TSLP Season 4 Ep. 30- Resilience, Bravery and Trusting the Unknown

Transformation Station Leadership Podcast- Resilience, Bravery, Trusting the Unknown & Being Your Authentic Self with Aisha Makara

What if the very challenges you've faced are preparing you for the life you're meant to live?

In this inspiring episode, I sit down with Aisha Makara to explore what it truly means to lead with courage, embrace uncertainty, and remain authentic in a world that often pressures us to be someone else. Together, we discuss how resilience is built through life's unexpected moments, why bravery is choosing to move forward despite fear, and how trusting the unknown can open doors to extraordinary opportunities.

Leadership isn't about having all the answers, it's about having the courage to take the next faithful step.

“Welcome to Transformation Station  where growth gets fun! Hit subscribe so you never miss the momentum. And if today inspires you, share it with someone who needs a spark. Let’s rise together!

Thanks for tuning in to Transformation Station! If this episode fired you up, smash that subscribe button, share it with someone who’s ready to level up, and tell me the moment that hit hardest. Your voice keeps this movement unstoppable. 

Until next time, stand tall, step bold, and own your transformation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Leadership today, it often requires for people like you and I to carry significant responsibility while we're navigating uncertainty and competing priorities, while we're navigating emotional fatigue and nonstop demands. And over time, sustained pressure can impact not only our performance, but clarity, confidence, and overall well-being. That's right, today we're talking about resilience and how to be brave in trusting the unknown. I'm excited for this conversation. Come on, let's get started. I'm your host, Adrian Benson. And today's episode is one that I believe that so many of us as leaders, we're talking about professionals, whether you're leading in your home, in your church, in the workspace, a C-suite leader, the community, purpose-driven leaders, all of us need this conversation that we're going to have today. Why? Because again, we're talking about resilience and bravery, trusting the unknown, and most importantly, being your authentic self. I'm super excited about our guest today. I can't wait for you to meet her. But before you meet her, I want to remind you of a few things. Number one, I want to remind you every Monday and Wednesday, you need to join Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, you can join us on YouTube and LinkedIn and Facebook. You can join us on BuzzProw and Apple Podcasts, wherever you go to get your favorite platform for podcasts, you want to be there. Don't miss out on any conversation that we're having. Now listen, we're in season four. So what that means is if you have missed even one episode of season one, season two, or season three, I need you to go back. I need you to go back and catch the replays and then don't be selfish. Don't keep this to yourself. Make sure that you're sharing it with at least two other leaders in your network. I also want to remind you that we have the Mobilizing with Impact community. I often hear that many of us as leaders, we're looking for community. We want to be able to talk and to discuss and share best practices and principles. Well, guess what? All you have to do is go to mobilizingwithimpact.com. That's right, mobilizingwithimpact.com is a community for you, for you and I to be able to have empowering conversations on leadership, resilience, mindset, emotional wellness, and of course, transformation. What are you missing out on when you're not in that community? I think it's time for you to find out. So join us today. Well, today I am absolutely thrilled that we have Aisha Makara with us. I know that this is a conversation that's going to resonate with you because, again, we're talking about resilience and truth telling and how to be our Aisha, welcome to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. We're thrilled to have you today.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me. I'm really, really grateful actually to be here and uh to share my experience and uh my life of wisdom with you guys. And I'm always happy to share my skills and the the way I'm thinking and the way I'm leading all my life with um people.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I love it. Before we get started, tell us a little bit about you. Who is Aisha? How did you get on this road of talking about and focusing on resilience?

