Season 1 Ep 02

You're listening to the productive Muslim podcast, season one, Episode Two Assalamualaikum and welcome to the productive Muslim podcast, the weekly podcast where we help you live a productive lifestyle so that you can be successful in this life.

Assalamu alaikum productive Muslims. Welcome to the podcast. I'm your host me from Earth. And I'm back with a productive Muslim interview, whereby we speak to exemplary individuals from all walks of life, get an insight into their productivity, and take away lessons we can implement. Our guest on the show today, his sister Yasmin Isa, from the states in New Jersey. She is a holistic health and lifestyle coach, educator and public speaker. Yes, men transitioned from a successful marketing career into founding wellness with ESPN, where she now coaches women and their families to becoming the healthiest versions of themselves, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I hope you

enjoyed this episode. Without further ado, let's get started.

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That's lovely. Jasmine, welcome to the show. Welcome Assam. How are you? Good, how Abdullah How are you? I'm good. I'm happy to be here. So let's start off with an introduction. Tell us about yourself and what you do. Absolutely. So my name is Yasmine Isa, and I am a holistic health and lifestyle coach. I'm board certified by the American Association of drugless practitioners. And I'm the founder of wellness with use mean. So basically what I do is i'm a coach. I'm also an educator in that I teach classes as well as work with people one on one, yeah, my work really lies on the intercession of mental health, spiritual health and physical health. So when I work with someone, I

see them as a whole person, mostly I work with women, and I also work with their families and on a plethora of different topics. So very common ones that come up our emotional health, I work with women in the areas of anxiety, depression, I also do a lot of things in terms of physical health. common ones are things like weight loss, autoimmune disease, thyroid balance is a big one, as well as hormone balance in general. Yeah, to name a few. Wow, fantastic. Sounds like quite a lot of interviews, you can say, you know, it does seem that way. But things are very, very connected. So when you're looking at, you know, whenever I look at an individual, regardless of what they're

coming to me to work on, it really always boils down to some simple basics. And again, seeing everyone as a whole is how you get connected to a lot of those different areas. My training when I first which I know that, um, you'll probably ask me about this, but my training in terms of when I was studying holistic health, the reason that I chose the route or the program that I went into is because it did allowed me to get trained in the physical health aspect, but also the emotional health and then, you know, being very, very keen on integrating Islam and all of my work, I kind of intertwine that as well to add the spiritual element. Mashallah. Okay. So one of the things is that

you used to work in marketing and you held an MBA, and then you decide to do something completely different by going into the area in which you are right now. So I'm interested to know like, more about that, can you be able to take us through that story? And what were the challenges you faced in doing so?

Absolutely, and that is definitely on people are usually pretty interested when they find that out. So I do want to clarify, I did not hold an MBA, I actually left an MBA program about a little less than midway in order to study holistic health and I'll share a little bit of that story. Yeah. So when I was an undergrad student or towards my bachelor, I did study business. So I was a double concentration in marketing and management. And I loved marketing for all the things creative related to marketing and

I loved management more so for like the leadership side of management. And I, when I was a junior

in college, I did an internship with a marketing firm. And that was the same company that upon graduation, I got hired, you know, as a full time employee with them, and I started working on my MBA program. And, you know, it was it was good, I enjoyed a certain aspects for sure. And I definitely thrived. Of course, I believe that all you know, all success comes from Allah subhanho wa Taala. But I definitely thrived as a young employee in that I did have many promotions and was given raises and did well, of course, that came with hard work. But nonetheless, I definitely flourished. And being a Muslim woman, and nonetheless, a practicing Muslim woman, and wearing Hijab and whatnot,

I found that I still was able to thrive very much so and i don't think that just came because people handed it to me, but I, you know, was strong in my identity at that point.

