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Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where we explore the journeys that lead to success.

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I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you

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insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders, and experts who will share not just their expertise

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but the milestone moments that have reshaped their journeys and led to significant achievements.

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So if you're looking for motivation, you're in the right place. Subscribe now and discover the

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milestones that mark the path to success.

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Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me in this episode of Milestone Moments in Business

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and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host. And today I have a special guest with over seven years

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of work experience in the financial industry. Urmi Hossain holds an honors in finance and

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obtained CFA charter in April 2023. Her profound passion for finance has fueled continuous learning

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and exploration, particularly in the desire to teach finance and mentor girls and women during

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her free time. Welcome to the show, Urmi. Hi, Sheila. Thank you for having me.

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Thank you. Well, Urmi, with your impressive background in finance and your recent achievement

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of obtaining that CFA charter, could you share that pivotal moment in your career that reinforced

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your passion for finance that led you to mentor girls and women in this field?

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Yes, it would be my it would be my pleasure. I think I had that pivotal moment couple of years

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ago. And we were in a lockdown and I had a little bit of more time to reflect on myself and what I

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wanted to do. And I always had this drive in me that I wanted to to give back. Like I always had

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this desire that I wanted to give back. And I was like, I think I'm knowledgeable enough to help

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other people. And so that's when I was like, you know what, I think I want to help with other

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women. I want to mentor other women. I want to educate other women about the things that I'm

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passionate about. So that's when I started to work towards this thing, just follow my

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my meditation, my instinct and my curiosity to basically spread my message and to share what I

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know to other other women who would who don't have the same tools to learn about finance or just

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things in general. That's great. Because I think finance, budgeting money, it's such an important

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aspect in everyone's life, right? Whether you're an employee or you're an entrepreneur, but not

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everybody has your education, nor do they understand these terms very easily. What are some of the

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challenges that you see over and over that you help with with the girls and the women you mentor?

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Well, a lot of the women that I mentor, basically, very young women in their 20s who started

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basically studying finance, and they just need someone with much more experience to share about

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their own experiences working in finance and studying finance. So a lot of my mentors are in

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their 20s, really like early 20s or mid 20s, who are just looking for someone who can guide them in,

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you know, finding the right path. So a lot of the people that came to me, they were like, oh,

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I want to study finance, but I don't know what are the opportunities out there in the job market. So

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I share with them my own experiences. I also help other women who is not just related in finance,

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but more about women who want to have leadership position. And I share with them, you know,

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these are some of the things that you can do, you know, to, you know, advance yourself in your

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workplace to improve your leadership skills. So I share those knowledge based on my own experiences.

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So I have a lot of women coming from for these reasons, mainly.

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So you're also the vice president of education at your Toastmasters club. You're working towards

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becoming a distinguished speaker and a dynamic leader. Can you explain what Toastmasters is in

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case someone in our audience doesn't know what it is and how your involvement with Toastmasters has

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impacted your professional life and your ability to make an impact using your voice?

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Yes, it would be my pleasure. So Toastmasters is a nonprofit organization that was created in

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1924. And basically it's a nonprofit organization dedicated for people who want to work on their

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public speaking skills. But what people do not know that it's not just about public speaking,

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but it's about leadership as well. Indeed, the phrases that they use is Toastmasters,

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this is where leaders are made. And this is where you get to learn a lot about leadership skills.

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Because when you think about leadership, there are so many skills that come with it. You know,

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you have one side is public speaking, then you have organization skills, then you have active

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listening, you have critical thinking. So these are all of the things that you learn at Toastmasters.

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And how it works is that every city, every area of your city has a Toastmasters club and you can

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basically attend one of those meetings as a guest for free of charge. You just see how the meetings

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are run and every week the clubs meet and you have speeches to deliver. Of course, this is a

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structural program. So you know what you'll have to talk about, you know how long you have to talk

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about, you know, the speech objective. And you're not just delivering speeches because you get to

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receive feedback. And definitely, Toastmasters has helped me a lot in my own leadership skills,

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because I can see that even at my workplace, I am much more confident in, you know, doing things,

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I'm much more confident when it comes to talking to people, when it comes to standing up for myself.

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So in that sense, it has helped me a lot. And of course, I think I have learned not just about

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public speaking, but I think I learned about different series of skills that people are not

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aware of when you join Toastmasters. And I think the great thing about Toastmasters is that when

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you put it on your resume, it just shows to potential employers that you have a dedication

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to invest in yourself and improve yourselves and become a better version of yourself. So I think

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it just there is an added value for potential employers as well. Wonderful. So you're a strong

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advocate for the philosophy of invest in yourself. Can you elaborate on how this belief has shaped

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your career and your personal growth? Yes. I think every time we think about the word invest,

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we always think about investing your money and enrich yourself from a financial point of view.

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But I think investing in yourself, it's pretty much the same concept, but you're enriching

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yourself with knowledge, experiences, a lot of learning. And that's how I like to see it.

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And for me, investing in myself has translated in many things. It has been a lot of learning.

