Q and A with Dr. Naieema, Charlotte, North Carolina
“Homelessness was one of the most impactful experiences of my life.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A:I’m passionate about female empowerment, my family, and travel. My inspiration comes from seeing different parts of the world, my family, and wanting to teach my daughters that they can do anything that they put their minds to. My favorite trip was to Jamaica, right before the pandemic hit. I recently finished my PhD and am currently using research-based methods to improve The Determined FemPreneur™, my sales and business strategy program for service-based female entrepreneurs.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I was born and raised in New York City and grew up with three siblings. There was a period where my mother, my older sister, and I were homeless. We lived on the cold, dirty NYC subway; followed by a slew of homeless shelters. That was until we landed in Ravenswood Public Housing Development in Long Island City, Queens, NYC. Homelessness was one of the most impactful experiences of my life. I watched my mother work really hard, but she didn’t have much to show for it. I now use this fuel and those lessons to teach women how to earn more, work less, and make an even bigger impact.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: I want others to know that it’s okay to normalize rest and luxury. As women, we often start our businesses wanting to make an impact. All while sacrificing time with our families, our sleep, and our mental and physical health. It’s OK to build a business where you’re not overworking yourself and that equally serves you and your clients/customers.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism means equality, but it can’t exist if racism exists because there are women who are of marginalized communities.
A: My interests are sailing, writing, and drawing. I get my inspiration from my two beautiful children, Bridgette and Nicholas, who encourage me to follow my dream and passion to become a famous author. My inspiration also comes from the ocean and sea creatures in the wild. It also comes with being at one with nature and the sea, when I go sailing all my cares and worries go away. I’m currently working on a [story about a] walrus called Wally who is supposed to live in Antarctica. He somehow has managed to hitch a ride on an iceberg 2,500 miles away causing havoc along the way.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: My younger years were lived in the south island of New Zealand in Picton. My father was a boat builder and chief editor at the local newspaper. As a child, our family would go sailing in the Marlborough sounds every weekend. This was where my passion for the sea started.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: If you can dream it, you can do it. Follow your passion, never give up. Follow your dreams and your heart, and listen to your gut.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism to me is equality in both sexes—social, economic, and political.
“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.
“I’ve always had a “plan B,” but there are so many others who weren’t prepared for their lives to change in such a way [during the pandemic].”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: One of my biggest passions in life is helping others. I’m a licensed financial advisor. I love what I do simply because I’m able to educate my potential clients on ways to create generational wealth for themselves and their families.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up in a very close-knit family. Education and religion were two things that were at the top list of importance. I’m grateful for all the lessons learned because it helped me to become a better person and who I am today.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: 2020 was a huge wake-up call for me, and I’m sure for a lot more families as well. I was laid off from my job of 15 years. Luckily for me, I’ve always had a “plan B,” but there are so many others who weren’t prepared for their lives to change in such a way. My advice would be to never solely depend on one stream of income. Keep multiple streams coming in in order to keep your family afloat.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Being a woman, I think, is about being strong. It’s about continuing to move forward in all of life’s endeavors. I definitely have to keep a positive mindset and stay 100% committed to making all my life dreams a reality. I have two daughters that look up to me, and I want them to grow up stronger and better than I am. I love to see my ladies succeed! There was once a time when women were told we couldn’t do certain jobs or we couldn’t make a certain amount of money, but look at us now! Kudos Ladies! Let’s keep it up! God Bless.
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“When I did say ‘yes’ to trying something new and get out of my comfort zone, I almost always had a blast and was so proud that I accomplished something new.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I’m passionate about many things such as business, health, family, God, and helping people thrive by bringing them up and helping them see their potential that they have lost seeing. I currently am a project control analyst at Ball Aerospace, and I love my job so much. I get to work for an amazing company that provides crucial ideas, objects, and units that help keep our country safe from the ground up. As a young woman, starting my career at a place like Ball is empowering. I feel respected, I feel valued for all my opinions, I’m learning so many new things every day, and I get to use my passion for helping those around me by leading team meetings that remind everyone that even though we are working from home, we are a team and we are here for each other. I get to facilitate Q&A’s that the team have and haven’t voiced since working remotely has made people lose their voice that much more. By leading these team meetings, I help rebuild and restore our strength as a team, I get to build people back up and give them a place to vent all their worries, questions, and concerns, while also allowing them to have a place to speak their mind and say what’s working best for them and what they want to see happen in the future. From these meetings, management gets to hear from us all and everyone’s ideas, concerns, and voices all get heard and people couldn’t be happier, which makes me so happy. I thrive knowing I’m helping others to thrive and feel confident too!
