Hi fam,

The past few weeks have been crazy busy with our trip to Pakistan coming up in March. Honestly, I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that it’s been almost a year since I moved to Australia. Ramadan was soon to begin as we, my family and I, braced ourselves for my big move to Adelaide last year, a cityI had never heard of, and here we are a year later, grateful for the life Danish and I are slowly building here.

It’s interesting to think how our world is so widespread that life exists in places not everyone knows. When you grow up in your hometown and are confined to the borders of your country, you would think it is all there is to our world, to our life; your exposure to the world is limited to the books you read and the media you consume. And unfortunately, it’s not always true.

For example, if you asked me what I knew about Australia years ago, I probably wouldn’t talk about the sweet people I meet every time I step out of my house. How strangers make it a point to greet or smile at me whenever I bump into them on the street.

Had I not lived here, I wouldn’t ever learn that by greeting you with “G’day,” “How ya goin’?” and “Arvo,” Aussie slang for "afternoon, " they welcome you to their world, gradually introducing and helping you assimilate into their culture. And before you know it, you begin noticing how it becomes part of your personality, too. Had I not moved here, I wouldn’t have been exposed to the real Aussie culture we don’t read about in books or learn through movies, which makes me appreciate my life as an expat even more.

I guess that’s what Saint Augustine meant when he said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”

The Achiever’s Spotlight: Faiza Ahmad

There are very few individuals whose journey resonate with you on a deeper, more personal level. Faiza is one such individual. Her story of not giving up, despite all the rejections she faced at the start of her career, is a personal favorite. Join us as we revisit her humble beginnings in today’s feature of The Achievers. Tag along as Faiza reminds you how magical it is not to give up!

1- Where are you originally from?

I am originally from Karachi, Pakistan, but I have lived the essence of an expat life for most of my youth and adulthood. Hopping through the Middle East in my childhood, returning to Pakistan to complete my O-A/levels and degree, and then back again to the Middle East after marriage, it has been a roller-coaster ride — one that I couldn’t be more grateful for. 

2- When did you move to Australia?

November 2016 was when the BIG continent move happened. We were done moving around in circles and agreed to settle and put down roots for our growing family in the place we were to call our new home. After exploring a few options, including Canada, we settled for Australia, choosing Sydney to be the place we'd want to raise our family. 

It might sound unconventional, but the weather played a huge role in both of these decisions. We couldn't do the Canadian cold, nor were we ready to experience four seasons in ONE day in Melbourne :’)

1) Hi Faiza! It is lovely to meet you! Please introduce us to your world. Who is Faiza, exactly? What makes her happy… or sad?

This takes me back to my childhood, when my favorite question was, 'Describe yourself in 5 words?' The adults would groan and say it was too hard but would try to humor me, nevertheless. On the other side of it now, I can confirm it’s a tricky one to answer. :)) 

Guess I should start easy and talk about the 5 hats I don – wife, mother, homemaker, office manager, and plant mom.

Apart from my roles, I'm someone who likes to keep things simple and grounded, focusing on the big picture and questioning norms. This has helped me overall to stay focused on trends, to grow myself in the direction I choose, and to constantly self-correct. We are never perfect, and there will always be room for learning new skills and building personality traits, habits, etc. It would limit our true potential ever to think we are done working on ourselves. 

I could go on and on (and I blame the philosophy courses I took in university for this), but Faiza is a learner, constantly striving to grow and be the better version of herself, and that’s what makes me the happiest. :)

2) What’s a typical day in Faiza’s life like?

Weekdays are very structured. My day starts early, around 5 am. I wrap up household chores from the night before, get ready, and head out of the house by 6 am for work. 

Train commute to and from the city is my quality ‘me time,’ where I get to focus on personal and spiritual growth. Sometimes, if I feel naughty, it's a Netflix ride.

Once at work, I am fully on my toes, and I don't think of much else until I'm back home. I pick up the kids if they have extracurriculars, have dinner around 6 p.m., and spend the rest of my time doing some additional chores until bedtime around 9:30 p.m. It's quite monotonous but gets me through the week in one piece.

Weekends and sometimes work-from-home evenings are when I bulk-process household chores like cooking, cleaning, and laundry — oh, the never-ending laundry!

3) I see you’ve been living in Australia for quite some time now. How has moving to Australia turned out for you?

It's been one of the best decisions we have taken as a family. Australia is where you can be whoever you want to be, staying as comfortably true to your roots as possible. Sydney, as with most Australian metropolitan cities, is such a multicultural hub that you feel proud of your background, language, clothes, and food. Having culture is one of our biggest strengths, and with the way the world is now, I have a renewed appreciation for my culture. 

We have always loved the outdoors, and Australia has truly honed our sense of adventure and love for camping. It never disappoints with its gorgeous mountains, beaches, lakes, farms and holiday parks. From kayaking to body boarding to hiking, Australia, which is definitely our home now, keeps our adventure bug thoroughly tickled.

