Stop Waiting to Be Chosen; Naowshaba Ferdous on Getting Seen, Paid and Unapologetically Yourself
My guest today is Naowshaba Ferdous. Naowshaba Ferdous is a business strategist from Washington DC who helps ambitious women all over the world get seen, remembered, and paid by building businesses rooted in clear thinking, strong messaging, and personal branding. In this episode we discuss visibility, leadership, business strategy and self-advocacy.
Website - https://www.naowshaba.com/
IG - https://www.instagram.com/naowshaba
FB - https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19rqZrn8n9/?mibextid=wwXIfr
In this episode you will learn:
1. Why waiting to be chosen, waiting to feel ready, and waiting for external validation are the three most expensive habits ambitious women have, and the identity shift that has to happen before any strategy ever works — Most women's business problems are not strategy problems, they are identity problems. Until a woman sees herself as someone whose work is genuinely capable of changing lives, she will keep watering down her messaging, undercharging her offers, and playing small while calling it being strategic. The first question every invisible woman needs to ask herself: what do I want to be known for?
2. The study that proves women can't win either way, and why giving yourself permission to be disliked is actually the most strategic business decision you can make — Women who self-advocate in the workplace are seen as unlikeable. Women who don't are seen as passive and unambitious. If those are the only two options, give yourself permission to be disliked. At least then you are claiming your space and being recognized for what you bring. People are going to dislike you at every stage of your life anyway. You cannot control that.
3. Why taking full responsibility for your resultsn including the failures, is not a burden but the most empowering reframe available to any woman in business — If your failures are a byproduct of your actions, thoughts, and behaviors, then so is your success. That is not pressure, that is power. Stop outsourcing blame to wrong timing, wrong algorithms, and wrong circumstances. You are the driver. Coaches and mentors are just passengers, and your income will shift the moment you stop waiting to feel ready and start doing it messy.
“I think that for the most part, I think juggling throughout my entire life, I've always tried to be palatable." - 00:02:15
"The women who self-advocated in the workplace were seen as generally unlikable and just negatively, perceived negatively. " - 00:20:55
"The women who self-advocated in the workplace were seen as generally unlikable and just negatively, perceived negatively.” - 01:04:24
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#Empowerography #Podcast #womensempowerment #empowherment #entrepreneurship #womeninentrepreneurship #empoweredwomen #empowerelevateeducate #YouWereAlwaysMeantToWin #BusinessStrategy #PersonalBranding #StopWaitingToBeChosen #SuccessIsInevitable #ClearThinking #StopPlayingSmall #IdentityShift #NeurodivergentEntrepreneur #ADHDInBusiness #FullResponsibility #PaidToBeYourself #WomenInBusiness #ClaimYourSpace #PermissionToBeDisliked #DoItMessy #YouAreNotBehind #Leadership #BoundarySetting #MindsetShift #SelfAdvocacy