About Confessions of Successful Asian Women: A Letter from the Founder

"I am surrounded by so many amazing and inspiring women. Each one has a fascinating and unique story that needs to be shared."- Aliya Janjua, Host, CONFESSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL ASIAN WOMEN PODCAST

I launched Confessions of Successful Asian Women on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2016, as a platform for women to connect, share, and inspire each other. I profile trail blazers in the Asian community who are shattering ceilings, solving problems and doing amazing things in their professional careers. I’ve accomplished this primarily through podcasting (a powerful medium for storytelling) and conducting profound interviews.

“I am surrounded by so many amazing and inspiring women. Each one has a fascinating and unique story that needs to be shared.”

— Aliya Janjua, Host, The Confessions of Successful Asian Women Podcast

I’ve met so many Asian women who broke gender and cultural stereotypes to arrive where they are today. These fearless women defy all norms and shape their own narratives of success. They demonstrate resilience, passion, and determination every day - whether it’s in their professional or personal lives. Each woman has a unique story to tell, with wins and losses along the way. And each story provides us with a path we can follow to break down barriers of our own and open doors to pursue our dreams.

All of us have faced some sort of barrier in our professional careers. Whether it’s jumping into a profession that doesn’t align with the one our Asian parents selected for us, taking on a stretch assignment while juggling our family and career, or confronting failure and developing the confidence to overcome it – we showed grit and grace along the way. We most certainly felt alone at times and wished we had a supportive community.

With the relaunch of our website in 2018, we looked at the needs of our listeners on a deeper level. What could we do to further empower Asian women beyond producing the podcast? What else do they need that they can’t get elsewhere? How could we provide not just inspiration, but community? We decided to further open our doors to Asian women looking for help with navigating their careers in a variety of professions. Moving forward, we will offer articles with advice ranging from how to dress for success to how to make a career change, offer a forum for connecting with other women, and send out a newsletter with a roundup of this content, plus meetups that members of our community may be interested in.

Creating Confessions of Successful Asian Women has been a long and rewarding journey so far, and I’m excited to elevate both our offering and the voices of the amazing women in our community.

With love,

About Aliya

Aliya was born in San Francisco, CA. She is the oldest of three daughters to Pakistani immigrant parents.

As Aliya stepped into her professional career, she realized the importance of having a supportive community, where she could tap into the experiences of those who led a similar journey, get career advice, mentorship, and uplift each other to realize their dreams.

Along the journey, Aliya also grasped the true meaning of success, which is not merely achieving financial and material wealth, but rather through seeking meaningful relationships and achieving personal goals.

This led Aliya to start Confessions of Successful Asian Women, a platform for women to connect, share and inspire!

Aliya is passionate about women's empowerment and strongly believes that education is a right, not a privilege. She cares deeply about gender equality and creating equal opportunity for all.

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