Muslims Doing Things

Zainab Johnson (@zainabjohnson) is a comedian, writer, and actress. 

Zainab Johnson is a comedian, writer, and actress. Zainab’s comedy is based on her unique point-of-view, which as one of thirteen siblings in a black Muslim family in Harlem.  After getting a degree in Math and Education and taking a job as a teacher, Zainab quickly learned she had a different calling. And once she started to pursue the calling — she doubled down and rose the ranks quickly.

You may have seen Zainab on the Amazon Original hit series titled "Upload"  Netflix's "100 Humans", through an appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, HBO’s All Def Comedy,  NBC’s Last Comic Standing, or one of the many gigs she has done.

Go watch Zainab in real life! https://www.zainabjohnson.com/

Follow Zainab 

https://twitter.com/zainabjohnson?lang=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@thezainabjohnson?lang=en

Sidra Trajcevska founded Jasmine + Marigold (@jasmineandmarigold) on the heels of a successful corporate career. Sidra found herself on the tough end of the celebration equation as mom to a half-Macedonian/half-Pakistani child. When Sidra realized that there weren’t onesies available to celebrate Eid, she created her own. Between that moment and today, Sidra figured out how to build, scale, and automate a garment business for children. She openly talks about the nuts and bolts behind her business, and the savvy she has accrued. 

Follow Sidra at

⁠https://www.instagram.com/whatsidraloves/⁠ 

Follow Jasmine + Marigold at

https://jasmineandmarigold.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jasmineandmarigold/ 

Sarah Ahmed’s LinkedIn refers to her as an “experienced Clinical Social Worker with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry.” But Sarah, on social media, is the POC therapist. (@the.poc.therapist). Sarah’s social media presence addresses a variety of mental health related topics in an accessible way. Separately, she went from working in a large scale health system, to starting her own private practice, to employing other practitioners, to most recently enabling Canada-wide mental health services through a technology platform, Leena (@helloleena). 

Follow Sarah on IG https://www.instagram.com/the.poc.therapist 

Follow Sarah on TT https://www.tiktok.com/@the.poc.therapist?lang=en 

Follow Leena on IG https://www.instagram.com/helloleena_/

When Afshan Nasseri (@lifesforliving) did not get the corporate job she thought she should get amidst a pandemic, as a fresh-COVID-grad of McGill University. So, Afshan just started her own agency (yes — just like that! The story is amazing). Aam Creative (@aamcreative) is a team is made of women of color from around the world who focus on social media strategy, storytelling, brand strategy, and cultural consulting. Aam has worked with over 41 companies. The website highlights 17 women working towards the agency’s goals. 

I love convos with self starters, so I really enjoyed this chat. Afshan goes into the weeds, tactically, of how she created an opportunity amidst global turmoil. Also, Aam’s brand is amazing: https://www.aamcreative.co/

Sabrina Siddiqui (@sabrinasiddiqui) knew she wanted to be a journalist as a Pakistani-American teenager living in Italy, but did not realize her choices would land her a coveted position as a White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Sabrina covers the Biden presidency right now. Listen to Sabrina and I talk about her journey to political reporting and what a day in the life is like as a White House correspondent. Spoiler: it may include an anecdote about a recent top secret trip on Air Force One with the President. 

Get to know Sabrina through some of her writing:

‘How Will I Pump?’: When Your First Work Trip After Maternity Leave Is to Ukraine With President Biden

Reporting while Muslim: how I covered the US presidential election

Keep up with Sabrina's journey:

Find Sabrina on IG

Follow Sabrina on Twitter

Ali Baluch (@baluchx) started his career in video on YouTube — by joining FouseyTube in its early days. Ali worked with Yousef to take the channel from 500k to 10m (and over 1.5b views), creating one of the early YouTube phenomenons (which I learned was..stunted!). Ali’s journey in production and cinematography is a journey that spans through household names like Nickelodeon, HBO Max, and MTV. And outside of those names, Ali is behind a few podcasts (The Apartment and the Fahim Anwar Dance Hour) where he chats with some of the most popular names in the industry. What is Ali up to next? More film, he suspects.

This is a chilling-with-friends-in-your-living room type of episode, with more of a hair down vibe than the typical epi. The backstory is that Ali is a friend who came by to chat about a media project on a Friday night. I asked Ali to record a pod in return, so I have the very rare in person epi. With a lot of Friday night, barely made it through the week a (childcare fell through at home, work was demanding as usual) laughs. What makes this episode even more funny is that Ali is a professional video and audio dude — and I have him sharing a mic on a MacBook pro as my setup.

Enjoy! I did.

