[Music]
thank you very much for the introduction
hello everyone hello everyone that’s
great
how many future leaders and
entrepreneurs do we have in this room
today right
that’s brilliant and how many females
who want to be future entrepreneurs and
leaders I can’t see ok that’s fine and
how many of those female entrepreneurs
and leaders who also want to be moms and
have a family as well right so basically
today what I’m gonna be talking to you
about is that if I can do this you can
too right
and this is very very important and I
want all current entrepreneurs and
leaders male and female and especially
aspiring female entrepreneurs and
leaders to really take away this one
thing from my talk today everyone these
days is talking about the challenges
being faced by women LED startups and by
women in leadership positions we all
know the statistics of how low the
number is of female led startups
globally and the number of VC funded
female startups is even lower right but
I started thinking about why and I
started talking to a lot of women who
are now trying to lead who are trying to
be entrepreneurs and I’ve come here
today to tell you just one simple thing
if I can do this and I am doing it and
I’m very happy doing it then you can too
it’s really that simple and the way to
do it is actually just to change your
internal dialogue so instead of thinking
I might do this or I don’t know if I can
do this you have to say yes I can do
this and that’s how we must start
thinking if I can do this you can do
this
I did my degree from Karachi University
in English literature right no Ivy
League no MBA I got married in my early
20s and I have two kids
should I keep and I have two really
beautiful intelligent smart kids and I
love having my family but this is not
the profile of an entrepreneur I was
working in education but I didn’t know
how to run a business or start a
business I didn’t know anything about
EdTech especially and my startup is
related to EdTech right and living and
working in London to be honest I take
most of the wrong boxes so ethnicity
nationality religion gender I take the
wrong option on all the boxes right but
that didn’t stop me because I had to
keep telling myself I can do this and
make it happen
so if I can be happy and successful and
do this you really can
because you’re not different from me yes
there will be challenges there will be a
lot of challenges and it will be hard so
raising finance a lack of business
skills financial skills technical skills
a lot of pressure from social
expectations poor networks and a lack of
confidence these are generally the
challenges that are listed for women
entrepreneurs and leaders but when I
look at this list of challenges I don’t
actually see all these external
challenges I see only one internal
challenge and for me that just means
changing the narrative inside it’s about
me believing that I can do this I can do
this I can be married and have a career
I can have kids
and pursue and fulfill my dreams I can
aim high I can earn more and I can get
to the top I can compete with my male
counterparts yes I can and I can have a
family and a personal life and be happy
at the same time I can do this right so
I have to keep telling myself and the
trick is that you have to spot
when you find yourself making those
excuses in your mind and you just flip
the narrative you change it so for
example in the journey of the last 18
months I’ve actually closed down my
company twice okay and the first time I
actually closed it down and it was only
four months into the journey and the
situation was that both my kids had
chickenpox
it was Ramadan in London which means I
was fasting 19.5 hours every day for a
month
I was already helping my husband run his
business
I had in-laws I was trying to deal with
the social life stuff at school stuff at
home run the house I was trying to do
everything and I just got overwhelmed
and I told myself you know what this is
crazy I can’t do this
this is actually impossible right and I
told myself this and I believed it and I
closed it ELN was gone gone two months
nothing but then something kept nagging
at me because I kept thinking why can’t
I do this there are so many successful
women out there and they are doing this
right so why can’t I and it kept bugging
me bugging bugging me and after two
months I started again I sat down I made
plans I planned my timings childcare
budgets my schedules when am I gonna
work how am I gonna handle meetings I
worked out everything and two months
later I was ready I was organized and I
worked hard I cannot tell you how hard
I’ve worked how long I haven’t slept
more than three or four hours per night
but the thing is I can do this I am
doing this and it means you can do this
too I think a lot of the times it’s
actually a lack of confidence I speak to
so many brilliant amazing women with so
many ideas but it’s a lack of confidence
that they have they don’t believe that
they can actually make it happen and
also they believe they don’t have time
but I think if we change that one belief
inside us that I can do this you will
find the time to do it you will find
ways to get things done it’s all about
saying if I can if I can do this then
you
can do it too and then keep pushing
yourself so an example of this would be
