“I seek out to channel the lessons I’ve learned from Khadija every day.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I love teaching. I’ve always loved teaching because of being able to help people go through breakthrough moments. It has been my passion from a very young age. Writing was always my coping mechanism. My parents were terminally ill since I was a kid, and I wrote poetry to cope with it.
So, I became an English teacher who also wrote copy on the side. Around 2 years ago, Bill 21 came into effect in Quebec, which prompted me to decide to start a business. I started writing copy full time. I realized I was actually developing most of their content strategy as well as doing their copy, and that is when I started studying it even more (I love studying) and ended up doing this full time. Within 3 months, I was able to make more than my 9-to-5 job and quit. Eventually, I started missing teaching. So now, I teach new entrepreneurs how to make a full-time income out of their business.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: My upbringing was centered around the fact that my mom had breast cancer and my dad had lymphoma. My mom died when I was 16 from her second cancer and my father from his third when I was 25, so 2 years ago now.
I’ve always loved writing and have always used that as a coping mechanism. In fact, I have a poetry collection coming out soon entitled, “Eulogy: Our Stories Put to Rest.”
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: That you can do anything you set your mind to! That you are literally the one that decides your faith. Focus on what you have control over and move forward collecting the tools (learn) you need for the outcome of your dreams.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Everything. When I was young, my father told me the story of Khadija RDA, a historical figure in Islamic heritage. She was a business owner and considered to be the mother of Islam. I was so fascinated by the fact that she had proposed to her husband, the Prophet in our tradition; she was one of the wealthiest individuals of her time and space and also one of the kindest. She was so ahead of her time! She would always put out a green cloth over her entry way so people would know to come to her if they needed help. I seek out to channel the lessons I’ve learned from Khadija every day.
I am a strong woman that has always taken care of herself. That is the backbone of my story. In fact, my life today on Facebook is about the 3 lessons I’ve learned from amazing women. And, I will be focusing on Audrey Hepburn, Khadija RDA (historical figure in Islamic heritage), and my mom.
Thank you for reading!
MORE ABOUT MARIAM: I drive my company and my everyday life on empathy. It is at the core of my philosophy and my business. I set goals to give back. In fact, I have a mastermind coming up next week. 100% of ticket sales is directly going to fund food baskets for families in need.
“There are going to be a lot of people who don’t like you, not because you’re a bad person, but because there is something you have that they want.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am super passionate about supporting women in business and being able to live a life full of ands. When we grow up, I think a lot of society teaches that we can’t have it all. I want to prove we can balance happiness, success, freedom, family, and money just fine with the right support and strategies! When it came to starting my marketing agency, Diedrich Marketing Strategies, I was passionate about be of service! I knew I wanted to make good money, but the impact I could make on women-owned businesses mattered more to me. This moral has tremendously changed the landscape of my business and also help me reach the goals I was wanting. Now that I get to support clients daily on their visibility, I wanted to start something completely new! Even though COVID-19 set us back a bit this year, we will be hosting a virtual and in-person retreat in Lake Tahoe from September 6th—9th. This retreat will be all about our amazing women-in-business speakers supporting other women in growing their multi 6-figure businesses! Currently, I just have a waitlist link for those who are wanting to buy tickets! And here it is; people need to confirm their subscription though through their email. Sign uphere.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: Growing up, I struggled with being bullied more so because I was never afraid to stick out. I loved being in school and knowing the answers. I worked hard to be accomplished in academics and graduated with my AAS the same time I graduated high school. I’ve always been probably too mature for my age, so being young never really interested me. Now, I wish I could go back and enjoy it a little more. My parents were a huge part of my life and helped me grow into a stable and successful woman, but they definitely dealt with some attitude along the way. I’ve never been someone to take opinions as facts, so I’ve always rubbed people the wrong way at times, and I still do. But owning a business does have its perks! Something I learned over the years, especially when I was younger, is that I didn’t need a lot of people in my life. I’m a firm believer in keeping your circle small and being around people who make you better. I always knew I wanted to go out and do big things when I was younger. But I believed that route would be from being a famous news anchor or actress/singer. Those dreams haven’t come true, but my business’ success is my most prized possession. To know I grew the business from my knowledge and no one’s monetary support is everything. It has helped me realize that no matter what, if we want something bad enough, we will go out and make it happen.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: There are going to be a lot of people who don’t like you, not because you’re a bad person, but because there is something you have that they want. Try not to take this personal. And trust me, it’s very hard to do. But once you realize a lot of the hate we receive in life usually has nothing to do with us, it helps you continue to grow and try to do better not just for yourself but to prove to others they can do it too. I’ve realized that good relationships are very hard to find, so when you do find them, hold onto them. For most of us, our natural instinct is to be selfish, so if you can find your path living to serve others and not just yourself, you’ll realize true happiness and the reason you were put on this earth!
