Episode Transcript
Hello.
My name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about life.
Too many women in this world feel alone.
They worry about the judgment of others, and they struggle with their mental health.
But when they listen to the Rare Girls podcast where empowered women share their voices and
tell their stories, many women will feel inspired to live a life of freedom and to
overcome all their insecurities.
They will feel it is a safe space to find their confidence, to remember their unique
beauty and to feel their self-worth.
And they will connect with the sisterhood of rare girls who encourage their success
and support their dreams.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Nasra Amir.
Nasra studied in Malaysia.
She was born raised and is living now in Tanzania and currently she's starting
her own brand and planning to go to fashion school for her degree. Nasra does
a lot of sports and often goes to the gym for cardio. Nasra how are you today?
I'm doing well how are you? I'm feeling blessed very very lucky to speak
you and to get to know you more as a person. So I'll begin with this nice first question which is
Nasra if your friends and the people who know you best could describe your personality what
would they say about you? My friends would say I'm kind, helpful and very motivating.
I love cheering my friends whenever they feel low and I always believe in the saying of
people how you want to be treated. So kindness has always been in my heart.
I love that and I'm curious about it. Is it because maybe as a woman you felt
that if you do not support other people maybe they will not be aware that
other people will support them or it was for you like you said you want and
understand the power of being supported so you're giving first or are you a
that when you make other people happy you feel even happier or how does it
work what is the source of your kindness and desire to support others I feel like
when I was younger my family would be very tough on me you know they would
always say the meanest thing so that I could try my best to prove them
wrong and I feel like how they raised me that way didn't motivate me at all
be who I was because I was really lost so I always put in my heart that okay even if I'm not feeling
well today I want to make somebody else feel well because happiness is the key you know talking to
someone and their happy makes me happy you know if I were to make someone's day today
it would bring me so much joy in my heart that I wasn't able to get when I was younger.
That's a very important topic.
I want us to dive a bit deeper into that.
Many women and girls have been raised where their parents use criticism thinking that
that motivates them.
But what it does too is it puts in them fear of trying something risky that can
help their big dreams, makes them stay in their comfort zone because they worry what
if I fail and all those things they said to me are right or what if I fail and
they will criticize me even harsher and I have nothing to answer and so they
will stay in their comfort zone because going out will be too scary because
they will have too many people who behave basically as haters even if
they're close to them what is your answer to this perspective to this do
have some advice related to this to other women.
the best grades but they were good grades but he wanted the best grades and I told him like
I want to go to college and I don't want to do um I don't want to do my air levels because
I feel like college would suit me more and at the environment I was living I was uncomfortable
with school so when my dad sent me off for college I did like a round of three years I
even though I did pass, he still wants to criticize me and say okay you passed so what now like
you're taking a gap year is that because you don't want to study anymore is that because
you're not smart I said I'm taking a gap year for myself I just feel like every woman needs to
know that it's okay to take a break from everything it's okay that parents criticize
things it's just how they want you this is just how they want to motivate you for the
they want to prepare you for the real life because it gets really tough and you
need to really work hard. I understand fully and completely and you said that
you had such realizations. Often too many women struggle with mental health
especially if they get criticized a lot. Is this something you have
experienced? What did you do about it in order to overcome it or evolve
through it? Was there a journey or just constant understanding?
How was your situation? I met a lot of new people in my life once I went to
college and I realized that I wasn't the only person going through what I
was going through and hearing other people's stories about their childhood
or their lifestyle just made me be thankful for mine because there's
always gonna be somebody who's doing worse in life but you have to love
what's yours. You have to love how your parents got you, where they took you. And even if the
criticism is there, it's all for a good cause. They just want the best for you and they want
to motivate you to be on your highest level. Thank you. And you're someone very fascinated and
interested in fashion. Can you tell me a bit more about that? Where did the idea of you
your brand come from? What does it add to your life? What do you love about it?
For my diploma, I studied business administration. Sorry, business
administration. And all these three years, I was thinking to myself, okay, I
want to own a business, but what is it gonna be? You know, I was thinking about
starting my own water company in Tanzania.