that you know everyone’s talking about
how entrepreneurs need to be able to
network right make connections with the
right people pitch your company and all
of that
I hate networking I absolutely hate it
I’m actually an introvert and I would
much rather spend the day with my family
reading a book then actually go out and
keep pitching my company to random
strangers right that’s not my idea of
fun at all but I made myself do it I
said I can do this so many people do
this all the time I can do this too and
I kept pushing myself I’d go to these
meetings and conferences and say okay I
brought this many business cards and
today they’re gonna get handed out I
used to give myself a target I’m gonna
shake hands with this many people I’m
gonna introduce my company to these many
people and I did it and I pushed myself
to do it and until it became a habit
until it started to come naturally to
the extent that a few days ago I took my
kids to school here for their admission
and I ended up speaking to the principal
of my company so it turned into a
conversation and a pitch about my
company right but so what so I don’t
know when I’m gonna meet the next person
who’s going to be my next investor or my
big client or introduce me to the next
investor or a big client right so that’s
why it became a habit it comes naturally
and if I can do this you definitely can
the biggest difficulty I would say one
of the biggest difficulties I faced was
actually when I started my business I
didn’t really know much about EdTech
well actually I didn’t really know much
about tech or marketing or finance or
design or anything else really
and I had no money right so what did I
do
so initially for the first few months I
learned I practiced I read I used to
stay up all night long doing night long
doing courses online asking people
colleagues friends previous employers
anybody who would listen who would
answer my phone call I was asking them
for help and I would just learn
practicing for the first few months
that’s all I was doing and I did I
learned design I learned marketing I
learned how to make financial cash flows
I learned about a/b testing what is SEO
what is API I had no idea and now I’m
doing all these things right so if I can
do this
so can you the first logo I designed was
myself using a free software online
right and that was good I did it and I
liked it right but I did it the point is
that I did it and now I understand these
things I understand marketing and SEO
strategies I do a/b testing I prepare
financial cash flows and I speak to
investors and you know I talk about
projections and do all these things but
this didn’t happen overnight I spent the
first few months working really hard and
making up for what I didn’t know
realizing what I didn’t know and I had
to keep pushing myself every time it was
2:00 a.m. and I just wanted to go to bed
but I knew there was this one more thing
I had to do I used to tell myself I can
do this and I will do this so I mean
related to design in the beginning all
the brochures for my company I designed
them myself because I couldn’t afford to
hire a designer and I showed a friend of
mine and he literally laughed and said
oh did your five-year-old just mess
around with the computer and drop these
things so we laughed about it right and
I said okay fine but I kept learning
I kept showing those designs to people
learning what do I change where do I put
this how do I do this you know different
elements in the design on all of that
and I did get good and I’m not just
saying that okay so a few days ago I did
hire a professional designer and they
were going through some of the older
graphics I made and they said hey that’s
really cool who made that for you and I
said hey that was me I made it right so
the thing is you can learn and if I can
learn how to design you can do you
really can trust me okay so I mean the
funny thing is that how people are the
funniest thing actually is how people
react when I walk into the room so my
staff gets a meeting I go to meet a
client and I walk into the room and
literally people just do this like it’s
a physical reaction so you’re the
director yes
the director right but who’s who’s to
see oh that’s me
right but oh so who founded the company
that’s really and if they know that I’m
married then they say all right so but
basically this is your husband’s thing
right side no it’s mine right so one guy
actually was waiting in his office and
he walked in and he just did this he
literally did this and I said oh sorry
I’m reacting I usually expect
gray-haired old men at this level like
that didn’t really make it any better
so I do find that I have to justify my
credibility I have to justify the worth
of my company and what we’ve set out to
do more than perhaps if my husband went
to that meeting room instead of me and I
could have asked my husband to do it but
I said no because I can do this because
it’s my company as my vision right and
if I can do this if I can go out and
convince all these people that I can do
this and I am doing this and deliver
something worthwhile every time I do
that every time I convince one person I
make that little bit of a difference for
all the other women entrepreneurs and
leaders all over the world right so can
you imagine if I am doing this tiny tiny
