Fashion Valet x MISCHA

We've teamed up with Fashion Valet, to ask five inspiring women from Malaysia to share their experiences with us on how they juggle family and career, whilst looking fabulous. 

Meet the ladies:

QALISHA RAY - Entrepreneur

How do you juggle your career, family and social life?

The key is to focus on a plan, get organized, and find the right balance between priority and profession. My priority are my family so I will make sure to nurture the family bond and always stay connected with them like create activities that regularly fit into my schedule so everyone knows what to expect and what to look forward to. As for work, I was taught to be disciplined on setting time limit and avoid distractions that make you less productive. So that I can stay focus, determine and motivated with work.

What brings you the inspiration to keep going when you face challenges?

What keeps me going is determination. Being determined in the face of struggle is difficult. Sometimes we need support and encouragement but sometimes we need to figure out what went wrong. But honestly I live by this quote saying, “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there". The next thing my mum taught me is to always count your blessings. When you are intentionally counting your blessings, you are being grateful for every single thing that you have, no matter how small or big, and you are even being grateful for anything negative in your life. Soon you will realize that when you’re happy… you start attracting all the things that you love and want.

Who has inspired and influenced you most today?

My mom is my greatest inspiration. She inspired me in many ways and is a big motivation in my life to this day. She is standing behind me on my positive decisions in life and confronting me on the negative ones. I looked up at her so much. I have become who I am today because of her. 

How do you keep yourself looking and feeling good?

Taken at face value, we always assume that simply putting on a fun new outfit, or getting a haircut can make us look good, and therefore feel good. This in turn helps us to act more confidently.. In my opinion, good looks are generally a sign of health. Health and freshness is a priority. When a woman is healthy, she has an attractive glow about her. Good health adds more color to the face and skin and helps produce more energy. So live a healthy life and make time to pamper yourself. The inner beauty is far more important than the outer beauty. 

RAJA NADIA SABRINA - Creative Director & Blogger

How do you juggle your career, family and social life?

To be honest, it was quite difficult to balance personal life and work life when I was practicing as a lawyer. My working hours were crazy and I didn’t really have time for my family and friends back then.

Now that I’m fully focused on running my own label and blogging, it’s a job that really never ends and you have to think about it all the time but on the plus side, I now have more time to spend with my family and friends because I get to decide when to put work aside. For instance, now, I make it a point to at least spend a part of my weekends with family and friends, which I couldn’t really do before as I was purely at the mercy of clients.

A lot of what goes on behind the scenes in the fashion world are far from glamourous, but at least there’s much less pressure from external parties. It’s more self-driven and you're the one who have to keep on pushing yourself beyond your own limits. If you don’t push yourself, don’t expect others to do it for you. So in terms of time management, I have much more flexibility to decide what to do and allocate my time accordingly.

What brings you the inspiration to keep going when you face challenges?

To me, patience, strength, perseverance and hard work are a must, and even if you don’t see an exit and even when you begin to doubt yourself, see it through. It will pay off. You must approach everything with the correct attitude and do everything well or you might as well not do it at all. You might not realize it in the beginning. But one day you will. Always trust that life has a way of working it out in your favour.

It’s also important to realize that it is okay to re-adjust your sails when you are on your journey. Life is a journey. A very long one. It’s okay to take a detour. 3 years ago, I would never have imagined that I would be where I am. And it’s made my life much richer for the experience. Life is such an interesting journey!

Who has inspired and influenced you most today?

My family, my friends have always been an anchor for me. People I just met, personalities I’ve read about. People who have risen to the top from trying circumstances. Those who have persevered and are persevering through their own personal battles.

How do you keep yourself looking and feeling good?

To feel good, I do the things that I love; reading, watching movies, spending time with family and friends. I'm also strict on my beauty regime and I am trying my best to incorporate a healthier lifestyle with more exercises and healthier eating. The days where I can eat everything under the sun is over Apart from that being comfortable in what I wear, makes me confident and feel good too. 

NADDY RAHMAN - Law Student & Model

How do you juggle your career, family and social life?

I strongly believe it all falls down to time management. My family is everything to me and that's my priority no matter what. It's been busy times for my career and i've been enjoying it very much. But despite all the busy time, there's always time to catch up with friends.

What brings you the inspiration to keep going when you face challenges?

I have my set of goals that i want to achieve. I have a passion for fashion and currently I'm in the 2nd year of completing my law degree. Although it is quite hard for me juggle both, I idolised quite a few influential yet young people that manages to study and work at the same time. and it amazes me as to how much they have achieved at such a young age. I believe if they could do it, why can't i? a lot of self push and determination when i face challenges.

Who has inspired and influenced you most today?

My father has been my number one supporter and has been the backbone to what i have achieved today, both in terms of my studies and career. He has influenced me with his strong encouraging words, his stories and experiences in life, constant reminders and advice every single day in order for me to achieve my goals.

AISHAH AMIN - Mother & Blogger

How do you juggle your career, family and social life?

It's definitely not easy but I always put my family first before anything else, then work my way around that. I'm lucky that i have a very supportive husband who makes life easier. Planning ahead and having a schedule for everything helps as well, although I'm not too strict on following it 100%. It just makes me more organized in a sense.

What brings you the inspiration to keep going when you face challenges?

My husband and kids of course. And the fact that there are so many other things in life to be thankful for. Every time I'm faced with a problem, I just think of all the blessings I have and my problems will disappear.

Who has inspired and influenced you most today?

My eldest sister, she's my role model. She makes me want to be better in all aspects of life and I've learned a lot from her experiences. She always gives me the best advice and is a great listener!

How do you keep yourself looking and feeling good?

I try to stay healthy by doing activities that i can include my family, like swimming or cycling. More importantly, lots of love and laughter! That makes me feel and look good more than anything!

ZANDRA AZIELA - National Bowler & Mother

How do you juggle your career, family and social life?

The key is time management and I also prioritized my schedule mainly family comes first then career and lastly social life just to keep me sane and balanced.

What brings you the inspiration to keep going when you face challenges?

I’m pretty much influenced by the fact that I was a very serious athlete from the age of 11 and I’ve served the national team for 11years up till I got married last year. My motto was never say die, fight till the end, go all out, and coming second is not an option.

How do you keep yourself looking and feeling good?

I ALWAYS believe in eat well and exercise regularly. It will definitely show on your face and gives you positive energy without u realising it. I swear.