Follow Ali on Twitter @baluchx

Follow Ali on IG @baluchx

Ameena Soliman (@meen_mill) is a pro scout for the Philadelphia Eagles, where she also serves as Director of Personnel Operations. In this episode, Ameena breaks down her journey to scoutdom, which reveals a breakneck speed through the ranks at the NFL. Ameena provides a tactical approach to how to get into sport while revealing a razor sharp intelligence and hyperfocused work ethic. It goes without much assumption that Ameena is the first Muslim woman in her role. And she is believed to be the first female scout, period, for the Eagles. For context, the first female scout for the NFL at large was hired in 2021. By 2022, there were a total of 33 female scouts across the NFL in its entirety. In short, Ameena's path is extraordinary.

Also...Go Birds! 

Follow Ameena’s career on IG at:

Follow Ameena on Instagram @meen_mill 

Follow Ameena on Twitter @meen_mill

Photo credit: Joseph Labolito

Amna Nawaz (@amnaonpbs) is an American broadcast journalist and a co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour alongside Geoff Bennett. Before joining PBS in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News and NBC News. And before that, a foreign correspondent. Amna dives into her path to the co-anchor seat, including time in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and how her husband has played a key role in their co-parenting journey. Amna’s accolades include an Emmy Award and a Society for Features Journalism award. Follow Amna at

Follow Amna on IG

Follow Amna on Twitter

If you’re on TikTok, you have seen the hysterical (and sometimes unhinged) Duolingo posts. And if you were interested in learning a language (like my husband was, actually), you probably converted into a Duolingo user because of the prevalence of Duo the owl on TikTok. I was stunned to find out that all 6m of us Duo stans were actually following a fresh-out-of-college Pakistani American, Zaria Parvez (@photos_zap). In two short years and with a marketing budget of 0 dollars, Zaria built a cult around the language learning app. The Duolingo account has 121.6m likes, including some from a video from just yesterday with 2m views (a figure 300,000 north of the entire population of Bahrain).

Listen to Zaria’s incredible story. This journey is especially cool because she is early in her career, but has already been recognized as a marketing genius. Experience doesn’t always equate to stature or seniority, and Zaria’s story is a testament to that reality.

Follow Zaria on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zariaparvez?lang=en

Follow Zaria on IG https://www.instagram.com/photos_zap/?hl=en

Check out Duolingo’s TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo?lang=en

As an Iraqi-American, Audie Attar’s (@AudieAttar) parents saw athletic talent in him and nurtured it through high school and into college. Audie played football at UCLA before a fight got him kicked out of the school and landed him at Idaho State. The racial undercurrents of the fight, grounded in Islamophobia, did not stop Audie’s team at UCLA from working hard to get him back on their side. Shortly after, Audie made his way back to UCLA before graduating and landing a role as an NFL agent. That was the start of Audie’s sports management journey — and since then, he founded Paradigm Sports (@paradigmsports). Audie is referred to as “one of combat sports most powerful agents” according to an article in a 2017 MMA.com article, in case you are wondering how that’s going. Audie manages a roster of talent across the NFL, MMA, MLB, and beyond - including household names like Conor McGregor, Jozy Altidore, and Rico Verhoeven.    

Follow Audie on Instagram 

Follow Audie on Twitter

Follow Paradigm Sports on Instagram

Manal Aman @helloholydays knew who she admired: Martha Stewart. She went to college with the goal of figuring out the business of Martha, and graduated into an editorial job for the DIY queen herself. Within a few short years, Manal figured out how to get her own line into Crate and Barrel to celebrate Ramadan (yes, that advent calendar — the one we all lost it for). Listen to Manal’s journey

Shop the collection at HelloHolyDays.com

Follow @helloholydays on Instagram

Yusra Siddiqui (@thatgirlyusra) is an Associate Fashion Editor at Who What Wear, and at her core she is a journalist. Yusra talks about what it takes to build a career in fashion journalism, how she got to where she is, and her recent cover stories with Jenna Ortega and Madelyn Cline. Listen to Yusra lay out the power of connection, not giving up, and what her life looks like as a Fashion Editor (sneak peak: she publishes 5-6 pieces a week).

Find Yusra on IG @thatgirlyusra and TikTok @thatgirlyusraa

Anoosha Syed (@foxville_art) is a Pakistani-Canadian freelance illustrator + character designer for animation, based in Toronto. If you have kids, you likely have come across her work (Bilal Cooks Daal and That’s Not My Name are both on Kamila’s bookshelf!).

