Zaheen Nanji, the keynote speaker at the Rimbey’s Women’s Conference, coming Feb. 5 promises to provide her audience with an inspirational message well worth listening to.
Nanji, who will be celebrate her 40th birthday on Feb. 2, came to Canada from Kenya at the tender age of 15. She came to the strange country accompanied only by an older sister. The girls’ mother believed Canada to be safer for her girls and she sent them to live with family in Edmonton.
When Nanji arrived in Canada she was faced with the challenge of learning to live in a strange country without her parents. It was a frightening time for the young girl who also struggled with stuttering.
“I had stuttered since the age of five,” she said. “I couldn’t even say my name without stuttering.”
Stuttering left Nanji shy and self-conscious and she found it increasingly difficult to express herself verbally.
When she was 19 and attending university she became convinced she would fail the classes because she could not speak without stuttering.
However, she began treatment for her stuttering and slowly was able to overcome the speech impediment.
“It’s not just cured overnight and have you have to learn how to overcome your fears,” she said.
In 2005, Nanji gave birth to a daughter, Arissa, and at that point in her life she became even more determined to continue her quest for self-improvement and self-esteem.
She was particularly impressed with Michael’s Losier’s book, The Law of Attraction – The Law of Attracting what you want and what you don’t want. She studied the book and was pleased to see the Losier’s concepts working in her own life.
She also studied neuro-linguistic programming.
As well as coping with a speech impediment and learning how to adapt to a strange country, Nanji faced the challenge of weight control.
She found her weight ballooned after coming to Canada and, at one point, was wearing size 16 clothes.
However, due to her extensive studies regarding behavioral issues and self-improvement, she was able to quit yo-yo dieting and bring her weight under control.
She has recently authored a book, Attracting your Ideal Weight – Eight secrets of people who lose weight and keep it off.
Nanji’s opening presentation at the women’s conference will include Unlock the Power of you.
She will close the afternoon by guiding her audience through Embracing Change by learning the seven steps and once crucial step to accepting change.
“Learning how to drop things off in your life that are holding you back is crucial,” she said.
Nanji and her husband, Bradur own Shanti Wellness and Laser Centre in Wetaskiwin.
The author and public speaker said she achieves a great sense of satisfaction out of helping other achieve their own potential.
“I really enjoy sharing my message,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about.”