915 Somia Sadiq:

Wings of Inspired Business Podcast – EP915 Somia Sadiq

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Somia Sadiq:

I think becoming an entrepreneur really pushes your boundaries of growth in ways that you haven’t been pushed before because all of a sudden you’re for your own self. One, you start owning all the decisions that you’re making, which is really fun and can be absolutely frightening at times. And also, you become responsible for people in different ways. You’re not just responsible for salaries and such. You’re responsible to facilitate their growth in a lot of ways as well. So, it really is humbling and pushes your boundaries big time.

Melinda Wittstock:

Fun, and frightening. Yes, entrepreneurship is both of those things, and we can excel when we also embrace failure as part of the growth. Somia Sadiq is an entrepreneur who has pioneered a transformative process for conflict resolution and peacemaking. Today Somia talks about what it takes to own your own entrepreneurial journey, daring to take risks and learn to collaborate from a place of abundance to have a bigger impact.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so I started this podcast to catalyze an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together and lift as we climb.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur with a profound mission to bring communities together through storytelling. Somia Sadiq is the founder and CEO of Narratives, a consulting practice that aids Indigenous communities in Canada by bridging economic, social, and reconciliation efforts. She’s also the founder of the nonprofit, Kahanee, that fosters peace through the powerful medium of storytelling.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we talk about fearless learning from failure, how to operate from a place of abundance rather than scarcity, and the myth of work-life balance – plus why storytelling can unite us all. Somia Sadiq will be here in a moment, and first:

Melinda Wittstock:

Eight years ago, I started this podcast because I wanted to help women succeed as entrepreneurs. Over the years, I’ve driven more than $10 million in sales to the women I’ve featured on this show, and this year I’m taking my investment in female founders to a whole new level as a venture partner of the new firm Zero Limits Capital, where we’re dedicated to investing in highly scalable seed stage startups founded by women. We’re looking for innovators with exciting new applications of AI, Blockchain and other emerging technologies that make a social and sustainable impact to change the world. Is this you? If it is, take a moment and tell us about your opportunity at bit.ly/ZLCintake – that’s bit.dot.ly/ZLCintake – capital ZLC lowercase intake. That’s Zero Limits Capital because women should never be limited in what we can achieve.

Melinda Wittstock:

Risk is not something most women are comfortable with. But if we’re to take big leaps in entrepreneurship and wealth building, we need to get more comfortable out of our comfort zones and push the boundaries. Today we talk about destigmatizing failure, daring to dream big, and being our best unstoppable selves with Narratives founder and CEO Somia Sadiq.

Melinda Wittstock:

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Somia Sadiq and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Somia, welcome to Wings.

Somia Sadiq:

Hello. Hello. Nice to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:

I want to start with this whole concept of owning your own journey as an entrepreneur and what that actually means in practice, especially for women.

Somia Sadiq:

First of all, thank you so much for having me, Melinda. I really appreciate it. I’ve been thinking a lot about what does it actually mean to own your journey? And in a lot of ways, the question comes to me because I’ve always just felt like I am responsible for the decisions I make. Any barriers that come my way, how do I overcome those? What choices do I make? And when I make those choices, if they’re not the best choices, what are the consequences of those choices? So, I’ve always grown up with that mindset, and I think in a lot of ways, that is the mindset that I’ve brought into my entrepreneurship journey as well. When I make good decisions, awesome. Let’s all celebrate. When I make decisions that are not the best, that’s okay too. So, by owning my journey, I get to celebrate it. I get to learn from every time I fail and just keep moving ahead.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, it’s interesting you mentioned failure, because that is so much part of the entrepreneurial journey. You know, whether we like it or not, we don’t necessarily love it, but it is actually an opportunity if we can shift our mindsets around that. Because if you’re inventing something new there is no path you can copy.

Somia Sadiq:

Absolutely. It’s so interesting to be able to talk about failure. To me, failure has become one of those taboo words similar to the word conflict. Ooh, conflict. That’s bad. Let’s run away from it. It’s a very normal part of the human experience and a very normal experience to have to be able to learn from. I feel as an entrepreneur, if you’re not failing, then probably not taking enough risks in your growth. So, failure is very much a part of the journey, and I would second guess what decisions you’re making. If you’re not actually failing.

