You Just Need a Single Small Step
By Lubna Ali
The 21st century is all about the digital age in my opinion and I think it has given women a powerful tool to better themselves. It allowed us to have a voice and gain a skill that opened the doors to women empowerment and entrepreneurship. It’s much easier for the youth today to gain knowledge about a skill, but back then it was slightly harder especially of you were a woman.
If I was to describe myself I would say I’m just like any other Pakistani woman with a burning desire to fulfill my ambitions. Having come a long way away from being a shy naïve girl- the journey has taught me a lot about this life. Presently, I’m a Google certified, digital marketer and entrepreneur who has no intention of slowing down. If you want to win the race of women empowerment, then the only way is to keep learning new skills and be aware of the digital and online marketing industry.
What helped me along my journey has always been my positive thinking and, not letting the negatives of life affect me; yet, it also requires patience and hard work. Every morning I wake up and encourage myself to use my time efficiently and do everything to make the day as productive as possible without wasting any precious hours. It’s a daily struggle to keep my mindset positive and focused as there are many externals forces which want me to fail but one must always remember that no matter how difficult the times are you must take that one small step forward in the long journey you want to complete. One step a day will take you to your dream destination but the key is to persist after your goals.
Today I’ve launched my own women centric blog called “Golden Birds” which mainly focuses on providing a sense of community amongst women, give support and advice to young female entrepreneurs, encourage woman to learn the different ways to earn money online and career guidance for the students wanting to break into the digital marketing industry. Females all over the world are distressed by a number of issues which include work-life balance, lack of equal pay, harassment issues, limited career opportunities and the dilemma of choosing children over career or vice versa. Keeping all these issues in mind I feel having a community where these problems can be discussed and analyzed by women themselves will allow potential solutions to emerge. Even though we women have come a long way from where we started reports state that four out of ten women are still suffering from the pay gap issue and this is a reality in more than seven nations.
My vast experience now allows me to feel more confident in life and work in meaningful projects which includes, my venture is the Digital Essentials Pakistan, a company that promotes serial entrepreneurship and is provides a whole range of digital services tailored according to the client’s needs. Having dealt with clients from all over the world namely the UK, UAE and USA, has made me understand this industry in-depth and now I feel that I can give back to the industry, especially to the women wanting to enter it. People always tell me that I’m lucky to have made a dent in the industry yet I always tell them about the struggles of reaching my current place. Expertise doesn’t develop over time but within this industry it’s always important to keep learning and never stop the process of learning which I often see people doing.
Women are an integral part of society and Women-centric issues are close to my heart and I have been consistently giving back in the form of counseling and my little projects. I dream of providing a safe environment to enable them to work and be independent which will ultimately lead to their empowerment. Once a woman is free to choose, think and work- only then is she truly empowered. Therefore, I want all women to have this freedom and be able to make their lives as best as possible. You can’t have it all is a myth that needs to be eliminated soon as I’m a living example of balancing all aspects my life-work, social activities, personal and giving back to the community.
My advice for young women is to figure out their passions and then identify their limitations and then put their heart and soul to excel on that to achieve their dreams. Also it’s important to have fun as well so never follow a passion which doesn’t tug at your heartstrings. In the end, I want to emphasize that whatever I am today has been created through my own hard work and experience. I could have never reached this step if I had not taken the first small step with focus and dedication.
The writer is CEO of Digital Essential Pakistan
