The Women who Flourish Podcast

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, taking care of our mental health is a challenge. That's one of the reasons why we are experiencing record levels of anxiety, burn out, and depression in today's world. And if you're a creative person like an artist, having mental health struggles can really impact the way you create artworks. That's why in this episode, I'm excited to have Noura Alali to talk about how to take care of your mental health as an artist

Noura Al Ali is an artist and graphic designer living in Abu Dhabi. She creates mixed media artworks, paintings, photographs, and sculptures. Her work is a representation of her thoughts on behavior and emotions mixed with dreams and the effects of the surrounding. 

Anxiety is our body's normal response to stress - it is a survival instinct. We feel a bit of anxiousness whenever we do something uncomfortable like doing a presentation at work or a job interview. But this can be a matter of great concern if you feel anxious to the point where you feel hyper- sensitive and hyper-aware about everything to the point where it is out of control. You may have an anxiety disorder. 

In this episode, we have Katherine Adams. Katherine is a highly experienced, award-winning teacher who has been teaching in the UAE for the past 5 years. She created a children's enrichment and empowerment program in Dubai which supports all aspects of children's mental health and wellbeing helping them to flourish and thrive. She's also a member of our "Women who Flourish Community". 

Tune in as she shares her journey from how anxiety has affected her since childhood and how debilitating it is, the stigma surrounding axiety, and the turning point in her life where she decided to do everything necessary to overcome her anxiety. You'll learn 5 actionable tips that you can do to calm your thoughts, and overall manage your anxiety in order to flourish. 

Connect with Katherine via email: k_j_adams@outlook.com

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If you are a person who keeps on having negative thoughts and you want to have a more positive thoughts, outlook in life, and mindset, this episode is for you.

There is a study by The Human Science Foundation saying that a person has an average of 12,000 - 60,000 thoughts per day. 80% of those are negative and 95% of those are repetitive.

Some manifestations of having a negative mindset can be rejecting compliments, being overly critical of oneself, having a defeatist attitude when faced with adversity, and many more.

Tune in as I share 5 ways on how you can develop a positive mindset in order to flourish. This does not mean that once you do these things, you will instantly develop a positive mindset. This will require a ton of work and consistency. And once you get into the rhythm and became part of your system, you’ll find yourself being in a better mood, conquering hurdles with a smile, and living life in a brighter - more positive attitude.

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In today’s social media world, it’s so easy to get caught up. The endless scrolling, likes, and comments – especially hateful ones – can make someone hesitant to putting oneself out there.

So in this episode, I’m thrilled to have Ahlam Almaskari. Ahlam has a bachelor's degree in public health and nutrition. She founded “Healthy and Vegan”- a platform which has over 10,000 followers on Instagram and where she shares engaging an insightful content on her recipes restaurant reviews as well as her lifestyle. Ahlam and won the competition after taking part in my 7-Day Confidence Building Challenge on Instagram last November 2019 and won a one-on-one coaching session with myself. She is also one of our founding members in “Women Who Flourish” community.

Given her experience in putting herself out there in social media, I've invited Ahlam to have a conversation about how to overcome your fears when it comes to putting yourself out there particularly when it comes to social media and how to get over mindset blocks that can prevent you from creating content on social media.

Rejection is one of the most common yet hurtful feeling a person can experience. Whether it’s a job interview, a significant other not liking you back, or not being able to close a sale; Rejection can make you feel that you are a failure and not good enough. But it doesn't have to always be that way.

In this episode, we'll take a deep dive into rejection. You'll learn why do we feel what we feel when being rejected, the connection between self-worth and rejection, how to deal with it by easing the pain, the art of turning rejection around and use it as an advantage in order to flourish, and many more.

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There are times where we feel insecure being in a certain situation or opportunity. Let's say you were asked to speak in public or you were given an opportunity to work with people you admire. Suddenly, you feel a certain jolt where you feel like a fraud and ask yourself: "Am I capable of this?", "Why me?", or even "I don't deserve this".

That is what we call impostor syndrome - and I'm here to tell you that it's perfectly normal. I experience this myself from time-to-time and in fact, even high-achievers feel it.  However, embracing this syndrome leads to stagnation, continuous self-doubt, and rejection of opportunities.

That's why in this episode, I'm with Anna Osei Kofi - a public speaker, public health policy specialist, and VP at Education and President-Elect of the North London Public Speaking Club which is part of Toastmasters International. Anna was one of my first coaching client back in 2017 and was a member of my first group coaching program, "Build Confidence, Feel Fabulous".

We discuss about her journey in public speaking, the times where we felt the impostor syndrome kicking in, and some practical steps on how we "hack" impostor syndrome and use it to our own advantage in order to flourish.

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In today's fast-paced hyper connected world, there's an invisible pressure that makes us feel like we must reach certain milestones at a certain age. We keep on chasing the latest and greatest, what's trending, who to follow, what's the next level, and it can be exhausting. This mounting pressure tends to make us feel that we are not good enough and our criteria to feel happy becomes skewed to the point where we are placing our happiness on external factors. 

In this episode, I'll talk about a life-changing practice that has been proven effective for me and my clients as well which is...GRATITUDE. You'll learn why you need to practice gratitude, it's research-backed benefits, and some activities that you can do to practice gratitude.  

Why letting go is so hard? What it means to let go? What are you letting go of?

Letting go can have different meanings depending on the context but letting go in general is a tricky thing to do. That's why in this episode I'm with Dr. Abeer Fahim - Author, Professor, TEDx Speaker, and a member of Women who Flourish community.

We discuss why it's so hard to let go, the things you need to overcome in order to let go, and what it really means to have closure. I also surprised Dr. Abeer with some questions and she shared some amazing quotes that will hit you right in the heart especially when you're trying to let go.

I've been teaching women to build their confidence for 4 years now and I get so inspired when they suddenly start going beyond their limits, outside of their comfort zones, conquering their fears, and ultimately - living the life that they want.

In this episode, I'll share 4 actionable steps that you can take to build your self-confidence. And once you start seeing what you're capable through having that self-confidence instead of what you're not, your whole life will change.

The relationship you have with yourself is the most important one you’ll have in this world as it plays a huge role in the outcomes you’ll have in your life and it sets the tone for all the other relationships you have in your life.

In this introduction episode I talk about the importance of building confidence and self-love from the inside out, a little about my journey of leaving my career in Public Health in London to start my own business and move to UAE, as well as the most important question to ask yourself when thinking about how you want to live your life.