Nergis Ahmed

What is SEE ME?

Fifth Word’s ‘See Me’ Podcast is a weekly show that will provide you with an insight into the lives of some of the most inspirational Muslim women living in Nottingham.

The original interviews were recorded on camera between February- March 2024 by Muslim girls aged 12-15. You can view the filmed interviews on each of the episode pages here, and in person at Nottingham Local Studies Library where they are archived for future generations to access.

See Me celebrates inspiring women of Muslim heritage in Nottingham. Their stories, their voices, have been captured by the younger generation to be treasured.

This project was part of Fifth Word’s ‘SEE ME’ living history project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, in partnership with Nottingham Libraries and supported by Nottingham Playhouse.

All episodes are available for free on major listening platforms. Some interviews contain sensitive subject matter including references to violence and racism.

This project has been supported by the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund.

From influencers and artists to teachers and even a firefighter, each episode will feature an interview between a young creative of Muslim heritage, and an inspirational Muslim woman from Nottingham.

This podcast is part of a living history project aimed at capturing the stories of Muslim women living in Nottingham today. You are invited to learn about how each of these remarkable women have overcome barriers in life to pursue their dreams and find their authentic purpose in life.The episodes are inspiring, honest and, at times, funny and infuriating as they explore what it feels like to be a Muslim woman today.

Haniya: 00:05

Hello. My name is Haniya.

Mariam: 00:07

And my name is Mariam. And welcome to the See Me Podcast. A podcast where we speak to amazing Muslim women in Nottingham and find out how they got to where they are.

Haniya: 00:16

This podcast is part of the See Me project.

Mariam: 00:18

And it is funded by the National Heritage Fund.

Haniya: 00:21

We are hoping to speak to influencers, artists, teachers, and even a firefighter.

Mariam: 00:25

So watch this space.

Haniya: 00:27

In this podcast, we spoke to Nergis Ahmed,

Mariam: 00:30

who is a health coach and speech therapist.

Mariam: 00:33

What do you spend your time doing, like your job or career?

Nergis Ahmed: 00:38

Okay. So or in my work? Yeah. So I do 2 different things. I've got 2 different roles.

Nergis Ahmed: 00:44

First thing I talk about because I've been doing for a long time, which is 20 years. I'm a speech language therapist so I work with children who struggle with talking. They might not have any kind of speech any any words or they might be children who might have a diagnosis like a learning difficulty or they're autistic and they've got difficulty with trying to get their message across to others. So I work with those children and I support parents and I support school staff and nurseries to try and help them find ways to learn more communication and how to get we say reach their communication potential which means that some children might not learn loads and loads of language and not not be able to speak loads. So we've reached kind of like try and get to the point where they can learn as much as they can.

Nergis Ahmed: 01:28

So if they can't speak then we teach other ways to communicate. It could be sign language. It could be through use pictures and visuals. So like symbols and photographs and things like that and I teach, lots of people how to kind of use that. So I've been doing that for 20 years.

Nergis Ahmed: 01:42

So here in the UK, I worked in NHS for 16 years doing that and then I just before COVID hit I left the NHS and I set up my own business because I really wanted to kind of spend more time with the families. In the NHS you kinda move to different teams so you don't and whenever the parent asked me, do you think my child biggest question I get is, do you think my child is is gonna be able to talk? And actually I didn't really know a good answer to that because I've never seen a child from when they were like 2 all the way to when they were 16, 17, 18. I wouldn't work with them that long because in the NHS you end up moving off to kind of different departments or the child moves somewhere else. So I really wanted to be able to get to know and spend more time with families and I thought I can't do it here.

Nergis Ahmed: 02:27

I just have to do my own thing. And my husband he was like you can do this. Come on you can you know step into this and you can own it so, I then I've set up my own business and I've been doing my own business as speech therapist for 5 years and then the other part of the week in the last few years I so I've had 4 children and each child I've had you gain a bit more weight especially pack it on your stomach area and I've just started gaining more weight for me and I wasn't feeling healthy after my daughter 2 years nearly 3 years ago now. I was feeling really unhealthy and I wasn't eating well and I just felt really sluggish and not very, healthy at all. So I was like, this is not good.

Nergis Ahmed: 03:08

And then 1 1 day, it just something clicked in my head. I was like, right, I need to sort myself out. And I've done some training in coaching women. So coaching people and how to support them to kind of change. And I had received coaching myself personally by coaches in the past.