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And it's not just going to a class and learning. It literally means anything. Like for me, learning

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is going to Toastmasters. For me, learning is mentoring. For me, learning is about the

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connection that I make with people. For me, learning is trying a new recipe, trying a new

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workout course. So for me, that's what it means learning. And I think when you invest in yourself,

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you're just increasing your knowledge. You're becoming much more knowledgeable. You're able to

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help other people. And I think there's nothing better than seeing yourself as the best asset,

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where you want to put all your time and effort just to be a better version of yourself. And so for me,

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I always take each day as a learning opportunity. I try to read every day. I try to listen to a

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podcast every day. I try to take time for myself, like going for a walk for my own mental health.

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These are some of the things that I think are all related to investing in yourself. And I do think

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we're our own best investments. So that's what it means for me, investing in yourself.

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I love everything you just said. And as a mentor, so I served as a certified score mentor for three

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years. I believe in giving back to our community. And a lot of people think that when you're a mentor,

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the only person learning is the mentee. But when we do, you know, these mentorships,

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it also gives you an opportunity to grow as well. So that continuous learning, that giving back

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can not only make a difference in the life of the person that you're mentoring, but it also makes a

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really big impact in your life as well. I agree. I agree. So you're described as dynamic, disciplined,

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and determined. How do you think that these traits have contributed to your success?

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So first of all, dynamic, I think because we live in a world that is ever changing. And I think also

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this is the reason why I liked finance in the first place, because I think finance is very dynamic.

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And I very well match with finance because it's dynamic, because my own personality is very

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dynamic. And I like being adaptable. I like, you know, I like the change. So that in that sense,

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I'm very dynamic. And I think it's very important no matter what you do, where you go, where you

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work, to be very dynamic, because you will encounter different people from different, you know,

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background, work background, educational background. So it's very important for you to be adaptable

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and be open. And so in that sense, I'm very dynamic. When it comes to discipline, I think it's

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more about my time management organization skills. And because I have such a busy schedule

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on a daily basis, I have to make sure that if I want to accomplish my things, I need to be on a

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schedule. I need to, you know, leave out the distractions. And this has been very important

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for me because I do think that being disciplined is a trait that you need to be successful in life.

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And for me, especially because I work full time, and I also studied at the same time,

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for me being disciplined has been very, very important. And I've seen that, you know, when I,

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you know, block the time to do my own things and accomplish things, I'm able to move forward.

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And the last one, which is determined. So I like to describe myself as a go-getter. And if I want

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something, I do anything to make sure that I get it. So I have, like, I always go back to my why.

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And I know that to get something is never a linear path. And I'm very much aware of it. I know that

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it can be a rocky path. You can have a roller coaster. There are so many things, you know,

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there are bumpy roads. There are so many things and I'm very much aware of it. And I'm happy of it

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because I think we need those bumpy roads to, you know, face the challenges before we can get to our

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end destination. So every time, you know, I feel demotivated, every time I feel like, OK, I can't

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do this. I go back to my why. So I'm very, like, focused oriented. I'm a very go-getter. So in that

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sense, I'm a very determined person. I don't give up easily. So you have a full-time job. You're

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studying and this is after the CFA. You're in Toastmasters. What's your next milestone?

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So I do have a lot of things in my to-do list, my life to-do list. I would like to write a second

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book. That's for sure. That's something that I would like to do. And also, I would like to give

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a TED Talk. And this is why I've been part of Toastmasters because I want to be able to

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deliver a good speech and make an impact and inspire other people. So those are my

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two projects that I want to accomplish and put it as my milestone.

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Those are great. Well, you're inspiring me today. Everything that you've said, I've enjoyed

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listening to. So what one key advice, because we've gone through a lot, would you give my audience

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so that they can take an action, take one step to move forward in their life today?

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There are many things that I could definitely say. But if I have to choose one that I think has

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helped me a lot is the power of connections. And I think for anyone wanting to work, let's say,

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on themselves or leadership or anything, I think making connections and learning from other people

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from their experience, it's a very good opportunity to be able to do that.

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It's a good opportunity to feel inspired and to do something for yourself. I think you can learn

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from other people, their mistakes, their path, they can guide you. And I think that's a good

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starting point for anything that you want to start doing in your life. So I, because I like to mentor

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a lot and I do believe in these kind of connections, I do think that connecting with people,

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networking with the right people will help you to improve yourselves.

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So where can we find your book? How can we connect with you?

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My book is available on Amazon, and it's called the Discovering Your Identity, a Rebirth from

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Interracial Struggle. And people can find me on LinkedIn. My name is Ormi Hosain on LinkedIn.

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I also have a YouTube channel called Ormi Hosain. I have my blog called myways.ca. And I also have

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an Instagram account called Orma Mia. So these are all the places people can find me.

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I'll make sure to leave those links in the summary. And I will definitely connect with you.

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I've already connected with you on LinkedIn. That's the platform I love to use. Thank you

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so much for your time today and your insights. Thank you.