Meet Areeba Ahmed

We were lucky to catch up with Areeba Ahmed recently and have shared our conversation below.

Areeba, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
If I recall, I didn’t have that moment where I snapped my fingers and my personality changed completely. From elementary to high school, I was an introvert. And I mean, “the kind of girl doing her work in the corner of the classroom with only a few friends” type introvert. I was a people-pleaser, only focused on my studies and had no public-speaking skills. I used to hangout with the same two friends at lunch, and always said no to social gatherings. There was only one reason behind my personality: the change. The change I faced when moving across the ocean, the change I felt when people treated me as a South Asian “newcomer”, the change that led loneliness to spawn over me while being distant from family and friends. Five years elapsed, but my progress was insignificant.

I graduated high school with Tammy Chen Memorial Award Scholarship, Honour Roll with Distinction and an IB Diploma but academic validation didn’t give me the fulfillment I chased for years. I decided to be “comfortable with being uncomfortable”. Yeah, yeah it is a cheesy quote I stole from the internet but in all seriousness, that is my reality. I took public-speaking as an elective even though I knew it was going to be a nightmare for me in CEGEP. But to be honest, I wouldn’t trade those 4-months of my life in this class for anything. I did six speeches, and even got the “Speech of the Day” title for the speech where I talked about this same topic. I had the stupidest improv speech which still haunts me till this day, but hey, I still did it. I joined Model UN while knowing nothing about it except the fancy cool blazers and some overhyped conferences. My experience in MUN made me grow so much, as a person and a speaker. I met the most ambitious people here, made the most amazing friends and took on the role of an executive member. I went to tons of conferences including Harvard National MUN and had the most memorable experience of my college years. These tiny steps I took are just a few examples. I slowly realized I was the only one putting myself down. The imposter syndrome was real and prevented me from expressing my leadership and social skills.

It might sound cliché but social media only benefited me in my journey to being the confident individual that I am today. I started off by making videos of me talking in front of camera, then, people started recognizing me at my workplace, college and in my community. To avoid awkward interactions, I had to fake my confidence and take on the persona that I have been putting on social media. Slowly but surely, I was getting there. I expanded my niche from fashion to lifestyle content where I was putting my true self out there. Still the nerdy STEM girl, but much improved. Someone who knew what she wanted and went all out to achieve it. People responded well to that as well and started asking me for advices.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
At the moment, I have business services in user-generated content (UGC) and social media. I have worked with over sixty brands including skincare, haircare, jewellery, clothes and I was also given the opportunity of a photoshoot with a local studio. I do paid and gifted collaborations where brands send me products and I review them on my social platforms. I also create fashion & lifestyle content on Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube which allows me to expand my audience. I started off with expressing my passion for clothes and fashion designing, which slowly turned into lifestyle content where I share content about medicine and my south asian culture.

This year has blessed me with endless opportunities. This was the first year I got invitations to influencer events including Mejuri’s store launch in Montreal and Harry Potter Yule Ball Celebration. I am fortunate for the people who support me with this because I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this without them. Oftentimes, creators get demotivated as navigating through the algorithms of social platforms can be quite tricky leading to low engagement on the content they spend hours on! Trust me, even after a year, it still happens with me! Nonetheless, I am aware that each day is a new opportunity for me. I can wake up and have my dream brand’s email in my inbox or I can post and have people spamming me with questions about my clothes and showing me endless love. The performance of your business is equivalent to the amount of time and dedication you put into it but it gets tricky with something involving AI and everyday trends. I will be creating content no matter what because it brings me joy. I can be creative with every post I create and it allows me to learn from my mistakes.

In the upcoming months, I have a surprise planned for all my viewers. I don’t want to disclose it before I see it’s final outcome but this thing is the most honest thing to myself. It required months of work and I know the 15-year-old me would be so proud right now.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Persistence is something that you have to learn the hard way. You will fall down a bunch of time, but every time you get up, you realize your strength. It happened with me too and will continue to happens but at the end of the day, I know it is part of my character development. A bad grade, a fight with your old friend, an unaccomplished goal…each event made me grow. In this growth journey, I realized getting up every time has made me take one step forward than where I was yesterday. A bad grade in 2019 made me get the highest average award, a fight with a friend made me remove the toxicity from my life, and the unaccomplished goal made me realize a bigger dream awaits me. Persistence is what I needed in my educational career and social media business and I know it will help take my next further step.

Honesty. Not just towards others but to yourself. Changing yourself is the easiest thing you can do but staying true to yourself is what gives the best outcomes. During my five years of high school, I realized I was constantly hiding myself from others in order to blend in. Yeah, yeah, the typical story of any South Asian in a western world but that is a reality. In fact, a sad one. Other POC I interacted with were/are doing the same and perhaps that is what influenced me. Blending in the crowd was not worth hiding my culture, my values and my preferences. People who truly valued me knew all I had to offer and are still by my side till this day,

While this is not a quality, I think this quote can be the greatest tool in someone’s path to improvement: “Be comfortable with being uncomfortable”. I tried that and trust me, it did wonders. In college, I took a public speaking class knowing it will make me so anxious. People who have known me since high school, they know I was the shy and introvert girl with a small group of friends and always in textbooks. I knew being an introvert kept some cool opportunities away from me. So, I knew this class will be a pain in the butt but I needed it. My friend made a video of one of my speeches that got me the “Speech of the day” title and when I saw it, I was smiling. I had a little “I made it” moment. To make myself more uncomfortable, I literally joined a Model UN club that was all about debating and public-speaking and that year was one of my core memories from college.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
I think this is the first interview where I will be talking about these two precious souls in my life. While answering this, I want to give you a perspective. A perspective of two hardworking individuals who were incredibly satisfied with their lives in Pakistan but took the decision to move to Canada for the betterment of their children. Now, Pakistan is a country that gave them all the luxuries of the world. This is the country where most of our families reside and a place where my parents can happily practice their professions. Imagine, moving to a country where you have no relatives, limitations on professions due to the French language barrier (in Montreal) and just a tiring lifestyle. It wasn’t easy for them, yet, they did it.

My mom is a physiotherapist while my dad is a civil engineer (yep, a typical brown family of STEM nerds). My mom studied a LOT, like she was always giving some sort of exams after I was born including her Masters and PhD. My dad on the other hand, has always been multitasking between real estate, civil engineering and fulfilling the role of Deputy CEO of a Medical Hospital and College in Pakistan even till this day. So, as someone who looks up to them, I knew education was always a priority to them. They moved to Canada for us to have better access to education and therefore I owed it to them. I was able to get so much more opportunities while living here including research internships, leadership experience, and a dynamic educational environment. I was fortunate enough to get recently admitted to McGill University with a scholarship and it is all accredited to their efforts. Not just that, but feeling a sense of security and independence are also things I was blessed with. Living abroad made me so much more open-minded and responsible. I started working since the age of 15 and have worked 4 jobs since then. Some of these included being a cashier at a grocery store and shelfing at Bath & Body Works. I knew working will give me the communication skills essential for my growth and it will also life the financial burden off my parents’ shoulders. Scholarships and having side incomes like the one I earn from social media are just a few additional bonuses helping me relieve this stress off them. Their hard work and sacrifices have given me what I have today Alhamdulillah and I can’t wait for that moment where I graduate from medical school and get to hug them while saying “I made it”.

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