SPEAKER_01 4:25

You know, I think it happened uh many years ago when I was my mother abandoned me in an orphan house uh somewhere nowhere in Siberia and uh in Russia in a very, very cold environment. And I was about two years old, and I I kind of got to organize myself on my own. And since then I have my own way to um navigate myself through the life. And of course, uh it was not an easy journey in the beginning uh to be on your own in such an early uh age. And at the same time, you know, I learned a lot of amazing skills, how to be resilient, how to adapt myself to the different environments, how to be grateful for the things that we have, how, for example, the times when it's very cold and you don't you're sharing the same clothes or the same shoes with many others, and you know, learning later in your life what is to have my clothes or my room, it's completely different than when you grew up in the environment when you don't have anything yours, it's never yours, so it's nothing belong to you, and um it's very interesting because when I was 15, and actually when I was 10 years old, I started to dream to travel around the world, and I remember I had a geography class, and I was telling to the teacher this I want to travel around the world, and everyone was of course telling me like I'm crazy, and but then whatever. At 15, I made a plan, I call it like a life plan, where I said um to myself that um between 20 to 30 I'm traveling around the world, between 30 to 40, I'm a businesswoman, between 10 to 50, I'm a mentoring, between um 50 to 60, I'm uh you know, helping and philanthropists, I'm helping for uh charities and uh different things around the world for the UNESCO and UN. And uh, you know, that 15 when I was about 15 years old, many things happened in my life. I I I meet death because uh friends that time started to die of different you know accidents, and um, that's why I was sitting there in one of the my friends' funerals, and I was thinking, what next for me? How I want to live my life, and uh that's kind of give me this idea or meaning to go and actually do it. I didn't know anything, I didn't know how it's going to happen, I didn't know when it's going to happen. I just knew that that's what I want to do. And uh of course, to move from very small little town or village and to the city, and after I moved to Moscow because I learned if I'm going to the capital, moving to the capital, it will open more doors for me. And uh, I of course it took me a time and courage uh to do that, to do that step because you know it's a Moscow, it's a huge city, it's a big place with a lot of desires and danger and many things that a little girl don't know because when you're living in a small town, uh when everyone knows everyone, it's not easy to move like to the city, the most grandiose, biggest cities in the world. So for me, when I did that, I realized that I was just feel scary and I felt in the same time excited. So I learned through the time, when I feel scary, this is where I get to go. That's where they get to explore. Because it's not it's not scary, it's about to be curious. I transform it towards curiosity. And um when I moved to Moscow, I realized that I get to move to Norway or like being an exchange student. Of course, it took me a time to understand it because what happened, I was very active. I was active in different areas at the university and was hyper, I was doing a lot of amazing things. And uh when it happened when I was transferred to Moscow, and after I was doing a lot of other things, different activities in my university life, um, many, many students wanted to move to the United States. And they want to live American dream. I didn't want that, I didn't have that dream. I just want to travel around the world. And for me, it was ideal, okay, what's where I want to go? And some of my friends said, What about you can apply for different European universities? And what I this is what I did. I applied for the different universities, and I ended up in Norway and you know, like learn the region later, stayed in Norway several years, work as an engineer. I was working as an engineer, living my life, traveling around the world, um, slowly started to more and more learn English. And uh, you know, after several years living in Norway, I realized that my life is very stable and very um comfortable. And uh so by being comfortable and stable and actually living the life that you want to live, traveling around the world, doing amazing things, I also learned that I have this rebellion in me, like uh the self-sabotage within me, because I didn't use to the comfort, I didn't grow up in a comfort. I always been discomfort, discomfort, I'm always growing up in a discomfort. So the comfort made me so discomfortable, so I felt like uncomfortable in comfort. So I started to feel after a while bored, and I feel that my life is so amazing that my working as an engineer, having an amazing uh partner, traveling all the time. I felt like something is missing, I was not happy, you know. I didn't feel happiness, and I remember when I moved to Norway and I got my boyfriend, and he said to me, Where do you want to go? In that moment, I want to go to New York. And I remember he said to me, Okay, let's go. So I was in New York, you know, I was about like 1920, and I I was being in Times Squares in this amazing rooftop restaurant where I staying in the top of the this restaurant, and I calling so loud, of so much happiness in that moment of my life, saying, Like, I'm a winner, I'm a winner, because I did everything what I wanted. I went to all the places I wanted to go already, and that was my last place to go, it was in New York, and uh that's it, because in that time of my bucket list was like a I don't know, it was like a 10 cities I want to visit, and that I visited so fast and such a like a month, and I was in my mind, in that moment of my life, in my mind was it takes me all life to do that. So the only things would happen when I started to travel regularly around like many, many places around the world, I realized that I don't have other dreams except just to travel. So I wanna have I wanted to create more dreams, and I couldn't get stuck. That's the first time I stuck. I stuck in this good go world where I was working all the time, I was performing very well, I was a very good student, I was doing a lot of activities, forums, fest