The Ultimate Contentment (with Nida Lodean)

Episode 08: Anybody can do it.

Relatable, inspiring, and full of positive energy, Nida Lodean joins us to share her story as an immigrant accomplishing her goals one day at a time. A successful lawyer and entrepreneur with her sights set on philanthropy, Nida sits down with Hamza to discuss building a real audience, shifting priorities, and perseverance through criticism.

If you enjoyed the episode, be sure to subscribe for more inspiring and thought-provoking conversations.
______________________________________________________

Let’s work together: hamzainvests.com

Visit our website: immigrantunfiltered.com

For all inquiries, please email: zahra@hamzainvests.com
______________________________________________________

Connect with Nida:

tiktok.com/@nidalodean

instagram.com/nidalodean
______________________________________________________

Subscribe to watch Immigrant Unfiltered videos: youtube.com/@immigrantunfiltered

Subscribe to watch my vlogs: youtube.com/@hamzainvests

Transcript

Nida: [00:00:00] Well, I don't know what I'm doing. I still dunno what I'm doing, but you never know what you're doing. You just have to want it so bad. Right. You, you just want to get up and commit to it enough that you're working every day towards it. And then you wake up one day and you're like, wait, I did all that.

Yeah. Because it's not like a one big band thing. It's little steps to that ultimate goal, right? Absolutely. It's the 

Hamza: Immigrant Unfiltered Podcast with Ham.

Hey guys. Uh, welcome to the Immigrant Unfiltered Podcast. It's me your host, Hamza, and today we have an amazing guest, Nita Lian, uh, who has over 800,000 TikTok followers and an amazing presence on Instagram. And she does really amazing things and inspires a lot of youth with all of the stuff that she actually, uh, you know, uh, showcases.

On her platform. And with that, actually, I want you to introduce yourself. Linda, please give us a, an amazing intro. I mean, you are just such an [00:01:00] amazing human. Uh, we want hear all about it. 

Nida: Well, thank you so much for that introduction. But basically, um, you know, doing it all, I don't know if there's one way to put it, you know, to capture my definition, but I practice attor like law.

I'm a full-time attorney. I make content, I give business consultation. I, I do it all. 

Hamza: So, you know, I've been following your journey a little bit and it seems like there's a huge shift as of recent. Right. Um, but prior to that shift, I wanna, I wanna better understand like what, uh, started your social media journey?

Nida: So interestingly, I was, uh, done with law school and I was working at a law law firm at the time, um, as a law clerk, still studying for the bar exam. And, you know, somebody was like, Hey, we need, um, you know, desy looking model for a music video. Um, The word got to me and I was like, sure. You know, what a fun little thing to do.

[00:02:00] Um, I ended up featuring for Bohemia, he's an Indian music artist. Um, and that was the start of things. I, you know, featured for that and then got featured for Dry Bar. It's like a Yeah. Hair salon. You're very familiar with Dry. Yes. I modeled for them for, you know, a bunch of campaigns. I was like the face in like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, like all these different stores and it would be really fun as a law student, I really never thought I would end up here, but I was always.

Working in makeup counters. You know, I was a Mac girl back in the day. I was a Sephora girl. What, what's back in the day? Back in the day? Uh, I wanna say undergrad years. Okay. Um, and I, I was in Kansas City at the time, so yeah, I was a Mac girl in Kansas City. Is that, is that where you grew up? So I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi.

Hamza: Okay. So we have a lot of, lot to talk about there. A lot to talk about 

Nida: there. I I know you're from Dubai. When, when did you move here? I was 11 years old. Okay. Right after nine 11 had happened. So relatively young. Okay. Yes. [00:03:00] Um, I moved right straight, straight to Kansas City. Uh, my, my dad's family lives there.

Um, so I lived there for a while. Went back and forth between Kansas City and LA and, um, then did law school in Florida and then back in la and I've, I've been there for a while. Wow. 

Hamza: That's a, that's a l. Like journey, basically Kansas City to la so, so what was the relationship between Kansas 

Nida: City and la? I ha, my dad has, he's one of seven siblings.

God, there's a lot of here, there's family, right? Yeah. So there's just a lot of bouncing back and forth as an immigrant. And I 

Hamza: feel like with the cultures you have to kind of go visit and, you know, you have to kind of do all that. Yeah. 

Nida: Especially when you're an immigrant, right? You're still figuring out like where to lay, lay down the roots, what's your home?

Yeah. So my parents were doing that very naturally. So 

Hamza: Kansas City, la and then you went to study in Florida and 

Nida: Florida. Where in Florida? I was in 

Hamza: Jacksonville. Oh, nice. Jacksonville. Yeah. That's nice. And what 

Nida: was that like? It, it was, it was really, Interesting. A lot of gators everywhere. Okay. Um, I was in a fast track program, so I did law school instead of three years.

[00:04:00] I did in two years. So that's why the random plays Jacksonville. Yeah. Um, but it was really nice. I liked it. So what's a fast track program? Sorry. I'm, um, fast track basically means I don't get any breaks, but I'm done with law school in two years instead of doing a whole three year program. So you still have to take all the courses?

You I did everything, do everything just in a fast track. Okay. Yeah. 

Hamza: I mean, you don't take any breaks, you know, funny story, I actually also didn't take any breaks, but I took four years to graduate with and I don't wanna disclose my gpa. 

Nida: Ooh, let's hear it. That's the GC stuff. 

Hamza: So I would, I would also say I tried to fast track myself, but unfortunately, you know, I think college was just not my, uh, my forte at the time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, uh, so good, good for you. I mean, you managed student two years and, I mean, and you studied the harder thing, obviously. Yeah. I studied. You know, much simpler things back then. Yeah. Uh, what did you study? I, so I studied marketing. Okay. But it was before social media, 

Nida: so That's smart. You needed everything you needed, right?

Well, 

Hamza: yeah, but we studied like newspapers and like, you know, oh man. 

Nida: Yeah, yeah. So I'm talking about [00:05:00] So you really missed out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. On the social media world. 

Hamza: Ads, like, uh, printed print ads, banners, you know, that type of thing. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So we were like way before, so I think when I graduated, when was when Facebook like, kind of 

Nida: started to take off.

Oh, man. Okay. So yeah, that's, everything you learned is kind of irrelevant now. 

Hamza: Exactly. And now I do real estate too, so it's 

Nida: like, so look at where we all ended up. Now I do 

Hamza: TikTok and real estate. Right. Uh, so it's just very interesting. So, okay. Walk us through that. So you, you went to Jacksonville, you fast tracked your way, you became a clerk.

Uh, you, you did, uh, you know, uh, all of these like, uh, appearances. Yeah. Uh, what, like how does somebody from uh, in-law go and do that? Because it seemed like that kind of, sort of became 

Nida: your thing. Yeah. Yeah. So I think, um, you know, especially as an immigrant, you from a really early age on realize that you have to learn how to adapt and then stand out in that [00:06:00] community shining, right?

And so when you come into new communities, you're, you're, you're the odd one, right? You're the black sheep and you're not fitting into anything. And so you learn ways, uh, to excel within that community that you're outcasted from. Um, when I moved back to LA even though I was, you know, I had a law degree and everything, there was just a little outcast thing still going on.

And 

Hamza: was that because you were like coming from 

Nida: the Middle East? I think it was a lot of things. It was not just the Middle East, but also. Being not from la you gotta understand LA is very cliquey. Everyone knows everyone. Everything is very like systematic. It's Hollywood like people, it's all about network and communication.

And I, I understood the importance of that at such an early age on, um, that by the time I got into law school, I realized that that is the skill I need to perfect. And I say skill very particularly because it's not something you're, you're, [00:07:00] I mean, there might be people that are naturally good at it, but majority of us, especially after Covid, we struggle with social work being in social beings, right?

And so learning that skill to network with the top of the top, that was like the aim. And although, yes, that music video gave me a little heads up, right? But. It was really about the networking outreach of building that community and a platform that got me further opportunities. And I, and I think that that's true and no matter what field you're in 

Hamza: really.