Nergis Ahmed: 03:23

And I really, really like I love transformation, I love change and I like to see people move from improving their lives from 1 bit to another and that's from like the speech therapy to now with adults. So I took some, courses, women's health coaching and the other part of the week now, last few years I've been working on my business as a women's health coach and help women kind of transform their lives through and become healthier. Things like that. I really like that. That's wonderful.

Mariam: 03:49

What's your own personal journey to getting there?

Nergis Ahmed: 03:53

Personally, okay. With the speech therapy, it was just like a standard thing where you go to school and you know, all these what your career options. It's very hard when you're young like to know what you wanna be and what to do. So then I just kind of after that I thought right I'll just look into different things and then at college we did more career or kind of choices and things and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I knew what I did look at was I like working with children and I like kind of at the whole caring side of things and supporting people.

Nergis Ahmed: 04:22

So I thought right I need to look into a career like that. So I kind of saw speech therapy as 1 of the things in the NHS because I thought I want an NHS type job maybe that's caring, helping people, looking after people. And then I found the degree to it and I really liked it. So it was a 4 year degree but in that degree you do lots of placements. You go out and you work in the community or you work in hospitals and you get to do not just learning learning about theory but it's like practice.

Nergis Ahmed: 04:49

So I just went for it. So I just chose that and when I was at college and that led me to do fall into speech therapy and even doing the degree I was like I don't really know what this is. I don't know what speech therapist is. I have to do 1 year, 2 years and by the 2nd year I think, I felt as if like I think I know what this is and I'm liking it. So, that kinda led me to do that.

Nergis Ahmed: 05:11

And I think as being a a younger, in my family I was the first person. I'm I'm 1 of 5 sisters and 1 brother. And I'm like the middle child. So I was the first person to do a degree. So I think for me it was just I was really determined kind of in my house be coming from a working class family to push myself and to better myself.

Nergis Ahmed: 05:34

And I knew that our education wasn't 1 of the biggest things that they would respect and everybody was talking about how to achieve it because none of us really had. The sisters didn't get a chance and that opportunity to do it and I did and I thought right I need to take this. I need to do a degree. I need to make a decision. So that's kind of what led me to that.

Nergis Ahmed: 05:52

And I've kind of explained with the with the women's health coach and what's led me to that with with my 4 children and, gaining weight and not feeling healthy, getting older, seeing people around me, kind of having health issues. My mom had cancer. She was diagnosed with that quite a few years ago and seeing kind of the that kind of battle with her with her health and just kind of opens up your eyes to how really kind of scary things like that can be, but how important looking after your health is. So those are the things kinda led me to these 2 areas.

Haniya: 06:23

What does a health and fitness coach mean? What is your day to day?

Nergis Ahmed: 06:28

Okay. So with that, it's, I do a lot of online support. So it's not I don't I'm not the kind of coach where I I like to hide out a place or a gym or I'm not kind of at that stage yet. Maybe it's something in the future but right now I support women online. So it's, I help women who might and it depends it really varies according to what they want to work on.

Nergis Ahmed: 06:50

But it could be somebody who wants to get developed kind of become stronger, fitter, lose weight, especially. Health, it can be anything health related. Let's say they've got a diagnosis of something and they want to instill new habits. And they wanna be able to learn to walk like, not learn, but learn kind of like new kind of, just say kind of skills like learn how to kind of use equipment in the gym they'll never be to the gym. Let's say they want to not go to the gym but they want to be increase their fitness levels but at home and how can they do that with without going to the gym or avoiding some things that they don't like.

Nergis Ahmed: 07:23

So it's finding ways in which they can become healthier, stronger, fitter in within their body. And let's say if they have got a health issue then they it's helping them to find a way to kind of implement that. So let's say they've got a physio. They've got, back a lot of back pain or something like that or they've been diagnosed with, like a condition, which means that they've got to be able to change the way that they eat. And nutrition is a big thing about what I do.

Nergis Ahmed: 07:50

So if they need to change their diet and things like that and they know that they're they're struggling to do it on their own. So what a coach does is that they help a person. They hold you accountable. Meaning, accountable means that they help you kind of, check-in with you so that you're kind of moving forward and improve each each and every time that they're checking in and help you set a plan. So I help women kind of set a plan in terms of what they're gonna how they're gonna work out, like, the new eating schedule or the new fitness regime that they're gonna do at their home or out and about.

Nergis Ahmed: 08:18

So I've got 1 woman who stopped going to the gym and she's gonna solely just work on just improving her walking because that's increasing her fitness. She's now can go on hikes. So it could be a personal goal that they've got and I would help them reach that.