little bits if we could all stand up for
our ambitions and our passions and just
say I can do this and go out and do it
that would change the external dialogue
that would change the external narrative
but where is that change going to come
from that change is gonna come from
within saying I can do this so you
definitely can too but I have to say
that the most difficult for me the most
difficult thing for me was dealing with
the social expectations the pressure
which leads to a lack of confidence in
myself it is really really difficult I
mean there’s no denying it it’s for me
was the most difficult thing I have an
amazing husband and I have an amazing
mom and they support me unwaveringly
right but people will get you down
they will make life so difficult I had
convinced myself
that I am a bad mom I convinced myself I
am a bad wife or a bad daughter right
I’m not doing right by these people
maybe I’m doing something wrong
by running a business and I convinced
myself of that because of what people
said and to deal with that I mean
there’s two things firstly yeah filter
out those people okay you will find out
who are your true friends and well
wishers when you start this journey but
the thing is that once you’ve done that
it really has to come from within it
doesn’t matter who’s supporting you or
what they’re saying if you keep telling
yourself I can do this I can be a good
mom and I can be an entrepreneur and I
can make a profit on this business right
I can make the next big sale then you
will end up doing and I will end up
happening so I mean I look at all these
I’ve heard that people say that there is
a lack of women entrepreneurs or lack of
role models for women but seriously when
you start out the journey let’s not even
think about the big names right in my
journey in the last three months four
months in Pakistan I have met the most
amazing and inspiring women and they’re
all around us you don’t have to go far
right the inspiration is there the role
models are there and there are people
out there working all you have to do is
actually say yes I can go out and you
will find them okay so we all have
dreams but sometimes we just need to
believe that we can make those dreams
happen and after listening to my story I
mean really there will be ups and downs
it will be really really difficult and
you will have to work really hard your
final exams don’t even come near it okay
so if you think you know what hard is
it’s not hard okay so it is gonna get
really hard but always when it gets
really tough just think of me today on
the stage and just think if I can do it
you can do it thank you
you
thank you very much for the introduction
hello everyone hello everyone that’s
great
how many future leaders and
entrepreneurs do we have in this room
today right
that’s brilliant and how many females
who want to be future entrepreneurs and
leaders I can’t see ok that’s fine and
how many of those female entrepreneurs
and leaders who also want to be moms and
have a family as well right so basically
today what I’m gonna be talking to you
about is that if I can do this you can
too right
and this is very very important and I
want all current entrepreneurs and
leaders male and female and especially
aspiring female entrepreneurs and
leaders to really take away this one
thing from my talk today everyone these
days is talking about the challenges
being faced by women LED startups and by
women in leadership positions we all
know the statistics of how low the
number is of female led startups
globally and the number of VC funded
female startups is even lower right but
I started thinking about why and I
started talking to a lot of women who
are now trying to lead who are trying to
be entrepreneurs and I’ve come here
today to tell you just one simple thing
if I can do this and I am doing it and
I’m very happy doing it then you can too
it’s really that simple and the way to
do it is actually just to change your
internal dialogue so instead of thinking
I might do this or I don’t know if I can
do this you have to say yes I can do
this and that’s how we must start
thinking if I can do this you can do
this
I did my degree from Karachi University
in English literature right no Ivy
League no MBA I got married in my early
20s and I have two kids
should I keep and I have two really
beautiful intelligent smart kids and I
love having my family but this is not
the profile of an entrepreneur I was
working in education but I didn’t know
how to run a business or start a
business I didn’t know anything about
EdTech especially and my startup is
related to EdTech right and living and
working in London to be honest I take
most of the wrong boxes so ethnicity
nationality religion gender I take the
wrong option on all the boxes right but
that didn’t stop me because I had to
keep telling myself I can do this and
make it happen
so if I can be happy and successful and
do this you really can
because you’re not different from me yes
there will be challenges there will be a
lot of challenges and it will be hard so
raising finance a lack of business
skills financial skills technical skills
a lot of pressure from social
expectations poor networks and a lack of
confidence these are generally the
challenges that are listed for women
entrepreneurs and leaders but when I