So it's still a hustle. It's still a grind. You have to continuously like, 

Nida: you know, all the time in order to, it doesn't stop. And, and what 

Hamza: is that like? Is, is it easy? Like, I mean obviously it's not easy, nothing's easy, but like, Can anybody do something like this? Anybody can do it. You just need to, you just need to know 

Nida: what you're doing.

You just, no, you don't need to know. I don't know what I'm doing. I still dunno what I'm doing, but you never know what you're doing. You just have to want it [00:08:00] so bad. Right. You, you just want to get up and commit to it enough that you're working every day towards it and then you wake up one day and you're like, wait, I did all that.

Yeah. Because it's not like a one big bam thing. It's little steps to that ultimate goal, right? Absolutely. And I still dunno what the ultimate goal is. It just continues to change you. You continue to hit milestones, right? And you get better every 

Hamza: day. You get better every day. Uh, going back to getting better every day, you know?

What was your life, uh, in Abu Dhabi? Like 

Nida: I was 11 when I moved here. So I have some memories. Not all, but I do remember I. Um, you know, my parents talk about it all the time. They're like, we wish we could go back. Because growing up in a Muslim country, it's just, it's a whole different culture, you know? Um, and AJ la my dad was a very established man, so from a young age, I just have great memories of like, you know, going to schools and we went to really good schools and we got the [00:09:00] European education back there.

We didn't get the American education, but we were so advanced that Yeah. When we moved here, I actually have never been to sixth grade, so I went from fifth to seventh. Yeah. Because they were like, you guys have a out advanced yourself. That is correct. Um, just so there was just little things that the lifestyle is amazing there.

Yeah. 

Hamza: Yeah, definitely. Lifestyle is a whole different lifestyle. Absolutely. Uh, the Middle Eastern culture is just so much friendlier, easier. Um, and definitely education wise, I mean, we beat the Americans out of like, yeah. Like it's just so rigorous, so intense. Uh, in fact, uh, same thing happened to my kids.

Okay. When my kids came here, when, you know, when we all moved here, uh, I felt like they were just too advanced for the American, uh, education system. Yeah. And so, I mean, I kept them in the same, like, I didn't advance them, I chose not to. For age, you know, reasons, but I feel like, you know, they're like, they got lazy.

You know, it's like we don't need to study for a whole year. They don't need to do anything, you know? Yeah. 

Nida: So it's very [00:10:00] interesting. Yeah, that, I mean that's, that's absolutely what happened to us. We realized that educational system was a lot easier and a lot of us fell back. My parents used to pray. I make it through high school.

I was, I was like the D's and F's kid and I love telling this story cause I'm like, you guys, I was the ultimate like failure kid. My parents used to be like, may aah make her get through high school and give her this high school degree. And then all of a sudden, like when we were deciding, you know, undergrad and whatnot, All of a sudden it was like, no, you're gonna go to med school.

That's what you're doing. That's what all your sisters are doing. And the rest of my sisters, I'm one out of five, um, siblings and all, everybody's in medicine. Like all of them did it. I, I hid from my parents for, I wanna say over a year that I was a pre-law student. Yeah. H how does that even happen? 

Hamza: Um, you know, I, what, what, so you 

Nida: went to school?

Yeah, I, I enrolled as a pre-med student [00:11:00] undergrad. Okay. Um, I was taking all those anatomy, biology, I was, I was in a school in undergrad that had a six year medical program. So it was like one of those great schools where people come and they're like the nerdiest of the science geeks. Like they know they're a science.

And I was like, I don't like this. I dunno what's going on here. I don't like this one bit. Um, and ended up joining mock trial. I don't know if you're familiar. It's, it's similar like debate team. Um, but for law and you compete and travel the world. So that's what sparked my interest in law. Yeah. That's what 

Hamza: fueled the fire, I guess.

Yeah. And you realized you were really good at it and you, you were passionate 

Nida: about it. Goodness, I'm good at this. Wow, 

Hamza: that's amazing. The fact that you were able to hide cuz you know, I feel like in our cultures it's all about the education, especially with parents, right? Yeah. It's all about education.

Education. The fact that you could hide that or, you know, not tell them about it is, is a hu What about pushback? 

Nida: I mean, it's funny because everyone's just like, what you had, you wanted to be a lawyer from your parents. Like, that should have been an [00:12:00] amazing thing. But in reality, what my parents were protecting me from, which eventually became the truth was it's, it's a very male dominated field.

Right. And I see that every day. I'm in majority of the rooms, especially when I first started practicing law. I was a criminal defense attorney. So majority of the courtrooms I walk into, the judges are males, like the opposing counsel, you know, like every single person almost was. It's a very, very, and then the more I got into the corporate world, just recently last week, my boss had a meeting with his team and um, he was like telling us, you know, if any of you feel any misogynistic discrimination, when you're doing depositions, you, you know, whatever you're doing, I need that reported.

That's not like an option. I need you guys to come and report it to us because we just can't handle any more of that misogynistic culture in the legal field. And people think we've progressed. But again, these, these little things continue to happen where you feel this male aggression while you're practicing [00:13:00] and you know, the undermining of a woman practicing law.

Mm-hmm. So I, I did understand my parents' perspective eventually, but at the time I was passionate. I was like, you don't know, I'm so good at this. 

Hamza: Um, let's talk about pushback. So obviously you're on social media, you know, um, as creators, uh, as Muslim creators. Yeah. As immigrant creators, as minority creators.

You know, we go through a lot of, or I would say a lot of people that are, that have sitting in that chair have told me that they go through a lot of different, uh, you know, uh, emotional cycles depending on, you know, where they are with their journey. Yeah. Um, I guess first thing I would want to cover is family pushback.

Cuz you know, I feel like that's something that as immigrants are, families are like, what are you doing? Why are you, you know, is that something that was the case for you? 

Nida: Absolutely. I, I, I was the first one and both sides of the family, like, popping off on social [00:14:00] media, everyone was like, what? Like, you know, family from back home was hitting up my parents, like family and friends, like the community was freaking out.

And then, you know, I, I, I got that pushback from my parents. Eventually that trickles down and, and there's a lot of pressure in that. But I think, like I said, when you finally do things, what for yourself and you know, the repercussions of what you're doing, like whatever decision you make, it may not, it may not be something your parents or the family or the community agrees with, but you need to know that whatever the effect is, the repercussions are of that decision, you are the only one who's gonna live with it.

Right? And as long as you're good with that and you're content with your own decisions, you eventually. Learn how to navigate that pushback. Yeah. You know? 

Hamza: Yeah. But initially there was pushback. 

Nida: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. My parents were just so confused. Um, they did not like the judgment. And you know, to be honest, I [00:15:00] was on that the, like, initially when TikTok first popped off, and, you know, I had like a crazy common war going on.

There was this Haram police. Yeah. And like, they just had so much judgment on I I, I mean, I get it. I was like, ble, blonde, blonde, blonde hair, like platinum blonde. I was, you know, going out. This is just not the traditional Pakistani look that you see. And then I was associated with the Pakistani community, so that did trigger a lot of people.

And absolutely there was a pushback. But I think it's all like a learning 

Hamza: curve. I, you know, it's funny you mentioned the Haram police, because I think as Muslim creators we all go through that. Yeah. It's something, you know, no matter what you are educating on teaching, preaching, yeah. Whatever, you know, saying.

Uh, 

Nida: somebody's correcting 

Hamza: you. There's always gonna be, uh, Haram police. And the funny thing is, is that they're on TikTok. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I mean, 

Nida: it's like key platform. The devil runs it. 

Hamza: It's like, I mean, if you're gonna, you know, I mean, I, I don't know. Maybe get off TikTok. Yeah. [00:16:00] You know? Yeah. Uh, but that's very interesting.

So, uh, walk, walk us through, you know, you said co you said Covid, the pandemic. TikTok came, you know, yeah. Came to life. Uh, what really st you know, started you off on TikTok because, you know, it was a brand new idea for me at least. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, for a lot of people, uh, short form content, one minute videos, 32nd videos.

What really made you think that, okay, this is what I'm gonna do and I think I'm gonna 

Nida: be good at it? Well, I was around content creators and TikTok was previously musically. So it just became that app turned into TikTok, right? So I was around creators who were on musically, and this was like their career.

