Women must own their stories and embrace their power

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Mariam Majeed&comma; a branding and women’s empowerment advocate&comma; has urged women to believe in themselves&comma; own their stories and confidently communicate their value&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Mariam&comma; whose work focuses on branding&comma; women’s empowerment and mindset development&comma; said the three areas have remained central to her personal brand and professional journey&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">With a Master’s degree in Brand and Communication Management&comma; she began her career helping startups with brand consulting and marketing strategies before expanding into branding workshops&comma; training and personal branding coaching&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Her passion for women’s empowerment later inspired the creation of AYIG&comma; a mentorship and mindset development initiative aimed at helping young women overcome self-doubt&comma; low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Mariam launched AYIG on LinkedIn on her 28th birthday&comma; describing it as a movement and sisterhood where young women can support and uplift one another&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">As Vice President of the Alliance for Women’s Economic Development &lpar;AWED&rpar;&comma; she has also been involved in initiatives such as the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Brand Right” Masterclass for Women in Business&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">She said the initiative has strengthened her belief in collaboration and the importance of creating opportunities for women to find and own their voices&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">According to Mariam&comma; some of the biggest challenges young women face when building their personal brands include fear of visibility&comma; low self-esteem&comma; lack of clarity and constant comparison with others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">She uses personal SWOT analysis&comma; one-on-one mentorship and mindset coaching to help women identify their strengths&comma; clarify their purpose and build confidence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Mariam believes women seeking success should make three key mindset shifts&colon; move from self-doubt to self-belief&comma; competition to collaboration&comma; and playing small to thinking big&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Looking ahead&comma; she plans to expand her empowerment work through structured programmes&comma; an annual summit connecting women across Africa and the diaspora&comma; and leadership and mindset coaching platforms&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">For Mariam&comma; women’s empowerment is a calling to help women recognise their worth&comma; embrace their voices and create opportunities for others to rise&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;