uh conferences. Uh, I was speaking for the refugees in Norway. I was doing like so many amazing work that many people probably even don't consider to do, but for me, it was so normal to do my everyday life being like natural leader, being natural, natural like me, and being supported. So I felt so blessed, and as a leader, I wanted to have other challenges in my life. So I what I did, I went first I went to uh United States to Los Angeles to be an actress, and uh you know, was almost like very, very low level of English skills, and I give myself time, like a three years to do that. I did it about four months and I come back because the that level of that moment of my life, that level of crazy that I haven't ever experienced in my life, it scares me so much. I was at that moment so comfortable and travel and do a lot of amazing things. And at the same time, the idea of living in the street, the idea of getting on drugs, the idea of um being a prostitute or whatever was scary me, you know, and how the world is, and how much comfort and uh the the worms I have around me, and uh how little of you know it's there, where you get to kind of like using the survival skills and learn how to adapt yourself in a completely different environment and actually learn how to pretend to get what you want. When in Norway or in Russia, I don't need to be, I just get to be me. You know, yes, I get to fight in Russia, I get to scream sometime or yell or wherever, but I always get what I want by communicating it very loud, or say to someone, leave me alone, or like, you know, go away from my way, and I just walk. And in the United States, it was a different experience. And anyway, later in my life, I still moved to the United States to be art like to be an artist that I am today. And the second time, of course, it took me a while, it's a different story. I moved to Portugal after that. I had my business there, property management company. I was working in real estate, and after some years later, I actually moved to the United States. And what happened is I became an artist. Like COVID hit, you know, and so I couldn't uh understand what's happening. And I realized that I moved very early. I don't have any friends, I don't have anyone to like kind of like to count on to um to get support from. That was the first time in my life I learned about how it's important to have the support, because in Europe we have support. It's like the support is built in was it in a governmental level and it's so easy to access. In America, it's a little bit different. You get to be that support for yourself or build that support through your friends or the people that you're working with or you're creating with. And for me, it took me a while to understand it and kind of adapt to that and realizing how powerful I am as a leader. Actually, when I have my dreams in 2021, I end up being in art basel as I wanted. And um in 2022, I send my art to the space because I had my dreams. I want to send my art to the space, I want to send myself to the space, and I want to paint the rocket, you know, and that's kind of like the dreams as an artist I want to live in this lifetime. And this is what I did. In 2022, I sent my artwork to the space with a project and that collaborated with the SpaceX, and they selected 50 artworks from around the world, and they selected two of my artworks, it's engraving golden plates, and it's flying somewhere in the space. Um well, many of my friends, artist friends, asking me how did it happen. And I said, because it's connected to my dream, and when the opportunity arrives, I just take it as an opportunity. I'm not attached to the to the outcome, I just go and take it and see how it works, and I do my best to show up for myself and continue to ask for permission or you know, questions, or you know, how I can be better in service, what I can do, how I can, you know, improve myself. I believe this is the true feeling of being alive, true feeling of being human, true feeling of being a leader, or being, you know, like really living in your life with authenticity, by just being it, communicating clearly your needs and wants. I don't need to pretend to be anyone, I don't need to prove anything to anyone because I'm here to live my best life now, and I'm here to express myself what I want now. I don't have any other way to do it because if right now Elon Musk is next to me and I have a question to him, I will just go to him and ask that question. I don't need to say to him, Oh, Elon, you saw this and that. I will say directly, like, you know, what do you think about that? What do you think about that? What do you think? You know, I believe we're all equal. The only difference between us is how we use these 24 hours that we have. We all have 24 hours, and we're all going to die one day, so it's up to us to decide what we want to do with these 24 hours. It's up to us. Do you want to enjoy or do you want to suffer? Do you want to struggle? Do you want to be miserable? It's also a choice. So train your brain to be joyful. And 2022, I write I published my book uh called Joyful Living Guidebook, where I'm just describing different suggestions to the people what it is to live a joyful life. And of course, I add my artworks as well. And I'm just feeling like it would be something like funny and nice to look at the book, but it's kind of more like a kid's book, but it's not a kid's book, it's for the adults to be more creative, to actually learn that they are powerful creators. We have power to create anything we want, and God is always with us. Our angels are always with us, they're always supporting us. The most important, don't get to that misery, don't get to that idea of that you don't deserve, you deserve absolutely anything you want, anything you want. The universe, the God, it's always here to give you the best now. The most important, express it clearly and direct and honest. And this is for me grounding, it's ground you to be who you are because when you express in yourself, your true self, this is where you're going to learn what it is to actually create the life you want to have or you want to imagine for yourself. Nobody does it, you do nothing else can happen. Yes, you create your life. We are the creators of our own reality that we want to have, or we want to you know, see it's up to us always.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