So I have, I was very familiar with this platform and, you know, the, the amount of monetization value that there is in, in this app. Um, that being said, when I was. Seeing the TikTok rise. It was very interesting because now people were able to monetize in a [00:17:00] whole different way. TikTok was really, the algorithm was brand new.

It was able to out outreach people that we had never seen before, like this was better than any other platform. So the goal wasn't, let's make short-lived TikTok videos or whatever the goal was. This is a fresh platform and there is so much outreach that we can tap into whatever industry we want. So we were like playing around with so much when it first started, and this is before the pandemic, like this is way when, when TikTok just became from musically to TikTok.

TikTok. And this was 

Hamza: pre Pandemic way. Pre pandemic because most of the people that I've spoken to have found massive success, but it was due to the pandemic. Yeah. That was when they kind of like, you know, blew up sort of, yeah. Yeah. On social media. So you're like one of the like very first people, I guess, to get on the platform.

Yeah. That 

Nida: was a long time ago. What's the next platform? You know what? I don't know yet. There's, this is, this is a good one still. Yeah. I, I tell people all the time, I'm like, don't miss out. Don't be [00:18:00] intimidated by the rise of what it's become. It's still a great platform to start. 

Hamza: Yeah. You're not looking at like, just in case it gets bann or something.

What, what, where do you think people are gonna go next? 

Nida: Snapchat. Shorts are big. YouTube shorts are big. Okay. So the thing is, those things didn't exist before TikTok, right? So the thing about TikTok is it created this culture where new, I remember when I, this is also again pre pandemic. I remember when I first started making tos, Instagram invited me to their headquarters to talk about what is TikTok doing?

How are you like popping off? What is their success algorithm like? Everything, and this is before reels. And so the thing about TikTok is it's, it has started the conversation in all other platforms. So even if God forbids something happens to TikTok, there's conversations already and already there's so many great platforms, you know?

Do 

Hamza: you think something's gonna happen to TikTok? 

Nida: Potentially, but I think it could come back again if, if something does [00:19:00] happen, you know? So like it would get banned and then somehow come back again. Yeah. I, I don't think it can permanently get banned. I think there's just so many people that are lobbying against that.

So I think there's, there's potential still. I mean, we met through TikTok right? You know, Instagram, TikTok. Exactly. There's, there's, there's 

Hamza: a lot of good that comes out of it as well. Absolutely. Right. Um, okay, so you are really like, you know, probably the pioneers of, I would say, just because you were surrounded by the right people and, you know, obviously you had the, the monetization, you were seeing what other people were doing.

Right. And what, what has that journey been like? Like you were talking about monetization. So if someone wants to join social media today, let's say short form content, uh, and figure out, you know, is there money to be made? 

Nida: Money is there money is more there than in any, like we were talking about your advertising degree.

Like those form like real print things just are kind of irrelevant now. Money is in social media and you know, no matter what business you have, no matter what [00:20:00] individual being that you wanna show the world, if you wanna monetize off of it, there's absolutely opportunity. And the thing about TikTok is there, the algorithm is designed for people who have talent and know where to go to be able to, to showcase that.

Right? 

Hamza: Showcase that. Yeah, absolutely. TikTok is just change the game, I think. Yes, change the game. Um, okay, so now let's go and, and hear a little bit about, you know, What you have done, because you've done a lot. I don't know if you, I'm sure you, you know this, but you've inspired a lot of people, uh, to do a lot of different things, to try a lot of different things, right?

So you are not only posting content, right? You're also providing a lot of value. No. Uh, and then, you know, I, I'm just thinking as to was that out of like, people reaching out to you and telling you, Hey, you know, good job. We wanna learn more. And how, how did that transition happen from just, Hey, I'm gonna post content today to, Hey, [00:21:00] you know, I think I can talk about a lot of valuable, um, things that are going on either within the community or about, you know, uh, work or whatever that is.

Nida: Um, I think. Life hits you and you just want to be more real with yourself. And so a lot of the times we get social media is so fancy and so pretty, and especially with the Instagram, Instagram culture, we like filtered out our lives to make it all perfect. And you know, especially when the pandemic hit it, it became so real to be with yourself.

Like there was no one else, there was no distraction. And I think it allowed me to be in this journey of realizing like, let me give back. I. In a way that's more authentic and like I started exploring, I started playing around with my for you page, my content vibes, like different things to see what else I can do to cater to the people.

And, and to be quite honest, my biggest [00:22:00] feedback was the source was always my comment section. I take that very seriously. I look back at what my followers like to see more, what's really going on in that comments section. Cuz like, it's not just comments, TikTok is like a whole conversation going on. Like there's threads of information there.

So your own followers will tell you what they like more and wanna see more of. So it's, it's, it's easier when you're in tune with who you are and how authentic you can be to your followers. Is it a 

Hamza: timely, like, is it a time consuming activity to, to post social? 

Nida: Absolutely. 

Hamza: Really? Absolutely. Like how much, like would you say that you dedicate hours in a day to.

To, to prepare content. 

Nida: I feel like I, I used to, um, not so much anymore. Okay. Um, but I still say that that is the key to success. I feel like now I'm at a state of life where I can [00:23:00] consistently post just little bits, and that's enough. Whereas somebody who's trying to build a great big platform and they're just starting out, I absolutely recommend you to spend that time in not just posting, but planning the pre part of it.

And then the post part of it, editing, figuring out from A to z your concept of what you're delivering to your audience. 

Hamza: Yeah. So you do need to prep for that. You're absolutely right. Yeah. Um, who are your best followers? Like, what is that avatar like, and who are your worst followers? I don't know 

Nida: what that means.

Like, I 

Hamza: mean, if you, you're saying that you're, you know, in the comments section and you're very in tune with what you get, you know, as, as in comment. And I'm sure that impacts you, which is why you, and it allows you to like get, you know, generate future content. Right. So what are the best comments? What are the worst comments?

Nida: I mean, like I said, there's the Haram police, including Haram, 

Hamza: Haram Police is just a whole different story. There's 

Nida: just like out there to eat me alive no matter what I do is not good or not right. Um, but then there's supporters, [00:24:00] there's like a whole like group of people that are like fighting on my behalf and I sometimes I like feel so bad cuz they're getting themselves involved in things that I'm like, how can I help stop this conversation?

Should I delete the comment? Like, so 

Hamza: are you saying that people will post a bad comment and then other people will? Oh, 

Nida: absolutely. Other people come for my defense. Oh, that, that's good. 

Hamza: Would you say it's a 50 50? 

Nida: Absolutely. Really? Yes. Yes. There's as, as much as bad exists, good exists. And I think that's true with any social media platform in the world.

Like how things go. There's a yin and the yang. Right. So yeah, 

Hamza: obviously you, you are an attorney. Um, you know, you still post on social media. I, I think, are you as active as you were on social media? Uh, 

Nida: still, um, and not as much. Okay. It's more strategic now. Okay. It's very like, planned out content. What do I wanna deliver?

How I wanna deliver it? Whereas back in the day, it was just like post, post, post. Because that's how you build a [00:25:00] platform. You're testing things, you're just, you're, 

Hamza: how many times are you posting? Like if there's a strategy behind it, what is that strategy? 

Nida: It's not how many times anymore. Okay. It's when the message is right and ready to be received by the people.

So it's not like a once a day? Not anymore. Okay. No, it used to be like three times a day on TikTok. Once on Instagram. Just different platforms. Yeah. Um, depend, not so much anymore. Depend. No, just, it was, that's what had to be done every day, once a day on Instagram, two, three times at least on TikTok, sometimes even 10 times on TikTok is, yeah.

Yeah. Wow. There were days where I was just posting back to 

Hamza: back, Zara, we need to do, uh, 10, 10 times a day now. I don't know. I don't know how we figured that one out, but we figured out. Um, wow. That's, that's a, that's a lot of con That's a full-time job. It was a full-time job. That's a full-time 

Nida: job for sure.

