Power Of Why With Naomi Haile

Alex Keenan loves and embraces the power of storytelling. She works with entrepreneurs and people who have causes they want to advance to help them share their purpose, their work, and their projects. Want to learn more? Listen to this week's episode... Alex Keenan is a public speaking coach who helps people overcome fear and self-doubt so that they learn how to shine. Through her business, Stage Light Communications, she runs public speaking classes that are known for being spontaneous, transformative - and fun. She is also the founder of Spice! Leadership, an initiative for preteens that boosts confidence and leadership skills. She helps people find the stories inside themselves, and importantly, the confidence and skills to share those stories with their community and the world. From courtrooms (back to her legal days), to conferences and crowded bars, Alex has spoken to crowds of all kinds and helped bridge communication gaps between people.

Trishala Pillai is fascinated by humans, machines and the impact human-AI collaboration will have on society and work. She is fuelled by work where she can be curios, contribute to revenue and growth, while creating shared prosperity. Trishala is the Partnerships Manager of AI + Voice Channel Partners at Myplanet, where she is working with big and emerging tech companies to help the world's most influential organizations take complex business problems and understand where AI can be useful. Her career in tech has made her realize that technology is advancing faster than human wisdom and to advance our collective knowledge on the challenges of our lifetime, we need to stay closely tied to our communities. Trishala founded a change project called The Dialogue Xchange which enables her to influence change within our community. This is a change project, that is backed by 2 leading incubators in Ontario and endorsed by the Ontario Government. You are double down on what makes us uniquely human and use dialogue as a

Kevwe Mowarin wants women to feel empowered. The whole purpose of this is empowering and uplifting other women. This is what she thinks about as her true north and it defines everything that she does on a day to day with Koviem. Kevwe Mowarin has lived and worked in the grand city of New York City for the past 3 years. At 19 years old, Kevwe started working in the Finance industry, truly expecting to build a career in investment banking. She navigated her career as best she could, put in long hours, worked with high-profile clients and also found it quite difficult being “one of the very few”, as a woman of colour in the finance space. Kevwe who holds a degree in finance from the University of Texas. She spent 7 months studying fashion in Milan, and that was around the time that she started working on the designs for her business, and brought on a tailor shortly after. She invested in her vision and business. Kevwe is the Founder of Koveim, a company that is revolutionizing the custom suiting industry and spe

Tim Salau is a purpose-driven community builder, entrepreneur and leader, in this episode, Tim talks about what is required when you live your life on purpose and with purpose. Tim shares his origin story and how it led him to the path he‘s on today. Very early he learned that “adaptability is essential”, looked himself in the mirror, asked the tough questions (i.e. who is Tim?), and committed to his purpose. But it wasn’t a straight-lined path... Tim was a young boy who came from Nigeria in 1999. Understand this. Understand people’s origin story, because it informs who they are today. Tim recounts: “Being a Nigerian-American man, that moved to America, I think that I eventually found my purpose and passion as a community builder because of the community I’ve grown in Texas and the community that I always find when I live in a different city”. Tim is a community leader & keynote speaker who has taken his love for collaboration -- global. Tim is the CEO of guide a social e-learning platform helping high sc

Lara talks about why she is intentional about EXPLORING. She is the definition of what it means to be diligent with your goals and business ventures. Her proudest achievements include successfully launching the first Pencils of Promise Club in Ottawa, starting an enterprise with a social purpose, Lawyerly, and moving to London, UK, to seek new challenges and opportunities. Thank you for listening this episode with Lara Hammoud. Check out the show notes here: http://naomihaile.com/2019/10/29/lara-hammoud/

Lindsay's why is to be in service to females to show them their potential. To remind them that they are capable of anything they put their mind to. She uses nutrition, fitness, essential oils, and osteopathy to do facilitate this experience for others. Eating disorders, lack of confidence and self-esteem brought Lindsay into the wellness industry so that others don't experience what she did as a young adult. Lindsay started her entrepreneurial journey decorating wedding cakes when she was 14 years old. She’s had this entrepreneurial drive to create. During her time in high school, she was badly bullied and in her last year of school decided that she would take up yoga as a means to release the pain she felt. She got certified to teach yoga in grade 12 and after high school, traveled to Nicaragua to continue her yoga teacher training. Today, Lindsay is a nutritionist, food blogger, osteopathic and a woman who has a love and passion for health and wellness. Lindsay is currently studying Osteopathy at the Canadi

“Never confine yourself to the boxes of small minded people. Because it will limit you, it will clip your wings and impede you from going after what you want.” - Alyestal Hamilton. It’s been an incredible experience for Alyestal to use art to help people find their voice, find their words, string together their story and find power in it. She’s a force of nature that is in tune with her why and mission. From the pages of North American literary journals, to the stages of London, England, and the walls of Uganda, Alyestal is a spoken word poetess who always serves her audience an awe inspiring performance. Alyestal is one of the 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada, has opened for author Lawrence Hill, and uses her voice to encourage her audience to believe “YOU are power”. Watch this episode, if you want to learn more about making you art speak for your story, learning your craft and and Alyestal’s experience navigating the world as a woman of color. Let us know what resonates with you! Thank you for watching