But all of these things were not my passion, you know?
I was not in love with the idea
of doing business in Tanzania.
So one night I was talking to a friend
and she told me like,
Nasra, you dress really well.
You know, if I would pay you to style me.
And that's when I got the idea,
like, hey, why can't I start my own fashion brand?
I'm really good at fashion.
I love dressing up.
So why can't I make my own clothing line?
Why can't I inspire people?
Why can't I work with people?
Why can't I make something different?
Why can't I bring something different to the table?
That's absolutely great.
And you mentioned that you are someone
who's thinking about whether you are going to stay
in your country or travel abroad from Tanzania,
what would be a place for you that would be a perfect fit
for your personality, dreams and desires?
Is it like Milano because of the fashion
or Paris because of the Paris Fashion Week
or even London, New York, any of those places?
Where do you feel that for now,
you'd expect to belong and feel very happy
in the best ways?
For now, I was planning to move to Dubai because it's more closer with family
and I've just really loved the country ever since I was young.
Not only because of the beautiful scenery and the views,
but because I know a lot of people there and I know I have a lot of supporters there.
And not only in Dubai, but I would also love to start up fresh in Paris
because of the fashion week as you said and I am also planning to expand my
brand also in Malaysia because I've got clubs over there that I used to work
with and I want to start a campaign there so I want to go different places
just to advertise my brand and I just want to be seen I want everybody to
who I am. I want everybody to know what my purpose is and what I want to bring
for my brand. So it will be a lot of traveling but hopefully my main
location would be in Dubai. I love the confidence when you said that you want
to be seen and everyone to know you and your name. Many women feel shy about
that. They feel it's too intense. The attention would be too much
because they're thinking that if they shine bright,
then they are making other people uncomfortable.
What's your advice to other women
so that they have their confidence
and be willing to be known
and to live to their full potential?
My advice would be do it.
You have to want something so bad
to be able to achieve it.
Everyone always thinks to themselves
and doubt themselves like,
or what if this happens or what if I fail,
what if I don't make it, you're not gonna make it
if you say you're not gonna make it.
You have to know in your heart
that this is something you love
and this is something you want to do.
I advise women to become confident with themselves.
I advise them to write down what they want to do.
I advise them to think about it deep and do it
because there is nothing stopping you
doing what you love except for circumstances and it's up to you to figure out if you're going to
care about what other people think or if you're going to care about what's going to benefit you
in the future. I love that and let's discuss Dubai a bit which is a city of a lot of opportunities.
I don't know whether you have visited Dubai or not but you said you have a lot of supporters
there? How did you do it? What was the story of that? And then what is your advice maybe to other
women and girls because many want to go to Dubai as well so maybe they will not arrive not knowing
anyone but have some support base in the same way that you're building? Okay so I'm mixed half
of my family is Arab, half of my family is African and Dubai again as I said is really close
to the country that half of my family is staying in,
sorry, the city, that's Oman.
And also I chose Dubai because my best friend
is currently located in Dubai
and my brand is also her brand,
like it's a 50-50 thing.
So she has been introducing me to different people
and different owners of clubs,
different owners of manufacturers,
and brands, and everything.
So what we want to do is,
we want to go there
and make it the most luxury brand we can,
because we don't want it to be a streetwear brand,
we don't want it to be regular,
we just want it to be luxury.
We want it to be very luxury,
we want it to be very professional,
and we want it to be at the highest qualities.
Thank you for this, this is fantastic.
And a personal question too, whether Dubai or Malaysia,
the food is different to Tanzania.
Some people argue that the food in Tanzania
is the best in Africa.
How will you be able to, first, how do you compare it?
Since you have tried the food in Malaysia,
do you believe that it's really, really much better
the food that you eat in Tanzania and how would you survive far away from the right spices and things that
Fit your Tanzanian palate. Okay, so when I was in Malaysia, it was very different from Tanzania
Because turns out growing up whoever grows up with their mother
They know that their mother is the best cook they've ever had
But for me, I'm not gonna lie. My mother is the best good I've ever seen
okay so she cooks the most amazing food so when i came to malaysia i was like okay there's fast
food there's mcdonald's there's kfc but this is not as good you know i want to i want to eat the
local food i had the local food which is mainly rice noodles but it was very it was different
It was good different, however, it's not as good as Tanzanian food, you know, because
Tanzanian food, we have something called dougali, we have melenda, chips maya, and
it all gives you the body shape of an African woman.