Haniya: 08:31

Yeah.

Mariam: 08:32

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Nergis Ahmed: 08:35

Okay. It's 2 jobs. Okay. I'll go with speech therapy first and I'll tell you about the fitness and health coaching. Speech therapy what I enjoy most is I love it when a child has done something new and they've learned a new skill and I'm like, yay.

Nergis Ahmed: 08:49

So for example, I've given a very personal 1 recently this I think it was this week. I saw a little girl that I've been working with for nearly 2 years And she's autistic and she has a little bit of language. So she will use mainly single words or like short phrases like just 2 words. And and so she's still learning to communicate like socially with us and speak she she won't be able to hold a conversation with you. She's 5 years old.

Nergis Ahmed: 09:15

And just recently, she doesn't use a lot of eye contact as well. So when you try and play with her, she's often in her own world doing her own thing. And so it's about kind of trying to engage with her and get her to connect with you and look back at you and give you something and say something to you. That's that's kind of thing that we've been working on. So recently she said, so I was leaving I was like right I'm gonna go now.

Nergis Ahmed: 09:38

Bye and I said her name and I'm going and then the teaching assistant I was with her she said kind of like oh, bye bye, Negus. And then she turned around and said buy something like it sound like market but she actually said my name and I was like oh my god. So I've been working with her for like nearly 2 years. She's never said my name and it was really nice that kind of she's learned to kind of kind of say my name and I knew it was because the teaching assistant said it again. She goes oh it's Negus.

Nergis Ahmed: 10:03

Say bye Negus. And then she went bye bye bye market. That's a fact that sounded a bit crazy but nothing really like nergis but it was her own way of saying my name. So that's what really makes me feel kind of like kind of makes my day. Things like that.

Nergis Ahmed: 10:17

In terms of the health and fitness it's when a parent, not parents, a parent, a woman will, text me and she will say 1 of my clients and she'll say, I finally lost like certain amount of weight. I'm losing I've lost 1 kg in the last 2 weeks. I'm like, wow. It's amazing. And just seeing that they are when they come to me and over time because I know the first conversation I have with them about what they're worried about, what they're concerned about.

Nergis Ahmed: 10:40

And then few kind of sessions down the line they're telling me new things. And then I'm like seeing the improvement even though they're not seeing it. And I can see it and then it's that moment in which they realize themselves that oh gosh I've lost that weight or I do feel fitter now when I'm lifting up the kids and I'm I can walk I can walk down the street and with my child and take her to nursery and not feel tired anymore. So those kind of little wins are that they're they're the things that I really like.

Haniya: 11:07

When you meet someone for the first time who wants to get into health and fitness, what would you tell them or do with them?

Nergis Ahmed: 11:14

Good question. I'll probably I'll probably ask them more questions. So a lot of coaching is about asking rather than just giving them advice and throwing lots of ideas at them because there's lots of stuff that you can tell somebody to do or advise and guide them. But with coaching it's about downing in a bit more and and deeper about what the issue really is. Like so probably ask them more questions about what it is that they're actually doing at the moment like how much are they moving, have they ever been to the gym, how do they feel within their own body, do they have any aches and pain.

Nergis Ahmed: 11:43

So really important to do like a bit of a mini assessment just to even if it's in a conversation just say, well, how much are you moving now? And what is it that you do at the moment? How do you feel about kind of like doing exercise and things like that? So and then ask them if they've got any health issues? What are their concerns?

Nergis Ahmed: 11:58

What are their worries? Those are the kind of things that I I'd probably start with and then also probably big like I said, big thing that people often overlook with health and fitness is your what you eat and and what we put into our body. And and it's about looking after kind of what goes in. It's like, people look after their cars and they put really, like, you know, the petrol, they service their cars and things like that. We don't necessarily do the same thing with our bodies.

Nergis Ahmed: 12:21

We don't not looking after what's going inside and knowing what what it is that we're kind of, fueling ourselves on a day to day basis. So, I'd definitely talk to them about nutrition at some point as well.

Mariam: 12:34

Let's talk about gyms. They can feel really scary as a a woman. How do you overcome that?

Nergis Ahmed: 12:41

That's a really good question. I like that because I I did an Instagram post on that recently. I'll see if I can remember it. No. That's a really good question.

Nergis Ahmed: 12:49

I think some women did have talked to me about that. And I've mentioned before, sometimes we can do like let's avoid the gym if you want to avoid it. Do you want to avoid it? Do you really want to go to go to the gym? And I'd advise if they do want to go to the gym and like I said in terms of avoiding I mean I'd probably say that you can get health and fitness in other ways.