look at this list of challenges I don’t
actually see all these external
challenges I see only one internal
challenge and for me that just means
changing the narrative inside it’s about
me believing that I can do this I can do
this I can be married and have a career
I can have kids
and pursue and fulfill my dreams I can
aim high I can earn more and I can get
to the top I can compete with my male
counterparts yes I can and I can have a
family and a personal life and be happy
at the same time I can do this right so
I have to keep telling myself and the
trick is that you have to spot
when you find yourself making those
excuses in your mind and you just flip
the narrative you change it so for
example in the journey of the last 18
months I’ve actually closed down my
company twice okay and the first time I
actually closed it down and it was only
four months into the journey and the
situation was that both my kids had
chickenpox
it was Ramadan in London which means I
was fasting 19.5 hours every day for a
month
I was already helping my husband run his
business
I had in-laws I was trying to deal with
the social life stuff at school stuff at
home run the house I was trying to do
everything and I just got overwhelmed
and I told myself you know what this is
crazy I can’t do this
this is actually impossible right and I
told myself this and I believed it and I
closed it ELN was gone gone two months
nothing but then something kept nagging
at me because I kept thinking why can’t
I do this there are so many successful
women out there and they are doing this
right so why can’t I and it kept bugging
me bugging bugging me and after two
months I started again I sat down I made
plans I planned my timings childcare
budgets my schedules when am I gonna
work how am I gonna handle meetings I
worked out everything and two months
later I was ready I was organized and I
worked hard I cannot tell you how hard
I’ve worked how long I haven’t slept
more than three or four hours per night
but the thing is I can do this I am
doing this and it means you can do this
too I think a lot of the times it’s
actually a lack of confidence I speak to
so many brilliant amazing women with so
many ideas but it’s a lack of confidence
that they have they don’t believe that
they can actually make it happen and
also they believe they don’t have time
but I think if we change that one belief
inside us that I can do this you will
find the time to do it you will find
ways to get things done it’s all about
saying if I can if I can do this then
you
can do it too and then keep pushing
yourself so an example of this would be
that you know everyone’s talking about
how entrepreneurs need to be able to
network right make connections with the
right people pitch your company and all
of that
I hate networking I absolutely hate it
I’m actually an introvert and I would
much rather spend the day with my family
reading a book then actually go out and
keep pitching my company to random
strangers right that’s not my idea of
fun at all but I made myself do it I
said I can do this so many people do
this all the time I can do this too and
I kept pushing myself I’d go to these
meetings and conferences and say okay I
brought this many business cards and
today they’re gonna get handed out I
used to give myself a target I’m gonna
shake hands with this many people I’m
gonna introduce my company to these many
people and I did it and I pushed myself
to do it and until it became a habit
until it started to come naturally to
the extent that a few days ago I took my
kids to school here for their admission
and I ended up speaking to the principal
of my company so it turned into a
conversation and a pitch about my
company right but so what so I don’t
know when I’m gonna meet the next person
who’s going to be my next investor or my
big client or introduce me to the next
investor or a big client right so that’s
why it became a habit it comes naturally
and if I can do this you definitely can
the biggest difficulty I would say one
of the biggest difficulties I faced was
actually when I started my business I
didn’t really know much about EdTech
well actually I didn’t really know much
about tech or marketing or finance or
design or anything else really
and I had no money right so what did I
do
so initially for the first few months I
learned I practiced I read I used to
stay up all night long doing night long
doing courses online asking people
colleagues friends previous employers
anybody who would listen who would
answer my phone call I was asking them
for help and I would just learn
practicing for the first few months
that’s all I was doing and I did I
learned design I learned marketing I
learned how to make financial cash flows
I learned about a/b testing what is SEO
what is API I had no idea and now I’m
doing all these things right so if I can
do this
so can you the first logo I designed was
myself using a free software online
right and that was good I did it and I
liked it right but I did it the point is
that I did it and now I understand these
things I understand marketing and SEO
strategies I do a/b testing I prepare
financial cash flows and I speak to
investors and you know I talk about
projections and do all these things but
this didn’t happen overnight I spent the