Since graduating, Anoosha has worked as a character designer for preschool series in development working with clients like Disney, Netflix and Nick. After illustrating over 25 books for children, she is now working on several author/illustrator titles — and recently published her her debut book, That’s Not My Name.

Anoosha has not only built an amazing career, but she has recreated her path through a series of YouTube tutorials, and shows her work behind the scenes across social media. Listen to Anoosha talk about her journey, and what it takes to build a career in illustration and children's books. 

Find her on:

• Check out her website 
• Instagram 
• Twitter 
• YouTube 
• TikTok 
• Facebook 

Buy her books:

• Buy Bilal Cooks Daal
• Buy That’s Not My Name 

Evelyn Alsultany (@evelynalsultany)is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in U.S. media. Her research, teaching, and lecturing are driven by a commitment to bringing Arab and Muslim Americans into the broader conversation about racial politics in the U.S. In her lectures, she seeks to educate audiences on the history of stereotypical representations of Arabs and Muslims in the US media, its consequences as evident in public opinion and government policies, and alternatives to foster greater human respect and dignity.

Listen to Evelyn's journey as we flip between her life as an academic and a contributor to Muslim-American modern day history.

Get a copy of Evelyn's new book Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion on Amazon or at a local bookstore.

Follow Evelyn on Twitter  or on Instagram @evelynalsultany

Engie Hassan (@engiestyle) went into fashion without a clear picture of what that could mean -- and has since built her own styling empire. From celebrities, to royalty, to regular folks, Engie knows how to orchestrate the vision behind how someone is perceived. From an internship at Vogue, to a full circle moment with Anna Wintour, real-talk with Yeezy when he was trying to find his personal brand in the 2010s, to life as a personal stylist at Bergdorf, listen to Engie's story about what it takes to build a styling business in fashion.

Follow @engiestyle on IG

https://www.instagram.com/amandasplate/?hl=en (IG) 

https://amandasplate.com/ 

https://www.tiktok.com/@amandasplate 

https://twitter.com/AmandasPlate/with_replies

Follow Zain on Instagram @zaincomedy

Follow Zain on TikTok @zaincomedy

Listen to Pious’s journey and follow Pious on Instagram

pic credit: Ryan Caron King for NENC

For the first time in the pod's history, we have a guest come back -- a year later! Yasamine Durali is a content creator and my SIL. Last year, she laid out her roadmap to getting TikTok famous, and a year later she shares how far the journey has come, from expanding platforms, to getting managed, to building the confidence needed to take more steps forward.

I enjoyed this epi because Yasi is a sis to me, but also because it is a cool opportunity to watch a career arc in real time.

Follow Yasamine on:

IG

YouTube

TikTok

Photo credit: @beautyisboring

Follow Sumbul on IG

Follow Sumbul on Twitter

The City of Cambridge, MA

Sarah Khan (@bysarahkhan) is an an award-winning journalist with 18 years of writing and editing experience, most recently as Editor in Chief of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East. Sarah has reported from six continents (almost 7!!) for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, and many others. Earlier in Sarah's career, she worked at Travel + Leisure and Gotham magazines in New York. Listen to Sarah's journey on this week's episode.

Check out a portfolio of Sarah's  published work at www.bysarahkhan.com

Follow Sarah on Instagram

Lorraine Ali is an Iraqi-American journalist who serves as a culture writer and a TV critic. She is a juror for the George Foster Peabody Awards. Lorraine works for the LA Times, where she was previously a senior writer and music editor. Her work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, the New York Times, GQ, and Newsweek. Listen to Lorraine and I talk about her career as a real-life influencer, as her job entails critiquing the work made for us to culturally consume. And get a tidbit into an unexpected and shared experience that Lorraine and I had nearly a decade ago.   Follow Lorraine on Twitter and check out her work at LA Times.

Follow the pod @MuslimsDoingThings on IG and the me @laylool on IG     

Photo from LA Times 

@Ramy Youssef’s show follows a namesake character that is played by him, but the title is not an eponym — to be clear! Ramy has received global acclaim in the form of endless thought pieces, Twitter threads, a Golden Globe (to Ramy himself!), a Peabody Award, and 3 Emmy noms for the show. And Ramy won’t forget to remind you that the accolades are to be spread across the team behind the series. Ramy grew up in New Jersey, and loved to create content with his closest friends. Part way through college, an acting gig got him to Los Angeles. Listen to Ramy’s journey, learn about how he got his show on Hulu, and listen to us chat about the evolution of our representation as Muslim millennials.

Watch Ramy’s show on Hulu today, where Season 3 just dropped. And follow @Ramy on Instagram to keep up.

Follow the pod on IG @MuslimsDoingThigns and me, the host, @laylool

Podcast image is a shot from the show.