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism, to me, means standing up for equity and sharing how women have every ability to create their dream lives alone, let alone create it with an amazing partner. I’m passionate about supporting as many women business owners as I possibly can and so, have created multiple FB groups for ladies to learn how to market! If you’re looking for support with marketing and Facebook ads for free, I’d love to have you join us here.
“We can truly change the circumstances in our life by shifting the way we think and feel about ourselves.“
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: My energy ignites when I am able to learn from my own hurts and setbacks, and share my own learnings and growth to empower others to do the same. The best feeling for me is when I am able to hold space for someone and see their own lightbulb moment click for them. Witnessing a client go from wanting to doing—by using their fears to propel them to do the scary thing they were once wishing to do—it’s so beautiful to see one’s confidence build right before your eyes. It took me 36 years to learn that my outcomes in life would not change unless I created the change that I wanted to see in my life. This is when I took my very first personal development course. This course was supposed to last a weekend. That weekend led me to moving out of my home in LA and moving to Chicago to live closer to my parents. I was doing all of this growth work on myself; I decided to step into my uncomfortable and go to school for social emotional intelligence in leadership and coaching. This work lead me to meeting my husband, having a baby, and moving to Iowa all in the same year! I am a transformational life coach and speaker who empowers women to “Go from Self Doubt to Self Love,” and I have been coach for over 5 years now. I am currently coaching 1:1 clients, teaching my 5 week course: Reboot Your Relationship with Yourself, and hosting my podcast titled “Real Talk with Ru: Going from Someday to Day One.” Available on all of the platforms.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up with a mother with schizophrenia, so unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to have a traditional mother/daughter relationship. As a child, I did not realize how traumatic this experience was. I pushed through life and looked for happiness through others. I was an East Indian American girl growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, trying to figure out her place in the world. Where she fit in. I “followed the yellow brick road” to see where it would take me. It took me to become a social butterfly. Being a queen of networking. Being active in softball, basketball, track, and tennis. My competitive spirit led me to becoming ranked third for tennis in the State of Nebraska landing me a tennis scholarship at an NAIA School. My “fearless” attitude took me to moving from Nebraska to NYC to land an internship with Donna Karan. From working in the fashion industry, I fell into working as a background extra in TV and films, which took me to LA and working at Universal Pictures. I was in NYC during 9/11, I traveled to Pakistan to film a documentary to show the beauty of the country. I was always searching for meaning in my life. Growing up with a mother with mental illness, it wasn’t until my late 30’s that I came to the realization that I was running away from a lot of childhood sadness. I was a “people-pleaser” who was afraid to really say what was on her mind out of fear that people wouldn’t like the real me. I thought that if I picked the most glamorous jobs, lived in the biggest cities, that I would find happiness. The busier I was, the more that I would do for others, I would not have to focus on the deep-rooted stuff. I would not have to focus on my sadness. What I found out was that no matter where I lived, if I did not tend to myself, this sadness would follow me wherever I would go. The way that I felt about myself. The way I felt about my work, money, my relationships. It would never feel like enough. I would never feel satisfied. The real work was getting to know myself. What I wanted and needed to live a meaningful and purposeful life.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: What I have learned and continue to learn is that I am constantly learning about myself everyday. That my life is endlessly evolving. All of that sadness, the pain, those lonely moments, those “no’s”, have empowered me to become the woman that I am today. There were so many moments that I didn’t understand why these “ouches” were happening to me.What I am learning is that these have all been detours to guide me to this very moment to serve others and share my learnings with others in the hopes that they, too, can overcome their blocks. Our past does not have to define who we are today. Our past story does not have to be our current story. We can truly change the circumstances in our life by shifting the way we think and feel about ourselves. The moment that I chose to get into the driver’s seat of my life, create boundaries, and learn that it is not my job to make everyone happy, my life continues to become richer and richer everyday. I shifted from being a victim of the circumstances in my life to continuing to step into my power each day; no matter how scary it may feel on some days. Showing up for yourself is the ultimate gift one can give themselves. Continuing to learn and grow, to be better than you were yesterday.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: To me, feminism means celebrating ALL of who you are. Owning your fears, your joys, your sadness, hurt, and anger. Celebrating ALL OF YOU! Showing up, speaking up, and continuing to share your gifts with the world. This is how change happens.
