Welcome to What What Amber Do with your host, Amber Howard, your weekly dose of guidance, inspiration, and strategies to have your small business and whole life thrive. We bring you incredible guests who share their real life experiences of being an entrepreneur so you can have your whole life work. Now, here's your host, Amber Howard.

Welcome back to What Would Amber Do, everyone. It's so good to be with you today. I am very excited to have on the show this morning Halima M, also known as Mazajia, online in her many social presences. Halima is a writer, affiliate, marketer, and digital community lead who focuses on tech development and Bitcoin. She also co-founded Oromos in Tech and a tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem for Oromos globally and moderates a community on Clubhouse on one of the sixth largest Clubhouse on the platform, actually, called is it Womix in Crypto? Women in Crypto. So cool. A couple of the other passion projects that I know are very close to Halima's heart, alongside Bitcoin and the work she does around empowering women in fine around their finances and around money, was her involvement with Afrobiz.ca and Hotep Nation, which for building sovereignty and sustainability for underserved communities. And we're going to do something a little bit different today. So Halima Ramasiji is actually going to be back on the show in December as my guest. And we needed to shift that interview back for a couple of reasons. And so she suggested, and I thought it was a great idea because we've got some changes coming to the show. Halima is actually going to be interviewing me this morning. So I've never done this before. She's never done this before. I'm excited to see what comes out of this conversation. And I'm also excited to share with you all some shifts that have been happening in my business and on the podcast so that you can really look forward to kind of a little bit of a shift in direction for all of it. So, Halima, uh, we met many years ago through personal development, which is something you hear me say on the show a lot, because there's a lot of people in my note my network who I met through personal development. You're I'm just so grateful to have you on the show and have this opportunity. And just thank you for sharing yourself with us.

Amazing. Thank you, Amber. It is a pleasure and privilege to be here. And uh I'm really excited to have this amazing opportunity to get to interview you on your show. Yes. We always uh get to, you know, uh hear the interviewer exploring the lives of others, and uh you are quite generous in also, you know, sharing your perspectives and conversations in your show, What Would Amber Do? Um, however, today we're gonna celebrate you um as you know, you've surpassed your Golden Jubilee and in the sixth episode past the Golden Jubilee of What Would Amber Do, um, having hit the top 100 podcasts on Apple um right off the bat, uh, in your first episodes, uh, we'd love to, you know, um get to know more about you know where you are, how that um really like, you know, when it kicked off, what it did for you, and what opened up for you, Amber.

Such a great question. So funny because I have no idea what she's gonna ask me, everyone, by the way. We just like for those listening, we just created this last night. So great. Uh you know, I love connecting with people. It's interesting. I was having a conversation recently with someone. Uh, the we, you know, for some of you you know, we just uh launched uh successfully international bestseller Woman Who Lead. And I was meeting with Istahart, who uh you know led that collaboration for that book project, and she said, You really are great with connecting with people. And uh, and and I said, Yeah, because I love people. And she goes, You really do, and you really care about them. So, like, there's nothing more that I love than to connect with people and talk about the things that matter to them. And so I knew that I would like I knew that the podcast was a good idea. You know, I think when I first started it, like a lot of people was like, Oh, let me, you know, get some credibility, put myself out there, create myself, you know, as a thought leader. Um, I didn't realize it's like become one of my favorite things I do every week. Like it's become like I look forward to my interviews. I look forward to finding the people that I'm going to interview and like having people, you know, whether it's me reaching out to people in my network, that I think, oh, you know, I would just really love to share their story with people, or um, people are starting to reach out to me because they want to be on the show. I just I feel so privileged that people are willing to come and share their time with me and my audience, and that I get to dance in conversation with them. Um, so what having the show has really done for me, along, you know, one, it's really important to me to have a platform that I because I know so many amazing people who are just so committed, like yourself. I mean, you're you're in so many different spaces, you're you're doing so many different things to contribute to other people and make a difference. And so one, I love that I get to give people a platform to talk about those things because I think they're important. Um, two, that for me personally, the podcast has just given me a source of joy and something that I look forward to every week.

