Huda Idrees is CEO and founder of Dot Health -- a simple and secure way to access your health records. Huda was in college (but, as you will hear, over a decade into her career) when she started her startup journey at a company that was later purchased for half a billion dollars. Shortly after, she become CPO at a company that has since blown up with over 1000 employees. While CPO, Huda left her position to start her own company: Dot Health. Listen to Huda's journey and find Huda on Twitter...

Ibtihaj Muhammad found out that she had qualified for the 2016 Olympics through a Google alert — not from her team, Team USA. Ibtihaj’s story is one of resilience, triumph, and tenacity — despite adversity — to the top. Ibtihaj started fencing in high school and dedicated herself to becoming one of the world’s best fencers, culminating in an Olympic medal. She is the first woman in Hijab to represent Team USA at the Olympics. Today, she is an author (read her memoir, Proud, or her children’s...

While Sharaf Mowjood had always known that he was interested in film and media, he couldn't have guessed that he would be producing breaking news for the nation. Sharaf attended film school before studying at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, where his career started with a bang through a front-page story on the New York Times . After landing at NBC news, Sharaf produced for the Huffpost and is now with CBS Evening News. Listen to Sharaf's journey -- and for those interested in...

Yasmin Elhady (@yasminelhahahady) was a child when her family came to the United States as asylum seekers. Yasmin was raised in Alabama, where she was always funny -- and very visually Muslim as a hijabi. After excelling through undergrad and grad school, Yasmin did her first stand-up comedy act in 2017 -- making her (quite likely) the only attorney for the US Department of Justice and stand-up comic. Or maybe the only Muslim one. Definitely the only hijabi one. Nonetheless -- Yasmin is whip...

Uzma Jalaluddin (@uzmajalaluddin) is the bestselling author of Hana Khan Carries On and Ayesha At Last. During Uzma's day job as an English teacher, Uzma has built a wildly successful (and, unbelievably nascent) career as a novelist. Most recently, Mindy Kaling announced that she would be producing an adaptation of Hana Khan Carries On for Amazon Studios. While the Muslim rom-com is being produced, Uzma is busy working on her third novel. Listen to Uzma's story on today's epi!  Follow Uzma...

Zaki Hasan is a film critic -- and a top critic, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Zaki's interest in writing about film started in high school, and he has invested the last quarter-century in the craft. Zaki currently writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and IGN. He is also a professor and talks about film in his own decade-old podcast, The Moviefilm. Where to find Zaki: Twitter, @zakiscorner And his own website  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/laylool/message

Mona Hayder is a rapper...and so much more. She is also a mother, a chaplain, and a poet. When Mona studied English in college, she knew that she was creative and had immersed herself in a community of spoken word poets. Before long, she was performing on stages herself, and her love for poetry and the community that shaped her unlocked a career in music. Mona's debut single, Wrap My Hijab, has 9 million views on YouTube. Billboard named it one of the top 25 feminist anthems of all...

This episode is super special -- because it is 1 year after the pod launched (47 episodes!!!!)! And it's with my sister in law, Yasamine, who pushed me to start Muslims Doing Things in the first place. Yasi is also a different kind of guest, because she is very early in her professional career. She graduated college less than 6 months ago -- and in quarantine decided to take her creative energy and invest it into social media alongside her coursework. She picked up 70k TikTok followers and...

Maytha Alhassen studied political science and international relations in hopes of living a life in the foreign service — until life took her to academia, and academia took her to Hollywood. Maytha’s current work in Hollywood, as a TV and film writer and executive producer, includes work on Hulu’s Ramy and her own show, Key Terms, available on 11/11. Listen to Maytha's journey on today's epi. To stream Key Terms, follow Maytha on IG Reach out to Maytha on her website --- Send in a...

When Amin Aaser graduated from Harvard, he took a mergers and acquisitions role in corporate venture capital, preparing himself for a life in finance. On the side, for 5 years, he worked on a passion project, creating educational content for Muslim kids in the form of books. Fast-forward nearly a decade, and Amin is the full-time Executive Director at Noor Kids, a character building program for over 25,000 (which hosts 66 children's books). Amin works with his wife on the company, they have a...

When a young Fatmah Muhammad's Palestinian family was nearly driven out of town in Missouri, she learned a valuable lesson that would shape her future career: empathy and persistence win. Fatmah's parents of 6 slowly won their neighbors over with hospitality and food. Life took Fatmah's to Southern California at 17, where she married the nominated Knafeh King and had a family. Over a decade later, Fatmah and her eldest daughter Rheyanah co-founded the business, that within 3 years has grown a...

When Shahd Batal's (@shahdbatal) mom got her a laptop after high school, she imagined it would be the tool to help Shahd get through her PR degree. Shahd used it to make YouTube videos in her spare time, like many of the YouTubers that she grew up to and appreciated. Fast-forward a signed career as a content creator, influencer, model, and so much more, Shahd landed on the receiving side of the PR equation. Listen to Shahd's journey on today's epi. Follow Shahd on IG Follow Shahd on...

