Muslims Doing Things

Zainab Johnson ( @zainabjohnson ) is a comedian, writer, and actress.  Zainab Johnson is a comedian, writer, and actress. Zainab’s comedy is based on her unique point-of-view, which as one of thirteen siblings in a black Muslim family in Harlem.  After getting a degree in Math and Education and taking a job as a teacher, Zainab quickly learned she had a different calling. And once she started to p...

Sidra Trajcevska founded Jasmine + Marigold ( @jasmineandmarigold ) on the heels of a successful corporate career. Sidra found herself on the tough end of the celebration equation as mom to a half-Macedonian/half-Pakistani child. When Sidra realized that there weren’t onesies available to celebrate Eid, she created her own. Between that moment and today, Sidra figured out how to build, scale, and...

Sarah Ahmed is a psychotherapist  Sarah Ahmed’s LinkedIn refers to her as an “experienced Clinical Social Worker with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry.” But Sarah, on social media, is the POC therapist. (@the.poc.therapist) . Sarah’s social media presence addresses a variety of mental health related topics in an accessible way. Separately, she went from...

When Afshan Nasseri ( @lifesforliving ) did not get the corporate job she thought she should get amidst a pandemic, as a fresh-COVID-grad of McGill University. So, Afshan just started her own agency (yes — just like that! The story is amazing). Aam Creative ( @aamcreative ) is a team is made of women of color from around the world who focus on social media strategy, storytelling, brand strategy, a...

Sabrina Siddiqui ( @sabrinasiddiqui) knew she wanted to be a journalist as a Pakistani-American teenager living in Italy, but did not realize her choices would land her a coveted position as a White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Sabrina covers the Biden presidency right now. Listen to Sabrina and I talk about her journey to political reporting and what a day in the life is like...

Ali Baluch (@baluchx) started his career in video on YouTube — by joining FouseyTube in its early days. Ali worked with Yousef to take the channel from 500k to 10m (and over 1.5b views), creating one of the early YouTube phenomenons (which I learned was..stunted!). Ali’s journey in production and cinematography is a journey that spans through household names like Nickelodeon, HBO Max, and MTV. And...

Ameena Soliman ( @meen_mill ) is a pro scout for the Philadelphia Eagles, where she also serves as Director of Personnel Operations. In this episode, Ameena breaks down her journey to scoutdom, which reveals a breakneck speed through the ranks at the NFL. Ameena provides a tactical approach to how to get into sport while revealing a razor sharp intelligence and hyperfocused work ethic. It goes wit...

Amna Nawaz ( @amnaonpbs ) is an American broadcast journalist and a co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour alongside Geoff Bennett. Before joining PBS in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News and NBC News. And before that, a foreign correspondent. Amna dives into her path to the co-anchor seat, including time in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and how her husband has played a key role in the...

If you’re on TikTok, you have seen the hysterical (and sometimes unhinged) Duolingo posts. And if you were interested in learning a language (like my husband was, actually), you probably converted into a Duolingo user because of the prevalence of Duo the owl on TikTok. I was stunned to find out that all 6m of us Duo stans were actually following a fresh-out-of-college Pakistani American, Zaria Par...

As an Iraqi-American, Audie Attar’s ( @AudieAttar ) parents saw athletic talent in him and nurtured it through high school and into college. Audie played football at UCLA before a fight got him kicked out of the school and landed him at Idaho State. The racial undercurrents of the fight, grounded in Islamophobia, did not stop Audie’s team at UCLA from working hard to get him back on their side. Sh...

Manal Aman @helloholydays knew who she admired: Martha Stewart. She went to college with the goal of figuring out the business of Martha, and graduated into an editorial job for the DIY queen herself. Within a few short years, Manal figured out how to get her own line into Crate and Barrel to celebrate Ramadan (yes, that advent calendar — the one we all lost it for). Listen to Manal’s journey Shop...

Yusra Siddiqui (@thatgirlyusra) is an Associate Fashion Editor at Who What Wear, and at her core she is a journalist. Yusra talks about what it takes to build a career in fashion journalism, how she got to where she is, and her recent cover stories with Jenna Ortega and Madelyn Cline. Listen to Yusra lay out the power of connection, not giving up, and what her life looks like as a Fashion Editor (...

