Episode 21 Pivoting as MultiPassionate Entrepreneur

My name is Zaakirah Muhammad, and you are listening to the Living Legacy Podcast. This weekly podcast features women of purpose sharing stories of resilience. They are wives, artists, entrepreneurs, they run businesses, and here they will share their stories of how they overcame obstacles and how they're juggling it all. If you're ready to learn about professionalism, entrepreneurship, business, travel, life, and love, you're in the right place. You will hear real and raw stories of survival. Now it's your turn to be inspired to step outside of your own comfort zone. I am a cancer survivor, brand cultivating strategist, world traveler, and a professional photographer. I'm your host of the Living Legacy Podcast. Let's get into it. In today's episode, we'll be talking about entrepreneurship. Now, if you listen to episode 6, That I did with Tyisha Bradley. I kind of started with it talking about entrepreneurship, but it was not the biggest chance for me to talk about my story. So I would literally focus on Tyisha and why she, you know, her journey. But not many people know, I guess, maybe the real backstory of, I guess, how long I've been an entrepreneur and why I was an entrepreneur. So that's what this episode is going to be all about. To start off with, I have my entrepreneurial spirit from my parents. If you listen to episode 5, I interviewed my dad. And in there, he was basically giving his life story, but he also talked about how entrepreneurship played a huge role. I mean, he studied business in college, and then he launched a limousine company. I also got my entrepreneurial spirit from my mother because at one point when we were living in Tampa, I was in middle school at this time, she started something called the International Family Resource Network Center. And thank goodness for a supportive community and thank goodness for grants because she was able to launch that, which was able to help immigrants to either get their citizenship or get their visas and learn English, get jobs, the whole bit. And also give, you know, women, I would say marginalized women, to get jobs that, you know, they want to get jobs, but they can't, like they can't go too far because their husband says so, things of that sort. So she was, you know, huge in Tampa. immigrant and Muslim community. And that's what she did. So that's what she ran the whole time we were living in Tampa. So that was— we were there in Tampa for a while. So I think about 5 years. Even though my first real entrepreneurship experience, I would say, because the thing about being an entrepreneur— let me just say this disclaimer right here, right now. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. Living the life, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Some people are a-okay with having that steady schedule, that steady income, that consistency, that routine. And entrepreneurship is not that, okay? Because there would definitely be days where you're wondering, what are you doing wrong? You're wondering, should you even, you know, go do any of those illegal jobs that make instant money? But the thing about entrepreneurship is that those who are entrepreneurs are closer, in my opinion, to their Purpose. They're able to explore their purpose because they have no choice but to continue to pivot or change or reiterate or rebrand. So yes, being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. So I would say that there has been a meme floating around lately. There's this SpongeBob meme and whoever created it, it ends with, aight, I'mma head out. So basically African American slang for saying, all right, I'm going to, I'm leaving here. I'm done with this. But then I saw one that, you know, they say, oh, I feel attacked, I feel attacked. But basically I saw one and it was saying, you know, the meme was like, okay, you gotta focus on one thing at a time. And then it said that the Sagittarius and the Gemini, which means those who were born in December, January, and those who were born in June, late May, early June, were like, all right, I'm gonna head out. Now I felt attacked, but here's the thing. My dad is a Gemini, I'm a Sagittarius. But here's the thing, when we keep changing or hopping around, it's not too far from our path. Like our purpose is never too far away from our path. So what's wrong with that? I wouldn't be sane, I would say that. I would not be sane if I just stayed at one thing all the time. Like I had to realize as soon as I finished graduating photography school, if you wanna learn more about my background as a photographer, I talked about how I got started in photography. One of my previous episodes, if you look in the archive, you'll get that whole story. But there was a point after I graduated from my certification program, I was doing well. You know, I had event clients, I had portrait clients, I had wedding and engagement and family. I had the whole bit. I was doing well. But then this is the area where cell phones and cell phone photography, smartphone and iPhone photography started to take over. So I literally had to rebrand. I had to pivot in order to be consistent and be in tune with today's environment. Because that's the thing, it changes so quickly, especially with the inclusion of technology and social media. It changes so quickly. Yeah, I've always just been a part of the entrepreneurial spirit. My first, first time learning about being a leader, because you kind of have to do that. You have to learn customer service. You have to learn about leadership. You learn how to effectively communicate and conflict resolution. You have to know all this stuff in entrepreneurship. For those who know that entrepreneurship is a part of your blood and your spirit, I definitely encourage it, especially the next time we get into a recession. You know, you got to have some kind of side income to fall back on. So start that business. If it's something you enjoy making items, you enjoy decorating, you enjoy creating, start that side business. You know, create that website domain because it's great to have that side income. Starting off with entrepreneurship is great. Your initial fan base will be your friends and family, but it will not always stay that way. Especially the more you do change, because some people just don't understand the purpose of staying