Melinda Wittstock:

It means that you’re not really trying. Maybe you’re building a really small business, right? Or maybe you’re really not innovating or you’re not really following your dream. You’re kind of playing it safe.

Somia Sadiq:

Exactly, exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:

And that’s where opportunities get mixed. Do you think women fall into that trap a little bit more than men, this sort of fear of risk taking?

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, great question. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately. Someone else asked me the other day if I thought women were more risk averse. And I have never really been risk averse. So, I mean, obviously, yeah, like, I can’t obviously answer that on behalf of all the women, but I do think there is a greater tendency in women to look around and be a little bit more cautious with their approach. And I personally feel that that is a little bit of that conditioning from society that we’ve grown up with, like, play it safe, make sure you don’t take any risks. Because the consequences of those risks, if they don’t work out are perhaps greater and far more adverse for women than it might be for men. I think we’ve been taught a little bit to operate that way, and it’s really something that I hope that we can grow out of together.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, we really are conditioned that way. I can’t count the number of female entrepreneur groups I’ve been in over the years where, you know, for the women that are taking big moonshots, you know, like building things that could conceivably be billion-dollar businesses or really change behavior, change the way that we think about things, like, they’re actually revolutionary ideas. They’re hard.

Melinda Wittstock:

Some of the other women aren’t exactly supportive, you know, of that kind of thing. Like, yeah, and weird thing, it’s not overt, it’s just there.

Somia Sadiq:

And I think that is why it’s so important to surround yourselves with people who are going to bring that balanced perspective in your journey. Like I have. I love working with a lot of different coaches and peers and friends who match my style. So they are, they’re bolder in what decisions they make. And with that, I do also have people in my circle who are that more cautious voice, because that gives me a second sober thought, if you will. And I think surrounding yourselves with that balance is so important. But if you’re finding yourselves spending more and more time in a circle where every idea that you’re pitching as an entrepreneur is just shot down, and it’s. You’re being encouraged to just play it safe, then it’s time to rethink your circle.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s true. It’s who we’re surrounded by that really matters. And I kind of think you need an entrepreneurial family as opposed to your actual family.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I think I get so much energy and fuel in being around kick ass powerhouse women. Like I walk out of those conversations just ready to take the next step, so. Completely agree. I think it’s so important to have, have that circle around yourself.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. Because I think other people, I mean most people live their lives in fear, like whether they know it or not, right? You know, people want to fit in. People are just generally afraid, right? The people around you, you know, they’re, they mean well most of the time. They don’t want you to get hurt or anything like that. So, they may kind of, put a cool blanket over your dreams. They’re all kind of like, oh, are you sure? Like what makes you think you can do that? Or like whatever that language is.

Somia Sadiq:

That reminded me, Melinda, in some instances though, those are very much the realities of some people as a, as a woman leader. Absolutely. I do get more of that in circles that I’m in where people want me to be a little bit more cautious. Or have you really thought this through? Like, are you sure?

Somia Sadiq:

But as a woman leader of color in particular, it becomes harder for me in those circles because I am asked those questions even more and sometimes by my peers, who are other leaders of color, because they have had much worse consequences of failure than some of their non racialized.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, they assume that you’re going to experience it as well. Or maybe they feel there should be some equality about that.

Somia Sadiq:

Well, yeah, like, you know, and there in general, like you said, like, people mean well. And I think it comes from a place of caution and perhaps a place of inducing some humility. Definitely always in need of those checks and balances in the journey as well. So, it comes from a good place and also comes from a place of their perhaps lived experience with not having had the best experience.

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:

‘It was hard for me. So, it’s going to be hard for you too’. I mean. In my generation that was definitely a thing with women, you know, It was kind of this scarcity thing where, where there was, there could only be one. You know what I mean?

