Coming to America: A Story of a Hijab Wearing Woman
by Tabby Biddle
Dr. Izdihar Jamil speaking at TEDxDelthorneWomen in El Segundo, CA. December 2021. Photo: Tabby Biddle
She was heartbroken after multiple rejections.
She reached out to 10 different organizers. 6 no response. 3 said NOs.
Even though public speaking scared Dr. Izdihar Jamil — it made her feel anxious, nervous, even frozen, at times — she stayed loyal to her dream of becoming a TEDx speaker because she had a bigger purpose in mind.
Dr. Izdihar Jamal, PhD, an immigrant, Asian, hijab-wearing Muslim computer scientist turned media expert, saw a future that her young daughter would grow up in if Izdihar stayed silent, and she didn’t like what that looked like.
In 2015, Izdihar and her young family immigrated to the U.S. from Malaysia when her husband got a job in California. After having worked in academia, teaching and corporate for more than 10 years, Izdihar was now turning to self-employment.
In a new country with few contacts, Izdihar focused her work on supporting other stay-at-home moms to use their existing skill sets to become entrepreneurs.
Over time, Izdihar’s experience and expertise turned her into a brand authority consultant, being featured by Forbes, NBC, CBS, ABC, CW, among other influential media outlets.
In addition, Izdihar became a 13x time #1 international bestselling author, and added another baby to her family, now a mother of three.
And yet — after a year of pursuing her dream to become a TEDx speaker, she had still not been selected.
Then, one day, a YES came. “1 said YES and that’s the perfect one for me,” she told me.
In December 2021, Izdihar finally gave her long dreamed of TEDx talk at TEDxDelthorneWomen in El Segundo, California.
Coming to America:
A Story of a Hijab Wearing Woman
“It truly was the BEST place for my voice and heart to be heard,” she told me.
As the speaker coach for TEDxDelthorneWomen, it was a true honor for me to be a part of Izdihar’s experience of getting ready to present her powerful talk on the TEDx stage.
She took a bold step in sharing her voice so that no woman or girl should ever have to be afraid of who they are.
“Fight for your dreams. Be in action and keep moving forward no matter what,” says Izdihar.
Here she is with her sister speakers at TEDxDelthorneWomen in El Segundo, CA. December 2021. Photo: Tabby Biddle
I am so proud of all of these speakers and how they are showing up in the world — with love, courage, conviction, and majesty.
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