Compiled by Pirah Aijaz
Sadaf Tauqir is a multi-talented non-resident, Pakistani who has been constantly winning the hearts of millions of people with her amazing training skills that make her stand out in the Learning and Development space.
Yes … You heard that right! She is not just an Author, but a soft skills specialist, and NLP practitioner as well. She puts her heart into her work and always gives her best.
Sadaf Tauqir has established a lucrative career and continues to conduct online & in-person training sessions as well. In addition, she is known for her content creation skills as she often shares her videos on social media accounts to tell people strategies for free. Her videos are based on soft skills, such as; confidence building, leadership, motivation, & others.
Whatever she does, whether it’s training or writing, Sadaf believes in doing it to perfection.
We at Fempreneur had the chance to learn more about her journey and are honored to share it with you.
Tell us about yourself and your academic background.
Originally, I’m from Pakistan and I have done Masters in Philosophy of Management, i.e, M.Phil. I have done NLP from USA Mindbridge Company and then I did EQ-Six Seconds, also, I’m a certified coach. I worked 9 nine years in Pakistan and 11 years in UAE. I have been business faculty over here and have been doing many corporate projects with different companies, they are mostly based on soft skills, like; mentoring, leadership, creativity, public speaking, etc.
What led you to become a soft skills specialist and corporate trainer?
I was a business faculty and I had a boss and that boss just made my life hell. She used to be a bully boss. I had to struggle a lot when I was around her. Anyways, long story cut short, I realized that how these skills which are called soft skills are so much needed in our corporate sector, in our education system, the level of a person, the experience of a person can’t give them such skills. And such sort of skills are very basic skills. These are just how you go about and have an influence on other people or how you treat other people. How you make them feel about work, about themselves, about you. So, the bully boss inspired me to research more on soft skills, and she inspired me to choose this path where I can train other people so they don’t make the life of their employees hell. So, that’s how I became a soft skills trainer because I could see a gap, I suffered because of it and I realized that this is something people need.
Let us know about your recently published book “Flip”. What is it about?
My book is about “How to give a second chance to people, yourself, and situations”. Sometimes, when something bad happens to us we are just stuck with the thought or with that experience. So, this book gives a road map of how you can progress or how you can achieve your goals and still be around people and give a chance to situations which have bothered you but having said that all of this will be done on your terms. So, when you give a chance to something, someone, or yourself, something will be different. It wouldn’t be 100% the same as it used to be, so we have to acknowledge that. This is what the book is all about.
What inspired you to become an Author?
I feel that publishing a book gives you, a kind of authority in the subject area. So, writing a book was on my mind for many years. However, I could not find time as I was working full time but Covid-19 gave me a chance to write the book. At that time, the training industry got hit seriously and it gave me time to write. It took 7 to 8 months to complete my book. I dedicated myself fully to writing it, and that’s how it, finally came about and now it’s available to the public.
You have extensive experience in the corporate training sector. Tell us what you’ve learned most from it.
My training experience gave me a lot of insights. It helped me, learn a lot in understanding that people come from different backgrounds, different experiences, and different mindsets, so how they act will be based on their specific dynamics.
I find it all very exciting, as whenever I go into a training room, I don’t know how a given person is going to react, you can’t really predict anybody.
Every time, I have a new batch in the morning, I’m very excited at night and cannot sleep, it’s not stress but it’s excitement. The reason is when you’re dealing with people, it’s always different. That’s the ‘exciting’ part of my job that I love. It kind of makes me respect everybody a bit more in a different way because I have seen the struggles and different mindsets. I have seen people changing. So, that’s what I have learned.
What specific skills do you bring in, as a Trainer?
Recently, I have learned the skill of being on camera and recording sessions, because I had never done that before. Previously, I had done only in-person training sessions. So, being in the videos and creating content is another thing, that’s what I have done during the pandemic. I wasn’t expecting this from myself but since I had time in hand and I have this urge of making things better for myself and the people around me, so I explored making videos of my corporate training sessions.
I’m really active on social media now and I create a lot of free content. It’s my way of giving back to the community. I have seen that most trainers or people are doing online video sessions for their branding instead of giving back to others. And I want my content to be something that people can get help from. It’s like food for thought so that people can get inspiration too.
Throughout your career, you have worked on various projects for different organizations. Tell us about the project you enjoyed the most.
The project I enjoyed the most, was with Abu Dhabi Global Market. I had to travel for that project every time. The training room, that environment, and the leaders over there were all quite awesome. I loved being there.
And I think public speaking is something very close to my heart. Whenever a public speaking opportunity comes, I get super excited because I used to be very shy and I have struggled, to overcome that. Now I deliver public speaking training and I just feel that the audience can connect with it. They find it inspiring that a teenager who couldn’t talk is now delivering a session on public speaking.
After establishing a successful career, what skills are still on your wish list?
I would like to have my online courses available for everybody and I wouldn’t charge a heavy amount because I want everybody to get benefit from it. So, yes that’s the next step I would love to take.
What does success and failure mean to you?
Success and failure are part of life. Failure is experience and success is confidence. So, both of them go hand in hand. I would not see success or failure, as good or bad, they’re just there to teach something. And the more we are open to accepting whatever is coming our way the easier it becomes in the long run.
What advice you would give to aspiring & emerging writers and trainers?
Find what excites you and be consistent in whatever you do. Secondly, you need to have multiple streams of income because you can’t rely on just one.
For some people, money is not an issue if they are financially secure, so if you are, then you can explore what inspires you and how you can give back to the community because what excites you and what you give to the community can also improve your own well-being. Once, you figure out what matters to you, you can play with different things, experiment, evaluate yourself, and check your priorities.
Finally, I would say be active on social media, so people get to know you more.