Turn Your Passion Into Profit feat. Maria Shah

About This Episode

Welcome back to You Rock with Dr. Aliah Majid! Today, I am accompanied by Maria Shah. Maria is an entrepreneur in Canada, and her mission is to help young Muslim girls to find their purpose in life through her Online Islamic Education Classes. 

Listen to the full episode or read the episode summary below.

Aliah Majid 3:23
So from what I hear about your businesses, you have so many different passions and what makes you do what you do right now. Why do you do what you do?

Maria Shah 3:42
So I’ve always wanted to have something of my own that I can work with my own values and my own beliefs. Basically. I was a teacher in Buxton, back home. And when I moved here, I did my early childhood education in 2006 and seven, and then from, from there to now. I worked with children of different age groups and families and stuff. So slowly, slowly, I went, I wanted to do something of my own, but I never got a chance. There were not enough resources or it just never clicked. And I guess it was not the right time maybe. So then, during the pandemic, I think that’s a silver lining of COVID that it came in my these ideas started coming in my head because I was seeing all over around me people were losing jobs. You know, it was just chaos basically. So I was like, Okay, how about I What can I do to help? What can I do something different that can make even a little tiny difference, I would love to do that. So that’s where I started picking up. And that’s where these ideas of me making my own body butter.

What You Wish You Had Known When You Start A Business?

Aliah Majid 7:08
What do you wish you had known when you started out in this business journey?

Maria Shah 7:26
Yes, absolutely. So you know, when we start on, we plan on starting a business, there are so many things that are included in running a business. It’s not as simple as you wake up one day, you have an idea and you start your business, basically, right? It’s not that simple. I wish it was, but it’s not. When I started, I had no idea. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to make because I’ve never studied business or any of that. So I remember when I was making my body butter. So I received a very big order from a store from an organic store in Manitoba. And they asked me to give them a very big amount of body butter and lip balms. So I did that.

But then I wasn’t sure I was like, okay, so I just delivered and that’s it. Because I had nobody was assisting me or anything, right? So she’s like, Where’s the invoice? And I’m like, am I supposed to give you, and all those things. Right now, when I think about this thing, I really enjoy them. I thought I don’t know why I was thinking that she has to give me something. So I’m waiting, waiting. And then I’m like, Can I see your manager again? Because she asked me that she has to give me something and then the manager came. And she’s like, No, you have to give me. You know, these little mistakes but they teach you amazing things, you know, the enormous amount of learning that happens? I am a firm believer that when you do work yourself, the amount of learning that you get is beyond than any book can teach you.

Aliah Majid 10:02
Yeah, I think that is quite true for being an entrepreneur, we have to be okay with making mistakes. This is what we will learn in the long term and make sure that whatever these mistakes are we know we are learning to become better and improve whatever we are trying to do every day, right?

Maria Shah 10:30
That’s why I tell my son because whenever he made any mistake and I said, Well, you’re supposed to make mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, then that means something is wrong.

Aliah Majid 10:39
Yeah, I agree with you. Because sometimes I’m seeing the education system sometimes are really afraid of the kids making mistakes. I have three kids on my own. Sometimes when they make mistakes, and they become scared of it, I say, No, don’t be scared, I’m not angry. It’s okay. It’s okay to make mistakes you learn from this experience. And these are the things that we want to impart to the younger generations.

Maria Shah 11:14
Absolutely, yes, yes. Because I remember when I was a child at school, we were told not to make mistakes, we were told that our work has to be perfect. You are supposed to be getting A’s and stars all the time. Yes. And I don’t know, how is that possible? Because not everybody is perfect.

Aliah Majid 11:36
Nobody’s perfect. You know, and I would agree with you. Because right now, the current situation in Malaysia is that we are homeschooling and schooling our kids. So it is hard because it is not easy. In terms of, you know, sometimes both parents and working and we have multiple kids. So making sure that they have the same education as maybe some other household is not, it’s impossible, right? Maybe some people can devote their attention 100% to that one kid and, and replace that sort of teacher figure but most of us have to make do with whatever we have, at whatever time and resources that we have.

Aliah Majid 13: 00

How do you overcome the challenges that you face?

Maria Shah 13:01
I feel that challenges will be there. Your perspective changes next time, you know, with experiences and everything. So initially, like, I told you, that little details I did not know anything about. So, of course, I used to get this feeling that, oh, people are going to think that, you know, here you are, she’s running a business, she doesn’t even know how small details of the business, you know, and I, it was hard for me to find a source who can teach me without me spending 1000s of dollars, because the, you know, the sessions and the courses they’re acquired are expensive. And if I’m not earning anything, it was it will be definitely difficult for me to spend money, you know, on anything that I want to learn. So basically, my whole idea was for myself to have the small little sessions with my own self. And I would sit and I would write down in my journal and diaries. I would listen to small like lectures from different scholars, how to overcome your own weaknesses, and how to tell yourself that you can do it.

