At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Noha Hefny for an exclusive interview with us. She is a Seasoned Entrepreneur, Thought Leader, Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Change Enabler. Noha is the Founder and CEO of People of Impact. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, her background, and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Noha:
We are aware of your contributions across a variety of sectors and disciplines; talk us about who you are, your background and your journey, please;
I am a human before anything else and I believe that success is defined by the nature of our character, the strength of our values and the impact of our contributions. I am a passionate visionary, and idealist, synergist, impact creator with an entrepreneurial spirit. My intuition and deep convictions guide me. I try to stay authentic and real, to lead from the heart, connect with others organically to support, share empathy, grow others, and continuously learn and develop myself.
I know that every one of us has an inner gift and power to make a difference; to leave a positive impact in the world. It is a part of my mission to try to ignite this in anyone whom I interact with.”
These are beliefs that I have had since my youth, and they continue to inspire my journey and form the basis of most of the ideas I come up with in life and at work. My personality is multi-faceted and has multi-potentiality, a global citizen of the world with full conviction that I exist to be in the service of people and to humanity at large.
These are the beliefs and convictions that have driven my contributions throughout my career journey spanning 21 years, where I accumulated diverse experiences in fields including communications, strategic partnerships, and international development. I gained these experiences while working for the UN, in the private sector for PepsiCo and McKinsey and today as a social entrepreneur and founder of People of Impact www.thepeopleofimpact.com
My journey is one marked by living across 7 countries where I grew up in a family of diplomats leading up to taking on several leadership roles since youth in high school and university serving the student union and model united nations programs and later on growing to hold executive positions across different organizations.”
Today, a dedicated wife, mother of two wonderful boys, who I try to help instil in their mindset a similar set of values, to have passion and love for what they do, to act on their values, and to be globally minded.
How did you discover your passion?
It is an evolving process but it was about developing my vision which has helped me discover what I am truly passionate about, additionally knowing and connecting with my values and they are:
(1) Impact
(2) Excellence
(3) Freedom
(4) Fairness
(5) Authenticity.
This helped me to understand what I stand for. In turn, this knowledge enables me to make the right choices and to stay in alignment with my core purpose. I always undertook projects and careers that I am passionate about and through these, I discovered new passions by pushing myself beyond my comfort zone to experience new things.
And from that point, I continued discovering myself, what I love, what I stand for and what my mission and purpose are going to be.”
With so much going on, how do you start the day to keep your passion alive?
I always look for ways to balance my mind, body and soul. This helps me to build and sustain my resilience and in turn to keep my passion alive.
I start my day with an expression of gratitude, listening to music, and reflecting on my goals for the day.
Having that reflection for a few minutes in the morning keeps me focused and managing my energy efficiently and in a way where my energy is allocated to the most important personal or professional priorities. Ultimately, it is thinking about how to achieve balance and a flow that works for me.
What leadership qualities help you grow in your career and in your life?
I have acceptance, empathy, compassion and forgiveness at all times; even when others are at fault. I thrive for fairness in all my relationships personal and professional.
I see it as essential to understand that while no one is perfect, we are all inherently good as human beings. I believe that in every challenge lies a life lesson, an opportunity to grow, a sign for development.
I ensure that I do not get stuck in other people’s negative patterns, or in a negative situation for too long, and to always maintain respect, and humility in everything that I do. And I do believe that these are critical ingredients for the growth and success of any leader.”
Additionally, being inclusive and making people feel seen and heard, ensuring that I can leverage on the diversity of perspectives within the teams that I work with. Strong communications, being tactful and diplomatic is essential to be able to maintain strong relationships and to present my ideas in a way that can resonate with different audiences.
Resilience is another quality that is vital for growth and it can be cultivated. Anyone can build resilience by integrating positive practices consistently to balance mind, body and soul. This helps with developing grit. Passion for what I do and dedication are key ingredients for success and gaining intrinsic motivation.
