About Find Your Own Voice
Being Ready for Change
We live in a time of change. Change which is accelerated, change which is dramatic, change which can at the same time seem terrifying or inspiring.
“There are among us those who feel change has been thrust upon them and resist this change. There are among us also those who want to join this tide of change and make their mark.”
Find Your Own Voice is here to guide new and aspiring changemakers who wish to transition to a career or business path that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. We work with professionals at any stage of their career who are considering a career change into work that resonates with your own values and delivers social impact, or steer their organization to adopting a mindset of social impact. We provide coaching and consultation services to help you achieve success at each stage of this exciting journey.
If you are interested to make an impact, Find Your Own Voice is interested to help you.
Pursuing your Path
The switch from the conventional career track with all its associated benefits to a path focused on service and a ‘higher cause’ is never easy. There is no single reason why we make this change. It may be a culmination of years of having pushed oneself in a corporate job, yet still feeling a vacuum inside and searching for deeper fulfilment. It may the result of a first-time volunteering opportunity that exposed you to a vulnerable section of society you had never interacted with before. It may be the result of a decision to come out of retirement and leave a legacy by contributing more time to something of communal value.
Our decision to change may happen at any age or any particular point in our career. There may always be that spark inside to make an impact, which may stay lit in the backburner but waits for the right moment to flare up.
There is no single reason why we make this change.
Why Find Your Own Voice?
Find Your Own Voice speaks to our experience of finding our inner authentic passion and expressing it to the world. Changemakers feel a double satisfaction of following their passion while seeing the positive fruits of the work benefiting those around them.
The world does not have a shortage of problems, from poverty to illiteracy to degradation of the environment. Those who choose a social impact path realize that inaction in their area of choice is simply perpetuating the problem.
But the steps from transforming your newfound passion to a professional vocation can be hazy, frustrating and time-consuming. Is your area of impact well-defined and sustainable?
How do your transition your existing skillset to fit your new path? Shall you create your own start-up or non-profit, or join an existing organization? How can you ensure your impact is deep and meaningful? Find Your Voice offers it coaching and consultation services for progressing along successfully on this impact journey.
My Story: Saqib Sheikh
Find Your Own Voice is a reflection of my gradual process of transition from a career in corporate communications to social innovation. The space where I like to work is in between the cracks in the system, where governments and international bodies do not normally reach, and which is a fertile ground for new ideas in human development and sustainability.
As a Pakistani-American born and raised in the US, I always had a keen interest in issues of international justice. I spent the formative part of my career in New York moving along the traditional career track in public relations. My own impact journey began in 2010 when I first moved to Malaysia.
In Malaysia, I first encountered a growing movement of permaculturists. It was through the study of permaculture, an ecologically-grounded design methodology, that I first became aware of the systemic issues underlying the macroeconomic system that drive artificial scarcity and lead to poverty, hunger and conflict. Along with my colleagues, we have spearheaded the use of permaculture as a holistic solution for urban sustainability in the region for the past several years.
My time here also allowed me to interact with a large community of refugees who lack formal access to education, healthcare and livelihood. My work has two approaches towards securing basic rights for refugees. The first is capacity-building with refugees to allow them to conduct formal advocacy and self-representation with stakeholders, including UNHCR, media and policymakers. The second approach is to pioneer the use of blockchain technology to create unique solutions for refugees, such as a crypto-token reward system for refugees and a digital archive for ancestral documents.
I didn’t have a plan to move into this form of social impact work; life has led me here. But I have the firm conviction that I am in the right place at the right time doing work that deeply satisfies me.
It is through understanding how fulfilling this process has been that I decided to start Find Your Own Voice and offer my assistance to those who want to challenge themselves and push boundaries to make a difference.
Founder Bio
Saqib Sheikh has over 10 years of experience as a media relations and corporate communications specialist. He has helped train hundreds of professionals in the Asia-Pacific region to improve their written and verbal communications skills, lectures on journalism and mass media at Sunway University and is a regular contributor for the Asia Times.
Saqib received his Masters in Communication from Purdue University, USA and Bachelors in Mass Communication from Minnesota State University Moorhead. He is a Certified People Coach under the International Coach Federation and is certified in Permaculture Design. He has worked with several international organizations, including UNHCR, IOM, UNDP, UNESCO and others.
Saqib is a pioneer of several groundbreaking initiatives for disruptive social change over the years. He is Project Director of the Rohingya Project, a digital platform to empower stateless Rohingya worldwide using Blockchain technology.
He is a co-founder of Urban Hijau, a living, breathing showcase for permaculture and sustainable farming solutions in Kuala Lumpur.