Hamza: Yeah. Yeah. 10 times a day is just ridiculous. Like, that's just, you know Yeah. Different levels of discipline on social media. So, um, okay, so let's get back [00:26:00] to, uh, now you're an attorney. What is life like? 

Nida: Life is good Al. That's very good. Knock wood. Aah. Has blessed me with everything I've ever wanted. Life is really good.

Work is amazing. I work full-time remote at this point, so no more criminal defense attorney. I loved practicing criminal defense law as one of my favorite times of my life. Um, some of the greatest cases I've worked on in la but it was a mental toll. It was taking a lot out of me. I was listening to a lot of information, dealing with a lot of things.

That confidentiality, you just have to live with it. Um, but now I do civil practice. I'm a complex business and tort litigation, uh, attorney. So it's all online, remote. It's a great life. And 

Hamza: is there much litigation in that? 

Nida: It's all litigation. It's all litigation. So all I do is fully litigate. Um Okay. But because I can practice, civil is a little different so it can be done.

Over [00:27:00] Zoom, it's more flexible. Criminal attorney and judges are a whole different game. So yeah, that's why I was all in person when I did criminal, but with civil, everything can be done remote. Okay. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. 

Hamza: Um, walk us through, you know, what the future looks like? 

Nida: The future. Oh my gosh, 

Hamza: yeah.

I mean, you know, you've, you've told us a lot, but we, you know, where's the future? 

Nida: Future? Um, there's just so much I wanna do. There's not one real thing, you know, like the ultimate, ultimate goal, what I end up seeing myself doing in the big picture philanthropy stuff. Okay. Absolutely. That's just. What I wanna eventually like, tap into big time nonprofit organizations, water wells, providing education for, you know, third world countries and especially our countries back home.

There's so much opportunity that these kids need and, and we're blessed. So are you 

Hamza: involved with any, uh, non-profit organizations that [00:28:00] well, that still work internationally? Like back 

Nida: home, uh, back home in la, in Pakistan? 

Hamza: Uh oh. Or, you know, 

Nida: I don't know. Wherever, back home. I mean, I do a lot of, uh, non-profit organizational work and I do a lot of projects, but they're all like, based in LA that spend their Yeah.

Money and work out in third world countries. Absolut, absolutely. 

Yeah. 

Hamza: There, there's a lot of that. Yeah. And some of them do some phenomenal work. Like I've seen, seen, I've seen things just, you know, um, that are almost unbelievable sometimes. Yeah. Uh, you know, with um, the last one I saw there was a Muslim community, um, And they built an entire water system.

Yeah. In, in somewhere in Africa where, uh, it's not for Muslims. It's like we're not supporting our own people. We're actually supporting the people of the land. Right. And they built this entire infrastructure to provide water in elevated, uh, areas. Beautiful. Yeah. And it was just, it was amazing. It's like, why are you doing this?

You know? Yeah. Uh, I'm sure their money could be spent elsewhere, but, you know, they have strategic reasons, but they're also really doing a lot of good, [00:29:00] which is like, you know, amazing. Seth Gaja, I mean. Yeah, exactly. That's what it is. It's just amazing to see. Yeah. You know, uh, 

Nida: selfless, you know, when you finally hit that point in your life where everything is kind of stable now, you're not on survivor mode, you're not chasing you.

You just have things coming. You have to decide what you're gonna do with your blessings. Right. Right. There's just so many decisions to be made. Money is coming in life is good. So then like, what can you do for the people? What can you do for your Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Hamza: For sure. What, how do your parents feel now?

Nida: Proud. Yeah. All the time. They tell me all the time. They couldn't be more proud. They're very happy. Like they, they've seen the growth and they were a part of that journey. And I think just like me, there's so many of us. We're all on our journeys and we all just need support. Yeah, 

Hamza: absolutely. Yeah. I, I totally agree with that.

You know, it's a journey and somehow, uh, you know, we [00:30:00] all kinda grow and, you know, become who become who we are, I guess. 

Nida: And we just like wake up one day and we're like, how did we do all that? 

Hamza: Um, looking back, what are, what are some of your most proudest moments? 

Nida: Um, getting into law school? Yeah, that was a big one.

Passing the bar. Um, building this platform, having a voice and a positive influence. And making my parents proud. That to me is the ultimate contentment. When you finally hear your parents say like, we couldn't be more proud. Yeah. 

Hamza: I think we live for that as, as we live for that as children of immigrants, right?

Yeah. Or immigrants or whatever it is. Because even I can tell you like my son, uh, you know, as a child of an immigrant, I think he lives for that. Like when you tell them that, Hey, you know, we're proud of you. I think that makes their day, that's all the 

Nida: changes we want. Yeah. We're in America. [00:31:00] Everything's given.

We just wanna make our parents proud. 

Hamza: Um, you know, something interesting I, I wanted to talk about is today living in America, I really don't feel like I live in America. As in, you know, there's so many immigrants and it's growing and honah, I feel like a lot of immigrants are more well to do than not because they just come with like a built-in drive.

Right. Uh, or their children are, you know, much more well to do than they were when they can. Cuz they, you know, the, the goal is you come here, you provide for your kids and then your kids become, you know, um, is that something that you have also seen on your end? 

Nida: Yeah, my parents, we got here and struggled very much.

Moved around, couldn't figure it out. Um, I told you I'm one of out of five siblings. All of us were pushed into education. All of us were told to go get grad, graduate, grad school degrees and build [00:32:00] that empire for them, that dream. The American, the ultimate American dream like. That was absolutely on the menu.

And, and you said all 

Hamza: of them became doctors? 

Nida: All of us have grad school degrees. So my older sister's a chiropractor. I became a lawyer. My younger sister just matched for her residency. Uh, another younger sister just got her master's in psychology, marriage therapy and counseling. And then my youngest brother wants to do law school like me, so That's awesome.

All of us are. That's great. 

Hamza: I bet you 

Nida: inspired him. Yes. He's so old. Is he excited? How is he? He's 19. Well, he actually just turned 20 a couple days ago, so yeah. Okay, so relatively young. Relatively young. And what's y'all's relationship like? You know what, I think we all had phases cuz a lot of moving parts like grad school, someone's moving here, someone's moving there.

So whoever was in the house with the parents got that moment. Yeah. Um, getting married, moving out, and all of that. So whoever's there, whoever's 

Hamza: there That's right. Um, [00:33:00] Let's talk about marriage. Yeah. Where is that on the, on, on the list Now, first of all, is there someone, was there someone, and then where is marriage on 

Nida: your list?

It's on the list, absolutely. Um, very single. Okay. Um, you know, I think it's, it's so hard as like, how, how 

Hamza: do people even find each other? I don't even know. I don't know. It's so hard. I don't know what the, like, you know, I don't know what the young people 

Nida: are doing. It's not normal. It's so hard to date or meet people of quality and like, I don't know.

It's hard. How 

Hamza: do you do it? And especially you, I mean, I would consider you to be like sort of high 

Nida: profile, right? So it's so hard. 

Hamza: You would need somebody is some, is meeting someone equally high profile, like, would that help? The thing 

Nida: is not high profile. I, I, I could care less about that. It's being established in life.

I don't wanna be the sugar mama. I don't wanna take care. I want a man who's ready to provide and take [00:34:00] care. And so, you know, the traditional values, we, we all at the end of the day crave that. And it's harder to find people who have outdone or don't feel intimidated when you have so much on your resume, you know?

So that's, so give 

Hamza: us a checklist. What's on the checklist? 

Nida: Um, you know, you always start with hype is very, no, it's Islam for me first, I, I, I really, I think I've been on this journey of just spirituality and exploring Islam and absolutely number one is someone who, who wants to love me for. You know, the and wants to see me in Jenna.

Like that's the first and foremost important thing to love me outside of my physical being and what I have to offer in this Sonya. Um, and then established, like I said, like I don't, I've met people that feel very intimidated by what I'm doing and, and that's just not a good balance in a relationship. I think a man should [00:35:00] have his own thing going on and be proud of that, whatever it is.

I think that's the most important couple things be about family and religion. Yeah. 

Hamza: So I want to ask you something, and it's pretty obvious, uh, because as immigrants and you are a child of an immigrant, I feel like, uh, I am an 

Nida: immigrant. I moved here as you are the immigrant. Immigrant, 

Hamza: yes. Okay. So you are the immigrant.

