Business
Disney should turn Zhara Al-Harazi's story into a feature film. Zahra is one of our countries most successful entrepreneurs, but her path to finding purpose, happiness and success are one few have travelled. It is a journey of resilience, reinvention and fortitude. Zahra was a young child when her family escaped Uganda and the tyranny of Idi Amin. They arrived as refugees of Yemen, one of the poorest countries on earth. At 17 she was the bride of an arranged marriage and at 22 a mother. As she states in her book 'I was an obedient Muslim Woman. My Fathers Daughter, my Husbands' Wife, and my Children's Mother. Zahra followed her husband to the United States where he studied and Zahra experienced a different way of life. They returned to Yemen and civil war, before immigrating to Canada. Zahra arrived in a Calgary suburb with three children, no higher education, and no connections. Zahra's thirst for new experiences and desire to do more and to be more led her to become an award-winning designer and the co-founder of Foundry — which quickly became one of the 100 most profitable companies in Canada run by a woman. But she didn't stop there. Ten years later she sold the company. She ended her marriage, bought a motorcycle, jumped out of a plane, swam in the Great Barrier Reef and built Skillit — an experiential marketplace for skills that creates social learning experiences through fun, memory-making events. Zahra chats about her journey, her book 'What it Takes' and the importance of failure, the impact of positivity and the advantages that can emerge when you embrace your differences. Her story is incredible and inspiring. Catherine Court, Director, Marketing: Newcomer Segment at RBC joins the show to talk about why immigration matters to our culture and our economy. To find out more about Zahra Al-Harazi https://www.speakers.ca/speakers/zahra-al-harazi/ https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/cr-186612/zahra-al-harazi/ https://twitter.com/zahrasays?lang=en https://www.instagram.com/zahrasays/?hl=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahra-alharazi-schmidt-a719b627?trk=public_profile_browsemap_profile-result-card_result-card_full-click&originalSubdomain=ca To chat with Tony Chapman Web: https://chatterthatmatters.ca Twitter – @TonyChapman – https://twitter.com/tonychapman Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/chatterthatmatters/ Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcGvzmw9MFkUcGylrFA2xC RBC - https://www.rbc.com RBC - Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards - https://discover.rbcroyalbank.com/rbc-canadian-women-entrepreneur-awards-cwea-a-virtual-celebration-of-impact-and-achievement/ RBC Future Launch - https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/futurelaunch/index.html RBC Future Launch - Up Skill - https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/futurelaunch/rbc-upskill.html Catherine Court - https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-court-0b492052/?originalSubdomain=ca