

Okay. Awesome guys. Thank you so much Kulsoom for coming now. I know our listeners are going to want to follow you, so where can they find you? What are your social media profiles and where can people connect with you if they want to have a session with you? Yeah, so you can message them on Instagram. I'm pretty active there. If you DM me or you try to get to my DMs, but it is a little bit difficult. So definitely go on my Instagram, instagram.com/kulsoomlifecoach. Or go to my website, it's kulsoomkazim.com and you'll find all my social media links and be able to email me on there. And so I find that my website is the best place to go. Kulsoomkazim.com Okay. Awesome. And I'm going to hyperlink everything in the show notes. You guys can just tap and go straight to her profiles and her webpage. And thank you again, Kulsoom. This was so fantastic. I know we've been trying to book this for a while so I was extremely excited to finally get you on my show. And guys do go follow Kulsoom's accounts. She's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to mindfulness and everything with personal development. So definitely keep in touch with her that's all we got for today. So remember, make a plan and take action and yes, you can have it all. So my fellow bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now is time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story and tag us @BossItclub. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our Top 50 Tips for Starting and Scaling a Business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers. So don't miss out. Now remember bosses: make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes you can have it all.