consistent, staying relevant. Entrepreneurship is easy for me because I love flexibility. I love being able to be flexible. I can't be locked into one thing. And it's also helpful because it's easier for me and my invisible disability, because some days it's harder to get up than others. Some days, I'll admit, I go to my part-time job late because I had a hard time getting up out of bed, you know, things of that sort. But I will say that I am grateful to have part-time jobs that also allow flexible schedules, which is very hard to find. So I'm very grateful for the jobs that I do have. Um, but flexibility was one of the biggest things. Um, this was even before I got married, just being able to be there. I wanted to be able to be there, you know, for family. But again, now that I'm, you know, closer to my path, I'm realizing that it's okay to have That biweekly paycheck as well as that unsteady paycheck. Because then with when I can, on my off days, I can turn to entrepreneurship, doing the thing that I genuinely love to do. Not necessarily making, working towards the company that's making $1 million in a day, but how can I do that for my own self, for my own good and still impact people positively? So, I mean, yeah, I've always just had to pivot no matter what I do. I know that my purpose involves anything, any kind of creative visual medium. So even though I got started in photography, then I went on to social media. I had to, um, I was helping to manage the brands of music artists. And ironically, my first photography, my first official photography clients were music artists. They wanted that in-studio portrait. They wanted coverage at their music festivals. And also ironically, on the day that I'm recording this, A Facebook post showed up in my memories that reminded me of just how much I enjoy being a part of the music industry and how much I love music. Because apparently I had a handful of social media consultations, and that's something I began doing also. So I would be able to advise people, inspire them, talk to them on why they should be doing XYZ on social media, which can in turn help people to get to know them because they gotta share their story. September is an amazing month for really recognizing my purpose and living within my purpose. And then eventually I started tapping into my writing expertise, which I too also believe I got from my mother, just with blogging. So when photography was kind of slow, it normally is slow in the winter because nobody wants to be out in the cold. Everybody's spending money on holiday gifts, but not necessarily photos for their own business, investing in themselves. So photography is slow in the winter. So that's when I really started blogging a bit more. And with blogging, I would share my story a bit more. And so the blog then turned into a book and then the book can turn into a course. So I always tend to have a plan A, B, and C, but then I haven't fully figured out, you know, what happens if. Of course, I'm grateful that I can still get health insurance through the government. I personally don't want to get like health insurance through job because I know that even that's not permanent. I always think back to, oh gosh, what about, What about, you know, having time to do XYZ? So, but even if, speaking of health, even if my own health, you know, goes downhill, I haven't figured out, you know, what that plan B or C would be. Because right now, like I said, my purpose I know involves inspiring people through all creative mediums. What happens if I can no longer see? I don't even know what's gonna go first. If you don't know, I'm a cancer survivor. I'm currently blind in one eye. And we're hearing aids in both ears. So you can learn more about that in the first episode, the very, very first episode of my podcast. I never really know what's going to go first, and I don't— haven't even planned out what's going to happen after that. But I would say because of entrepreneurship, should something happen like tomorrow, I mean, thank goodness for jobs who would understand. But I also, I would not be chastised by a job because here's the thing. I finally understand those who are unable to take that paid time off or just time off of work at all from work because the jobs simply do not understand because life happens. Life goes on. The company will continue to grow, continue to get money because they have their systems in place. But as an entrepreneur, we got to get our own system in place. We got to prioritize our own family, our own lives, our own health. This is just a sneak peek as to how I got started in entrepreneurship and why I still love the entrepreneurship journey. Even though I used to have not necessarily a 9 to 5, but, you know, a part-time job and then You know, from 5 to 9, you know, I do work on my other, my entrepreneurial hustles, my side hustles. So it's just a matter of do you, boo. Do what works for you because the entrepreneurship journey is not for everyone. If you want help with getting started, you're not quite sure how, you know you want to launch your side business, but you're not quite sure how, I can help you. I have great enough of listening skills to be able to help you and guide you in the right steps. So if that's something you are interested, definitely go to zaakirahir.com/services, see where we can schedule a call. The thing about my calls is I always make sure that I give you something to implement, give you something to take away, give you something to actually learn. So it's not going to be a waste of money or a waste of time. You would definitely learn something because that's the thing with the previous call that I've had. Most of the people have said, I appreciated talking to you because I was able to, you know, receive clarity and I was able to realize, okay, I got to take a step back and do a bit more exploring because I thought I had it all planned out, but apparently I don't. So now I got to get back to plan, you know, square A. And then they've also been able to succeed after that. So let me know how I can help you continue to find your purpose and fulfill your purpose. Thank you for listening to the Living Legacy Podcast. Be sure to subscribe, follow, and download so you don't miss the next episode. If you want to learn more, you can visit zaakirahnayar.com. That's Z-A-A-K-I-R-A-H-N-A-Y-Y-A-R dot com.