Dr. Farha Shariff is a Professor at the University of Alberta, intersectional feminist, lead instructor at CycleBar and founding coach and Champs Boxing Studio. She is also an unapologetic and thoughtful advocate for those of all cultures and backgrounds and uses her own experience to push the boundaries to help obliterate racism and bullying. She joins The Inner Circle to talk about her upbringing as the daughter of immigrants and how it shaped her values of education and hard work, her dedication to fitness and health, and how she processed her own pain from childhood to find a voice that helps others along their path. 

What You’ll Hear in This Episode: You can still eat crunchy peanut butter and have abs like Farha. It is possible! How disciplined Farha is on her fitness regimen, and why a clean diet and lifestyle is important to all aspects of her health. Farha is the daughter of immigrants that taught her the value of education and working hard, and shaped Farha’s later passion for feminism and using her voice to help others. Farha’s own experience with being bullied and ostracized based on her race, appearance, and culture, and how Farha processed the pain to speak up for herself and heal years later. How Farha teaches her three daughters to be kind and inclusive, and her commitment to being open on issues that come up from their own schooling and social media. Farha’s amazing story of working at her own junior high, and even working side by side with the very teachers she grew up with as a child. How memory work helped Farha process the heavy emotions she felt from childhood and recall enough data to capture in a book. The powerful work Farha is doing as an instructor at the University of Alberta, and the thought-provoking conversations she and her students are having to challenge individual world views and understand more about racism. How Farha uses fitness as a catharsis and tool to keep her mental health in check. Hear about her love for being a part of both the CycleBar and Champs Boxing Studio. Women need to learn from each other, hold each other up, and realize we don’t need to put pressure on ourselves to do or have it all. 

Quotes: “You have to teach your kids how to be kind.” “There is power in story beyond measure.” “My life is a series of ironic connections.” “The woman that has it all — that’s old school now.” 

Mentioned: CycleBar Whipple Surgery Imaginary Homelands University of Alberta Robin DiAngelo @drfarha077 Journey Into the Inner Circle: Carrie Doll @CarrieADoll – Twitter @carriedollconsulting – Instagram Carrie Doll – Facebook 

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