When Ndaa Hassan realized that there weren't enough English resources to teach her kids about Ramadan in 2018, she took initiative and published her own childrens' book. 3 years later, Ramadan Around the World is a best-selling childrens' book. Ndaa has since published two more books and built a company, My Arabi Box, around Arabic curriculum (with incredible products, btw) for children. Ndaa's background in marketing and passion for Arabic language development has fast-tracked her ability to...

When Amany Killawi studied social work, she had an image for her future in macro impact. Her life took an unexpected turn when she met her co-founders and started what would be come the largest Muslim crowdfunding platform on the platform. The company bootstrapped the company to where they are today, with $250 million raised, and Amany serves as the COO for 100 people working towards the vision of $1 billion raised on their platform. Listen to Amany’s journey as a the founder of a growth...

Salma Hindy is a first-generation Egyptian-Canadian comedian. Though Salmna studied biomedical engineering (read as: her day job), Salma has had a fast rise to fame as a Muslim comedian. She touches topics in jest that many of us know too well — from the cultural taboos of dating to her relationship with hijab. Follow Salma at: Instagram TikTok YouTube Facebook --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/laylool/message

Dr. Melina Abdullah (@docmellymel) is a professor and the former chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State University, Los Angeles. She is an activist, an organizer, a scholar, and a mother. And Dr. Melina co-founded BLM Los Angeles the night that George Zimmerman was acquitted of the charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter after the murder of Treyvon Martin.  Dr. Melina is a recognized expert on race, gender, class, and social movements. She is the author of...

Deena Shakir always optimized her career for impact — though she could have never imagined that it would land her in venture capital. After a brief career in journalism, Deena served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. State Department under Secretary Clinton. Listen to Deena’s unconventional (though very logical) journey from D.C., to Google.org, to a partner at LUX Capital where she invests in health tech startups today. Follow Deena on Twitter --- Send in a voice...

Omar Sayyed was born in Afghanistan moving to America as a refugee. Growing up, Omar watched his father build a new career in the States while learning a new language and skills. By his young adulthood, Omar had built and exited two companies. Omar was approached by his co-founders at Ties.com to build the company from the ground up with his team. Omar and his team bootstrapped the company to where it is now, where Omar currently serves as the CEO. Follow Omar on TikTok Follow Omar on...

@imdoctornahla always knew that she wanted to practice medicine, but the path that would get her to mental heath advocacy was not one that she would wish on anyone. After experiencing a traumatic relationship, Nahla spoke out about the experiences that she endured in order to help other women navigate their way through abuse. Nahla’s fearless approach on taboo subjects landed her instant internet visibility — and you can catch her on TikTok and Instagram educating others as she completes her...

Kashif Shaikh was an English major when he got into philanthropy on a whim, per the advice of his college counselor. When tides were shifting and the first Muslim Congressperson was elected to office in the United States, Kashif started ideating his own philanthropic fund that could serve the Muslim community. From there, alongside his co-founder and team, Pillars Fund was birthed.  Pillars Fund amplifies the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims in the United States to advance...

Shahzad Younas is the founder and CEO of muzmatch, the world’s largest faith-based dating app for single Muslims. In 2011, muzmatch was a website that Shahzad hacked together. As generic matchmaking apps took off, the Muslim community found itself with seemingly few options online. Shahzad built a solution to that problem through muzmatch, and left a promising career in finance to dedicate his life to matchmaking online. Listen to Shahzad's journey through proving out the concept, guerilla...

In 2018, the International Olympic Committee recognized Dr. Seun Adigun as the first African to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. What isn’t immediately clear in the recognition is the Dr. Seun founded the Nigerian bobsled team, making her team Nigeria’s first-ever Winter Olympians. Nor does it represent that she learned the bobsled after an Olympic-level career in track and field. Today, Dr. Seun works professionally as a chiropractor and biomechanist with the mission of...

Growing up in Egypt, Dr. Rana el Kaliouby (@ranaelkaliouby) envisioned a life in academia. What the future would hold for Rana was on the cutting edge of research and innovation, though not quite academia. Rana moved from Egypt to the UK for her PhD, where she had the opportunity to connect with her academic idol Roz Picard who ran research at the MIT Media Lab. Rana co-founded (the recently acquired) Affectiva with Roz as a Media Lab spinout in 2009, and is now deputy CEO at Smart Eye. At...

Lena Khan went to UCLA with an interest in him — but no intention to pursue it as a career. Fast forward to today and her IMDB profile credits her for a Disney+ film, Flora and Ulysses, and her own full-length film, The Tiger Hunter. Lena has become a pillar within the intimate Muslim-American circle in Hollywood, and most recently co-signed Riz Ahmed’s campaign to get more Muslims in film.  Listen to Lena’s journey on today’s epi, and how she has navigated her successful career as a...

Rana Abdelhamid is a community organizer and non-profit leader born and raised in Queens, New York. Rana attended New York City public schools and grew up in a working-class community. She is the Founder and Executive Director of a gender justice nonprofit and formerly one of the youngest elected board members of Amnesty International USA. After living in the thick of the COVID-19 crisis in NYC, Rana decided to put a campaign together and was endorsed by Justice Democrats. Listen to Rana’s...