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 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 Zainab Garayeva.
Zeynep was born in Azerbaijan. She has a bachelor education in English Philology and then Business Administration at Geneva Business School.
Zeynep regularly visits for work to all Middle East countries.
She is based in Dubai, working as an international tourism manager all around Middle East countries.
Zaynab loves Latino dances, especially bachata and salsa, doing yoga, and stretching.
She has her own travel company.
She opened this company with only $2,000 as a budget in 2007.
Then she made it grow.
Zaynab is a dark coffee lover, an Italian cuisine enjoyer, a cocktail, apparel, and
appreciator and a fan of books and films in the detective genre.
She has a music education and created her own piano composition.
Zeynep has a high heels collection.
She is a stiletto lover and has more than 150 stiletto shoes.
Her favorite clothing style is the casual, elegant style.
Zeynep, how are you today?
Hello Aziz, hello from sunny and beautiful Baku. As I said, I'm on vacation now and Baku's greet you.
I'm happy, honored and I say hello to all the people of Baku and very curious to know much much more about you as a woman and as a person.
So, I'll begin with this nice first question, which is, if your friends and the people who
know you could describe your personality, Zeynep, what would they say about you?
Most likely my friends will say about me that I am an extremely perfectionist and
a very responsible, punctual, and controlling person.
Although what I've mentioned, these things keep my life in good order. But sometimes
people around me may complain about it. But when I see the results, I think I'm on the right way.
Anyway, living in order is an amazing thing, I think. Everything should be in its place
and on its own time.
Bank reality is very important for me.
That's why I called my company as on time travel.
This is not in vain.
I understand and love that fully and completely.
And you being someone who controls a lot,
who does a lot of business,
therefore you have a logical side,
but you also do things like bachata and Latino dances,
which means you have to be more emotional
to let go of control? How do you balance both? And can you share more about both sides of your
personality and how you are when you're being a follower in Bachata, for example?
You know, I want to say that first of all, I would like to say being a woman,
building like a woman, this is the first and big challenge of our life. It doesn't matter.
you're born in the Middle East, you're born in America, Canada, Europe, doesn't matter.
We are all alone in a big challenge from our birth to the death. And you know, we must keep both
our femininity and our strengths. God gave woman intuition and femininity. And so,
you know, dance is the timeless interpretation of life. And I think dance is a ritual of
mortality. If the dance is the timeless interpretation of life, there is a saying, sing like no one's
listening, love like you've never been heard, dance like nobody's watching, and live like
it's heaven on earth. It's the even moving balance between independence and intimacy.
And as you know, dancing, there is a leader and follower. And if the leader is better,
the follower can perform amazingly. But no matter how good the leader is,
everyone was to the follower. You know, that's the life, you know, that's the same as life.
So, woman and man harmony, you know, it's the most important harmony balance for life,
for living, I think.
But so, you know, you can dance and so, don't priest to survive.
There is a saying that don't priest to survive, dance and feel a leaf.
Dancing is feeling like a leaf, it's most important, so feeling alive.
And she's a dancer, can only sway the silk of her hair like the summer breeze.
I love that. That was so poetic and so interesting.
And at the same time, now we spoke about dance and you spoke about the energies and the balance between a man and a woman.
You are a businesswoman.
In many ways, that means you have to do things that are more about discipline that some people think is more masculine.
It's also very difficult because you have to compete and make a business grow.
What is the reality of being a businesswoman in your experience?
And what's your advice to some women or even girls who dream of becoming a businesswoman but didn't start yet?
How is it and what to do to succeed?
You know, when I was working as a business development director in a Dubai-based tourism company,
I was working hard, really hard, but not getting much in return.
And one day I asked myself, why don't I spend this energy, power?
So, I just spent this energy, power, will, passion for my own work.
So I must do it.
I started with my very blessed friend.
She's elder than me two years.
And so, you know, I started with him.
She's an accountant and she has one audit company.
And we started together, and investment was about only, as you said, $2,000 and then progressed
as I progressed, I grew my business.
But you know, I hadn't dreamed about this.
This is only about today's plan.
That was I supposed to do in that moment.
That was excessive ambition, and it's so related to my character.
I had no any regret till now because this is probably the first thing I've ever said
in my life. It's nice it happened. You know, dreaming is beautiful, but it's even better
to evaluate every situation with its reality. Always dream, but don't be a dreamer. Be a real
barrier, you know? No. Now what you want, do whatever it takes. And remember, never
forget you won't find anyone around when you failed. But when you can do, how many partners
you will try to hook up with you. If you are ready to fight alone, I think you can
your victory just alone or in your own unique way.
It's the most important things.
I agree that was inspirational and it's absolutely true and full of wisdom.
And something interesting about you is your collection of 150 stilettos and your love for high heels.
There are many women or even girls nowadays who prefer to wear comfortable sneakers, baggy clothes.
they don't believe that stilettos make any difference.