So amazing, so amazing. Wow. Um I want to say there's gotta be like a meme with your quote that says dancing and conversations. And um, you know, that's uh really amazing because it's um, you know, precisely um how you've um created that energy and space uh that you know your audience comes and they're able to open up. And uh this is really fantastic. Um and um the other thing that stood out for me in what you said is how you know you you're able to actually tap into and create that opening uh for people to connect with you because you talk about things that matter. And uh that's that's really amazing because I I get to hear that a lot also like listening to Darren Hardy and you know, he keeps rephrasing Jim Rome's quote about talk about things that matter to people who care, you know, and you're bringing both of that element from your end about caring for others and talking about things that matter to them, and uh in turn attracting the audience uh that uh you know are um not only wanting to, you know, like learn more from you, uh, but to be around you. And uh so outside of this podcast, you do other things, Amber. Uh you know, yeah, I do. Kind of talk to us about that.

It's so it's so funny because when you're someone whose heart is just about serving, Halima, you know, the opportunities to serve will just keep showing up as long as you're willing to, and and the other part is like willing to be a yes to step into them. And and sometimes even when you don't know if you have the traps or what it's gonna take. So, you know, I have my own consulting services company. We we do coaching, consulting, training, and developing. Um, I would have, you know, this is part of the shift in the in the focus, as I've, especially since COVID and and over the last, I'd specifically say six months, seven months, gotten more clarity. Um, you know, I I think I've said this on the show before, but people are always talking about niching down and getting clear about who your target market is. And and I really struggle, I'm you know, given how much I care about people, and given, you know, I I try to be humble about it, but I I could pretty much help anyone. You know, I'm I'm really I'm I'm pretty diverse in terms of the skill sets that I have and what I bring to the table and the different backgrounds that I have and experiences that I have. So I really, like I mean, words create your world, and I don't like to use the word struggle, but I really did struggle for a long time to really know who to speak to in terms of you know, the my my my services and what it was that I was offering. Because anytime I went, oh, I'm gonna help single moms or oh, I'm gonna serve, you know, entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs who are 40 years old, and that you know, I just felt like I was excluding other people who I could I could be of service to. And I do think there is wisdom from a marketing and branding perspective, is that when you try and speak to everyone, you don't you serve no one. So I I do get the value in in niching down. And at the same time, I really uh I really struggled in my business to to really know who who my audience was. And through some personal development work I did over the last couple of months, I really got that my super power, like my superhero power. And I can't wait. I'm going to see Eternals tomorrow, Marvel for the win. You know, by the time you hear this podcast, I will have already seen Eternals. And I just have to say, it's like one of the happiest moments of my life when Angelina Joe Lee becomes a Marvel superhero. So thank you, Marvel Universe, for fulfilling one of Amber's dreams. Um, but one of my superhero powers is I facilitate other people's greatness. Like I help other people, you know, see their greatness, be able to express their greatness, and then be able to like become unstuck in the pursuit of their greatness. And so, and when I looked out to like what it what is my purpose? Why am I here? Why what what it why was I created? You know, I really do see a place for me in really helping fulfill on things like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, you know, really bringing workability to the world, creating a future where everyone knows profound love, connection, and belonging. And so when I looked at, well, what's the best way for me to fulfill on my purpose? It was like, well, that would look like working with executive directors, CEOs of, you know, whether they're not for-profit or for-profit, of sustainable organizations that are out to impact things at a global level. Because when I help those people, when I facilitate those people's leadership, whether it's through consulting services in their businesses, helping them, you know, their business strategies, or find solutions for any of, you know, identifying gaps in their organizations or coaching them around performance and mindset, helping them see the things that may be hidden from their view that are impacting their ability to take their organization to the next level, all of these things, then I move the needle on fulfilling on my my purpose and why I was created. So I got for myself recently that I don't have to be the one to create every platform. I don't have to be the one to end poverty or to, you know, build every single house. But I get to, you know, facilitate other people either stepping into that leadership or being able to fulfill on their leadership when they have a purpose that's operating at that level. And so that, you know, that's part of what I wanted to talk about this morning. That's so, so that's that's really where I'm gonna be shifting my focus and I'm looking out at like what are those groups of, you know, specifically um, specifically, and I don't want to say female leaders, but I'm looking to work more with people who are leading from a feminine energy, whether they're male or female, people who are looking to look at new models for leadership, not the old hierarchical models, but people who are really looking to see how do we create sustainable organizations that put people first, focus on growth and partnership, uh, which are the values of my company and so important to me. So, and that's the direction I'm gonna be shifting the show in as well. So, you know, I will interview some entrepreneurs, but I will be interviewing on the show going forward leaders of sustainable organizations that are out to cause and fulfill on a commitment. Uh, and and they may or may not be. That could be at varying different stages of that journey. Maybe they already have an organization that they're running or working with or a company that they're working with, or maybe they've got a massive commitment for the world that they haven't fulfilled on yet, or they don't even know how to fulfill on. I want to give those people a platform to talk about what matters to them.