Nergis Ahmed: 13:07

You can I've actually recently started working out at home and I like going to the gym that's my time out my way to kind of work out and get my do my kind of health things fixed but sometimes it's not easy. I mean you've got children, you've got your you're managing your job, you can do it for time so I've had to find a way to work do working at home. So it is a challenge when you want to do something new and if they you know looking at whether they really want to go to the gym you know is that something they want to do or again it's asking them questions about what's what blocks is kind of have they put in their way about going to the gym. So looking at their mindset I haven't mentioned mindset but that's a big thing about health and fitness as well is like what your mindset leads you into kind of often blocks you from doing things as well how you're thinking around something, is often the that thing that will stop you from going. And my journey myself was right I'm now gonna do it and it's like that in my head I was ready mentally to be starting to kind of learn to kind of lose weight get fitter and healthy and things like that.

Nergis Ahmed: 14:09

So, yeah, so I'd probably ask them a few more questions like I okay. I'm saying and I'd probably if they really do want to go to the gym then I'd say that you know I'd say visits visit the gym maybe visit with a friend so they're not feeling like they're on their own and go and do a bit of research about what the local gyms are, what what spaces there are and if it's for ladies is it important you want a ladies only space? Because quite a few gyms now have got ladies only sections. I found a spa recently I was looking at. They they had a ladies only there.

Nergis Ahmed: 14:41

I said, oh, that's brilliant. So it's looking for that and, you know, get them to do research rather than me telling them because it's a big part of coaching and supporting women is that they are empowered to do it themselves and I'm not necessarily just doing it all for them because then they'll rely on that, become reliant on me. And it's all about giving them the power and they they realize that they can do it themselves.

Haniya: 14:59

Did you find it difficult to become a health and fitness coach as a Muslim woman?

Nergis Ahmed: 15:04

That's a really good question. I like your questions. You know, it depends. I'm trying to think. If I did, if I was gonna go into work in a gym or something like that maybe I would feel a bit more self conscious like wearing a hijab being a Muslim woman.

Nergis Ahmed: 15:21

I think I'd I feel as if that's not really my space. Because even I don't really like busy gyms and things like that when it's I can get a bit like oh I don't really like it and actually when I go to the gym I go to gym classes I don't necessarily go and use the machines where it's so busy so I might have a bit of a kind of thing about that myself but so it depends on for me no because I'm working online so and my space is is that online space where I feel a bit there's more freedom. But if I was working in an actual workplace and I was like a PT like you know personal trainer that kind of thing I might feel I would probably feel a bit like subconscious about being kind of like a Muslim lady and fitness person. But my husband really likes that. I I kinda I'm into that and he's really kind of and my you know my children quite like it as well that they my boys I've got teenage boys and they can share their kind of like gymming and stuff with me and I get it.

Nergis Ahmed: 16:20

Or I'm interested in them because this is kind of like my field. But, yeah, so it depends where I suppose where I'd be that I'd feel a bit like slightly self conscious of it. Online, not so much. In online, it's more about, kind of, like, being seen on social media. I do feel a bit, like, oh, it's a bit cringey.

Nergis Ahmed: 16:40

I'm gonna take, you know, videos of myself working. I don't really like that. So, yeah, I can be a little bit self conscious even online. So it is a little bit challenging but then I've you know I speak to other women who don't like being like seen on camera and things like that so I don't know if it's necessarily to do with being Muslim but it can. I can I can see the link too?

Nergis Ahmed: 17:01

So I don't know if that that's a bit of a middle kind of answer.

Mariam: 17:06

What are the stereotypes you had to fight to make it?

Nergis Ahmed: 17:12

To make it what I'm doing now?

Mariam: 17:14

Yeah.

Nergis Ahmed: 17:17

So for me, I think when I was younger, going to uni, I was 1 of I was the 1st person in my family to go to uni and I think I struggled with the whole kind of whole kind of like culture thing of being independent and doing your own thing. Where, in our culture, you know, you kind of stay together a lot of the times. And it's about you know making sure that your plan works with the family's plan and that my plan was slightly different and I did go off and do my own thing a little bit. But, I really kind of understanding parents and they they were really I think I also kind of showed them that I was quite mature. I'm saying I'm laughing because, I didn't feel it around the time that I was.