Although I have interviewed some women,
a woman from Lithuania and one from Romania,
who said if she feels not happy,
she puts on stilettos, a dress and walks confidently
and it changes her mood
and makes her feel powerful as a woman.
To you, how do you feel when you are wearing stilettos?
What do you love about them?
And what is this experience? Maybe you can tell other women who never really tried maybe the
younger generation and girls so that they might be interested to try and feel those emotions.
I think femininity is not just lipstick, stylish hairdos and trendy clothes.
I think it's the divine adornment of humanity.
It finds expression in your qualities of your capacity to love, or your spirality, radiance,
sensitivity, creativity, charm, gentleness, dignity, and quite strengths.
Self-confidence is very important for a woman.
And each person's self-confidence is determined by different things.
someone cares about having beautiful hair, others care about having a beautiful face,
legs, body, makeup, etc. But in my opinion, the stiletto can complete all of these, right?
Chosen stiletto can increase your self-confidence, and when a self-confident body completes a
beautiful stiletto, an incredible image emerges, really. I have, yeah, I have high heels
collection, and most of all, they are stiletto. Of course, I prefer comfortable shoes in daily
life, travel, sports, but stiletto makes me feel good and being myself, it can help express
me in a good way. In short, great posture not only helps us appear more confident,
but it can also help us to be more confident. Appear and be, it's the different things,
but it's the most important that to be more confident.
That's why I feel good.
So just don't worry about so like wearing a stiletto.
I understand fully and completely and it makes me think,
is this something unique to you
or as you are now in Baku and Azerbaijan,
are the women there similar to you
in their love for stilettos or how is the culture
and the unique personality of women in Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan compared to other countries
near or in the world? You know, I just say, for example, as people travel around the world,
they get the chance to know people from other cultures, from other countries,
and they can discover their own people in the same time also, their own nation,
own culture also. And I had this opportunity and I can say that expression woman of my country
reminds me of being well-dressed, you know. And, you know, what it no matter what situation they
are in, they are always well-dressed and good hairdo. It's the most important things for them.
And that's why I love all women in my country.
I love that kindness.
Thank you for sharing that.
And since you love all women in your country and in the world too, nowadays it seems to
be a time where we are all around a lot of chaos.
There are many girls who grew up looking at social media and they feel ugly because
they compare themselves to other women like that.
Some women, maybe they're working their career like you were unhappy working for someone else and they dream of doing their own thing,
but then they are either too perfectionist like you said about yourself, but then they worry if they fail or make a mistake.
So they don't try or they worry if their parents will be disappointed or anything like that.
What's your advice for women and girls to find their confidence
and to not worry about the judgment of other people or care about what other people think
as long as they go towards their big dreams and big goals.
You know, it's a very deep theme and I think, you know, never compare, firstly.
It's the most important thing.
But you know, as women, we face unique challenges and obstacles in both our personal and
professional lives.
And from navigating the gender pay gap to breaking down stereotypes and biases, it can be tough to make our voices heard and achieve our goals.
That's why support from other women is so crucial.
You know, it can make all the difference in our success and happiness.
Here, just a few reasons why support for women is essential.
You know, we can learn from each other, no matter how experienced or talented we are.
they're always something new to learn, whether it's a new skill, a fresh perspective, or a different
approach to problem solving. And, you know, connecting with other women can help us expand
our knowledge and grow as, like, individuals. We can build each other up. And in a world
that often pits women against each other, and it's important to remember that we're all in
together. And by lifting each other up and celebrating each other's successes, we can create
a positive empowering community where everyone lives. You know, we can advocate for each other.
When we support other women, we are also advocating for their rights and interests. And we can
achieve so much more when we work together. So if you're a woman looking for support,
Don't be afraid to reach out to other women in your community.
Whether it's road networking events, mentoring programs, or online forums, there are countless
opportunities to connect with other women who share your goals and values.
And if you are in a position to offer support to other women, don't hesitate.
Your encouragement and guidance could make all the difference in someone's life.
Just remember, when we support each other, we're all in and let's life each other up and create a better world, I think.
I agree 100 billion percent. And one of the goals of this podcast and project is to create a sisterhood of women supporting each other rather than competing with each other who help understand and help each other grow.
Thank you so much, Zeyna, for participating in this podcast, for sharing your voice, your
life, your wisdom.
I wish you all the success in the world.
I wish you a fantastic vacation and to keep growing your business and all your dreams.
Thank you, Aziz.
Actually, your mother's life story inspired me.
And I think all the world need like brave, strong, and encouragement, like encourage women,
you know, it's all world need this. And so I want to say to all women that you can imagine how
a powerful weapon you have. This is your smile. And you know, you can even break eyes with it,
you can open a lot of doors with your smile. Because a woman's smile is a powerful weapon,
I think than ever used in all World Wars.
So keep smile and show them your power.
And the last one I want to say to all girls
that all around the world,
keep always your head, heels and standard size.
100%, thank you.