Wow, this is amazing. Um, I want to say to the listeners, please take notes of what just got dropped here. Um, because what I heard is a you were also, first of all, clear on your values. You know, that came with clarity, with ease as you were expressing, um, you know, and you know, providing profound love and connection, which I want to say sounds like rooted for you to identify the skills that you are best at. And you brought that on to say that wanting to facilitate other people's greatness. Um, that in itself is a niche, you know, and uh taking that and doubling it down to focus on doing less and causing more impact by working directly with the leaders who are, you know, making the huge impact in the areas that you wanted to make a difference in, and now you get to do that by working directly with them. This is really amazing and incredible. I'm so loud.

I love you so much. It's so great. You know, Dave Dick, and a huge shout out. He's uh my one of the people, my main person that I work with around branding and marketing. And and he and I have uh an amazing call each week. We both look forward to it, where we kind of I so coach him in his business, he coaches me in this area, and we just kind of we often just talk about life and the things that we're learning on our journey. One of the things that human folk, which is Dave's um company, are so good at is helping you articulate articulate and discover the deep truth of, you know, of your or of your niche, of your target, of why is it, why is it that you're doing what you're doing? And one of the things that we discovered in conversation about this is, you know, part of what I see that people who have such a massive commitment deal with is like one, sometimes they deal with I don't even know how to fulfill on this. Like I don't even know how to get started. You know, I I want to be able to end climate, you know, impact climate change at a global level. I want to be able to end poverty. I'm actually, I have another interview for the show today. I'm interviewing an incredible woman who's the executive director of Crossroads International, which does work with women and girls empowering them in in Africa, and it has a great partnering model where they partner with um amazing organizations that are Canadian not-for-profits. So there's so many people doing incredible work, 10 million not-for-profits around the world, let alone NGOs, passion projects, all of these people who care. So sometimes I think people don't know how to get started, but also I think there's a bit of a sense, and my friend Siobhan says this so well, that it's like when you when you operate at that level that you are trying to mop up the ocean with a paper towel. Like, how could you how could an executive director of an organization, right? So you found your purpose, you've, you know, you've done what God, I don't know how many people on this planet, what percentage of human beings ever actually discover what their purpose was and why they were created. You've found that, you've you've created this vision for your future, and yet you don't have the experience of being fulfilled every morning when you wake up because when you look up and out, it's like there's never going to be enough resources to be able to, you know, to fulfill on why I was created. And that kind of sense of futility that I think a lot of leaders of these, you know, we put on a brave face, we you, you know, we we put ourselves out there and we be positive and we show up every day. But I think that kind of scarcity that can get into the, you know, can be hidden in the background, that fear that no matter what, it's not going to get done in my lifetime, can, you know, that when that gets into the leadership of organizations, it becomes a clearing. And then people, organizations end up not using the resources that they do have as effectively as they could be. So, you know, from a mindset point of view, I'm really out to empower people and empower leaders of organizations around what can be possible for them and like in shifting and like just being really intentional about their thinking and their speaking around what it is that they're that they're creating in their organizations. And from a from a more tactical point of view, there are so many things that we could be doing and that organizations that could be doing from a process point of view, from a resource management point of view, from a partnership point of view, to actually be more effective in achieving the vision and mission of their organizations and their companies. So, you know, I see it as kind of being twofold, right? What are the solutions that we could put in place so that people could be having a bigger impact with the resources they have? What if you could fulfill on your vision and mission with the resources that you already have?