first few months working really hard and
making up for what I didn’t know
realizing what I didn’t know and I had
to keep pushing myself every time it was
2:00 a.m. and I just wanted to go to bed
but I knew there was this one more thing
I had to do I used to tell myself I can
do this and I will do this so I mean
related to design in the beginning all
the brochures for my company I designed
them myself because I couldn’t afford to
hire a designer and I showed a friend of
mine and he literally laughed and said
oh did your five-year-old just mess
around with the computer and drop these
things so we laughed about it right and
I said okay fine but I kept learning
I kept showing those designs to people
learning what do I change where do I put
this how do I do this you know different
elements in the design on all of that
and I did get good and I’m not just
saying that okay so a few days ago I did
hire a professional designer and they
were going through some of the older
graphics I made and they said hey that’s
really cool who made that for you and I
said hey that was me I made it right so
the thing is you can learn and if I can
learn how to design you can do you
really can trust me okay so I mean the
funny thing is that how people are the
funniest thing actually is how people
react when I walk into the room so my
staff gets a meeting I go to meet a
client and I walk into the room and
literally people just do this like it’s
a physical reaction so you’re the
director yes
the director right but who’s who’s to
see oh that’s me
right but oh so who founded the company
that’s really and if they know that I’m
married then they say all right so but
basically this is your husband’s thing
right side no it’s mine right so one guy
actually was waiting in his office and
he walked in and he just did this he
literally did this and I said oh sorry
I’m reacting I usually expect
gray-haired old men at this level like
that didn’t really make it any better
so I do find that I have to justify my
credibility I have to justify the worth
of my company and what we’ve set out to
do more than perhaps if my husband went
to that meeting room instead of me and I
could have asked my husband to do it but
I said no because I can do this because
it’s my company as my vision right and
if I can do this if I can go out and
convince all these people that I can do
this and I am doing this and deliver
something worthwhile every time I do
that every time I convince one person I
make that little bit of a difference for
all the other women entrepreneurs and
leaders all over the world right so can
you imagine if I am doing this tiny tiny
little bits if we could all stand up for
our ambitions and our passions and just
say I can do this and go out and do it
that would change the external dialogue
that would change the external narrative
but where is that change going to come
from that change is gonna come from
within saying I can do this so you
definitely can too but I have to say
that the most difficult for me the most
difficult thing for me was dealing with
the social expectations the pressure
which leads to a lack of confidence in
myself it is really really difficult I
mean there’s no denying it it’s for me
was the most difficult thing I have an
amazing husband and I have an amazing
mom and they support me unwaveringly
right but people will get you down
they will make life so difficult I had
convinced myself
that I am a bad mom I convinced myself I
am a bad wife or a bad daughter right
I’m not doing right by these people
maybe I’m doing something wrong
by running a business and I convinced
myself of that because of what people
said and to deal with that I mean
there’s two things firstly yeah filter
out those people okay you will find out
who are your true friends and well
wishers when you start this journey but
the thing is that once you’ve done that
it really has to come from within it
doesn’t matter who’s supporting you or
what they’re saying if you keep telling
yourself I can do this I can be a good
mom and I can be an entrepreneur and I
can make a profit on this business right
I can make the next big sale then you
will end up doing and I will end up
happening so I mean I look at all these
I’ve heard that people say that there is
a lack of women entrepreneurs or lack of
role models for women but seriously when
you start out the journey let’s not even
think about the big names right in my
journey in the last three months four
months in Pakistan I have met the most
amazing and inspiring women and they’re
all around us you don’t have to go far
right the inspiration is there the role
models are there and there are people
out there working all you have to do is
actually say yes I can go out and you
will find them okay so we all have
dreams but sometimes we just need to
believe that we can make those dreams
happen and after listening to my story I
mean really there will be ups and downs
it will be really really difficult and
you will have to work really hard your
final exams don’t even come near it okay
so if you think you know what hard is
it’s not hard okay so it is gonna get
really hard but always when it gets
really tough just think of me today on
the stage and just think if I can do it
you can do it thank you
you
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