However, it didn't take me too long to realize that, you know, the desk job life just wasn't going to be me. I know that, you know, at that time, I was, you know, in my early 20s. And I, you know, at the time was in the process of getting engaged was not married yet. But I knew in the future when I wanted to start a family that I didn't want to be chained to, you know, to a specific desk at specific times. Um, you know, that was important to me, however, I didn't really feel any urgency to, you know, do something else about it at that time. It wasn't until a bit of while later that I found out that I had scoliosis that it went undiagnosed during my teen years. And my hunch is that,

you know, working even though I still had a very healthy lifestyle, working at a desk, and a long commute that does take a toll on your back, although I the scoliosis that I have is idiopathic, so it's most likely genetic. And there's, you know, there's nothing you could do to cause it or to make it go away. But nonetheless, there are definitely things that you could either aggravate it, or you can, you know, um, you know, not aggravate it. So that. All right, can I just pause you on that? What do you tell us? What is scoliosis? Absolutely. So that's a great question. So scaly scoliosis, is an abnormal curvature of the spine. Yeah, so some people might be familiar, I guess it depends

where in the world they're listening, from what I know here in the US every single year, when I think it begins in like elementary school, all the way up to

high school right before graduation, maybe a little bit younger than that. Kids are actually checked for this all the time.

You know, and sometimes it's so evident, like, in my case, if someone isn't a chiropractor, if they don't have a trained eye, they're probably not going to be able to tell that there is an abnormal curvature in my spine. But for some people, that curve might be so big that it requires surgery, and that it's, you know, a much bigger deal, for sure. But basically, it's an abnormal curvature in the spine. So, you know, that is what it is. And if it depending on the degree of the curve and the lifestyle of a person, it could cause pain. Because you know, our spine is meant to support our whole body. But if it has a curve, then you know, your body has to kind of support it. So it flips

in a little bit. I see. Yes. All right. So was this the main reason that you decided to move on? Or was it earlier the motivation that you mentioned about not being in a desk job? So scoliosis, I wouldn't say was the main reason, but it's what made me take the action at that moment. All right. So you'd say that's the trigger? Absolutely, yes. And at that point, I decided that I wasn't going to complete my MBA. Now I'm the type of person that when I set my mind out to do something, I go 100%. And, and I almost talked myself into Okay, well, you know, what, I'll complete my MBA and then when I'm done with that, then I'll do something that, you know, I really enjoy what I want to do.

Yeah, because I didn't want to waste the time I had already the time, the money I already invested into that program, you know, to come out with nothing but then I realized that actually isn't a bigger waste. If you know that that's not the ultimate goal, or that's not the ultimate road to whatever goal you're going towards. Why would you continue on that path, you're taking more good time and energy and money and whatever the case may be. So

that kind of triggered me to look into other things. And at that time, I didn't know it was holistic health. I considered many different things to name a few. I considered

Just, you know, traditional counseling, I considered nutrition. I was always very interested in nutrition, if we rewind to my senior year of high school, yeah, that's when I started to learn how to really cook for myself and how, you know, nutrition is important. And at that time, I actually lost, you know, a significant amount of weight. I used to be about 40 pounds heavier at one point, but, you know, through good nutrition and whatnot, I, you know, lost that in a healthy way. hamdulillah. So I was always into that, you know, even when I was an undergrad student, I worked as a personal trainer on campus, I helped build their I was their first female trainer, and I helped

build their personal training department. So I always had an interest in health. But I never thought that I would do that, like for a career, if that makes sense. It was always kind of like a sidebar. But then, when I started to think, you know, what is it that I may want to do here, that's really, you know, where a huge part of my passion lies, for sure, the reason I chose, I probably looked at every program under the sun that's in the realms of, you know, counseling, and nutrition and health and all these different things. The reason that I decided to study where I did, which was the Institute for integrative nutrition, which is the world's largest nutrition school, is because they

really are they combine everything. So in terms of not just looking at it as physical health, but really looking at people as a whole, if that makes sense. And I personally find that so important. And they also, you know, different people go through that program for different reasons, some of which, similar to myself go into that they could coach or teach classes, some people make products, some people, you know, go on for further studies. But I did also like that, they also taught things from the business side of things. And it's kind of ironic, but I could say, to a certain degree that I learned a little bit more about business there than I did with my undergraduate business. So it's

erotic, but it happens sometimes, but I love my undergraduate school, by the way, Montclair State University. And obviously, I learned a lot of things there. But

it was just a little bit more practical is what I'm saying what I learned there, so yeah, yeah.