Tareq Azim (@Tareq) is a seven-time World Championship attending coach in combat sports, a former Division I linebacker at Fresno State, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, an author, and a philanthropist. He also created the first Afghan Women's Boxing Federation in 2004. Listen to Tareq and I chat about his non-linear path -- from his beginnings as an Afghan refugee, through his very cool career journey  (including his work with Marshawn Lynch), to his recent memoir (and roadmap for life), Empower: Conquering the Disease of Fear. 

Follow Tareq on Instagram @tareq and find his book on Amazon 

Huda Idrees is CEO and founder of Dot Health -- a simple and secure way to access your health records. Huda was in college (but, as you will hear, over a decade into her career) when she started her startup journey at a company that was later purchased for half a billion dollars. Shortly after, she become CPO at a company that has since blown up with over 1000 employees. While CPO, Huda left her position to start her own company: Dot Health. Listen to Huda's journey and find Huda on Twitter or email Huda at huda@hudaidrees.com.

Ibtihaj Muhammad found out that she had qualified for the 2016 Olympics through a Google alert — not from her team, Team USA. Ibtihaj’s story is one of resilience, triumph, and tenacity — despite adversity — to the top. Ibtihaj started fencing in high school and dedicated herself to becoming one of the world’s best fencers, culminating in an Olympic medal. She is the first woman in Hijab to represent Team USA at the Olympics. Today, she is an author (read her memoir, Proud, or her children’s book The Proudest Blue), a businesswoman (shop Louella for modest fashion), a Barbie (seriously, check this out), and an endless source of inspiration for many.

Where to find Ibtihaj

• Follow her on IG
• Follow her on FB
• Check out her website
• Shop her brand, Louella

• Follow Sharaf on Twitter @mowjood
• Follow Sharaf on IG @smowjood

Yasmin Elhady (@yasminelhahahady) was a child when her family came to the United States as asylum seekers. Yasmin was raised in Alabama, where she was always funny -- and very visually Muslim as a hijabi. After excelling through undergrad and grad school, Yasmin did her first stand-up comedy act in 2017 -- making her (quite likely) the only attorney for the US Department of Justice and stand-up comic. Or maybe the only Muslim one. Definitely the only hijabi one. Nonetheless -- Yasmin is whip smart and really freaking funny. When Yasmin isn't a Supervisory Attorney at the US Department of Justice, she is on stage as a stand-up comedian. Yasmin just came back from a comedy tour that raised $900k for charity. 

Where to find Yasmin

• Yasmin Elhady TikTok
• Her website
• Yasmin Elhady YouTube
• Yasmin Elhady Instagram

This episode is super special -- because it is 1 year after the pod launched (47 episodes!!!!)! And it's with my sister in law, Yasamine, who pushed me to start Muslims Doing Things in the first place. Yasi is also a different kind of guest, because she is very early in her professional career. She graduated college less than 6 months ago -- and in quarantine decided to take her creative energy and invest it into social media alongside her coursework. She picked up 70k TikTok followers and works full-time in philanthropy. This episode is an homage to beginnings. A celebration for the 1 year. And a way to learn how to build a platform, if you're interested.

• Keep up with Yasi on IG
• Keep up with Yasi on Tiktok

To stream Key Terms, follow Maytha on IG

Reach out to Maytha on her website

• Subscribe to Noor Kids
• Follow Noor Kids on Instagram
• Follow Noor Kids on FB
• Subscribe to the Noor Kids parenting podcast: Muslim Superdad and Wondermom 

Listen to Fatmah's story today, and while you are at it - get yourself some Knafeh here.

Follow Knafeh Queens on Instagram

When Ndaa Hassan realized that there weren't enough English resources to teach her kids about Ramadan in 2018, she took initiative and published her own childrens' book. 3 years later, Ramadan Around the World is a best-selling childrens' book. Ndaa has since published two more books and built a company, My Arabi Box, around Arabic curriculum (with incredible products, btw) for children. Ndaa's background in marketing and passion for Arabic language development has fast-tracked her ability to be part of a generation of authors creating content for young Muslim children. (Also, teaser, Ndaa is very open about how to self-publish -- and will share some tips in the epi).

• Follow Ndaa on Instagram
• Check out Ndaa's website to get a glimpse of her publishing house
• Follow Ramadan Around the World on Instagram

• Follow Amany on Instagram 
• Follow Launchgood on Instagram
• Follow Amany on Facebook
• Or reach out to Amany via email @ amany@launchgood.com

• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Facebook

Dr. Melina Abdullah (@docmellymel) is a professor and the former chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University, Los Angeles. She is an activist, an organizer, a scholar, and a mother. And Dr. Melina co-founded BLM Los Angeles the night that George Zimmerman was acquitted of the charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter after the murder of Treyvon Martin. 