Absolutely, absolutely. My yeah, we that's a whole chapter on its own with the untapped resources that already exist. And um, it's really great that what I hear is you know, you're bringing forth to overpower um what's available and focus the focus on what's available than what's not and what's missing. You know, that's it's so amazing. Wow. Um, I would say people would be lucky to be working with you. And um again, for the listeners, I would say take notes. Um, you know, uh like Amber, you've uh touched up upon um, you know, working with certain parties and you're you know offering your consulting service as a space of mentorship. And sometimes, you know, there are you know certain groups or persons who would feel that you know they don't require mentorship or need advice. Do you come across that in your journey in reaching out to people?

I I I I really don't, and I and I um just because I think the kind of I mean we attract to us the kind of people who we're clearing for, right? So the kind of and I like I'm interested in being around people who are always looking at what's next and like leveling up and like where are the gaps, right? So I don't meet a lot of people who have a mindset, I mean I probably did in the past, I don't think I do really now, um, who kind of are like, oh, I've got everything handled. And you know, even like I I my students at the University of Toronto, I have um teach, I teach the leadership course there every semester for their business analysis certificate. They just keep giving me the same course over and over again. I think it's because they know it's my favorite and they love it. Uh we had this amazing conversation about communication, last lane, communication skills. And even my students are like, oh, like, where would I go to find a coach? Like, I just think it's like what, you know, kind of gets in the water around you, what you think about. And I'm so grateful to the many mentors that I've had who um helped me to become really responsible for my speaking and my what I create in language and in thought, because I'm so clear. You know, there would have been a point in time where I would have really seen that Helema as like woo-woo. Like, what do you mean I can think things and they show up? But it really does work that way. I have lots of evidence. And you know, I have lots of evidence. And what whether you call it praying, you know, or you call it meditating, or you call it, you know, setting intentions or whatever you want to call it, um there is, and it's not, you know, from a from a philosophical anna uh relationship. Religious, like all of it, you know, Plato talked about the metaphysic the metaphysical world and and how things move from forms in the metaphysical world into the physical world that we live in. Like, um, this is not a new conversation. Human beings have been engaged in this conversation from time, I think. This idea that, you know, we can ask for what it is that we want. And and and so I think the short answer is no, I don't meet a lot of those people. And maybe as I move into different circles and I start doing work with other people, well, maybe there'll be some bumping up against that. Um, but I think you know, what it means to facilitate is to clear out of the way what's in the way for people. And I think uh that when that is who you be in life, like people show up in your space with a desire to right, people show up in your space with a desire to have something cleared out of the way.

Wow. Yes, I felt that clearing just as you're saying. I don't know whether that trickles down in the audio, and I sure hope so. Uh, this is really amazing, Amber.

