Transformational Life Coach with a Heart of Gold
Shafaq Ibrahim is one of those rare people who find joy in helping others. She is the first ethnic German Diplomat, after which she became a Psychologist, Lifecoach, public speaker and now a Global Human Influence Expert.
Besides all of her accomplishments, you can find her strolling through the high street, stopping by and having a heartfelt talk with a street cleaner to ask them about their lives and trying to lift their spirit. This quality manifested in her starting her brands #theshafaqeffect and #theshafaqeffectbrand about 20 months ago. She is proud that her brand is now globally renowned and continues to grow each day. She states, “My brand represents growth, light, love, elevation, creation of self and high vibrations.”
Born in a mixed South Asian Muslim family, Shafaq relocated to Germany when she was five years old with her family. She was subjected to sexual and emotional abuse at a very young age, which had a lasting impact on her. She lived with her abuser, which caused her repressed trauma that culminated in two long-term abusive relationships.
She had no support from her family, which made her grow up very quickly. She says, “My responsibilities grew as I ended up providing for my former husband, his family as well my own two children. Life created me, and I was blessed with a strong solution-focused mind that I never gave up. Regardless of the severity of the challenge, knowledge, education, and progression have been my focal point.”
There were many obstacles in her professional life since she came from a Muslim orthodox family. But her firm resolve and unwavering self-esteem made her really headstrong. She developed a solution-focused mindset that has propelled her to the heights of success. Her staunch vision helps her stay focused and shed any pressure from external forces. Before Shafaq became a psychologist and life coach, she started working as a specialised Mental Health Linguist. When she was assisting a psychotherapist in London to provide intensive therapy for a client, kind words of encouragement from that client made her want to pursue the academic pathway into Psychology and Life coaching.
In order to keep an optimal balance between personal and professional life, Shafaq feels that an ongoing process of self is primal. After her last relationship, she worked on her spiritual and healing journey, which led her to greater self-awareness and self-discovery. Having a full-time job, a budding business, and also being a global social media influencer makes her feel burned out sometimes. She remarks, “That is why I am now resigning from my full-time employment in the corporative world to dedicate and focus on growing my business and compassion in enrichening people’s life with light, hope, growth, and success.”
When it comes to the present day’s organisational culture for working women, she feels it is still a challenge. She states that even though there are no doubt massive changes in support of female growth in the corporate world, there are still rigid cultural mindsets holding them back. Women still have to work twice as hard to make their mark in their field to reach their desired position and have to struggle to retain that.
Shafaq says, “ Women are by nature nurturers. Even in leading roles, we may adapt some masculine trades to survive. However, we see the world with caring, nurturing, motherly eyes. And education in workplaces on female thought processes may help people to understand and therefore support prominent female roles. And in reverse also release some pressure on the female in a leading position to continuously prove herself to others.”
She discloses her weakness by stating that she has a desire for love and affection. In her past, she had let those traits make her ignore the red flags in relationships. With her growing self-care and awareness, she has been able to set boundaries in order to protect herself. She feels that her strengths are her non-destructible personality. She is in charge of her own life and does not let people’s opinions, assessments and judgement dissuade her. Whatever her goals may be, she always takes them with full strength and sincerity.
For her, the mantra for success is, Shafaq states “Self-awareness and self-believe are core values of success. Manifesting your success through visualisation and not getting distracted by external influences is the key to growth, development, and success. Find who you are and then build your path from there. Remember, your vision is your only and cannot be seen or understood by anyone else than yourself.”