So, uh, but you're also a child 

Nida: of an immigrant doesn't. Right. And a child of an immigrant, 

Hamza: um, haven't your parents tried to like, uh, you know, Do something about it because it, I mean, it's pretty common, right? Yeah. I mean, I know my mom and dad were like, on top of me. Yeah. You know, and I was like, 20. Yeah.

And I was like, what are you guys doing? You know, like, uh, but anyways, yeah. So 

Nida: I get it. I, it's it very true. Um, no, they've definitely tried. They've definitely did. So they've done their fair share. They've tried. It's just, I think I was just very caught up in my own world. I was doing me, I was like very married to my career.

[00:36:00] You know, that passion you have, but you're an immigrant, you're not enough. Nothing's enough. Yeah. And it didn't, it, it didn't feel enough until very recently. So now it's more like, okay, I can, I can see myself finding somebody who's also gonna be in a stable mental space and have that, you know, whatever they have going on for themselves.

But yeah, my parents were very much about like, let's get you married. My older and younger sisters are both married, so that way. No. Okay. They, well, yes, yes and no. Okay. Yeah. Families were involved 

Hamza: at some level. I think at some point I feel like what they say is, uh, everybody somehow knows somebody and so, you know, they talk 

Nida: and Of course.

And that's kinda how things happen. Exactly. Right. 

Hamza: Yeah. But for you, that hasn't worked. 

Nida: I'm like the odd child. I was the trouble kid that just like popped off and did her thing, 

Hamza: so, okay. So, you know, obviously religion is important. Uh, somebody who's financially successful, obviously I think you, you know, [00:37:00] you're totally.

In the right for that. And you would need, and I think that individual would wanna be the person who is the caretaker. Right. You know? Uh, yeah. Uh, okay. Now how, how do we go about finding that person? 

Nida: That's the thing. It's very hard. You can't just openly do anything about it. You meet people through friends, right.

And acquaintances. So you are saying it's organic? Yes. It has to be. That's the way it works. It's not through the apps 

Hamza: or, you know, whatever 

Nida: is out there in the world. I think the dating apps 

Hamza: and like, what are they called? Falafel or, I don't know, falafel, like, I don't know, chicken shower. There's like a bunch of apps now like, you know, that cater to like primarily Muslim people meeting each other.

Nida: Just think about that, that that's craziness because now you're just like a menu of like, like, 

Hamza: well you know what I'm thinking now that you say that, uh, you know the Sima auntie, which shows that the next show, Matt Indian 

Nida: matchmaking, we need one for like. Pakistani Muslims, like, what's up? We need like a Muslim auntie.

Hamza: And you know, she's expensive. [00:38:00] So people who reach out to her, obviously, like, you know, she caters to a 

Nida: certain very Yeah. Uh, clientele. That's, that's what I'm saying. Where they at? Where they 

Hamza: at? I'm, I'm sure they exist. Look, I'm sure they exist somewhere. I don't know where they're at. I'm, I'm out of the game.

I've been out of the game for a very long time. I don't 

know. 

Nida: Lucky sale. 

Hamza: I look, I, I met my wife in college. Okay. And, uh, and we dated through, you know, from college all the way till, and I graduated and I, we got married right after I graduated. Wow. Because I was like, okay, you know, like you said, the money ego's coming in and we're like, okay, we're making money.

Okay, let's just get married. Yeah. And then we went through our ups and downs obviously, but, you know, marriage is so, I'm really like disconnected, uh, from, it's hard from today's world and. Because I have sisters who are younger than me. Mm-hmm. And so I asked them like, Hey, are you dating someone? Do you have, like, what's going on?

And they're like, you can't ask us that. I'm like, no, I can't. I'm, I'm like, seriously? I wanna know. I'm like, seriously? I wanna know, yeah. What's going on? Like, how are we, what's, you know, what's the strategy? Yeah. And so from what I understand, [00:39:00] and correct me if I'm wrong, Zara, like, things are difficult now, right?

They're like, there's what she's saying is correct. Like, it's like impossible to find somebody. It's impossible, man. Okay, so walk us through some of the people you have found,

like you, we don't need names obviously, but like, like what is wrong with them? What are they looking for? What, what are men today? Why, why are these men not ca competent or capable? What's wrong? They get 

Nida: intimidated so fast. That's the first thing. A lot of women have their stuff together, you know, they're doing things.

It's cause of like the money. Is it what? Yeah. Like your job, your money, like what you're doing already. It's not, it's, it's way more women became educated in this generation than men did. 

Hamza: The thing is, is that even today in the Muslim community, more women finish university than men. That's what I'm saying.

And more women get their masters Right. Uh, than men. Right, right. So obviously more women and more women pick um, you know, high paying jobs. Exactly. Over men. Uh, cuz men have this [00:40:00] entrepreneurial drive. Right. And that's not always a good thing. You know, I mean like, entrepreneur could mean you're super success, highly successful or very much broke, you 

Nida: know, completely broke.

So one or the other really. Right. 

Hamza: Exactly. There's no like real in between. There's no stability, 

Nida: you know, and that's great you be an entrepreneur, but my dad always said like, you can do whatever you want once we see your grad school degree. My dad said that to all of us. And he, till this day, he takes pride in that.

And he's like, and, and honestly, I'm not sure if that's the right approach now because you can do a lot of things that don't require a grad school degree that make a lot of great, you know, money and a stable work-life balance, but, It's important to figure out how that money is gonna come in for you regardless of what you're doing.

Because at the end of the day, you have to find that financial stability for yourself. If you wanna get married, like as a man. Like come on. You have to have that figured out. Yeah, of course. I 

Hamza: mean, look, I think a few things, uh, for marriage are extremely important. One of them is of course the me. I don't think [00:41:00] people ask for enough.

Yeah. Here in this country. Um, I don't think they, you know, it is what it is. Look, I'm not saying that, you know, you have to come up with that, whatever, you know, X amount of dollars. I'm just saying that, uh, if it's love, if it's a love marriage, then then the guy and the girl can decide whatever it is and that's fine.

But if it's an arranged marriage and there's families involved, cuz remember with arranged marriages, You are marrying the family. Yeah. The entire family, right? Yeah. 

Nida: Well, even without love arranged marriages, your fam marrying the family, like, 

Hamza: well, you know, that, that could be a little, because you know, like let's say for example, right?

I live in Houston. My son moves to Colorado, right? Finds a girl in Colorado, they get married, whatever it is, Absolut, they're gonna, they're gonna have their life there. I'm not gonna move to Colorado. Mm-hmm. You know? Uh, but in an arranged marriage usually, you know, they need to be here. Yeah. No travel plans.

Yeah. We're gonna have, you know, and this is actually very good, um, and bad sometimes, but mostly good. Uh, you know, where I'm going with this is, I guess when you are [00:42:00] part of an arranged marriage, you are marrying the entire family. Yeah. And that is a big part of our culture. Yeah. Um, and I'm assuming, actually, I shouldn't assume, uh, what are your thoughts on that?

Marrying the entire family? So if you're looking for a man today, uh, is that an important thing that you're looking at? To be married to the family or, yeah. Like, do you want them to be involved with 

Nida: your family as well? Don't think it matter is, it's, it's, it's my cousin's getting married right now and her fiance, well he, they got their done already, but, you know, her husband is here with his friends and they're all staying, you know, at my uncle's house.

And we're all there together and it's just, it's, it's open vibes. So, yeah. Like in my family, especially, like we're all about it. You're marrying into my family. Yeah. It's a big family and you're marrying all of that. Yeah. 

Hamza: That look, I think, uh, there's a lot of fun that comes with that. Yeah. There's a lot of people that get intimidated by that.

Mm-hmm. Like, you are just too many people. Yeah. But I think in our [00:43:00] culture, especially the men need to learn that. That's actually a lot of fun. That's the fun of it. I love it. Like, I mean, I love spending time with my wife's family. Yeah. And my wi, so my wife's family live in Lebanon. Oh, wow. And so me and my wife, when we met in Dubai, They lived in Dubai at the time.