So let me ask you good, let me ask you this question, right? Because we're talking to leaders here. So, you know, Aisha, many leaders struggle, they struggle with uncertainty, right? Not being able to know exactly what's going to happen, or not being able to know exactly how things are going to work out. How can people, how can leaders learn to trust the unknown without feeling paralyzed or without feeling that sense of self-doubt?

SPEAKER_01 21:38

I feel like it's add the curiosity. What I do with all these uncertainties when I don't know what I don't know. Nobody knows. That's the funny thing. Nobody knows what they're doing until it's done. Because it's all about being patient with yourself. Also learn how to zoom in. In zoom out, how to also stop, observe, let it go, understand what serves you, what doesn't serve you, and why, and also ask three wives, wives, why you're doing it, why what's the reason? Why you decided to walk this walk, why you like creating it, what you want to create. So it's very important to know your why. When you're very clear was your why, the uncertainty or uh doubts is gone. You are very you're trusting yourself and you're trusting your heart, you're trusting that this is the path you choose to walk. You have everything to walk the path that you choose to walk. Nobody can stop you except you, nobody can judge you except you. So just be confident by communicating clearly what you want, and universe of God is always giving you what you want, always, and that's what you need.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Yeah, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but it made me think about this, right? So, what from your experience causes people to disconnect from their true selves, right? Cause what do you think causes many of us to um not be authentic in how we lead, how we live?

SPEAKER_01 23:33

I believe because of the first of all, it's because of the self-limited beliefs, because we have a program. We have a programs from the school, programs from the universities, programs that you know being uh integrated in us from the generation generations. So people kind of limited themselves uh based on the the box that they put in themselves. Oh, I'm an engineer, or oh, I'm a doctor, or I'm you know, I'm a mother of three, or whatever, whoever decided to put themselves in any box they want, and they and excuses. They say, I wish, but it's no excuses, it doesn't matter you have kids, you don't have kids, you have you have a sick mother or you don't. It's it's all decision. It's decision when you make that decision and you do that quantum leap or like that jump, you get to just relax because you made that decision, you loudly say, This is what I want. For example, whatever you decided, if you say I want to be wife of the Elon Musk, or I want to be the most um gorgeous woman in the world, or most powerful woman in the world, that's I decided this is what I want, and you just relax. This is these things going to happen naturally because it's reality will unfold itself for you when you just trust into the process. What you get to be is just in vibrate in a high vibration, always being happy, always being joyful, and vibrate in a high vibration. Don't be afraid of nothing, what to be scared of, nothing. You can always communicate things asking for support when you need that support. Also, understand when to be warnable to accept that support, you know, and understand also where to get that support, because also sometimes the support is not what you want to that support be, because you get to also be very careful to know who you're trusting when you're asking for that support, absolutely. You know, it's like it's you're guiding yourself and navigating yourself, you're trusting yourself as well, but always trust your gut, always trust your heart, because heart deeply knows what best, always because it's naturally will, you know, it's kind of like naturally will your body will naturally uh like guide you towards that, not your eyes, not your brain, it's your heart and your body take your yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