I mean, I can imagine he takes, he takes a lot of bravery to realize that okay, this is this is not the path I want to go and actually move towards something else. And

I mean, I'm actually curious to know, like, were you were you always confident about that move? Or did you have doubt about it?

Absolutely. And, you know, this also reminds me that you asked if there were any struggles or whatnot. So I think, you know,

doubt is a normal part of the human process, for sure. But I was pretty, I was pretty gung ho into the idea. I know that I received a little bit of resistance from family members who nonetheless, were very supportive, but kind of wondering like, you have this awesome job, why would you leave it? Yeah, there's suddenly a workout. Absolutely. So and I think I felt not so much doubt. But I think in the beginning, I felt a little bit of guilt, because, you know, again, depending on where someone is in the world, but I know here in the US, and definitely in other places as well. Unemployment rates are high and whatnot. So I kind of felt a little bit of guilt, like, Okay, I have a job, I'm

doing well, in my job. I, you know, have a lot of opportunity here. Is it greedy to, you know, to give this up, but at the end of the day, I'm a firm believer that yes, while unemployment rates may be rising, and whatever the case may be going on, I'm a firm believer that if you really want a job, or if you really want to do something, there is a way you know, so so the guilt is something I kind of had to work a little bit through, you know, for sure, but I saw it all as being very tied together, you know, I didn't just leave my job at the drop of a dime, I, you know, left the MBA program began studying Holistic Health while I was still working full time. And the program that I

was in allowed for me to, you know, halfway through the program received like a preliminary certification and I began practicing right away again, while still working full time. And you know, I built up wellness with me and I built up my practice while I was working full time and I did not leave that job without a plan if that makes sense. But you know, I think doubt is definitely a natural part of the process for sure resistance or people asking like, you know, why would you want to leave this or whatnot, but um, you know, at the end of the day, I'm a firm believer and you know, following your heart but obviously having you know,

The work behind it to support it, if that makes sense. Yeah, it makes completely sense. And I noticed that one thing you also mentioned in that was that you had a plan when you decided to do that move. So it wasn't like a spontaneous, I'm going to quit everything and start kind of.

Yeah, absolutely. So that plan was important. And I was actually able to leave a little bit earlier than planned, but the plan included, you know, I'm saving to a certain degree, you know, I'm having actual income come in, for my, you know, new endeavor and whatnot. And also, you know, being at a certain level in terms of that program, but yes, a plan was important. And I think, I think that that's important. You know, there are many different people who have stories of doing a career switch, if you will, and different people take different methods. But I think that a plan is important, you know, in terms of my role at the job that, um, you know, the job that I was working,

I had a lot of responsibility, and I'm a firm believer in providing value to your employer. And, you know, just from the simple

the fact that, you know, that's a trust, and also from the dour perspective. So I actually, if I could remember the number off the top of my head, I think I gave them six weeks notice, you know, to let them know, and I think the minimum was only two weeks, because I really wanted to make sure that when I left all my projects that they were left, I figured if I knew before that, obviously, when I was planning this, but nonetheless, I gave them a lot of extra time, because I think that it was important to you know, wrap up everything very nicely. If you think about it, if you're kind of in charge of a big portion of a company or whatnot, you don't just want to

you know, leave them hanging, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. Because when you leave them hanging, it also builds this resentment that she just left like that. But whereas when you give it that time, and you give it that notice you you leave on a good note. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, another thing in terms of fight doubted anything, something interesting that happened when I left, or when I gave notice, rather to leave that job is that I offered?