Nergis Ahmed: 18:04

But I did I was making really big decisions around that time because I got married really young. And again that was me being assertive and I made that decision and I came to my 1 of the biggest things I did, the challenging things was stepping out into kind of, this space of having that converse Basically getting the courage and got to kind of talk to my dad and say I wanna get married. And I was only 18. So, I was really young. And then and then the bigger thing, not bigger but another big thing before that again was stepping out and actually putting my hijab on because I was at college and nobody wore a hijab with it.

Nergis Ahmed: 18:43

There was 1 girl and and no 1 really covered then. And, I felt like this is gonna be a big thing and and my who you know, my phone's gonna look at me really strangely. I did get comments like people from my own, like even family, like my auntie was like oh gosh, you know. So that was really challenging. That was hard.

Nergis Ahmed: 19:01

That kind of overcoming these kind of barriers in your life. But they make you stronger and they you have these experiences that you can share with others. I can share with my children and they might not necessarily wanna listen to me. And they're like, you know, they're parents saying these things. I don't want to learn life lessons from their mom probably but I can share with others and I'm now hoping to help like more now that I've kind of gone through things like that.

Nergis Ahmed: 19:27

I feel as if I can help others who are like in the community from the Muslim community especially my not ethnic minority communities who struggle with, you know, stepping out and and fear of being kind of doing something different, deviating from like what they think is culturally kind of maybe holding them back. And also, in a society where you are an ethnic you know, person of an ethnic minority, you are a minority. So kind of having the courage and confidence to step into that, Battling against that where visibly being different to a lot of people like in society, in the schools and colleges, in uni, your workplace, in the NHS. I was the only Muslim speech therapist for a long time and so everything was a very kind of like a white culture and they you know they'd go out and meet at pubs and things like that. And things that were really different and that I don't have experience of.

Nergis Ahmed: 20:22

And where there's red lines that I draw. And I've got to be able to have that courage to say oh you know is it alright if we don't meet at the pub? That kind of thing. So the things that got me to where I am today are those things that challenged me, all those difficulties that I faced. The biggest ones like actually even going even further back was my dad left my mom, for 8 years.

Nergis Ahmed: 20:43

And so my mom was a single parent and it's about we had to grow up quite fast. That was 1. And then after that was wearing hijab. I'd kind of do a bit of a timeline here now. Wearing hijab and then in college when no 1 else really was.

Nergis Ahmed: 20:56

And then after that it was, telling my dad like a year or 2 later that I literally wanna get married. Kind of really young. If my kids were that young, I would say I'd be like, oh my god. But, yes. I wanted to get married telling him I had that conversation with my dad because I knew he was gonna say no.

Nergis Ahmed: 21:10

I knew he was I needed to say no. And then getting married without my dad being there and and going kind of against my family. And and after that, it was just kind of all the little scary things like starting uni going to uni in another city and on my own. Actually, I was married so I was technically but and then after that, I got my job being in the NHS being a Muslim that person my community my team sorry where I was the only person doing that. And then after that actually big thing was leaving NHS and letting go of these things which I kind of like held on to such a long time.

Nergis Ahmed: 21:45

That was really hard for me. Just like telling my boss that I'm gonna do my own thing. That was hard. And then with the health and fitness coaching is how can I kind of incorporate something I'm really enjoying I really like to something I've been doing for such a long time and and even now I'm battling both? So there's constant challenges.

Haniya: 22:07

If you had a magic wand and could want and could change 1 thing in the industry what would it be?

Nergis Ahmed: 22:13

I think with what my experience of learning having coaching myself, coaching, actual proper coaching, like where transformational coaching is called I think in some fields. And receiving that myself and then learning to do that myself that is something which I think a lot of workplaces are still not. They've not got it. Every workplace should have a coach that helps a person personally and then professionally in the job that they're in. And even like out in the community, there should be more coaching out there because it really does help you and empower you to trans like move to improve your life really.

Nergis Ahmed: 22:51

And a lot of coaches who go into coaching they they're really really serious about it. They love it. They're quite passionate. They've done, really good kind of it's not accredited no, it is credit sorry. It's not regulated, really.

Nergis Ahmed: 23:03

That needs to be that needs to happen. So, that'd be 2 things. So have coaching in more places is the answer. And then the other 1 would be is to have it kind of like a credit it is a credit, but like more regulated, more kind of like almost like a degree in it where you get that qualification you're about and it's recognized. It's not kind of like recognized as highly as maybe other kind of careers.