Somia Sadiq:

That reminds me how important it is to come from that mindset of abundance, sensitive scarcity. And I think that is one of the other things that as women are a little bit more conditioned to think of, think that they come from a place of scarcity as opposed to abundance. And in a lot of ways how our societal discourse is shaped does encourage more of that scarcity thinking as opposed to assuming that no, like I got this, I do come from a place where I can be scrappy, and I can scrounge and find little pieces of beauty and bring it into a really kick ass product. So, you know, having that mindset of abundance is so important for entrepreneurs and particularly for women to have.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. And it’s one of those things that it’s counterintuitive to a lot of people because our society does not work on that basis. I mean, people are really socialized into scarcity thinking, you know, most of the time. I’ve just found on my own entrepreneurial journey, like just the perennial joke on this podcast, if you want therapy, become an entrepreneur. If it catalyzes in you sort of a, I don’t know, a personal growth journey. We call it a spiritual journey, a conscious journey, whatever kind of language you want to put around it. That step into awareness is part of being able to be in that place of abundance.

Melinda Wittstock:

And it involves you learning to kind of trust yourself. And we go right full circle back to, you know, this idea of owning your own journey. Like, it’s okay, it’s your journey, it’s only yours. You know, the good and the bad and all of it, just being aware, using every, every failure or every mistake or as an opportunity just to learn and grow and get better.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, I love that full circle there. I think that’s, that’s absolutely beautiful to be able to, to shift your mindset and build or spotlight your own being. I think becoming an entrepreneur really pushes your boundaries of growth in ways that you haven’t been pushed before because all of a sudden you’re for your own self. One, you start owning all the decisions that you’re making, which is really fun and can be absolutely frightening at times. And also, you become responsible for people in different ways, more than one way. You’re not just responsible for salaries and such. You’re responsible to facilitate their growth in a lot of ways as well. So, it really is humbling and pushes your boundaries big time.

Melinda Wittstock:

It really does. And it’s also all the things that you can’t necessarily control. I was guilty of this in the early days, you know, my first businesses, you know, like my early 30s, where I thought I could control a lot, much more than like, I could, right? Control is linked to a scarcity thing as well. Because you have this perfect plan and you’re going to execute it, and then you put all these, all these kind of goals or metrics on yourself that are imposed 100% by you like nobody else hold yourself to this standard.

Somia Sadiq:

You can’t blame anyone else.

Melinda Wittstock:

And there was a certain point where I was like, wait a minute, who said that I had to do this particular thing by this particular… right?

Somia Sadiq:

That is so true. You know, I always laugh when I hear someone say that they want to become an entrepreneur because they are looking for work, life, balance, and they are looking for, you know, a, a schedule or something where they can shut off at 5pm I’ve never been able to do that. In a lot of ways, I think being an entrepreneur really pushes you well beyond your normal realms of what you consider work and what you consider life. It totally mashes the two up for you.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s a way of life. I think it’s almost like a way of thinking. My business is always sort of omnipresent in my mind. You know, it’s sort of like a constant macro. I do things like meditation or do, you know, like when I’m with my kids, I want to be 100% present for them. It’s really about, you know, being conscious and being present of the situation you’re in. That said, it’s still there, you know, I don’t know if there’s any, any, any way of it, of it not being. It’s hard to know where your business and you begins and I don’t really know the answer to that from a work life balance perspective.

Somia Sadiq:

You’re right. And it, I think it also depends on what you consider that balance to be for yourself. Like, I draw a lot of energy, excitement from the work that I do. And for me, it is very much intertwined with, with a way of being. I remember a few years ago, or actually just a couple years ago, I was working with the Good Life Institute with some great coaches. And one of the things we did together was build this needs map. And one of the needs that we identified for ourselves was under the category of leisure. So, leisure is according to that framework that we were working with.

Somia Sadiq:

Leisure wasn’t something that you just do for fun, but that state that you can get into where creativity starts emerging. So, what do you do that just helps you get into a flow and. Which was a really beautiful reframing of the word leisure for myself. And I realized that most of my creative ideas actually emerge when I go for a long walk. And every time I do that, whether it’s, you know, with family or with the dogs or whatever else, that’s when all of those really cool, oh, I could do this. Oh, I could do this. So, I am definitely enjoying my walk and getting all the health benefits from it at the time. And also, that’s where the creativity is emerging.

Somia Sadiq:

And that was a really powerful realization for me that for me, those two things are always going to coexist and actually be very closely tied to each other.