Creativity and innovation and the ability to problem-solve issues in innovative ways while taking on a system and holistic approach is something that I am passionate about and has led to the development of new projects and ventures, and to success in roles I held.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Generally, the keys to success are to put people first, lead with purpose and authenticity, deliver a positive impact, never compromise on values, act with integrity, be ethical and always commit to excellence.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what does leadership mean to you?
Leadership for me is to be of service in every sense, to have empathy, and to align people around a greater purpose that can motivate.
It is about being authentic and inclusive. It is about helping people reach their full potential, removing obstacles for them to succeed.
It is to engage with mind, heart, and soul, bringing your whole self with passion and love for what you do. It is all about personal impact and having faith and resilience.
We know that you are continuously engaged in helping others achieve their goals. Why do you do that?
I continue to help others in the achievement of their goals because I believe it is important for all of us to have a support network as we all need to feel that we are supported, that we belong, that someone with a similar journey or with experience has our back, believes in us.
Often, we navigate life without asking for support, we go through experiences individually while there is so much benefit in learning from others and so much wisdom to gain from sharing experiences and knowledge.”
There is great value in a collective power to make a difference and a sense of community, creating safe spaces for learning, sharing stories of success but also of failure are essential for growth and development. This can be beneficial for others undertaking similar journeys to ours. We all need a tribe, that can keep us motivated and guide our journey, open opportunities, pledge for us, promote us when needed so that we can persevere.
It is critically important to know there are people out there who believe in us. Sometimes a simple conversation can go a long way in inspiring and pushing someone forward closer to their goals.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
My philosophy is to be open to new opportunities even if outside of my comfort zone, stretching myself to grow and learn in new areas. To be passionate and to love the roles I take on.
Always ensuring carefully that the culture of the organizations I work for is a good fit with my personality. Never to take opportunities that contradict my values. Have the courage to reset, and to reinvent myself.
What drives you and motivates you? What about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
What drives and motivates me is the interconnectivity of the world and the possibilities for all of us to make a difference globally, lead with impact, and encourage others to give back to society. This inspires me to power ahead in my journey.
I love to problem-solve and find innovative solutions for complex global issues and challenges, knowing that I can positively touch others’ lives no matter how small or big my contribution is. I am inspired when I am serving others in a meaningful way.
I am driven by the power of community and the infinite possibilities that result when people come together and when partnerships are born for the common good. I want to re-ignite passion and belief in our shared and collective values as humans.
What makes my journey satisfying and exciting is the breadth of experiences, the richness of exposure to different contexts, cultures and people.”
As an entrepreneur, the thrill of building something new and seeing it through to fruition, the ups and downs of the journey with all the learning it brings.
As a corporate leader, the excitement of working on global brands, integrating purpose and sustainability into business and transforming mindsets, and lastly and most exciting, being a humanitarian and working on social impact allowing me to be of service where I am truly needed.
This is satisfying and cannot be equated to any paycheck or position. The impact delivered and the transformation in people or communities no matter how small is fulfilling. Every individual influenced, impacted makes the journey worthwhile.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Your fears and inner critic are the only obstacles to your success, overcome them and embrace yourself fully, live in your power and share your talent and uniqueness with the rest of the world.
Your ideas are greatly needed to create a better future. Never cease to learn and to develop your skills. Lastly, to never settle or give up on your ideas until you find your true calling and purpose.
> Be authentic and passionate, love what you do
> Stand up for and live your values wholeheartedly
> Envision the world that you want to live in and create it
> Be resilient, strong, go out of your comfort zone
> Always be in service, to make yourself, others and communities better
> Leave your mark, build your impact footprint and think of your legacy
> Be inclusive, collaborative, and partner with others, we are better together
> Innovate and design ideas that can offer solutions to complex challenges facing your community or the world
> Forgive, have compassion, acceptance and love, always be kind.
> Let go of things outside your control and focus on what is in your circle of influence.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