Um so yeah, and the other thing I want to say, Holima, while we're you know, while I have the mic, haha. Yeah, uh, you know, another big uh area of focus for me, and I'm I'm putting this out there because I really I'm at a point, you know. I said some people are a point where they don't know how to fill on something. So one of the things that's been coming up for me a lot in and um in conversations and people have been coming to me, I'm very bored with the old network of conversations between men and women. Like I'm just, you know, if we live, if we really do believe, and I do, that words create our world and that we are just networks of conversations as human beings, and I and I do believe that, then nothing new gets created if we keep saying the same things. And women and men have been saying many of the same things about one another, to one another, to woman to woman, you know, just the same conversations. Men oppress women, women oppress men, you know, beta males, alpha females, like all of this stuff, like there's just so much dialogue or monologuing that happens about men and women that really has a destructive impact on every aspect of our lives. Like the more I dig into this topic with people, the more I'm getting so clear for myself, like the dynamic and the relationships between men and women impact every area of our life, leadership and organizations, family life, dating life, friendship circles, like just like I can't even so much. And I've been having more and more men share with me their stories of things that they've been through in their early childhood, especially with their mothers, that they haven't necessarily felt safe to talk about. And one of the things that I've discovered is we may not hold women to be sacred in most cultures globally, but there is a way we hold mother to be sacred that sometimes I think prevents men specifically from feeling safe to be able to talk about things. And I'm not even talking about if a mother, whether it's traumatic or not, because you and I know from the work that we've done in personal development, it doesn't have to be horrific trauma to have people get left with things in childhood, which then go on to shape their view for the world. And the relationship of mother is so sourceful to people's views of women. So there's something arising for me around shifting this narrative, creating safe spaces for people to have conversations about biological sex, gender, masculine, feminine energy. I'm hoping to be, we find out on the 18th, to be doing a workshop with an incredible woman by the name of Fada from Landmark, she was a self-expression leadership program leader. Um, we're hoping to do a workshop at the Conference for Global Transformation next year on this topic. Like, where are the places where your view is so fixed you don't even think you could question or inquire into something? And I'm gonna be, you know, inside of starting to have this conversation with people. Corey, who was on the show, he's from Australia, an incredible man who does rites of passage work with young men in Australia, Australia. He takes them into the Outback to like talk about and get skills around talking about their feelings and big emotions and stuff like that. Corey and I are gonna be doing a pop-up podcast probably in 2020, early 2022, where we talk about and we interview men who have healed their mother wounds and transformed their relationship with women so we can give them a platform to share their stories and really honor and celebrate them. But I'm just kind of putting it out there because I don't, this is such a big thing, right? How do we actually create wholly new dialogues about and between men and women? And uh so I'm just putting it out there for anyone who's listening to the show. If you've got any ideas or uh, because the more I move out into the world and start having conversations with people in other countries that have great, met a great guy from Guatemala, I get the impact. Like this is a huge conversation, and the impact of this on women in in other parts of the world and on men, because this is my truth. When we do harm to each other, we harm ourselves. So men who are harming women and children, whether they be male or female children, are in the process of harming those or actually harming themselves because we're all made from the same thing. We're all one. And women who are harming men, like, so I'm just really committed that inside of fulfilling on a future where we all get to know profound love, connection, and belonging, that people that we we we change these narratives because I think that that is like just so fundamental. We're not gonna be able to create that future that I see unless we create safe spaces and start having new conversations and start asking new questions. So I know I just said a lot there, but oh, this is amazing.

Um, how this is so great. What I heard and all of that, and what you are doing in business, and what you are also bringing out in the world in life is in business. You've mentioned that you know, to be able to work with the people that you know bring feminine energy in in that workspace to shift the culture and the way things are, and from that, you know, you've brought a focus to build out in your niche and fulfill your purpose um through facilitation uh by not excluding men and you know, and and and and bringing forth and now bringing that even further that yes, you know, life at work and life at home is there is a correlation in that. So, how do we also make a difference in that and to be able to do through your podcast? Um, so would would this be something also, you know, you've mentioned um, you know, updates of your um podcast coming forth, you know, on what's new. Um so far, what we've heard was that you know, you're gonna be focusing on, you know, speaking with executives uh that are involved in the UN's sustainable goals developments, and also to be able to open up a new conversation um in where there's going to be a space um to bring on voices of men, which there are so very few spaces for them.

Yeah, I I want we need all of it. Yes, like we need all of it. We can't heal our wounds, and we can't, you know, and it's one thing, like there are some really incredible men out there, and I really want to acknowledge them. Corey is one of them. Like, I know a number of Anoop, I know my son Matthew. There are like many incredible men out there that are doing the work and that are uh really on the court in their lives looking at their relationships, period.

Right?

Shout out to Afrobas and Hotep Nation. Yeah.