Nergis Ahmed: 23:25

And a lot of people don't know what a coach does. And I have to kind of explain it. But it having received it myself personally having gone through coaching it's brilliant. It does help somebody become like move from 1 step to another step and then improve and improve and improve. Once you kind of like get the right coach that kind of fits you in what you wanna do.

Mariam: 23:48

You also have a social media account where you share a lot of advice. How do you think social media has changed how we think about fitness?

Nergis Ahmed: 23:57

I think it's definitely increased, in that in a sense that increased awareness. But I do think there still is a lot of like this is what social media does is it there's still that kind of like fakeness. I still think that there is a lot of that and I think with the health and fitness coaching and I do and the images that a lot of girls see and and women see is of of a thin woman and you know being a particular type. And I think that's still although there's more awareness of of of you know being like being looking after your health and things like that and and there in this idea there is still there are some people that share against the grain stuff but there still is a majority a lot of it I see on Instagram myself personally Like women looking thin and, you know, it's all about getting thin and and being a particular body type and that kind of stereotype. And I think as a Muslim, so I'm trying to create some kind of videos.

Nergis Ahmed: 24:50

I'm trying I'm like, well I don't look, you know, I don't look like that. I can't I'm not showing my body in the way that the clothes that they wear. It's quite challenging for me. Because I want to be be able to kind of like promote myself in a way that that the Jordan thing really is there. So if I look at other people's accounts like women coaches and stuff like that where they've got like little bit of clothing on and they're showing all the muscles off.

Nergis Ahmed: 25:12

I can't promote myself like that and I can't do that so that's challenging. But I think social media there's good things about it and there's not good things about it. So that's the answer to it really.

Haniya: 25:23

What did you think you would do for a career when you were 12? And how do you feel about that now?

Nergis Ahmed: 25:29

I love that question. Because it takes me back to I actually the first thing I've wanted to be was an astronaut. Because I really loved space. I love science and I was like I wanna go or go on the moon. I wanna go in a spaceship and I wanna go to space.

Nergis Ahmed: 25:45

I wanna be an astronaut. And I used to like, I think as part of my like course work at school, I did, IT. And that you picked a specific topic and mine was space. And then I wrote to NASA and things like that and I got some responses back so I was really into that. And then after I was a bit like really silly.

Nergis Ahmed: 26:04

Maybe I can't do that. And then after that it was something else. But yeah, it was it was science and space and exploration.

Mariam: 26:12

If you could go back in time and tell your 12 year old self something. What would that be?

Nergis Ahmed: 26:17

Okay. I'd probably say I just have the courage to do just put just be bold and step into fear and confidence will come. Because as a young child I I mean for me I wasn't really confident. I'm an introvert so I'm not hugely kind of like massively like social or whatever. My son's an extrovert but I'm not like that at all.

Nergis Ahmed: 26:43

I'm I am more of an introvert and I was very introverted as a child and I did have like confidence issues. So I think I'd go back and say just be bold and whenever you're scared of something step into that fear because you'll grow from that and that's an experience you're gonna learn from. So even though it's scary just do it. Do it anyway. So that's what I'd probably say.

Haniya: 27:06

How do you think your 12 year old self would respond to that?

Nergis Ahmed: 27:11

I think she'd still be scared. But knowing that somebody's holding her hand maybe would help her kind of take that step into that kind of threshold. So I think she'd still it wouldn't alleviate the the fear. But it would give her a bit more courage I think To do what she wants to do. Yeah.

Mariam: 27:32

You were born in Nottingham, right? Have you ever thought about wanting to leave Nottingham or move anywhere else?

Nergis Ahmed: 27:41

So when I went to uni, it was in Manchester. So I stayed there for 2 years And actually there was a point when, I did I wanted to travel when I was like same questions around when I was about 12, 13 not giving anything about careers. I think another thing after the wanting to be an astronaut was when as a second school after that I was a bit like, Yeah, I don't know that's realistic. After that I wanted to actually be a doctor and for charities in out there you know doing like going to different countries and helping sick children and and people and helping them with their health and being there to kind of like yeah help people who are in need like poor people and people who are facing like tragedies and things like that. So I actually wanted to be a doctor and travel the world and and help people.

Nergis Ahmed: 28:27

So go everything. So get to travel and still do like a have a career and and still help people in the community. So yeah I kind of did want to travel and I do like and I like going on holidays and things like that to on to different countries and I like learning like little bits of languages and culture all the and about other cultures. I really like that. So although I've, you know, born and bred here, have moved a little bit, but not a lot.