And that's something I will forever be proud of because if I look at a Malaysian girl
age she would look completely different from me somebody would say that oh I'm
five years older than her but with the same age and I just feel like it's never
about what you eat you know it's just how much you eat you know or what's in
the food because most of the Malaysian food is just you know if you don't eat
much of the African food, like it has the oils, the vegetables, the rice, you know, it's very
different. So experiencing that was a bit hard, but when I reached to Malaysia, I told my mom to
just send me spices from Tanzania and I would just cook my own food from like from Tanzania
in Malaysia. That's how I was coping at least. But when I was in Dubai, I didn't really stay
for long because I always just visit. But when I was in Dubai, I would normally eat out in
restaurants, which is good. It's good food. I love the shawarma and everything, but nothing
compares to Tanzanian food. I'm not going to lie. Thank you. That's really, really great.
And maybe one of your business ventures is to open a Tanzanian restaurant in Dubai.
that could be a good idea.
And there is also something psychological
that anybody who lives abroad for a while
after around the first six months,
they really miss their home.
They feel far away from their family and sad.
And then over time they overcome it
and then they feel at home in Dubai or any new place.
What is your plan in order to take care
of your mental health as you move far away
from your family, like to the other hemisphere of the planet?
Are you, do you have specific plans?
Will you be speaking on video calls every day
with your mother and loved ones?
Or how do you plan to do it?
Or are you already, because your best friend is there,
she is your home away from home?
When I was a little girl, when I was nine years old,
I had to live far from my parents.
I had to go to boarding school
until I was like 16, then Corona came.
And I think I took a year off and I went abroad
and then I started studying in Malaysia and everything.
So I got used to the lifestyle
of being far from my family.
However, I would always call them.
I would always text them.
I would always send them pictures,
like look at what I've done today.
This is what I'm doing right now,
or this is what I got on my test.
So, you know, communication is key.
I would always call them and everything,
but I'm more excited to open up a new chapter in my life.
You know, I'm never scared to try something new
and I'm never scared to be alone
because I was born alone.
I don't need to be with someone
to feel like I am happy, you know?
I mean, my best friend is my heart.
I love her to death.
However, I can't stay with her 24 seven, you know?
We're gonna see each other here and there,
but I have to learn to do things by myself.
I have to learn to be independent myself
and I have to know that being alone is okay
because it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.
Thank you.
You said that you're someone who's always willing
to try new things to go out of your comfort zone.
What is the mindset you have or advice you might give
to any girls or women who are not really feeling
their confidence in order to go for their big dreams
and try the risky new things.
Okay, so we're all scared.
Everybody's scared.
You're scared, I'm scared.
Somebody else might be scared,
but you have to try because you don't know
what something is gonna turn out,
good or bad, you have to try.
I've been reading a lot of business books lately and there's something I read that said
if you want to succeed in life, you're going to have to fail 99% and that 1% is going
to be success.
And life is a journey.
You're not going to get everything you want.
You're going to have to work hard for it.
You're going to have to learn from your mistakes and you have to get up no matter how low it
gets in life.
You have to get up and you have to wipe your tears and say that you can do it because
nothing is impossible, nothing.
If somebody else can do it, you can do it.
There's nothing special about somebody else.
They just put the work in.
Now it's time for you to put the work in so you can see your progress in your
future.
Thank you so much Nasra. It was my privilege and my honor to have you here to share your voice.
I wish you all the glory, all the success and a fantastic life in Dubai
and the luxury brand that you and your best friend dream of.
Thank you so much Aziz. It was a wonderful podcast and I loved talking to you.
I hope my message gets out to all the women
who are feeling scared.
And I just hope they have a voice to speak on their own.
100%.