Yeah, like, they tried to kind of see like, oh, is there anything we could do for you to stay in? One of those things was okay, is it about the money that you're making? Okay, what if you were to name, you know, a salary that would you know, have you say, so pretty much name, whatever you want. And, you know, we'll see if we can make this work. And I remember thinking like, wow, that's, that's a pretty big deal. And I knew that that wasn't something that was just being offered, you know, loosely around. But it came from hard work. But nonetheless, I thought to myself, you know, first hand what Allah will give me success here, why wouldn't he give me success elsewhere. And I think at

the end of the day, balance is very important. So, you know, I knew that what I was aiming to do would create more balance. And another thing too, is I was doing Hello work, I wasn't doing anything that was her arm or anything like that. But nonetheless, I didn't feel like I was necessarily changing the world through my work. And that was also a big deal for me in terms of wanting to give back more. And I was already doing a lot of that outside of work in terms of volunteer teaching at the masjid, running a sisters halaqa at the time, some people might also be familiar with my magazine and be Muslim, I was doing that at the time as well, which is how I even you know, came to

know, productive Muslim about seven years ago. So I was doing a lot of passion work outside of my career, but I also had a big, big drive to want to, you know,

just have it be all in one, if that makes sense. Yeah. also work on something that you're passionate about professionally as well. Mm hmm. Yes. So during during that time, and I'm also interested to know now as well, but during that time, you said that you were working and you were studying at that time to allow for your career transition. Now, my question is, how did a typical day look like for you in that at that point? Oh, yeah, absolutely. At that point, I was working. I had a long commute to that job. So it was about an hour, but under 50 miles, and one way. And so something that was helpful is that around that time, the company was offering something called flexible hours. So the

traditional hours were 8am to 5pm. But they were offering if someone wanted to come in at like nine to six, or I think that was the option like you could pick eight to five or nine to six, I actually am I could I do seven to four. And I found that in the transition period, that was really helpful because going in earlier meant I left earlier and the traffic was a lot better at you know, six something versus at you know, later on so that was helpful. Um,

The classes of my program are also online, although I did have to travel a bit for some in person stuff. So that was helpful, as well. But you know, typical day Monday through Friday look like, you know, being in the office all day long. You know, having those commutes both ways. And, you know, it wasn't it was a little bit more manageable actually than the MBA program, because that was all in person. And I would go a couple nights a week, after I. Yeah, that was, you know, and then in terms of, you know, I always would take time, my lunch break on joma. To go to drama, drama is one of my favorite things to do every week, and still is Hamza, but that was part of my week.

So yeah, that's kind of what the day looked like, at that time. Yeah, yeah. You mentioned how things were easier than it was like, say, if you were to do your MBA classes, well, since you had to go there in person. But sometimes that time, like when you're doing studies through online or distance, that also takes a certain level of motivation and to be organized to make it work. Since there's no like, you know, pressure to get the work done. If even if you know what, I'm where I'm coming from. Mm hmm. Yeah, absolutely. So I think it goes both ways, for sure. But it takes a lot of self motivation. I'm definitely a self motivated person, for sure. And I think that's important. And, you

know, when I said easier before, I definitely mean from like, in terms of I was already commuting a lot. So it was one less commute, if that makes sense. Yeah. But, but yeah, it's definitely Either way, it's still work. But, you know, a lot of times, I think online learning, which is really where the future of learning is, and I know that, you know, productive Muslim definitely does a lot with online learning, as do I and my work. Yeah, it's very, very helpful. But yeah, I mean, no one's gonna like force you to open up your email and to log into your course and to do this, but if you don't do it, you're also not going to get certified or get anywhere. So yeah, but you're right, it

definitely takes on. And usually it's a little bit more intensive to being that it's online. So yeah. Hmm. All right. So I mean, coming back to how you're doing things right now, right now you're working on your coaching that you're doing with your wellness, and also the many other things you mentioned earlier. So how does a typical day look like for you? Now, we so workwise, every day is a little bit different. And I'll walk you through that. And I'll also walk you through, through, like some things that happen every single day. So work wise, it depends on the day. Some days, it might look like client meetings, which typically, client meetings, coaching sessions could last anywhere

between 40 minutes to 90 minutes. My initial session, when I'm working with new clients is an intensive 90 minute session. Most client sessions, like a sessions that I have twice a month with each client lasts 60 minutes, some are 40 minutes. You know, so that might be going on. I also, you know, on certain days may be creating curriculum for online courses that I teach, as well as, um, you know, if I'm teaching something in person, or speaking at an event in person, you know, work wise, it might also look like marketing, on certain days in terms of doing things either for my mailing list, or content marketing or social media, you have certain days dedicated to this. So it