Nergis Ahmed: 28:54

I've only done my I've only really lived in Manchester, and that's it.

Haniya: 28:58

You're a very active person in the community. What is what is it about Nottingham that makes being in a community so much better?

Nergis Ahmed: 29:07

I think in Nottingham it's it doesn't feel like a massively big, like, city like London where there's so when you go there, there's so much going on. Like you did kind of like oh, you know, how where do you fit in and where can you kind of find your kind of own kind of community or feel like you're kind of part of stuff. And I think Nottingham is kind of like not too big like that and it's not too small. It's like a tiny village where everybody knows everyone and like you don't get to meet yet new people. It's a really good balance in between.

Nergis Ahmed: 29:37

So and and there's some really good stuff like really good kind of community initiatives. I feel as if there's quite quite a few active groups out there in our own Muslim community. We've got quite a few things going on. But there's still like things that we need to do more. And I'm really keen to kind of to work with other, like, lots of kind of any community initiatives that I see kind of like starting up.

Nergis Ahmed: 29:59

I'm really interested in looking at kind of like services for, like Muslim girls, young girls especially because I've got young girls about our Muslim community because recently there's been a lot of kind of information shared about like how kind of we are, educationally very behind and actually there is a lot of poverty in our community. And I feel as if I'm at a stage now where I'd like to give more back to our own community. Whereas before it was like just everyone and anyone. And my work is very much that still. But I personally I want to be able to give something back closely in within Nottingham.

Nergis Ahmed: 30:32

So give something back to Nottingham but in our own community too. But yes, it's great. I think there is lots of kind of new things happening now but there's and there and there is kind of I do feel as if there's more kind of more that needs to be done.

Mariam: 30:46

What does your faith mean to you and what's it like being a Muslim woman living in Nottingham?

Nergis Ahmed: 30:53

Okay. So my faith is a big part of my driving force of like who I am and what I do. And the decisions that I make. It's my kind of first identity of say. So I say I'm a Muslim business, health and nutritionist or a Muslim speech therapist.

Nergis Ahmed: 31:11

And it's that there kind of like, it it's it underpins everything that I try and not everything, but loads of stuff that I try and do. It's it's always there. It's part of my daily life. It's a big part of me and my and my kind of decision making that I make for my myself and my children. And especially now, like now, where I've got children and I'm aware that they're being brought up in in a very meek society, which is good because I think it helps them be kind of balanced and grounded.

Nergis Ahmed: 31:41

But I also fear big big fear is that they might become a bit too kind of like all all go 1 way and lead them away from my religion and and my culture and things like that. So it's it is a it's very important now because I'm I've got children and it's looking at how they are growing up. So I want that to be hopefully kind of trickle down to them. So I I try and do a bit can do more things around kind of my religion being Muslim woman, so that my children can see that as a role model and hopefully still kind of have that kind of they've got friends and of of all the different faiths and non faiths and communities. But then also we have this as well.

Nergis Ahmed: 32:19

Where they can kind of still it still ties them to kind of our beliefs which I I feel very strongly about. Sorry. I don't know what this what was either part of your question?

Mariam: 32:29

What's it like being consumed and living in your income?

Nergis Ahmed: 32:34

So in Nottingham it's well, if I look back at working in the NHS and being a Muslim in the speech Muslim speech therapist in the NHS. I actually gave the good thing about that was I was able to work in different like areas in Nottingham where there is meaning like white. And there aren't many kind of it's not very multicultural. And although that scared me a little bit or there were like very very rough areas like inner city areas. Me growing up in the inner city area and coming from a working class kind of background made me not as scared really.

Nergis Ahmed: 33:10

But I felt good that I'm representing my faith as a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. I'm very visibly Muslim and I'm going to a very white area where there might be kind of like rough people here. And they might kind of they might not have met a Muslim woman before. So I felt really kind of like like courage and emboldened by that and hear really good about it because I wanted them to be able to speak to me in a professional capacity and realize that you know we're not all that bad or something. You know whatever stereotypes that they have about muslim women that hopefully can dispel some of that.

Nergis Ahmed: 33:45

So it is it's been challenging in Nottingham I say because there are so many kind of areas where there are kind of they're not very sorry very multicultural but being there in a professional capacity has helped me to kind of hopefully help break down some barriers and things like that. So I think it's important that we do try and find ways to kind of mix in with the community so that we get those conversations with people going. And it's not all based on like what they learn from the media or something. But yeah. It's no it's not easy it's it's been challenging and it I think still will be.