Okay. We lived in, and my family lived in Dubai at the time we got married. The financial crisis hit, they had to go back. Okay. Right. So they went back to Lebanon. Uh, you know, we were in a tough spot in Dubai at that time. Anyways, I ended up moving to the US after that. Uh, but till today, I am on at least four or five times a week with her family.

Yeah. Like I would call them, check on them, make sure they're okay. Make sure they have everything 

Nida: they need. They have this personal connection with you now. Yeah. 

Hamza: And we grew up, like, you know, I've been married for like 20. No, no, no, no. 15 years I think. 

Nida: Wow. 15 years. You did not know your, the years that your wife is listening to this podcast, right?

Maybe. Yeah. She, she's, yeah, but she's understanding 

Hamza: 15. So, cause we date, you know, it's a, it's [00:44:00] also, so it's very interesting. I'm gonna, you know, give you a little bit of advice cause I'm a little ahead of you. Tell me when it comes to that. So give it to me. So obviously my wife and I, we dated for like five years.

Mm-hmm. Big nono. Like, what the hell are you talking about? You need to get married, you know? Yeah. You guys can't date. And we're like, no, we're just gonna date, we're just gonna hang out. We're gonna figure it out. Yeah. And if it's, you know, if it's right, it's right. And so we dated for about five years.

Mm-hmm. And then after five years, I think, uh, there was a lot of pressure from her family. They were like, look man, like, you know, it's five years, years, right? You need to get married at this point. That's a long time. That's a long time. That's a really long time. But at the same time, we were really young, so we, you know, we were in university, uh, we met freshman year Yeah.

Until I got a job and I was act like making money. See, 

Nida: you took, you were Yeah. Taking care of your finances. Yeah. So, 

Hamza: you know, uh, I think I started really making money when I was like, probably in, so not sophomore. What's the third year called? Junior year. Junior year. Junior year. Yeah. So I started making money a little bit in junior year, you know, here and there.

Senior year I was kind of, okay, money's coming in. Dubai market was like kind of nice. Yeah. Uh, and then when I [00:45:00] graduated it was oh eight, so financial crisis. So now I have to hustle and it's like, you know. Exactly. 

Nida: And it was, it was a 

Hamza: really, it was a time and I had to get married, so. Mm. So I ended up getting married you know, um, but it was a really tough time.

Yeah. For that. Now, uh, you know, word, word, I guess, you know, passing this information down is, Uh, I, you know, I got a lot of pushback from my family as well. Like, Hey, she's not part of the culture. Mm-hmm. She doesn't understand, you know, or whatever it is or mm-hmm. And then eventually as we kept like, you know, meeting my family and talking to them, then they kind of were like, yeah, okay.

We love her. Yeah. So it went from one end all the way to the other end in a very short amount of time. Yeah. Uh, and so, you know, I don't know, maybe that's something, uh, you know, that you can just keep in the back of your head Yeah. Somewhere, you know? Yeah. Uh, and it, it worked out ham very well, and, you know, [00:46:00] we've been blessed with two kids.

They're growing, you know, they're grown now. Um, and it's just, uh, it's been a beautiful life. Aw, yeah. Michelle, so maybe that's something that you, you know, maybe we need to get off, uh, the Muslim apps. Yeah. Maybe you fi you know, those are not it. Those are not it. So, so realistically, Okay. Uh, you know, let's say you meet someone organically.

Yeah. This individual is, uh, not intimidated by, you know, your success. Aela, you have success, which is awesome. Uh,

what's the timeline? Like what, is there a timeline? 

Nida: I don't, I don't like dating. Okay. So you're, you're talking straight into it. If I know. I know. Okay. And if I don't, I'm not doing this. Okay. I just don't, I don't like being associated. I don't wanna go out and do things in public. Like it's a very short time timeline.

We either know what's up or we're, we're not wasting each other's time. Okay. So it's pretty 

Hamza: quick, you know? Uh, yeah. I mean, you [00:47:00] know, uh, when it's right, it's right. And if it's not right, you should be able to tell immediately. But how do you, like, like for me, that's very, uh, Like, I don't get it. Like, how do you know so quickly?

Like, it's a different human. 

Nida: Right? I know. It's not that, you know, like how great they are all together. You don't know anything about, you can be married to someone and still don't, don't know who they really are. You know? It's just, it's, it's the energy they carry. Like what are their priorities? What do they want?

You know, what do they see as important? And, and actions speak loud. You need to know them, meet them once to know what you know their priorities are in life, what they're 

Hamza: all about. Right. Damn, that's a, that's a risky, that's a risky move. I, and you're in business 

Nida: litigation. I, I just watch people. I'm a, I'm a watcher on a date.

Hamza: Okay. Well, I mean, uh, you know, that's one way to do it for sure. Uh, I, I've, I've, you know, the, the reason [00:48:00] I I bring that up is because I've seen both. Yeah. I've seen people jump into it like, Hey, this is right. We're gonna do it. Um, and I've seen people take their time and neither one is right. Like, you know, I've seen the people who did it on the, the first time and they're like, yep, this is right.

We got super successful marriages. Right. And the ones who took their time, you know, they're not really succeeding. Um, I mean, 

Nida: we come from that culture and my, my dad went on a vacation. He, he was seven years old when his family moved to Abu Dhabi. So all of his siblings were born and raised there. He goes on a vacation to Pakistan with his parents and is a one week long vacation.

One week long, gets married and comes back. 

Hamza: But, you know, that's what they do. And, and he's happily married. That's what they do. So he's obsessed with my mom. They, they, that's what they did. Even people here, older generations, that's exactly what they did. They would take them back, you know, wherever they came from, Pakistan or you know, middle East or whatever it was, and they'd be like, look at this girl.

Isn't she beautiful? Yeah. And you're so young. That anybody at that point will be like, you know, sure, well let's do it. This is it. [00:49:00] But I feel like that is a blessing as well. I think so. Because you don't get distracted. Like for me, definitely 100% a blessing. Yeah. Right. Uh, I didn't, I had seen some mm-hmm.

But I had not seen so much. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and I hadn't confused myself or distracted myself. Right, right. You know, maybe I dated around a little bit, uh, and then I met my wife, and so I feel like I didn't get the time to really, you know, understand what is going on in the world. Yeah. And so that made my, my pick, my choosing very easy.

Right. What I'm saying, 

Nida: these, my wife apps are like, it's like a menu option. Like, it's so overstimulating. Yeah. It's just not natural. 

Hamza: And you're saying there's no matchmakers at a 

Nida: caliber, like at a level? Oh, I don't think so. I would love to meet them if they're, I, I mean, 

Hamza: I'm sure they exist. They have to.

There has to, I dunno. We need to start a business, right? If doesn't exist, you and I need to partner up with it. Small business. That's it. We're gonna start a Sima auntie style matchmaking. We'll call her. What can we call her? Zara. We need to call her like a Muslim Pakistani name. [00:50:00] Right. Call her Samira auntie.

That 

Nida: Samira auntie. That would work. I'd love to meet 

Hamza: her. Exactly. That would be pretty cool. Um, so, you know, once again, thank you for coming here. If feel, you flew to Houston, you came, visited me. We had this beautiful conversation. Yeah. Now what do you think of Texas? 

Nida: My cousin has been going around showing me all over going, do you think you can live here?

Do you see yourself living here? Eventually. Ever. Ever, 

Hamza: ever. And I'm like, so you know what weddings are, which is what I'm getting to. No. What do you mean? My weddings are basically a place for you to find your, oh God, come on. Oh, you know that, you know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Nida: That's true. You meet a lot of people at weddings.

Yes. You do. How, how big is the wedding? It's pretty big. Like how big? Like people are flying out from New York, California, so is it like a thousand person wedding? I, I don't know the headcount, but they were like, we're booking out the entire hotel and everyone's staying there for the week. Like just, yeah, [00:51:00] everything.

There's so many events. Culturally, there's so many and there's so many people coming and just my cousin is literally complaining about that earlier she was like, I wanted a small, intimate one. No, that doesn't happen. That's not a thing that doesn't happen. I was like, 

Hamza: sorry sweetheart. Especially with the parents.

