Her Story
About Saniya
I'm a women empowerment coach who has been in this field for close to 3 years. As an immigrant myself, I understand the unique challenges that women face when they move to a new country. When I moved to the US 11 years ago, I was completely lost and couldn't find anyone who could help me with my struggles. That personal experience became my passion and the driving force behind my work. I focus specifically on immigrant women who have left their countries and are facing challenges like not having work permits, financial dependence on their spouses, abuse, self-doubt, and loss of confidence. Many of these women have been staying home for so many years that they've lost themselves and don't even know how to handle basic appointments with doctors or schools for their children. My job is to help women feel more empowered and go from just surviving to thriving in their lives. I was originally a Montessori-trained teacher back in India and have a Master's degree in child psychology. I realized through my work with children that if the mom is happy, the child is happy. I'm currently getting my certification in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to better equip myself to help women in need. Right now, I'm taking things slow because I have a 15-month-old toddler, but in the next 5 years, I see myself as a full-fledged life coach helping at least 10 women per month achieve their goals.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Saniya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a life-changing event that happened about 3 years ago when I attended an online course. The person who created this course, Muhammad Al-Sharif, passed away 2-3 years back, but he came up with this concept called Visionaire where he helps you visualize your prayers and dreams and bring them to reality. During that course, I met a lot of women who were into life coaching, and I found it to be a very noble profession. I actually made a vision board with me being a life coach and prayed a lot for that position, and within a year, I started achieving all of those things. He had this beautiful saying that I really like to go by: 'You write your destiny with the pen of prayer.' That saying and that course led me to trying to change so many women's lives and helping them achieve their goals and dreams. It was a lot of trial and error over the 11 years since I moved here, working through teaching and realizing that if the mom is happy, the child is happy, but that one course was truly the turning point.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received came from Muhammad Al-Sharif, who created the Visionaire course that changed my life. He said, 'You write your destiny with the pen of prayer.' That saying has become something I really like to go by, and it's what led me to trying to change so many women's lives and helping them achieve their goals and dreams. It taught me that through prayer and visualization, you can bring your dreams to reality, which is exactly what happened for me when I made a vision board of myself as a life coach and within a year started achieving all of those things.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
First of all, start believing in yourself. And first, find out what it is you want in life, because a lot of the times we don't know what we want in life. We just have vague ideas, like, you know, I want to be successful, I want to be rich, so be more specific about what exactly you want in your life. And stop coming in the way of your own self. We have these limiting beliefs, these invisible boundaries that we've created for ourselves, so stop coming in the way of yourself. If you do that, you have an amazing life ahead of you.
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