It is also the land of opportunities for us and our children. They might land their first job around 13-15 years old and probably have about a decade's worth of more real-world work experience than your average graduate from other countries. Skills get developed early; they can chase their true passions with no judgment. One of my kids has told me they want to be an author and a zookeeper. If that's what they want to do, hurray for them!

4) Do you still have days when you feel homesick? How do you handle it?

The super obvious con to living in Australia is being a long and very expensive flight away from family. Homesickness gets very real at times; you miss family, your parents start looking older in those video calls, you have brand new nieces, nephews, and cousins-in-law who you haven't met yet, and you miss all of that. But Alhumdulillah (praise to ALLAH, GOD) for the blessings. If they are healthy and happy, I can wait a little longer to meet them. 

It's been 5 and a half years since my last trip back home, but with an upcoming trip and the idea of Eid with family, the countdown is what’s keeping me together <3

5) Would you say moving to a new country shapes your personality and who you become over the years? How so?

Very much so. Exposure is how people are built, and every place has its vibe that you get to experience and perhaps take away from. It gives you a whole list of new experiences that you might only relate to after your move, from something small like starting to read food labels to learning how to recycle to understanding a very foreign accent or the joy of a gorgeous cup of Flat white. I've picked a few dozen habits that I probably might not have if we were living elsewhere.

One random thing people learn really fast once they move to Australia is how expensive ‘tradies’ are. You need to be a mini plumber, dry-waller, painter, gardener, chauffeur, mechanic, amongst other things. It's a good way of life; you are constantly learning and growing your skillset.

6) Congratulations on your SECOND work anniversary! Please inspire us with your amazing story!

It's an interesting one and speaks volumes about timing and little steps.

My background is in psychology, and within a few months of graduating, I got married and was ready to start my family at a young age. A decade passed with 3 pregnancies, 3 lovely children and 3 big moves before I was ready to think about another hat for myself seriously. It was daunting; I felt like a fish out of water.

But there are things you can do with a strong support system. My husband and 2 friends really helped encourage and shape the beginning of this work journey.

It was around the time of the COVID lockdowns, and my husband was working from home as we discussed the way forward. I knew I didn’t want to pursue psychology anymore.

“Then what?!” One discussion led to another, and I settled for a course from Tafe for a medical administrator. The idea was to dip my toes in a hopefully (secure) and high-demand industry. The health industry seemed promising, with better work opportunities, flexibility in work hours, and a workplace hopefully close to home.

But God had bigger plans for me. A friend recommended me for a job, and a few days later, I signed my contract for an entry-level admin job on casual, 2 days a week, at an amazing diagnostic clinic in the city. Three months in, I got promoted to 2IC and worked 4 days a week. ︎Another 6 months in, I was the Manager, now working full time.

In one year, I have experienced multiple internal promotions.

 I have advertised, interviewed, hired and let go of multiple staff members; went through a change in ownership; introduced, changed and fine-tuned multiple processes/procedures; taken over clinics' social media and digital marketing; managed numerous crises with Medicare, IT and healthcare policies and 10 other things that now make my CV look real good and I have never worked a day in my life before this, which goes to show that education, work ethic, personality and grooming always shine through. Never stop working on these regardless of where you’re in life. Constant learning/improvement is a state of mind that will take you places.

7) How tough was it for you to enter the job market? Do you remember the time(s) you were rejected for any roles?

Very tough. Given the bleak nature of my CV, I was very realistic about the limited opportunities and roles I could land. Just to get things rolling, I actively applied for customer service roles. They required a little experience. Working at Woolies was the ‘dream’ job at one point, but I wasn't able to even land that role, and I never got a response to my CV (ouch!). Then I started exploring disability support worker roles; applying for those got me through the door a few times, but nothing concrete came of it. In retrospect, I realize most of it had to do with my attitude and lack of confidence in myself.

8) How did you handle rejections, if any?

The first 5 or so rejections got me down; not having experienced something like this, I'd take it personally, questioning my worth. Deep down, I knew it was not fair to myself, but sometimes you just need to go through the motions to get to the really good life lesson that comes in the end from negative experiences. It spurred a major mindset change in me. Instead of ‘I need to find a job,’ the goal became ‘I need to experience 100 rejections.’ Sounds bizarre, but took away the pressure to succeed. One hundred rejections meant 100 created opportunities where I'd actively put myself out there. However, I secretly hoped it wouldn't come to that, but if it did, I would have known I tried my best.

9) How is working in a typical Australian organization like, first in an administrative and then in a managerial role?

The first 2 months, I was just wrapping my head around the role, from learning how to use a commercial printer to getting my first telling-off from my manager. It was a crazy amount of information that I had to ingest and process each day, and I remember coming home exhausted.

