Redefining the Boss Lady

I was keen on knowing all about the sins one could cause being tied to such sacred rules. Yasmin was keen on letting me in on a secret, she says, “no Muslim is perfect”. Everyone sins one way or another, for Yasmin she explains that her religion has helped her make clear lines in her life about what is acceptable for her and what is not, how she can act and how she doesn’t want to act. It brings her structure and helps her make the right decisions all while leaving room for rooftop cocktail hour with YM Life. So we sip our cocktails and continue with our interview.

It’s common for people to have multiple loves and interests. For Yasmin, it was tech. Two gap years later, an old borrowed camera and an urge to break out of her introverted shell, she found her second love- fashion and content creation. She describes herself as an ambivert, with two completely different sides. The outgoing Yasmin would participate in high school plays and dramas, and the shy Yasmin would rather keep to herself. I can see that throughout our interview but I also realise this girl is not shy… she shines!

Her bubbly personality radiates as she lets us in on her journey. She delves into the small details we would easily overlook, like an unlikely phobia that stemmed from her falling off a camel as a child, or her meticulous organisation and planning skills that she implements in picking her outfits days in advance.

She narrates to me how she began her journey on YouTube as a shy 22-year-old who was keen on breaking out of her introverted shell.

At the time, there was little to no representation of Muslim women on YouTube in Kenya, and with one video at a time, she gradually became the face and voice of an underrepresented demographic. As much as it catapulted her to social media success, it was hard for people within the community, especially her family, to grasp the idea of being on social media. Not having a precedent on how to present herself would also have her facing challenges on how to charge clients and package herself as not only a female influencer but as a Muslim influencer as well.

She attributes her religion as a factor that has helped in guiding her on the path that she should take in her career and what she deems as acceptable and what is not.

Although she has no regrets and appreciates its role regardless, she also believes that her beliefs and faith have held her back in regards to which brands she can work with as an influencer. As someone who has set the pace for other young Muslims to begin their journey in content creation, she emphasizes the need to take the leap and to believe in oneself.

“I don’t believe in the idea of a perfect Muslim woman, and I wouldn’t want to portray that to my audience. “

A quick visit to Yasmin’s social media and YouTube channel and it is evident that she puts in the effort in her content, her styling, and how she presents her work- clean, luxurious, chic, and often effortless. She’s distinguished herself from her peers through her extraordinary storytelling from the complex details like how she edits her content, to the simpler things like her captions that are often quirky and bring out her creative side. Yasmin is mature and sure of herself, she hopes to inspire other young muslim women to be outspoken and to be unapologetic when it comes to getting what they want.