So here on Transformation Station, we always give our leaders some best practices, and Aisha and I want to share this one with you. Schedule intentional time to reconnect with activities or work, and I'll even add with yourself, activities or work with yourself to energize yourself and to align with your purpose. We're talking about resilience, we're talking about how we can walk forward and be brave in the midst of real life. You know, Aisha, right now, real life is happening. There's a a phrase that I use that says life is life in. Like life is life in for a lot of people right now. They're dealing with really serious situations, whether it's on the job or whether it's in their personal life. And yet, as Aisha has been talking with us, she has reminded us to like you got to stop. Be aware of who you are, be aware of what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. That awareness then gives you an opportunity to stop and vision cast. Like, what do you want for your life? You know, Aisha kind of reminded us a little bit earlier about gratitude, like being thankful and grateful for the present, right? What you have right now. And make sure that you are clear of what your purpose is and have a good vision as to how to move forward. Again, we're talking about resilience and being brave. And so, Aisha, as we turn the corner on this most important conversation, I'm gonna ask you to talk to our listeners and our viewers. Aisha, if you could leave our listeners and viewers with a message, one message about resilience and courage and and and going and staying authentic while navigating uncertainty. What would that message be?

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Always trust to the process of life, life has a stages, so enjoy all of them and leave as a kid. Enjoy the moment and fully, fully be present in the moment. Only what we have is a moment, the present of this moment, and always be grateful for each day of your life.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

I absolutely love that. What a wonderful way to end, leaders. There you have it. Always be thankful. The present is a present. Aisha, I know that there are listeners and uh viewers that want to reach out and engage with you. So, what's the best way for us to stay in contact with you?

SPEAKER_01 28:55

I have a website, uh, it's just general my website that I'm um I have. It's Aisha.today is A-I-S-H-A.today, where people can connect with me and uh schedule the call with me, 30 minutes call, where I can actually share with them my wisdom and give some advice. And also I have my program, it's called like Joy for Living Program. That's a three-month program, six months program, and one-year program. So people just decide what they connected with or resonate with, and uh let me know. It's it's in my website, the whole information. And uh curious and who has time to read, always welcome.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Absolutely, all right. Transformation station, there you have it. You see the link here on the screen. It's also all of her social media contacts are gonna be in the description box. Please definitely click on it. You see and you heard Aisha says that she takes on clients. And so if you're interested in a session with her, I need you to go ahead. I'm inviting you to go ahead and click on that link and contact her. And as a matter of fact, I want everybody that's listening and watching contact Aisha and let her know that you heard, let her know that you saw this particular episode, let her know what resonated with you as she shared her journey with us. And if you have any questions, she is an expert. So tap in and ask her questions as well. Aisha, thank you so much. It has been an absolute joy to have you with us today. And I want to thank you for sewing into us and giving us such rich content. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Jerry for living now much day.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Thank you. All right, well, listen, Aisha reminded us today that leadership, it's not just about simply enduring the pressure, it's learning how to be resilient, how to remain grounded, intentional, and aligned in the middle of it. And if today's conversation encouraged you, if today's conversation challenged your thinking, or if today's conversation gave you practical insight, I want you to be sure to hit that share button and share this episode with another leader that you know needs to hear this. Remember, transformation happens when leaders like you and I intentionally create space to restore ourselves, to focus our vision, and to lead from a centered place. So until next time, keep growing, keep leading, and keep transforming from the inside out.