But once we crossed that hill, I casually began questioning some processes and pitching forth better ways to do them. It started small but left a mark for my manager. She was new and struggling in her way and found my help valuable. It was at this point that I began to realize work experience and professional degrees aren’t really everything. It was a much-needed boost in confidence. I started to do what I've always been doing in life: chasing efficiency, and the people around me could see it. My manager didn't stay too long after that, and her departure left a vacuum in the administrative side of the clinic, which management was happy to have me fill.

There is no denying that timing worked well in my favor, but I know the amount of effort, learning and brain power I had to put in daily for my job. I reckon magic happens when you don’t give up and keep working on and — for yourself.

10) What would you recommend job seekers consider before applying for a role, especially those who have yet to receive a response from employers?

I am not an expert at this, but based on personal experience, I would suggest you do the following: 

• Ask your HR friend to give you feedback on your CV. They know what they’re doing. A modern, well-structured CV might just get your foot through the door. A personal pet peeve is when I receive a non-PDF CV, and the whole formatting goes wonky once I open it.

• Confidence is KEY. Unless it's a skill-based interview, employers are really just vibing and sizing you up. Being a strong and confident communicator really helps in these settings. If you are new to Australia, I would highly recommend a customer service-focused role to begin with. It teaches you so many things; you learn to put names to faces and understand a bit of their culture and temperaments, the accent and the language, things that can be learned just by observing how people behave in different situations.

• Take the initiative – follow up after the interview; you want to remind them of ‘you’ and not just become a long-forgotten blip on their radar. I hired one staff member who I hadn’t shortlisted based on the interview because she emailed me requesting a follow-up. She took the initiative, and that was impressive. Put yourself out there repeatedly and unabashedly. You have a lot to offer as a person, and the attitude needs to be it's their loss if they don't hire you. 

11) These are some great tips, thank you! You said you started working years after you became a mother. How did that pan out for you? How is life as a working mother? Would you recommend it?

That's a good one! Somedays, I feel like I can run the world; other days, it’s curling up on the couch with Indomie noodles for dinner. It's tough, but there is no reason why you can't pursue both if you want to. I now consider my time a resource that needs to be divided in a balanced way for family, work, chores and most importantly, myself. It’s a constant juggling act, but once you get used to it, things tend to fall into place.

Here are a few tools in my arsenal to keep this ship organized:

• Family calendar with alarm notifications - sync to everyone's devices, so they know about all their classes, appointments and socials without needing reminders.

• Meal planning—Feeding a family of five with home-cooked meals is no joke. A solid chore list and grocery list to ensure meals are planned and prepped for the week make this possible.

• A birthday gift of responsibility – Every year, the children ‘graduate,’ and a new chore is added to their list. They are learning life skills and pitching in to pull their weight in the house.

These are some ways I get to keep my sanity intact as a working mother.

12) What, according to Faiza, does the future hold for her?

Lots of goals and a career wishlist to aim for! Having started late in this work race, I feel that every opportunity feels exciting and precious. It’s always hammer time - the attitude is to work hard and let's see what the future brings.

My short-term goal is to get my foot officially in the HR door. Of all the things I have experienced, I find my greatest interest is in personnel and HR management. It will take a bit of work; I would need to complete training and rebrand myself for this one. But definitely, a goal I feel strongly enough to invest my time and efforts into.

And to put it out there, my long-term goal is to be my boss in a consultancy capacity. But as always, I don't like to tie myself down; the future is in a state of flux, and I am a firm believer in Allah’s (GOD’s) plans and timings for me.

Thank you so much for your detailed and insightful responses to my questions, Faiza. I loved chatting with you, and I hope you achieve all your short and long-term goals. I wish you all the best for your future.

ICYMI

Following The Achievers for a while and still don’t know what it’s about? You may want to read the thought process behind The Achievers here. 

Kunba—The Family, an emotional story about a brave teenager, Ali, will premiere this Sunday, March 9th, in a shadow puppetry show at the Fringe Festival. If you find yourself at the festival, this show might be worth your time. Learn more about Rehana, the artist and her show, The Kunba, here.

My Favorite Video (This Week)

Tips on Growing Coriander (Cilantro) from the Super Market.

I have been meaning to grow vegetables for quite some time now. Growing up, I used to spend a major chunk of my allowance buying plants from the nursery. I’d save the money my mother would give me to spend at school, waiting excitedly for the week to end to go with her to the nursery and buy my favorite plants. It is one of my favorite memories from my childhood, one that I want to savor for the rest of my life.

I was looking for some tips for growing coriander and found this video. I like how she explained everything in detail, and I hope to use her tips the next time I grow a store-bought coriander at home. If you are struggling to grow your plants, you might want to check out her channel.

Share Your Story

Want a fellow expat to learn from your journey? Share your story in response to this email, and I would be happy to feature it in the next issue of The Achievers.

Quote of the Week

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See you next week!