Every so often, you meet someone who has had to fight for where they are in life. It’s usually the people who have faced the greatest difficulty who learn to be the most resilient and truly have a heart of gratitude for what they have in life. Such is the story of today’s guest. Join me to learn more.

Zaakirah Muhammad Demba is someone I met through a podcasting group on Facebook called She Podcasts. Once I got to know her, I realized she would be a great guest on the show--and here she is! Zaakirah is a brand-cultivating strategist, professional photographer, and digital marketer. She helps small businesses make their social media pages look good, and she advises the best social media tactics for growing and being consistent with their brand. At 6 months of age, a camera saved her life, and at 9 months old, she was taken into surgery to have her right eye removed due to a rare cancerous tumor that was detected by a camera in a photo taken by her mom. Her hearing slowly began to decline as she grew older, but her other 3 senses kicked in and are doing well. At age 5, her mom gifted her with her first camera, and she received her first digital camera in middle school. She attended technical high school and went on to study commercial photography and never strayed far from her purpose in life. She moved to Washington, DC, to expand her education and work in professional photography and videography. She currently resides in Nashville but has traveled to 10 countries with her camera, most recently to South Africa. As a people-person and an empath, Zaakirah wants her legacy to be the fact that she was able to see the good in people, help them live their best life, and step outside their comfort zone.

Show Highlights:

• Zaakirah’s intense passion for photography as a way to share her mind and her voice
• Her podcast, Living Legacy, is a way to get her story out
• How her mom taught her to fight for herself and her health
• How she’s faced cancer, eye removal, hearing loss, PCOS, and infertility
• Why she chooses to live a holistic life to be more in tune with herself
• Growing up as an intense person who was labeled GAP--Genius African Princess--by her mom
• The difficulties in school because of bullying
• The cultural factors Zaakirah has faced as a Muslim woman of African-American descent with a deaf-blind disability
• How yoga helps her quiet her mind
• Why 2019 is the year of “No More” for Zaakirah
• What she learned in test-taking about listening to her intuition
• A breakdown in high school due to anxiety, anger, and stress
• How Zaakirah uses her fire to help others grow their businesses, tap into their potential, and recognize their purpose
• How writing out her thoughts and feelings helps her tap into her creative juices
• Why she needs quiet time to recharge
• The best advice she received was not to allow negativity to overtake her
• Why Zaakirah focuses on forming good habits, like consistency, gratitude, using a vision board
• Some favorite books: Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Diary of Anne Frank, and autobiographies
• How Zaakirah helps others through her coaching and her podcast

Resources:

Zaakirah Nayyar

Living Legacy podcast