Q and A with Leah, From Duluth, Minnesota, Living in Cape Coral, Florida
“One thing that I’ve learned the hard way is to pursue your passion, not just the easiest path in front of you.“
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: In all areas of life, I’m truly passionate about helping people and can’t sit idly by when I know I can make a difference. When it comes to business, I work together with my husband, and we’ve found that we have a knack for digital marketing, and more specifically with creating, launching, selling, and scaling digital courses or coaching programs.
And what’s really cool is that by honing in on our genius, we’ve been able to enable amazing people, people with expertise and on a mission to help people; we help them to make a huge impact with their programs.
I truly count it a blessing to have clients and a network of amazing, powerful, and positive entrepreneurs all over the globe.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I had a bit of a rocky upbringing that drove me to push myself and strive to create a better life for my future family. While it pushed me to excel, it also drove me to the security of a stable job and my thought process was 180 degrees away from entrepreneurialism. It took several burnouts in the corporate world before I started to being open to the whole idea of business, and a lot of personal development before I could become a rockstar business woman, willing to take risks and be confident enough to step out of my comfort zone.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: One thing that I’ve learned the hard way is to pursue your passion, not just the easiest path in front of you. While I ended up where I am supposed to be, I took several detours along the way as I just accepted other opportunities that were the easiest to move forward with instead of crafting a business around my passion.
I strongly encourage women to start with their passion and look for how they can form a business around it, even if that means it’s going to take longer to get off the ground. The reality is that you should be creating something you truly love and can see yourself doing for years to come, something that drives you and is bigger than just earning money.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: While I may ruffle some feathers on this one, I consider myself a true feminist. I feel that in today’s society, feminism has become warped to either make women better than men or to make them into men, ignoring the amazing gifts of womanhood.
True feminism is about celebrating our femininity, that women are of equal worth but different than men and to celebrate that difference. I embrace and cherish the gifts of being a woman and know that I can use them to serve and impact the world, from motherhood to nurturing and serving others in business.
Q and A with Devin From NY, Living in Austin, Texas
“Discomfort is an important part of growth. When you are pushed to your edge, you learn how much farther you have the capacity to expand.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am an energy worker and an intuition development coach. I help people trust their inner knowing and heal on an energetic and spiritual level. In both my business and person life, I am passionate about empowerment, integrity, and love. My mission is to empower those I work with to look within and discover their unique magic. Maintaining integrity in the spiritual business world means teaching a non-fear based vision and understanding that the human world holds the construct of good and evil, whereas the spirit world holds only love. Lastly, healing requires us to love ourselves, because when we feel that we are worthy of love, our perspective and expectations of life change. When we start to love ourselves, we understand why healing is our right and that we deserve to be treated with respect by both ourselves and others.
By being empowered, practicing with integrity and through love, I am able to show up to my work fully present and ready to receive wisdom. It is through this openness that I am able to practice discernment and be guided towards the people and places I am in the most need of. I began using these principles on my own journey of healing and discovered how important it was to unapologetically love who you are, be empowered to lead your life, and make actions through integrity.