Nergis Ahmed: 34:19

But like I say I it's nice though because it's it's not because like I said there's a lot of kind of projects and things like that that up and coming and where they're kind of dispelling not dispelling but like creating like hopefully kind of breaking those kind of barriers down. That's what it is. And I'm very love kind of like projects where they're doing more outreach to other communities and whether we're working together with others and doing kind of more charitable stuff. I'm very big into kind of like doing charity stuff because that's a big part of our religion is to give away like help help people around you and it's not just your own community but others. And I think that's a way that maybe non muslims would see the beauty of our religion and what we're about because that's a big part of what we're about is about being kind and giving and being loving to others.

Nergis Ahmed: 35:10

And I think Nottingham, we've we've got some of those projects, up and running at the moment and hopefully, that will carry on.

Haniya: 35:19

What's your favourite place in Nottingham and why?

Nergis Ahmed: 35:23

Okay. What's my favourite place? At the moment, I haven't got 1. I'm I was I was talking to my husband about this actually earlier today, because I was like, they were asking me to bring a prop in and I was like oh. It's like you're not really massively sentimental about 1 particular thing.

Nergis Ahmed: 35:39

Although I'm a big hoarder. I do hoard like my revealing stuff like that. But I haven't got like 1 particular place but I do love open spaces because I take last year we started a walking group for Muslim women and girls and my husband takes some men and sometimes we do family ones where they mix. And and in those that's really got me loving the outdoors. And I kind of always did because I did camping and and things like that when my children when they're younger.

Nergis Ahmed: 36:06

We like the outdoors. My husband's friends call him, that mustn't beg wheels. That kind of thing because we do a lot of outdoor activities. So actually I just like outdoor spaces a lot and I like local parks like we've got Woolerton Park which is a big 1 obviously that's lovely. But there's loads of others that we've discovered through my walking group And I'm still learning more about like spaces, green spaces in Nottingham even now.

Nergis Ahmed: 36:29

And I love that when I bring people to court with us they're like we've never seen this part of Nottingham before. And I love it when somebody comes and they're like I've never been here and I'm like yay I brought them somewhere new. So there isn't a particular 1, but I do like make I like the green space in Nottingham for lots of parks, outdoor spaces. If you could

Mariam: 36:48

broadcast a message to the world whole world, what would that be?

Nergis Ahmed: 36:55

I think it'd be look for the good in other people. Look for the positives and kindness and things about and trying to be kind of try to get on with anyone. I don't I think just being like look for good in people because I feel as if right now in the way the way the world is at the moment there's a lot of negativity. There's conflicts and wars and things like that going on and it's really sad. So I think and I think people are forgetting humanity and and forgetting that we're humans and that we should well we should try and learn to, love each other is a very strong word.

Nergis Ahmed: 37:36

But you you know like get on with each other and respect each other. So, I biggest biggest thing is look for the look for the good in another person. And look for something that you can pick out in that person that is nice or something positive about them rather than looking at maybe something they've said or something that they've done or I think if we're more forgiving and and and try and find like common ground with people that I think would be we'd have less conflict in the world, I think.

Haniya: 38:04

Yeah. If you could give young girls like us any advice, what advice would that be?

Nergis Ahmed: 38:12

I would say don't be afraid to try new things and don't be afraid to try just try anything, like that you that you think is slightly interesting. And and it's about the don't be afraid or even if you are afraid like I've mentioned before is step into your fear because that fear will change. Once you do something new that's slightly uncomfortable hugely uncomfortable massively scary once you've done it you'll feel a bit like, oh, actually I feel a lot different now. And oh, maybe I wanna do that again. And and you might realize I actually don't like it and I'm not going to do that again.

Nergis Ahmed: 38:46

But you're not going to learn more about yourself until you do those things that you're not sure about. So don't close your kind of don't close the doors. My daughter does this a lot. She's 12 and she's a bit like oh no I don't want to do that plan. Just have a try.

Nergis Ahmed: 39:00

Try it and then experience it and then at least you know you've given it a go.

Mariam: 39:06

Thank you so much for coming and being a part of this. We really appreciate your stories and your stories have been really interesting.

Nergis Ahmed: 39:13

Oh, thank you. I really appreciate you giving me the space to talk to you. You're being quite nice, actually.

Mariam: 39:20

Isn't Nergis Ahmed such an inspirational woman?

Haniya: 39:23

I learned so much about how women can have a successful career and a family at the same time. We hope you did too. Tune in next time to hear from other inspirational Muslim women in Nottingham.