Nida: There's no way. No, her dad is going all out. We've been food testing all over Houston. Booking food, drinks like desserts, AGAs, all these different places is really good. Yeah, they're catering one of the days and just very good. 

Hamza: That's good food. Yeah. Small weddings are not a thing guys, especially if you're like children of immigrants or immigrants or that's not a thing.

Uh, so you know what this means. This means this could potentially be the last time that we have this conversation as a single girl. Hmm. Maybe depending on how quickly, uh, you know, you observe and make your decisions depending 

Nida: on how I meet the right person. Yeah, yeah. But, 

Hamza: but look, I'll tell you what, Houston is definitely a melting pot.

Very diverse. Um, good place to be, but it's not nowhere close to like, you know, where you're coming from. 

Nida: I, you know, that's [00:52:00] what I've been saying. Yeah. I keep hearing otherwise, and I'm like, I don't know. I don't know by Houston yet. So, I mean, 

Hamza: the, the, you know, if anybody tells you, Hey, you need to move to Houston if you're moving because of love or mm-hmm.

You know, justified. But there's nothing else. 

Nida: Oh, that's a big one to drop on me. Yeah. So now I really can't move here. I mean, really, what 

Hamza: is there, compare Houston to California. There's really, what, what do we have? I mean, I'm talking Houston, right? Yeah, of course. Now if you're in Austin, maybe it's a little different.

Really? It's, 

it's 

Nida: better vibe. This is my first time in Texas. Altogether. I don't know anything here. You have a little bit of 

Hamza: nature. You know, there's the Colorado River goes through a beautiful, younger people. You know, it's very different. Uh, but Houston, Houston specifically, um, I don't know what there is 

Nida: to do anything.

It's like a family vibe here. There's food, suburban food, there's food, there's a lot of food. That's what you guys get to rave about. Yeah. That's like Pakistani culture here is crazy. I heard like all the restaurants and 

Hamza: everything. Yeah. Yeah. Pakistani culture here is insane. That's so interesting. There's a lot of [00:53:00] food.

Uh, but I think that's all I can really think about. 

Nida: You're really not selling Houston 

Hamza: to me. I don't know how to sell it. Like, look. Okay. Uh, I can tell you this, that, you know, you work remote. Uh, It's hot. I don't know what to tell you. We have air conditioner. Yeah, we, we have a c and water. Uh, we don't have a beach.

Oh. The one thing people will tell you is 

Nida: taxes. Yeah. But I paid, I paid California taxes, 

Hamza: so, okay. So interesting story. Okay. I didn't tell you this. So when I moved from Dubai mm-hmm. I initially moved to Irvine, California. Oh, okay. Because it was the closest, like, uh, closest as in like Dubai vibes. Right.

Irvine vibes are very similar. Yeah. Um, and I had an uncle who lived in Irvine, California. Yeah. So I moved to his house. He lived in Irvine. Beautiful. I loved it. Yeah. It was so nice. I was like, okay, that's it. Let's do business in California. Right. Uh, very quickly learned that I have nowhere enough money to do business in California.

I thought, cuz I came here with like, I wanna say like half a million dollars or something, and I was like, yeah, I'm the king of the world. 29 years old, nothing have half a million dollars. That's it. I'm [00:54:00] gonna, I'm gonna start a business. I'm gonna be super successful. And then very quickly I realized that, oh, I don't think this is the place for me to like, you know, start a business with that much money.

I need way more. You need millions of dollars Right. To start a business. Um, and so I moved, actually, believe it or not, to Katy, Texas. Mm. Uh, and then from Katy, I kind of, sort of moved my way around and then ended up here. Okay. Uh, but Katy, Texas at the time was one of the fastest growing zip codes. Mm-hmm.

And so, uh, you know, and the reason I'm here is Texas. Yeah. Uh, Texas. And, and I could start my business. Obviously you are in a much better position. Yeah. So there's no reason for you really to move unless, unless, like I said, this is the last time that you, we, we speak and you are, you know, unmarried. Not a single girl, single, single girl, not a single girl anymore.

So, uh, if that changes, then we may see you, you know, moving. I don't know. Is that even a thing? I don't know. Could it be a thing? 

Nida: Maybe, yeah. I wouldn't be super opposed to it, but I'm not sold. Okay. Okay. You're not sold. I'm not, I'm not sold, but it's not [00:55:00] closed off. Fair, fair 

Hamza: enough, fair enough. So, uh, trajectory as an attorney.

So, of course, you know, you mentioned, uh, philanthropy, you mentioned, uh, a lot of giving back. Um, but trajectory as an attorney, how, how, how far are you going to go? Or, you know, cuz obviously you're gonna go somewhere. Yeah. You're fairly young, you know? Uh, What is that? 

Nida: I love practicing. Okay. I have a passion for litigation.

That was the reason why I told you mock trial is all like a show. You're putting on a show and that's litigation. You're in court, you're doing the whole thing. I love that. Um, but like I said, it was also very tolling very quickly when it was in person. Now I'm remote, it's different. But the thing about it is we have now come up with great systems of how to be remote, right?

Like pandemic times really taught law firms how to fully run everything remote. So some of us are in Hawaii, some of us are in la, some of us are in Texas, [00:56:00] and it's working. Everything's fully remote. So as far as I, I can see myself practicing as long as I'm doing, you know, a bit of everything cuz I, I'm an entrepreneur at heart.

I like doing so much and like my day, there's no one thing I'm doing. So as long as I can do it all, I would love to keep practicing. Okay. Yeah. 

Hamza: So, you know, the. Law is where it's at, and that's, it's great. And, and so when you say remote, obviously now I've been to a couple of, you know, uh, speed, speed tickets.

Uh, speeding tickets. Speeding tickets, uh, remotely. So is, is that kind of the setup? Like you're just in a law, a courtroom and you're, and you do the whole thing completely remote and 

Nida: it's very little, uh, courtroom stuff. Okay. Because civil is a lot of paperwork. It's a lot of, let's talk about money and call each other's clients and insurance companies and Got it.

The people we're representing. So it's a lot more Okay. Writing motions and discovery responses. It's a lot more writing. Um, and reading and responding back to [00:57:00] legal documentation that gets submitted to the court. But very little actual court stuff. We're doing depositions that are recorded and Zoom calls remotely.

Yeah, depositions 

Hamza: remotely. I did. How can you be aggressive like on a, in the deposition that's remotely? I don't, like, I've watched Harvey Specter all the time and I feel like you need to be in that room. I 

Nida: love that in person, that energy, like the clash. That's happen. You can't 

Hamza: even threaten anyone on a deposition 

Nida: remotely.

So my boss literally last week, he was like, I need all of you guys to try to do in-person if you can now. Like it's not, uh, they lifted the, the, the law for Covid in March, so it's no longer a law that you can use like the covid as an excuse to remotely appear. Um, so they're trying to wish us to do more in person depositions, but like I said, the world is working perfectly remotely.

So like 

Hamza: I could imagine if someone was trying to depose me remotely, I would just laugh the whole time. I'd be like, I'm not scared. I'm like, what is this? Because, you know, when you're in a deposition and it's, it's scary. It's, it's scary. Yeah. Especially for [00:58:00] people who have never done a deposition. 

Nida: Oh, I love it.

That's my favorite part. Oh, the 

Hamza: movies. Yeah. So I did my, I I, I got into it this year, so I was, I was a newbie before then. Yeah. Uh, but anyways, uh, you know, I feel like it's, it's almost like very ineffective. I would think remote. Like if someone's 

Nida: trying, that's pretty effective. It is. The thing is, again, we're dealing with a lot of money stuff.

It's not, it doesn't need to be as aggressive as criminal practice where I had to be in person facing a lot of things. Civil is, it's more civil, it's like a more civil practice. So it's, it doesn't need to be as aggressive. Okay. And sometimes it does, but you can make the point through 

Hamza: Zoom. Okay. Excellent.

Uh, future as an influencer. Okay. Specifically, like what is your brand going towards? 

