← back

On not letting society hold you back, with Fatima Mazhar

“It took me a while to realise I was going through mental health challenges. Regardless of how life was, I was always a happy person.” Pakistani entrepreneur, Fatima Mazhar, joins NAKED to talk about how her upbringing shaped the decisions she has made in life and how it impacted her mental health.

Listen to the Episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform. 

About Episode

Fatima Mazhar is an entrepreneur, and in her current role as COO at COLABS, is working to redefine the future of work in Pakistan. Her story is not one of a typical entrepreneur, where we talk about building grand dreams. Fatima’s story is about dealing with the conflict of wanting to do something exciting and impactful, while fighting against her cultural context.

Fatima grew up in a Pakistani family where nearly every decision was made for her, where there was very little room for pursuing her dreams. She started to rebel, to do things that were considered ‘unexpected’, unaccepted and often inappropriate. This eventually led to severe depression and self-neglect. It took Fatima time to acknowledge her mental health challenges, and start to make healthy changes.

Specific topics covered in this episode include:

Depression, self-neglect, and withdrawal from society;
How our upbringing has a profound impact on the decisions we make in life;
The manageable steps Fatima has taken to support her mental health.

In addition, we discuss the following questions:

How to deal with the internal conflict of wanting to achieve something when you’re held back;
How do you recognise the right time to seek help?
How can you equip yourself to manage healthy relationships while running a business?

Show notes

Connect with Fatima: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Reading materials:

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment | Eckhart Tolle

How can you support the podcast?

Tell your friends and share online.

Subscribe & review: Please make sure to review, share comments and subscribe to the show on the various platforms (YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify & Google Podcasts)

Spread the word: Help grow our reach by sharing your enthusiasm for the podcast and/or your favourite episodes by posting it on social media.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince future guests to share their stories!

For show notes and past guests, visit https://www.thefuturefarm.co/naked-podcast