depends on the week. So for instance, like most clients there meet, they're having two sessions with me a month. And typically, I'd say like 90% of clients will have, you know, their sessions will always be like Wednesday at 3pm. Every other week, if that makes sense. I have some exceptions for certain clients, because for instance, I have clients that have alternating work schedule. So each time we'll have to set something up, but every clients session will be like, the same time, you know, every other week, if that makes sense. I am part of a mastermind group of other holistic health coach and practitioner. So that'll be the same time every other week as well. In terms of

marketing, usually, that's, you know, a chunk of the day, every single day, during the work week, in terms of creating curriculum for online classes. It depends, for instance, right now, I am in the process of launching four new classes that start October this upcoming month. So that's pretty much being wrapped up at the moment. So I've been spending a lot of time in terms of creating content and things around that. So it also it also depends, you know, yeah, when Ramadan comes around, I know you guys that productive Muslim have a whole Ramadan

program that I actually teach in your guys program. I have my own as well. So certain times of the year, certain things might be going on. But, you know, every day is a little bit different. But nonetheless, yes, they're scheduled in terms of what day they happen in terms of the week or the month in terms of a typical day for me outside of work. There.

Certain things that I call, like my anchor that happened, you know, daily, no matter what, so, Salah is a big one, for sure. So firm believer in, you know, scheduling my day around Salah versus the other way around. That's huge. You know, I exercise at least five times a week. So that's a regular daily thing. having dinner with my husband is the regular on daily thing handle, as I mentioned before,

you know, drama is always a regular thing. So I never schedule anything at that time, you know, around it, yes, but not during it. You know, it's not mandatory for women that's, you know, something I personally see as a source of blessing and just thoroughly enjoy. But um, yeah, that's kind of what a typical, you know, Monday through Friday day will look like, Yeah. All right. So it sounds It sounds like you have a quite a lot of focuses in that, like you have your clients to keep up with you have the creation of classes and, and different things that might come up and including the marketing and everything. So how do you kind of manage through everything? Absolutely, yeah. So

I think that balance is really important. And a few ways that I do that is I create space. So I'm a very creative person, by nature and creativity requires.

Like you can't, you can't be creative if there's no space for creativity to happen. So I make sure and you know, to the best of my ability, and this is something that I prioritize for sure. But having space between meetings is very important for me. Also, sometimes having certain days, usually I'll use on Fridays. For this, I'll try not to schedule client sessions or like live classes on Fridays, although sometimes, you know, that might happen. But it's pretty rare, but just days where it could be more of like a creative day or time for space and whatnot. But that that helps keep balance, for sure. And helps, you know,

both my creativity and my sanity, that's very important. I'm very big on practicing what I preach. So that's important. I also, I barely, barely barely have any push notifications on my phone or devices. And I did a video on this.

Ramadan, but it is so helpful. So what I mean by that if someone doesn't know what a push notification is, is a push notification is something, let's say, you know, Mithra emails me right now, I'm not going to get it into the front of my phone. Because if that were to happen, my phone would literally beep all day would blast. So the only push notifications on my phone, I think at the moment, our

phone calls, voicemails, and then not even text messages. So that's something new of like maybe two or three, maybe four months ago, I turned those off. And what happens is I check those things a lot. Obviously, I need to especially running, you know most of my practice online, but I get to decide that I'm going to go in and I'm going to retrieve that information versus it coming at me all the time. And everyone's to choose the time, right? Everyone is different. But I found that that keeps me balanced, especially if I'm working on something, it helps you no and no social media. No social media push notifications, either. So that helps keep me balanced. Oh, they're the worst.