Melinda Wittstock:

100% agree. Every single one of my best ideas or epiphanies have come when I’m not working, like working tied to my surgically, attached to my laptop or something, like in a meeting or doing all the thing, all the doing. And so, in that flow where you’re just being that you’re more of a conduit to the kind of creativity and the problem solving and all of that. I completely agree. So, tell me about Narratives, your business.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah. So, Narratives is now just over 8 years old. Started the company a while ago, recognizing that there was perhaps a better or a different way to do things. Narratives provide services in impact assessment, community planning. We support mostly indigenous communities and organizations in activities, developments, economic development, social development in their territories. So, we do that through a lot of different ways and avenues. And it’s been a really incredible honor to support in the background to support the nations in the work that they’re pursuing, whether it’s truth and reconciliation efforts, whether it’s investigations associated with Indian residential schools, you know, documenting their testimony on what transpired, or if it’s an economic development plan for the nation. So, lots of really different, fascinating, powerful spaces too, that we’ve had the honor to partake in and support our clients with.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, what was the impetus that led you to found Narratives? What were you doing before and what made you want to take on such a, you know, pretty noble and mission, and certainly for people who are underserved in our world generally, you know.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah. So, my background, technical background, is in environmental sciences and within that, lots of impact assessment work, which is really just a fancy way of saying when a project is proposed somewhere, we have to understand how it’s going to shift, change, improve or not the economic conditions, the social conditions, the environmental conditions of that. That place. And I come from a worldview that is very much more holistic than some of the Western approaches to understanding impacts where your social is tied to your economic, is tied to everything else around you. So, for many years I worked with large consulting firms supporting some of that understanding and assessments, and then realize at one point in my journey that I think I can do things a little bit differently, make them more holistic, push planning practice. And that is what my discipline would be concerned or would be referred to, is to push that planning practice and bring it into a manner that is much more holistic and interconnected, as opposed to a siloed approach to assessment. So, recognizing that one day decided, I think it’s time. And my husband at the time supported with, hey, took out a calculator, hey, here’s some number crunching that you can do.

Somia Sadiq:

You can do this on your own. So that was it just jumped off the cliff.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, give me an example of a kind of before and after of a community or I don’t know how to kind of client is a weird word for this, but do you know someone that an organization that you’ve worked with, and what was sort of the before and after? What are some of the impacts that you’ve been able to achieve with your business?

Somia Sadiq:

One key, key element of our philosophy is that we’re always in the background. We essentially do what we can to create space and hold space for nations to be able to tell their own story. And I think that’s a really important part of how we do our why, if you will. So, one example that I can share is a few years ago. For the last 20 years in one of the provinces in Canada, a proponent has been trying to twin an existing highway. They’ve tried it for 20 years.

Somia Sadiq:

It hasn’t worked. And one of the reasons that it hadn’t worked was that in their efforts to twin this highway, they weren’t really doing a good job of talking to the communities that were in that area, that have been in that area since time immemorial. When we got involved, we supported the nations in the background with one sort of coming together to negotiate their interests together, and also found very creative ways of doing this project that was rooted in their way of knowing, their indigenous storytelling, how they wanted to approach understanding impacts, as opposed to science only. So, by bringing those two things together after 20 years, we were able to actually find a way to get conditional consent for that project. So that would be one way in which we were able to shift how things have been done historically to how they would now be done in a much more meaningful way. With the elders, with the community members involved.

Melinda Wittstock:

It seems like there’s very much an abundance ethos that runs through your work and its actual impact, not only bringing people together to be more effective at communicating in that kind of holistic way, but that everybody walked away from that winning.

Somia Sadiq:

Absolutely. And I think one of the key things that was different about the approach that we were able to come up with together was we shifted the conversation away from the proponents way of doing things to say, is there a different way? Is there another way to do things? And I think a lot of times in society we assume, and particularly nowadays with, you know, more polarization in the world around us, we assume there’s only one correct way to do this. The way that you were taught in the university is the only way. And that’s it. And we just don’t think beyond that. One of the key things that we were able to create and push for space for was for people to be able to respect ancestral indigenous ways of understanding the world. So, by really creating space for a different way of knowing and being, that’s when people actually started listening. So went beyond just communication, it went really deep into actually honoring a different way of knowing.