The projects I am currently working on are: developing 1:1 packages and creating a divine self summit with 5 other amazing women. The 1:1 packages are designed as an individualized approach to healing. By committing to either a 3- or 6-month container, you’re saying “yes” to yourself and your healing path. When you make this long-term investment, you’re empowering yourself to make choices that are in line with your integrity and choosing to heal through self-love and compassion. At the end of this journey, expect life changes that include a level up in standards, increased feelings of self-worth, shifts or confirmation on career trajectory, and a deeper, more connected understanding of yourself.
Additionally, I’m working with 5 other women to set up the Divine Self Summit that will run from June 21st-26th. The Divine Self Summit has been created with the intention of shining light onto who you truly are so you can align with your most authentic self and unleash your inner badass. As you gain clarity of your true purpose in this life, you’ll begin to build community and nourish a sense of belonging and true connections with your soul family. To find out more information and sign up for the summit, please visitthedivineselfsummit.com.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: My childhood was a bit different from most people in that I grew up on a farm in a small town as an only child and an empath. At a young age, I was taught to respect mother earth and be grateful for what she provides for us. This is a strong value that I’ve held with me over the years and is an important aspect of who I am and what I do today.
When I was younger, I had a deep yearning for the metaphysical world. I could tune in to the energies of plants and animals and had a longing to learn plant medicine as well as develop psychic abilities. I remember offering up to Spirit asking for this knowledge and for mentors who would teach me these skills. Little did I know, I was already practicing these abilities by communicating with nature and reading the energies of the people around me. It wasn’t until I started my spiritual development that I realized I’ve had these abilities my whole life. As I began my journey into the metaphysics, it felt like coming home rather than a new beginning.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is that everything I need resides within me. Although society has conditioned us to look for answers and healing outside of ourselves, everything we need is within. When we seek wisdom externally, this leaves us open for the involvement of ulterior motives and advice laced with the ego and fear of others. Even when someone has our best interest at heart, their suggestions will be given through their perspective and experiences. It is important to trust your own inner wisdom so that you may be empowered to live according to the path that is best for you and make choices that are for your highest good.
When you are able to not only put your faith in yourself, but trust the divinity you hold within, that is when you start living life on purpose. Learning to trust your gut, intuition, sixth sense, etc. is part of your rights as a human being. Living by this energy will keep you on the path of your soul’s purpose and bring you towards the people and places needed for development, growth, and success.
Additionally, it is important to understand that living through intuition and being spiritual is also about facing adversity and undesired experiences. Discomfort is an important part of growth. When you are pushed to your edge, you learn how much farther you have the capacity to expand.
As an important part of growth, discomfort lies in situations that both happen to you as well as looking at yourself and seeing the way in which your actions impacted someone else. Returning to the necessity of love mentioned above, when you look at your actions through the lens of compassion, you are able to heal without judgement. It is easier to understand that your actions, however misguided at the time, served their purpose to keep you safe. When you’ve learned from your mistakes, you’re then able to move forward with wisdom.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism to me is about accepting everyone’s right to be exactly who they are and live the life they choose. It’s about understanding that empowerment and freedom mean different things to different people and honoring the beauty in that. Feminism isn’t just one thing, it’s everything. It’s about being unapologetically you and giving everyone else the space to live the same way, without judgement.
Additionally, feminism is the understanding that each person has a different perspective and life experience and that what is true for one person may not be so for another. It’s about believing stories and lived experiences of adversity and using your voice to advocate for justice. Feminism is the intersection between all races, religions, and ethnicities. In order to move forward, it is important to support and celebrate one another on our unique journeys.
Thank you for reading!
I’d love to connect with you! 🙂
If you’d like to stay connected, the best places to reach me are through: Instagram: @spirituallybalanced My facebook group: The Spiritually Balanced Community for Empaths, Intuitives, and Soul Seekers Website:spirituallybalanced.com TikTok: @spirituallybalanced Clubhouse: @devingrindrod
MORE ABOUT DEVIN: I am a New York native and have called several places home over the last decade, right now I live in Austin, TX, with my husband and our plethora of cats.
The Woman Wednesday Blog 