Which I love social media. I mean, I use it all the time for my wishes. The push notification is yes,

yes. And even within social media, I'm very picky as to what I get notifications when I go in there. You know, for instance, I can think now on Facebook, like if you comment on someone's post, like it'll notify you every other time someone else does something on there, I'll usually get those off or whatnot, just because I think that it's important in this digital world. It's awesome and hamdulillah that we get to do these things. But for me, and I've found for many people that I've recommended this to it's very helpful. So that's one of the ways that I keep balanced, I take good care of myself handle that to the best of my ability in terms of eating while exercising, you know,

practicing different ways of self care. I also think that one thing that keeps me balanced is, you know, having someone to share things with so I literally share everything with my husband, we're very open with one another, we're not afraid to talk about things. You know, I don't shy away from things that are hard to talk about or whatnot. I think that's really important, especially with intimate relationships such as marriage. So that's also helpful, you know, as well. So those are some of the ways you know, I'm always using Islam to keep myself grounded doesn't mean I'm perfect, but you know, using that as the cornerstone for sure. You know, and also every once in a while kind

of checking in how am I doing on balance? How could I improve begin you know, because as a coach and a teacher and do

These things, it doesn't work if I'm not practicing what I preach, and I can only be of good service to others if I am doing these things, if that makes sense. And I can't teach others yet to have bounced? Does I'm not working towards it.

Yes. Yeah. Because we can only give, give more to others if we're able to also look after ourselves as well. Yes, absolutely. So we're actually very close to the end of our interviews. My last question here is, how would you define a productive Muslim? Absolutely. So that's a good question. I actually am a big believer in bio individuality. And what I mean by that, even when I work with someone on like, let's just say nutrition, I'm actually trained in over 100, different dietary theories. And I do not recommend the same thing to different people. That's usually why people are very confused. When they read all these things on the internet, there's so much out there

conflicting dietary advice. The thing is, is every one has something that works different for them. So likewise, I don't think there's just one definition for what a productive Muslim is, but in terms of myself, how I would define it for myself in a way that I think could make sense for a lot of other people who just want setting SMART goals. So you know, smart goals is not something I've created, it's, you know, well known in the personal development world. Smart is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, time based goals. So that's important. Having a system so I myself am very,

I'm a self starter, you know, like, I'm self motivated, and whatnot. And I could do things without having accountability. But I find that when I do have accountability, some sort of system of accountability, I do things even better. So you know, one thing that I'm doing right now, is I'm part of a mastermind group of fellow holistic health coaches. And, you know, we meet

for a session twice a month, and you know, we kind of keep each other accountable to certain things and whatnot. And there's other ways that I hold myself accountable for sure. But that that's definitely important for being a productive Muslim. I think, for me, personally, I know that balancing dunya and Africa, together is very, very important. So always looking at that balance. It doesn't matter if it's going to make you productive here, but it doesn't help my era. And it's always about not choosing one or the other. But you know, making sure that they're in alignment, if that makes sense. And most importantly, taking break bar and having fun when you do it is really

important. Otherwise, what's the point there? So and it's Sunday, as well to do that. So yeah, that's how I define it. That's true. All right. Fantastic. Yasmin, thank you so much for joining us on the show. It was a pleasure to have you on, it was a pleasure to be on drizella here, I appreciate it. Alright, so that wraps up our interview with our lovely guests. before I head off this, just this little tiny thing that I want to ask you all, and that is that the productive Muslim podcast is now available on iTunes and Stitcher Radio. So these are two different channels in which you can tune in to our podcast. So for example, if you have an iPhone, iPad, or any iOS device, then

you can find out podcast through iTunes, and Stitcher Radio, which also has mobile apps as well for both iPhones and Android devices, then you can be able to tune in to our podcast through that as well. And now what I want to tell you is that in celebration of the launch of this podcast, we have something special for you. And that is that if you leave a review on any of these two channels, so that was iTunes or Stitcher Radio, then you take a screenshot of this review, and send it over to Kai. That's k ay ay ay, ay, at productive muslim.com then we have for you a special productive Muslim Academy gift. So again, leave a review for us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio, screenshot it and

send it over to Kai k at productive Muslim calm, and you will get a special productive Muslim Academy gift. So please do enjoy that and let your family and friends know about that. And also know about this podcast because you see in order to reach more people and benefit more people, we need your help to do that. And so please do spread the word so I'm going to head off and I will see you all next week, inshallah on Friday when our next episode will be released. So remember guys have sincere intentions and work hard