Somia Sadiq:

So, I think that was really key to be able to bring that together. And absolutely, that only happens when you approach things with an open mind, an open heart, and an abundance mindset. To say, what we learned here is going to be helpful and it’ll definitely add to our basket of knowledge moving forward.

Melinda Wittstock:

So inspiring. How does the business model work?

Somia Sadiq:

It is a consulting practice. We’re approached by nations, we enter into partnerships with them, and there’s always a lot of creativity in how. What that agreement looks like. So, it may not be your traditional standard consulting agreement. We may have some aspects of capacity building, revenue sharing, whatever that entails in that partnership. So, with every client, it’s a little bit different, and we’re always open to different arrangements.

Somia Sadiq:

It’s also an equity driven model, which means we don’t charge everybody the same. It very much depends on their circumstances and willingness and ability to. To sustain and to pay for certain services. So, it’s a very flexible model; it’s a very responsive model. And I think that in itself really helps us do what we can in a meaningful way, in an empowering way for communities.

Melinda Wittstock:

Very inspiring. And you know, on top of all the work that you’re doing over the last eight years with Narratives, you also run a nonprofit called Kahani. Am I pronouncing that right?

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, close. Close. Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

That works. Yeah.

Somia Sadiq:

Say it how it should be said, Kahanee.

Melinda Wittstock:

Okay, so I was not too bad. Okay.

Somia Sadiq:

Not too bad at all.

Melinda Wittstock:

All right, so this is interweaving stories to support peace building efforts. So that’s important work. So, tell me about its genesis and what the nonprofit does.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah. Thank you, Melinda. So Kahanee, the word Kahanee actually means story in three languages. In Urdu, in Hindi and Punjabi. Two of those are my native languages. In founding Kahanee, one of the key things that inspired that is I grew up in a very storytelling rich world. Everything is a story. There’s allegories and folklores and legends, and that’s how we were raised.

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Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Somia Sadiq, founder and CEO of Narratives.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Somia Sadiq:

Our parents taught us why not to do something, but it was never a don’t do that. It came from a place of, let me tell you a story of a kid who did that. And this is what happened. So, it was this beautiful way of learning and being so grew up very much in that. And over the years, I’ve realized that stories are so powerful in bringing people together. And it might be. It might be really hard for someone to answer the question, how did that impact you? And it might be easier for them to just start telling their story of what happened. So, bringing people together in story, in conversation, around food, around music, around other, you know, little everyday human things can create and nurture that richness that is important for people to start seeing the human in each other and hence move towards More peace agreements, more peaceable ways of living together.

Somia Sadiq:

So that’s what started it.

Melinda Wittstock:

When I look around the world, I think, oh my goodness, you’re so needed.

Somia Sadiq:

Gosh, yes, yes, yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, what are some of the projects and some of the areas of the world that you’re focused on right now?

Somia Sadiq:

We’re currently focused primarily in Canada. And within that, we’re looking at bringing different diaspora communities from all over the world together in conversation. And this creates a really beautiful space for people from different places, away from home to actually think about home and share that beauty with others in the room. So, we have been able to bring a lot of different communities together. We’ve hosted dialogues around different conflicts in the Middle East. We’ve hosted dialogues around racism and identity and belonging, or lack thereof in terms of belonging that people are feeling in their everyday world, in their workplaces and so on. So, we essentially host a lot of these storytelling events and dialogue events that bring different people together.

Melinda Wittstock:

Ah, that’s so beautiful. You know, it’s giving me, it’s reminding me of something that I did in college. I’m Canadian. I went to McGill and my friends and I got together and ran this thing called the International Youth for Peace and Justice Tour where, you know, I don’t even know now how we pulled it off, but we managed to bring something like 120 kids from war torn countries all over the world to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to all meet with each other and meet, you know, community centers, churches, synagogues, you know, the whole thing, like, it was a huge thing. We were kids, right? We were kind of like, I don’t know, 19, 20 years old. It’s like, why couldn’t we do this? And it was amazing.

Melinda Wittstock:

I just remember when the Palestinian and Israeli boy and girl ended up dating like they were 16. Like, like all these incredible, incredible things happen through that dialogue. And we weren’t trained, we didn’t really know what we were doing. We just knew it was a kind of cool thing to do. And efforts like this are just so, so important. You remind them. I’d like sort of almost forgotten it so long ago. I’d almost forgotten that I’d been part of doing that.

