Happy Friday everyone!
We recently sat down with Samir Zakir for our season 2 finale, who shared with us his breadth of perspectives on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to mental health. While Samir has held over twenty jobs in different industries since the age of thirteen, the common theme has been his desire to have a positive impact on culture through producing and transforming stories into content. Loyal Umuco Podcast listeners should know that that’s exactly what we are all about!!!
“What I've made the decision to do is to just be a storyteller,” Samir said. “So whether that means helping someone campaign because they're running for office, starting my own business and selling a product and telling a story through that product, or, you know, creating a short film that will educate people on issues specifically like mental health or criminal justice reform…I’ve realized what I love doing is storytelling.”
We loved hearing about Samir’s current project, in particular, which involves working on launching a mental health organization called, “World Mind Health Organization.” Through this platform he hopes to provide a range of services and opportunities to promote the importance of mental health, including implementing mindfulness at schools and an award show that recognizes people who have positively impacted the mental health space.
We are all aware that 2020 has had a host of consequences on our everyday lives—and mental health effects are certainly one of them. While public health actions, such as social distancing are incredibly important in order to prevent viral spread, these measures also mean that many in our communities are feeling isolated and alone. Life was stressful before the pandemic, and now new challenges—teleworking, virtual homeschooling, and, you know, just trying to stay safe (!!) — are only adding to that stress.
In dealing with all of this, Samir discussed the power of awareness: “With anxiety, if you're aware that you're not having a heart attack and you're aware that it's just anxiety, you'll probably get through it a lot faster. And you can actually convince yourself that you're going to be okay. But when you're not aware, and you're just unsure, the unknown is very scary.”
And that is exactly why the pandemic has been so scary: There is so much unknown. At the same time, we have come a long way since March as we have started to uncover many answers. We now know that wearing masks is effective; we now know that viruses on the surface probably aren’t the main transmission route; and we now know that mass vaccination to the point of herd immunity is coming soon!!! Like Samir described, this awareness and knowledge is a powerful coping tool!!
Samir has so many more powerful words of advice and points of reflection that we hope you take the time to listen here.
Once again, thank you for joining us in season 2 of the Umuco podcast. Your support and love is what keeps us going and we greatly appreciate it.
Stay tuned for the premiere of season 3 in the near future!!
Samir Zakir
Remember to Smile