Nida: Um, personalization, authenticity, um, it's still very beauty related lifestyle, but as [00:59:00] I grow, my brand grows and I want that to be very open and something I share with my audience. Okay. So it's, it's a lifelong, like a marriage.

I love my followers. I can't leave them hanging. 

Hamza: So your, your future husband is gonna be walking around with the camera 

Nida: and, oh, no. He can do his own thing. He can do What does that mean online? What, what does that mean? Be busy as in your businesses. Okay. Your work, your gym. I don't know. You know, like I, I think social media, I keep it very like, Although I'm sharing stuff with my followers, that's still work to me.

It's not my, like I'm not doing it all the time, i's strategically planet. Yeah. It's con it's content I create and post and it's done. So that's just it. It's, it's treated like work. Okay. 

Hamza: Okay. And then he can go do his own thing and he can do his own thing. Stay busy. So there's not a family channel, it's not turning into a family channel channel.

I don't think so. No. I feel like you need the right partner for that. Like, if, if that was a thing cuz you [01:00:00] know, obviously I, you know, I'm on social media as well. I could never imagine, uh, bringing my wife on, right. Cuz she's just, she's, it's just not, yeah. It's just not a thing. 

Nida: Yeah. You know, I mean, unless I end up marrying a content creator and that's just what ends up being our life then.

Yeah. But. 

Hamza: Okay. Um, let's, let's talk about, uh, your most recent shift in your content, because there's been a shift. Yes. Uh, let's talk about that. I feel like that's very enlightening. I think people need to hear about it. Uh, and it's a journey that you've, you know, uh, I, I feel like I wanna say after Ramadan.

Mm-hmm. I noticed that that's kind of where you're, where you're trying to go. Um, and let's talk about that. So let's talk about that shift. Yeah. What, what 

Nida: caused it? Uh, my, um, grandma passed in 2021 December. I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you. And it was the first time I experienced death in my family, just [01:01:00] losing somebody so close to me that I've just loved all my life.

Um, you know, I've lived with them since we were in Abu Dhabi all the way here. We've always lived together. And just realizing how things are so. Very much temporary and you know what you leave behind is what you leave behind. So how can I better that? That's what caused the shift. That was the start of it.

Yeah. It was like, you know, mid pandemic. There was a lot of self-reflection time, I think, for all of us, and I wasn't the only one. I saw a lot of my friends grow into who they're becoming today, and I think a lot of people I know in general, acquaintances, people had a personality shift and like a se self-reflection moment during the pandemic.

So it was a lot of that and my grandma passing and just being so isolated from. This world where we were 21st, like I had two to three events a day, [01:02:00] casual, no big deal. Every day that I would attend in LA I was living in the inside of West Hollywood and downtown I was just going out every single day. So it was just, there was never a time to stop and just let your thoughts be it.

Um, and when I got removed from that, during the pandemic, I, you know, quarantined with my parents and it was like, we're quarantining for a day or a week, and then two weeks and then a month, and like it, we, nobody knew where the world was headed and what was going on. And, you know, I was still paying rent in LA and I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna move in with my parents.

And it was the best decision I ever made. Um, I got closer to my family and my, my family is, you know, more conservative. My siblings, they all pray five times a day. My parents pray five times a day. So I come from a very conservative family. And, you know, being in that spotlight, I was so far removed from that [01:03:00] world.

Um, and I think just all those things combined, I, I, I had to step back and say, this is my time to shift my personality. Like, it's never too late, but this right now, whatever I'm feeling, I need to work on it and embrace it. So that was definitely where it started. 

Hamza: And is that, is that the story with the, with the tattoo removal as well?

Nida: The, okay, so the tattoo is actually my grandfather's handwriting. And what does it say? It says Na. Okay. And I was in a very low point in my life. Um, I had been failing the bar exam, just a lot of stuff. And my grandma calls me on my birthday and she had Alzheimer's and Mela give her soul rest and the highest place on in Jenna.

But she calls me on my birthday without realizing it was my birthday. And she just kept saying, your na e's gonna [01:04:00] get better. Your nae is just, it's so full of life, like you don't realize it yet. And um, so I called my grandpa on the other line and I was like, can you write the word nae? And I was in San Francisco at the time for my birthday, and I went to a tattoo shop NSF and got this tatted.

And to me, I, I, like I said, I grew up with my parents, uh, grandparents. Um, they were just as close to me as my parents are. So, When I was at my lowest of all the lows of my life, I thought my grandparents were the most precious thing to me. And this dedication meant everything to me. Like, this is how I'm gonna hold onto them.

But during the pandemic, it really started hitting me like, my grandma's gone and the world is temporary and I cannot hold onto her or my grandpa no matter what I do. And, and, and so this tattoo kind of started be, become like haunting me almost. It was like, am I ready to meet my Lord? Because everyone else is getting ready [01:05:00] for that.

And I'm over here holding onto the things, the temporary things. So it all kind of finally started dawning on me that this is temporary, this needs to be off, my life needs to change, and I can't be so attached to the worldly things. Right, right. For sure. 

Hamza: I think it's a beautiful journey. Um, and definitely, you know, we're all here and we all have to think about the aha end of the day, you know, so there's a, there's always good people, uh, who are thinking about it, but there's also bad people who are thinking about it, which is weird, but, you know, uh, it's not 

Nida: weird though.

That's the best part about it. We're all human and we're all some kind of bad and some kind of, you know, like all my life, the more I delved into this crazy life in la, the more people started labeling me, like, okay, well she's never going to be better. Or, this girl's just, whatever. The haris, like the whole world was continuously labeling me and it felt like that's who I am.[01:06:00] 

That's it, that's my identity. I'm always gonna be hated by the Harran police. I'm always gonna get judged by the world. And so I was like, well, if I'm bad, then that's it. I'll, I'll stick with it, I'll take it, but. That's the beauty of Islam is Ella's the most, mercyful, the most forgiving. He's just waiting for you.

And so to finally let go of that identity and feel like it's never too late, it's never ever too late to turn around and be like, all right, well I'm gonna be a new person. I'm gonna dress differently. I'm gonna look different. I'm gonna talk different. And if now this is what you're gonna hate, I'm, I'm getting hate anyway.

Like Yeah. It's okay. 

Hamza: Yeah. Well, you know, of course my definition of bad is, uh, when you intentfully hurt other people Right. With intention. Absolutely. So, you know, we've, we've seen a lot of that. Yeah. Uh, you know, and, uh, and, but, but you're right. You know, people change. 

Nida: And even those people that are intentionally hurting, [01:07:00] they don't, they might not know better.

Right. They might not see the light in the end of the tunnel. 

Hamza: Exactly. Um, alright. What is life in California like right now? So I know you're very, you're in a good place, Adah. You know, I can tell that you have some crazy positive energy, which is awesome. Uh, but what is life in Cali 

Nida: like? Life in California is great.

It's a good place for being Muslim. If you want crazy, if you want not crazy. Everything is whatever you want. I, I think, is the community growing? 

Hamza: What community are we talking about? The Pakistani community. There's a 

Nida: huge community. Pakistan huge right? Community, huge Muslim community. Like, especially my parents are in the suburban areas and it's just nice there.

It's like multiple moss, all Ramadan. Um, me and my cousins, we were moss hopping. Like, we were like, let's go to this keam and then this keam. Like we, there's just so much to do. Wow. 

Hamza: Yeah. That is awesome. I did not know that, by the way. Oh yeah. I seriously did not know that. I, I know that there's a few mosques in Southern California [01:08:00] somewhere.

Uh, but that's about it. But that's really awesome to hear. Yeah. Uh, that you guys were moss coughing like that. Yes. That's 

Nida: what we do. 

Hamza: That's awesome. Well, I, I just wanna take a moment and thank you once again for coming here and being on the show live. You've really inspired a lot of people. I wanna let you know that firsthand, just by following you, you know, uh, uh, and seeing your journey.

Uh, you will inspire a lot of people. And in shala, you, you find what you're looking for in a man very soon. Uh, hopefully this wedding. Uh, if not, then, you know, uh, in due time. Uh, but once again, I wanna thank you Ni, for being here. Thank 

Nida: you for having me.