Anoosha Syed (@foxville_art) is a Pakistani-Canadian freelance illustrator + character designer for animation, based in Toronto. If you have kids, you likely have come across her work ( Bilal Cooks Daal and That’s Not My Name are both on Kamila’s bookshelf!). Since graduating, Anoosha has worked as a character designer for preschool series in development working with clients like Disney, Netflix a...

Evelyn Alsultany (@ evelynalsultany )is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in U.S. media. Her research, teaching, and lecturing are driven by a commitment to bringing Arab and Muslim Americans into the broader conversation about racial politics in the U.S. In her lectures, she seeks to educate audiences on the history of stereotypical representations of Arabs a...

Engie Hassan ( @engiestyle ) went into fashion without a clear picture of what that could mean -- and has since built her own styling empire. From celebrities, to royalty, to regular folks, Engie knows how to orchestrate the vision behind how someone is perceived. From an internship at Vogue, to a full circle moment with Anna Wintour, real-talk with Yeezy when he was trying to find his personal br...

If you haven't seen @amandasplate on Master Chef, you have probably come across her content on Instagram. Amanda's career started in social work, before a career changing opportunity to be on TV (against 10,000 other hopefuls) landed Amanda a full time culinary career. Listen to Amanda's journey on and off screen, as a famous chef.   Follow Amanda on all platforms at  https://www.instagram.com/ama...

Zain never imagined that her calling would be in acting, but when she knew - she knew. Having accrued 1.2m TikTok fans that flocked her way due to her lighthearted personality and jokes, Zain has painstakingly taught herself how to make it in acting through a love for growth. Listen to Zain talk about her journey with refreshing transparency, and follow Zain below ⬇️ Follow Zain on Instagram @zain...

Pious Ali immigrated from Ghana to New York in 2000 in hopes of purchasing photography equipment for his flourishing photography career back home. Like many other Muslims, the events that took place on September 11th, 2001 changed the course of his life — as he realized he was in his moment to pursue a version of his American dream. Pious moved to Maine in 2002, got involved at the grassroots to e...

For the first time in the pod's history, we have a guest come back -- a year later! Yasamine Durali is a content creator and my SIL. Last year, she laid out her roadmap to getting TikTok famous, and a year later she shares how far the journey has come, from expanding platforms, to getting managed, to building the confidence needed to take more steps forward. I enjoyed this epi because Yasi is a si...

Sumbul Siddiqui is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 77th mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Siddiqui was elected mayor in 2020 by the Cambridge City Council, after serving in the body for 3 years, becoming the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts history. Listen to Sumbul's journey. I recorded this epi a few weeks ago, before experimenting with video! It will be my last audio only i...

Sarah Khan ( @bysarahkhan ) is an an award-winning journalist with 18 years of writing and editing experience, most recently as Editor in Chief of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East. Sarah has reported from six continents (almost 7!!) for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, and many others. Earlier in Sarah's career, she worked at Travel + Leisure and Gotha...

Lorraine Ali is an Iraqi-American journalist who serves as a culture writer and a TV critic. She is a juror for the George Foster Peabody Awards. Lorraine works for the LA Times, where she was previously a senior writer and music editor. Her work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, the New York Times, GQ, and Newsweek. Listen to Lorraine and I talk about her career as a real-life i...

@Ramy Youssef’s show follows a namesake character that is played by him, but the title is not an eponym — to be clear! Ramy has received global acclaim in the form of endless thought pieces, Twitter threads, a Golden Globe (to Ramy himself!), a Peabody Award, and 3 Emmy noms for the show. And Ramy won’t forget to remind you that the accolades are to be spread across the team behind the series. Ram...

Tareq Azim ( @Tareq ) is a seven-time World Championship attending coach in combat sports, a former Division I linebacker at Fresno State, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, an author, and a philanthropist. He also created the first Afghan Women's Boxing Federation in 2004. Listen to Tareq and I chat about his non-linear path -- from his beginnings as an Afghan refugee, through his very cool career jo...

Huda Idrees is CEO and founder of Dot Health -- a simple and secure way to access your health records. Huda was in college (but, as you will hear, over a decade into her career) when she started her startup journey at a company that was later purchased for half a billion dollars. Shortly after, she become CPO at a company that has since blown up with over 1000 employees. While CPO, Huda left her p...