Somia Sadiq:

Oh, that’s so amazing. And you know, I love that and thank you for sharing that because it also tells me that there is such power and accessibility in doing something like this. Like we’ve, I feel like increasingly you know, some days when you’re feeling really glum and not very hopeful about the world, I take a step back and think about, you know, are we losing our ability to just talk to each other as human beings?

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, and there are lots of reasons for it. I just think of the toxic effects of social media, which was supposed to bring us together, which has just divided everybody and profited from fear and outrage and whatnot. So, you have a very powerful machine to kind of overcome in that sense, with the narratives that people are being fed and whatnot, because people do have more in common than not. But you wouldn’t think so from just looking at what’s happened with that.

Melinda Wittstock:

How do you kind of combat that in the context of Narratives and what Kahanee means?

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, Great question.

Somia Sadiq:

I really appreciate you saying that, because that’s what goes through my head every time something happens where you just feel that despair and you go, oh, like, where is the world headed? And I just tell them. I take a step back, take a deep breath, and tell myself that, look, there’s always been conflict in the world around us. We’ve. We’ve learned from conflict, and we always learn from conflict.

Somia Sadiq:

It’s a really important teacher. And if we can embrace that, then we can do something about it. And then from there, I jump into. There will always be hate. People will always say mean things to each other. What can I do to shift that? And my goal, through Kahanee, through the work that I do, is to just pump so much middle ground and so much, you know, between the black and black and white, all that gray in the world that we can. We can learn to see each other in a better way. One of my favorite quotes of all times is Rumi’s quote, beyond the ideas of right doing and wrongdoing is a field. I will meet you there. So, whenever I feel that despair, I just tell myself that I need to push out discourse, push out stories, share stories, uplift stories that talk about that middle space, that talk about that beautiful field where we can actually come together. And the more I can do that, I hope that over time, that can drown out or, you know, hold more space for more of the positive, positive, uplifting stories than just the dark, awful despair ones.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, that’s so, so beautiful. And such important work and work that everybody really can be involved in and take a personal responsibility for. I want to make sure we have enough time to talk about your new book, which is coming out in August. Tell me all about that.

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah. Thank you. So, the name of the book is Gujarat. Gujarat is this beautiful fresh flower bracelet typically made with roses. Fresh roses and fresh jasmines. Sometimes a marigold or two. And the book is a. It’s a novel telling the story of a young girl’s journey through life.

Somia Sadiq:

And it really spotlights. Highlights the complexity of what it means to be human. And she wrestles with your ideas of justice and forgiveness. And how do you learn from trauma? And how can you reshape some of those difficult experiences into beautiful teaching and learning moments? So, it’s a beautiful book. I’m very excited about it. I’m hoping that it’ll make trauma learning more accessible for people. It brings together poetry and prose. And, yeah, really looking forward to sharing that with the world.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wonderful. Well, Somia, I’m very inspired talking with you this morning. Thank you for all the great work that you’re doing in the world. I want to make sure that everybody knows the best way to find you support your work. What is the best way?

Somia Sadiq:

Yeah, so people can follow me on Instagram, and I also have a website, so it’s soumyasadik.com they can subscribe for to my newsletter, and I send that out once a month. It shares little updates on how the book journey is going, perhaps a poem I’ve been inspired by. I share some really cool books that I’ve been reading that, you know, fuel me. I would encourage people to. To sign up for that newsletter and follow me along and looking forward to meeting everybody in that space.

Melinda Wittstock:

Beautiful. We’ll all have everything in the show notes. And when your book comes out, why don’t you pop on the podcast again and…

Somia Sadiq:

Absolutely, I would love to.

Melinda Wittstock:

…We can talk more about that. Thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Somia Sadiq:

Thank you so much, Melinda. Thanks so much for having me. It’s been lovely.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Somia Sadiq is the founder and CEO of Narratives. Please create and share your favorite moments of this or any other podcast episode on Podopolo with our socially shareable clipping feature. You can also join us in the episode comments section so we can all take the conversation further with your questions and comments.

Melinda Wittstock:

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