How to Stop the Negative Thoughts

Maria Shah 16:35
We are all human. It’s not, I mean, nobody can say that, oh, every day was a perfect day or every day, I felt, you know, a good boost of, you know, the positivity, you know, that was not the case, there were days when I felt like, I don’t think it’s gonna work, or what am I doing? You know, I gave up my job, and I’m starting this business, you know, all those thoughts, they were coming in my head, and then again, do you allow those thoughts to keep on going in your head and mess around with your own goal that you have for yourself? Or you’re stopping those thoughts? And, and it’s fine. So that’s where I was making sure that Alhamdulillah that I check it that okay, is it getting too much if it is, then maybe I should take a break. And then you know, and then move forward, because otherwise, it’s not worth it. Otherwise, it won’t work, it won’t, it will never work. Especially when you don’t have help. You don’t have a big team who is doing different, if you are the only person who is doing your business, then, of course, the ups and downs come and they some time you really fall and you are like you feel so bad. But then I handle that you just have to get up and then start.

Aliah Majid 18:07
Right. Yeah.  When I learned that there’s a difference between emotions and thoughts and that emotions are the natural response to certain circumstances. Like when you are hot, you feel hot, and when something happened, maybe you get angry, and that that sensation is in your body. But the thought is what comes after that. So I when I learned about these two things, and separating them, meaning that Yeah, you can get angry at the situation that you’re in. But the thoughts that come after that you can control the thoughts that come after there. So this is really beautiful. And I think this is the thing that everybody needs to know. But certainly, we don’t know about this, you know?

Negativity is so heavy that it comes and it just sits and makes you tired.

Maria Shah 19:34
True, absolutely true. And I used to listen to an Ustazah from Jannah Institute. Her lectures are really nice and motivational. And that’s where I was getting more information and listening to different scholars. And, you know, just to spend some time with your own self has a huge impact. And then I also believe that negativity is very heavy. You know, when, and negativity is everywhere. I feel that’s my personal opinion, that negativity is so heavy that it comes and it just sits and makes you tired. And you feel like, you just cannot get out, you feel like you’re going to give up. And that’s when you really have to spend time with yourself. And you really have to check that. Okay, what’s going on? And what are the thoughts that are causing that negativity?

What is the situation that is triggering some negative thoughts, or if I’m listening to something that is causing me to have that negativity? So once I was checking it, I was Alhamdulillah with the help of Allah SWT, I was able to identify, and then lots of Dzikir. That’s like a cure for your heart diseases, right? Because exactly works like an ointment, you have a wound, and you have to clean it with Istigfar, and then the ointment is the Dzikir. And you just have to keep on doing it and InsyaAllah you do feel a difference. And with lots of Doa, it’s not possible that Allah will just leave you up. And you’re asking him to help. So that’s what that was a huge help. And Alhamdulillah I, one thing I felt was that nothing is impossible. You know, and it’s not like, Okay, this thing is not working. Now, I think I’m not good enough, or I don’t think I can do it.

No, if this is not working, okay, think about what else can you do. Because every single person has so many skills, you don’t have just one skill, you may know how to sew, you will have the skill of cooking and just talking just a good talk. Or some people have the skill of singing. We are just so busy in these busy lives, we forget to see ourselves, we don’t even pay attention to ourselves, the only time we pay attention to ourselves is when we get sick. That’s about it. But other than that, we’re just busy with kids with work with how stuff with just everything. So you know, and that’s when I feel that just look inside you and you will find this treasure of things and skills that Allah SWT has given you, so just use it and try to see what works. If it doesn’t work, it’s okay. Try something else.

Aliah Majid 22:58
When is the time that you think is appropriate when you start when you need to start investing more in learning to scale your business?

Maria Shah 37:42
I would really like to tell whoever is listening and whoever would be interested to know is to just not give up. And you know, and also another important very important thing that I have learned in my life is not to judge yourself based on just social media followers, especially young girls. It’s very difficult for them that the pressure is huge. So you know, the body image, the color of the skin, the hairstyle, you know, it’s like all the appearance. Girls should not judge themselves based on the Instagram followers or YouTube followers or you know, Tik Tok followers. This is not you, you are way more and way, way more special than just numbers of followers, right? Once you find that out, once you find your true, true face and your true goal and passion, just go for that. And then you would see the followers come or not come it won’t really matter. So that’s what I really wanted. This is what I teach my students as well.

What Living An Engaged Live Means to You?

Aliah Majid 39:18
Yes. And one last question from me, because in this podcast is me trying to figure out how to live an engaged life. So the last question I would like to ask you is that what does living an engaged life means to you?

Maria Shah 39:39
I think engaged live it’s, I like it because this is where you can truly use your beliefs, your values, and you can live based on that because me personally, I find that if you don’t know your own goal, and you know who you truly are, then it would be so confusing because one day I will be someone else. And the other day I would want to do something else just because so and so is doing it. I will not be engaged in my own purpose, my own goal. You know, if somebody is upset with me, I will be upset at her. If somebody is rude to me, I’ll be rude to her. If someone is happy with me, I’m happy with that. So who am I? You know, am I am a positive person. Yes, it’s difficult, it’s difficult to be positive and other person is being rude to you. But this is where you have to really see that what are my values? What are my teachings, what my religion and Allah SWT and Prophet Muhammad SAW say? I really feel that it’s very important to have your own goals set and you’re engaged in your own goals and values and beliefs.

If you like this episode, check out this next: “How to Accomplish More in Less Time”.

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