I know that you work with many of those incredible men as well. And um, in one, so I think it's important that we honor and celebrate them, and and two, I we we we can't, it's not about like what if what if we just talked about it wasn't male leadership or female leadership? What if it was just leadership and and ways of being and acting that work in leadership? Right? What it what if it was just relationships between human beings and our focus was on how do we have healthy relationships between human beings, regardless of of what people's gender or biological sex are. Now, and I and for whoever's listening to this, like I'm not saying that there aren't meaningful differences between the sexes, you know, when it comes to um, well, I don't know, whatever's meaningful for you, right? The physiological strength or uh ability to bear children. I'm not saying that we're not made in some ways to be different. But when it comes to when it comes to the fundamental needs of what it is to be a human being, right? The need for connection, the want, the desire to belong and to be accepted, the the desire to have meaningful, to be able to create in life in whatever way it matters to you, whether that's in your personal life or your business life, or you know, being able to create through procreation and creating a family and leaving a legacy that way. There, you know, the the experience of self-doubt and shame and and and disconnection and what that feels like to experience being disconnected from ourselves and from other human beings. You know, what my friend Um Patricia, who I had on the show last week, talks about like the places we abandon ourselves to please other people or to be accepted and you know, all of these things. These are human experiences. And and in in, you know, the more we can start to look at the places where we have common ground and the common experiences that we have, that's gonna go a long way to being able to shift the narrative and the conversations and stop having this be us versus them. You know, I've been talking to people recently. It's like, oh, there's like a backlash coming from the Me Too movement. And it's like, okay, how many times are we gonna do this? This is not a new conversation. Yeah, this is like not a new conversation, everyone. This is not the first backlash. There's like a, you know, feminism like back in the day, like that. You know, how many times can we we circle, we walk around in this, you know, before we start to say no, like women need men, men need women. Human beings need human beings in order, we need connection in order to thrive. You this is not my personal opinion. This is like, you know, sociologists, psychologists, like this is a fundamental human need. People, you know, you work to the work of Gabor May in Vancouver, an amazing doctor who's been doing work in addictions. And like, you know, I saw recently a news story there where I see that they're looking to ask the government to decriminalize all drugs in in British Columbia. And I promise you that that's the source of some of that work is Gabor Mate's work, where he's saying, why are we criminalizing people when they're using drugs to be able to simulate the experience of connection and belonging? This is a hardwired human need. So if we know that this is, you know, a hardwired human need, then like let's start having that conversation. What are the barriers to human beings having connection and experience and being accepted and belonging? What do we need from one another? How can we help men? What gets in the way of men belonging and feeling accepted and feeling connected with other men, with women, with children? Those new conversations, and I want to know because I'm sure there are people out there and platforms out there that are already having this conversation. Um, um, I'm not out here to reinvent the world wheel, but I am out here to cause partnership. And, you know, if there are people who need support and guidance and being able to elevate their voices, then I'm here for that.

So amazing. So amazing, Amber. Thank you so much. This is really phenomenal. Um, I'm excited for these conversations to be coming forth and listening in on them. And uh I encourage you, everyone, to be sure to subscribe to What Would Amber Do's podcast and hit the notification bell as we get week after week, you know, amazing interviews and also dancing and conversations with What Would Amber Do. Um, Amber, do you have anything you'd like to plug in um as what is next?

Nothing particular. I just am really open and I just really want to. Uh this has been fun. I've never done this, but we since we said the beginning, I've never done this. I had no idea what to expect, Halima. You know, you are just extraordinary. You're just such a ray of light and someone who is such a massive possibility and just always in action, out to fulfill on, you know, I see you in a as a similar type of leader to me. You know, you're constantly looking up and out. How can you help other people facilitate and you know, fulfill on the things that are important to them and matter to them? And you're in action doing that all the time. And so I can't wait to have you back on the show in December and interview you because I know you've got some really exciting things coming up. And so I can't wait to share everything that you're up to with the world and with my audience. And for those of you just um who listen to the show and and I hope you I know we're gonna be shifting the focus a little bit, but I don't think it's gonna be that big of a departure from the kinds of conversations that we've already been having with people. So please stay tuned and um just thank you for for being on this journey with me every week.

Amazing. Thank you, Amber. And be sure to leave reviews on What Would Amber Do podcast and let us know what your favorite episode is. Cheers.

Have a great week, everyone.

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode. For show info, visit whatwoodamberdo.com. And for information about Amber Howard and Associates' offerings and services, visit amberhowdenc.com.