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: My younger years were amazing; I couldn’t of asked for a better childhood. I grew up in Boulder, Colorado, in a great area and apartment complex where all us kids would constantly play outside together, explore what nature had to offer, and we all felt safe even though there wasn’t always a parent watching over us all. I’m the youngest of two; I have an older brother and having him made me feel as though I got interested in what men liked too like sports, video games, and wrestling around with one another. I am very girly, but because of him, I also am a girl that doesn’t mind getting her knees dirty, playing videos games with my boyfriend, and watching sports. My mom was a stay at home mom when we both were very young. She cooked and cleaned the house daily, she took naps with us, and really just made the house so warm and loving. My dad owned a restaurant at the local mall that was down the street from our house and, because of that, we went to the mall often for the free food and the really fun arcade place they had there. Having the freedom to be around so many kids in my community and then being able to run around the mall knowing everyone knew my brother and I (that we were my dad’s kids), they all would watch over us and we always felt so safe and a huge sense of community.
There is truly nothing better than being exposed to a diverse group of people at such young ages. It helped us understand other cultures. I grew up as both Christian and Catholic. God has always been at the forefront of my life. I have a big heart, and growing up with my dad owning a restaurant, whenever other kids from my school or neighborhood were hungry, my brother and I would take them to eat at my dad’s restaurant and my dad was always more than happy to feed anyone for free that needed the help. I learned how to give and help others in their time of need at a young age. My dad was always helping anyone out that truly needed it. God has always placed me where I needed to be in order to help the people He needed me to help and in order to thrive in areas He needed me to thrive in. Being able to help people and to motivate them and spread positivity in this world has always brought me so much pleasure, and I know that that comes from my religion and love for God and the love He has placed in me and the compassion and love He gave me for other people.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Something valuable I’ve learned that I want others to know is that life is too short. As we’ve all heard this many times in our life, it’s true. I blew off group gatherings before because I was tired or wasn’t in the mood that night. I’ve wasted some opportunities to go out and try new things because I was nervous to do so or too scared, and I’ve said no to potential job opportunities because I wasn’t sure if it was for me. We’ve all done things like that, and what I’ve learned was when I did say ‘yes’ and push through to go out with friends even though I was so tired, I almost always ended up having such a great time. When I did say ‘yes’ to trying something new and get out of my comfort zone, I almost always had a blast and was so proud that I accomplished something new. And when I did allow a random job opportunity to come into my life, it didn’t always work out, but sometimes, even if I left with just meeting inspiring and wonderful people, that was worth it to me. Life is too short to be unhappy, to over stress, to worry and be anxious. We don’t truly take advantage of every day, every minute, and every waking breath we are given by God. We need to let go of the nonsense, worry and stress less, get rid of toxic people and habits in our lives, and learn to take advantage of our everyday gifts of life. Meet new people, try new things, say ‘yes’ to the chances you do have to hang with the people you love, put yourself out there every once and a while, and don’t waste your life. You never want to look back and say, “I wish I did that, I wish I said yes, I wish I could hang with that person just one more time, etc.” You want to know that you lived a good life, made your mistakes, but came back stronger every time and really love that life you are living with the right people in your life and the right career. Life is too short, be happy, love hard, giggle as loud as you want, and eat that piece of cake!
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism means a few things to me. It means equal pay and equal rights amongst men and women, but it’s also more than that. When females come together and build each other up instead of tear each other down, I love that. I love seeing women who feel weak be empowered by other women, have their crown readjusted and put back together by other women helping them and rebuilding them to be the strong, confident queens. I hate seeing women tear each other apart through their own insecurities. When we come together, help each other out, build each other’s confidences back up, and stay strong together, we are one heck of a tight force that no one can then mess with. Empowering each other, inspiring and motivating one another, and pushing each other further than our comfort zone makes my heart full and that to me is what feminism should be all about.
Q: Is there anything else you want to tell readers?
A: I want to thank Samantha for reaching out to me and giving me this opportunity to be a part of this wonderful website. When she did that, it reiterated how I love when people are so kind to one an another and when you can inspire people you don’t even know is watching. I love inspiring people for the positive and knowing I somehow did that to her by posting my usual posts, that felt amazing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this!
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