Akissi believes that, “we don’t have to have all of the answers in front of us, but if you take that first step and a made up mind of saying “I don’t know what this journey will look like, but I’m not going to turn around and go back to where I just came from””. Listen to the episode on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Akissi Hill is an international speaker who is passionate about growth. Akissi is the CEO of Ambitious Girls Inc. She is a leader who uses a variety of mediums to get her powerful message across to the community on a local and global scale. Akissi is a speaker, presenter and panelist at conferences and events such as the International Business Retreat in South Africa and Paris-France, the National Association for Blacks in Criminal Justice in Phoenix, Arizona, and The African Women’s Health Project International "Youth Walk for Africa Press Conference". Akissi talks about why she is blessed to help women and girls around the world find their inner greatness, grow into themselves, and thri

“If you’re at the forefront, don’t just keep going forward, always make sure to check who’s behind you and help in any way that you can”. It was incredible to connect with Priscilla Kosseim. She is a senior consultant in the areas of risk management, IT enhancement, business process improvement, and internal audit solutions for public and private enterprises. She is driven and focused on her career, while also developing practical solutions and delivering results by having the ability to integrate an IT risk mindset and a deep technical expertise into each of her engagements. Born and raised in Montreal, Priscilla came down to study at Carleton University, in Ottawa. She has always been fascinated by exploring the world, disrupting herself, and doing more. She is the founder of the Carleton University Women in Business (CUWIB) student-led organization that strives to connect young women of today to become the business leaders of tomorrow. She is a raptors fan, a women’s advocate and the reason that I really w

It was incredible to connect with the CEO and Co-Founder of <div>ersity, Nina Baliga. A female founded, woman of color startup focused on connecting a community of diverse tech talent with forward-thinking companies. Nina is building a "Glassdoor for diversity," where diverse coders, engineers, and developers can share their experiences about the diversity and inclusion practices and environment of various companies. Watch this episode, if you want to deepen your understanding around self-awareness, identity, and being your authentic self. Nina talks about her rich experiences and why she’s focused and passionate about advocating for people who are under-represented in the technology field. Nina identified a pain point that originated from her combined personal and professional experiences. Her company strives to create a community that helps companies find great talent outside of their traditional networks, and for diverse talent to find great companies to work for by building a platform that is consci

“No matter what rooms and spaces you walk into be your authentic self.” – Courtney Connley  Courtney Connley is a well-established journalist who has produced content for both print and online platforms. After graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in journalism, Courtney started her media career as a freelancer for Cosmopolitan magazine. From there, she went on to work for Black Enterprise magazine where she worked her way up to careers editor. At Black Enterprise, she covered daily news for the website around career trends, finance, entrepreneurship and lifestyle as it pertains to the black community.  Currently, Courtney is a careers reporter for CNBC Make It, which is a CNBC platform that focuses on educating a younger audience about careers, money, entrepreneurship and leadership. Courtney has years of experience in business journalism and has produced content that focuses largely on diversity in the workplace as it relates to both race and gender. Watch this epi

“For people who may feel like they need to look here or talk to this person for the answers. We don’t realize just how much the answers to a lot of questions in life are already in us”. – Francesca Phillips She moved cities to realize her dream. Francesca moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to study and get involved in the Entertainment space. She went to class during the day and at night she was attending events, meeting people industry, and getting close to the decision-makers in the industry that she was trying to break into.  Listen to this episode if you want to deepen your understanding around cultivating your self-awareness muscles. Francesca talks about how she navigated self-understanding and discovering her identity as she traveled the world. Francesca is a writer, entrepreneur, and blogger. She started her blog “Bloom in the City” and I really wanted to unpack with her some of the internal dialogues she had when deciding to move abroad, start a business, continuing to pursue her creative endeavor

“I am FULLY committed to altering the DNA of the next generation”. – Dhouha Haddad. Dhouha asks: why don’t we create some intergenerational healing? Why don’t we create some intergenerational empowerment? Why don’t we create some intergenerational confidence? Why don’t we create some intergenerational awakening? She is setting out to work with people who are purpose-driven. Especially women of colour who are underrepresented in key leadership roles around the world.  Dhouha Haddad believes that some of the key things that have led her to where she is today is being a second generation immigrant, becoming a mother at a young age, having a social work background… She was born in Tunisia, raised in Canada, spent a year in Jersey (some time ago), and now she lives in Ottawa. Who knows what the future holds next for her. Thank you for watching this episode with Dhouha Haddad! Check out the show notes here: www.naomihaile.com/ You can connect with Dhouha Haddad here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dho