Dr. Melina is a recognized expert on race, gender, class, and social movements. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, with subjects ranging from political coalition building to womanist mothering. 

• Check out Black Lives Matter
• Sign up for the BLM LA newsletter, which provides regular calls to action
• Follow Dr. Melina on IG
• Follow Dr. Melina on Twitter
• Follow BLM LA

Deena Shakir always optimized her career for impact — though she could have never imagined that it would land her in venture capital. After a brief career in journalism, Deena served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. State Department under Secretary Clinton. Listen to Deena’s unconventional (though very logical) journey from D.C., to Google.org, to a partner at LUX Capital where she invests in health tech startups today.

Follow Deena on Twitter

Omar Sayyed was born in Afghanistan moving to America as a refugee. Growing up, Omar watched his father build a new career in the States while learning a new language and skills. By his young adulthood, Omar had built and exited two companies. Omar was approached by his co-founders at Ties.com to build the company from the ground up with his team. Omar and his team bootstrapped the company to where it is now, where Omar currently serves as the CEO.

• Follow Omar on TikTok
• Follow Omar on Instagram 
• Follow Ties.com on Instagram
• Follow Ties.com on TikTok

@imdoctornahla always knew that she wanted to practice medicine, but the path that would get her to mental heath advocacy was not one that she would wish on anyone. After experiencing a traumatic relationship, Nahla spoke out about the experiences that she endured in order to help other women navigate their way through abuse.

Nahla’s fearless approach on taboo subjects landed her instant internet visibility — and you can catch her on TikTok and Instagram educating others as she completes her residency training in psychiatry.

Follow Nahla on Instagram

Follow Nahla on TikTok

Kashif Shaikh was an English major when he got into philanthropy on a whim, per the advice of his college counselor. When tides were shifting and the first Muslim Congressperson was elected to office in the United States, Kashif started ideating his own philanthropic fund that could serve the Muslim community. From there, alongside his co-founder and team, Pillars Fund was birthed. 

Pillars Fund amplifies the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims in the United States to advance opportunity and justice for all. They have distributed $6m in grants, and recently made waves with their work on elevating Muslim voices and representation in Hollywood alongside Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed.

Pillar Artist Fellowship applications are open!

• Follow Pillars Fund on Twitter
• Follow Pillars Fund on Instagram 
• Follow Kashif on Twitter
• Follow Kashif on Instagram

Follow me, your host @laylool, on IG

• Follow on Instagram
• Follow on Twitter
• Sign up at https://muzz.com/download/

In 2018, the International Olympic Committee recognized Dr. Seun Adigun as the first African to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. What isn’t immediately clear in the recognition is the Dr. Seun founded the Nigerian bobsled team, making her team Nigeria’s first-ever Winter Olympians. Nor does it represent that she learned the bobsled after an Olympic-level career in track and field. Today, Dr. Seun works professionally as a chiropractor and biomechanist with the mission of revolutionizing sports medicine. And her academic accomplishments are as impressive and rigorous as her athletic accolades. Listen to my chat with Dr. Seun on today’s episode!

Follow Dr. Seun on Instagram

Follow the Bobsled & Skeleton Sports Federation of Nigeria on Instagram

And keep up with me, your host @laylool, on IG. 

Growing up in Egypt, Dr. Rana el Kaliouby (@ranaelkaliouby) envisioned a life in academia. What the future would hold for Rana was on the cutting edge of research and innovation, though not quite academia. Rana moved from Egypt to the UK for her PhD, where she had the opportunity to connect with her academic idol Roz Picard who ran research at the MIT Media Lab. Rana co-founded (the recently acquired) Affectiva with Roz as a Media Lab spinout in 2009, and is now deputy CEO at Smart Eye. At Affectiva, Rana built a team and company that developed software that can detect and understand human emotion. Listen to Rana's amazing journey through the making of a company -- and as a single mom, no less. 

Read Rana's memoir, Girl Decoded

Plugs:

• Add Rana on LinkedIn
• Follow her on IG
• Follow her on Twitter

And follow me, your host, @layool on IG 

Donate to Rana's campaign 

Check out Rana's 

• Website
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Facebook

Follow me, the host, on Instagram @laylool

Check out Aadil’s work on his Instagram, and follow him there. Or find him on TikTok 

And as always, find me on IG @laylool and subscribe to the pod to hear about more cool folks.