“I see myself speaking in front of crowds and inspiring people to pursue their own dreams. So I decided to start with one, single thing. One event. Which is essentially a mini-version of the grand vision that I have. I know that if I don’t start with this one thing, then I will never know”. – Mimi Boyer Watch this episode if you want to deepen your understanding around finding fulfillment in your life and work towards being happy, even on Mondays.  Mimi Boyer is a side hustle coach, the founder of Happy on Mondays, a motivational speaker and a course creator. Mimi wants to help people realize that side hustles is one way to experiencing fulfilment and creating independence in your life. Before her journey creating this movement, Mimi was working in the corporate world. Mimi started her corporate career working for a few giants in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry, making her way up in sales. After spending years in this industry, drinking the “corporate kool-aid”, she felt that she lost track of

“If I write this down, it will happen. Because I am that committed to myself and what I want to build.” – Komal Minhas Komal Minhas is the Founder of kaur.space, which is an online news platform focused on work, wellness and impact, alongside a private, digital community on Instagram. It is a subscription-based news model that incorporates collaboration and community into journalism. Komal also runs two of her dream companies – Komal Minhas Inc. and KoMedia. She is an international speaker, who invests in start-ups and media productions. She co-founded and premiered her feature-length documentary film, with her co-founder Erin Bagwell, called “Dream, Girl” and was named to Oprah’s Super Soul 100 list. This episode is for people who want to learn about building healthy relationships around work and wellness. Komal also talks in depth about her journey overcoming her cancer diagnoses and surgeries. She is incredibly intuitive and has found a way to derive meaning from her life experiences.  Watch this epis

Born and raised in Sacramento, CA, Xiomara Rosa-Tedla is one-half of the Oakland, father-daughter duo behind UnoEth. Whether it's long journeys or daily commutes, she yearned for classic and casual styles with a story. After a trip to Ethiopia, her father, Dagne Tedla, brought several leather goods home as gifts for friends and family, only to realize that he needed to go back to Addis Ababa for more! Thus, the birth of UnoEth began. Upon embarking on this new adventure and with a background in Merchandising and Marketing, Xiomara only wanted to deliver quality and timeless pieces that could be worn for years on end, surpassing trendy styles and fads. All UnoEth goods are handmade, 100% Ethiopian leather, and crafted by artisans and small businesses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  You can connect with Xiomara and UnoEth here: UnoEth Website: https://unoeth.com/  Instagram: https://instagram.com/unoeth  Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/unoeth  Facebook: https://facebook.com/unoeth  You can connect with Naomi her

Maddie Hession (gofor_maddie) began her career at the age of 14 as a professional fashion model. Maddie has always been cognizant of "physique" and health, as a model and competitive ski racer. From early on, Maddie noticed a gap in the industry about the knowledge of health and the education of young girls on how to get to where the want to be in a sustainable way. Maddie learned the value of health and the importance of having a fitness and nutrition coach as a factor in life and in achieving success in her career and personal life.   With her BA in Athletic Development and Health and Minor in Entrepreneurship, Maddie is on a mission to make health simple and give her clients the building blocks for a sustainable lifestyle of health and wellness.    MADDIE’S WHY Maddie has realized that her gift is service. Helping as many people as she can to find ease in their lives. Watching people bloom into everything they ever wanted to be. You can connect with Maddie here: Landing Page: https://mailc

Meet Monique Bryan (@MoniquebryanTO), a speaker, personal branding expert, and triple positive breast cancer survivor. Monique helps successful women entrepreneurs’ package and sell their genius and unlock the lucrative world of personal brand building. Bringing over 15 years of top-level industry experience and featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Monique is a highly-requested speaker and panelist. Monique draws widespread admiration for her passion, hustle, and unshakeable commitment to helping women showcase their expertise, and pitch with confidence. Monique’s WHY is to inspire others to do go after what they want. Monique is the one to put the fire under their ass. If Monique can do anything to help people believe that anything is possible for them by stepping into who you are. 

Mentorship and how you can take note of these very important relationships (that are most likely already present in your life). I loved talking to Caroline about how relationship building has magnified her mission. Caroline provides insight to those who struggle or want to simply improve their methods for developing professional relationships, AKA networking. Which lead us into discussing the hidden job market. Specifically, how building relationships can lead to opportunities where you can flourish doing the work that you love.

Caroline encourages us all to “push through the fear if it’s aligned with your goals” I was ecstatic when Caroline Hannah agreed to join me on the Power of WHY Podcast. Caroline is someone who has had an incredible impact on my life during my time at the Telfer School of Management. Through her coaching, love of relationship building, and her undeniable desire to connect with the people she meets. Caroline continues to shed led on the importance of community and pushing through the fears that are aligned with your goals… she recommends that we go for it. To relentlessly pursue our dreams.