Community Grounded in Faith and Coming from the Heart | Community Building with Michaela Corning

Transcript

Michaela: You know, if the, the, if it's going to focus on serving the community, then it needs to reflect the community that it's in and what they need, right? Like that's a duh, but you know, I mean,

Roger: It might not be obvious to everyone, but obvious to you,

Michaela: Maybe not. And I would say that there almost isn't a day that I'm in Barakah beauty that I don't have tears in my eyes.

That's how impactful what we're doing is to people's actual lives. I don't think I've cried this much in my entire fricking life. I'm not really a crier anyways. And then for those young girls to come in and see Muslim women reflecting. That's a reflection of themselves. Like I can be that person. I can be that business owner.

I can, I can be friendly. I can, you know, I don't have to go work at Microsoft or just be a state home mom. I can do be whatever the hell I want to be. And I could be that person. That is a very powerful message for girls that are like eight, nine, 10. 11 years old. And so that is especially the group of girls that I feel that Barakah Beauty serves the absolute most because that's that space that did not exist for their mothers if they grew up here.

Roger: Hi, I'm Roger Kastner and welcome to the, what do you know to be true podcast. In these conversations, I talk with ordinary people about their extraordinary skill, their superhero power, and the meaningful impact it has on others. The goal is not to try to emulate or hack our way to a new talent. Instead.

The intention is to learn more about their experience with their superhero power. And in doing so, maybe we could learn something about the special talent in each of us that makes us unique and how it relates to our purpose. This conversation is with Michaela Corning and her superhero power of community building.

If you know, Michaela, you know, that she brings strength and conviction to everything she does, and that serves her well for building her business. But what about building a community entity that has never existed before and doesn't have a clear roadmap to follow? If you're ready, let's dive in.

Hi, Michaela. It's great to see you. Thank you for joining me today.

Michaela: Happy to be here.

Roger: I'm excited for us to get into this conversation. I'm excited for every conversation you and I have. We've gone back. Um, oh my goodness, probably. That's a few years ago, and all of our conversations are just such a, such a wonderful whirlwind of different ideas and hot takes.

And I expect this conversation to be no different. And I'm really excited to get into your superhero power of community building. But before we go there, can you 60 second introduction to who you are and what do you do?

Michaela: Oh my goodness. I have a really hard time keeping anything to 60 seconds. Roger, as you know, being the proverbial salesperson that I am.

Roger: You like a good challenge.

Michaela: I do so ready, ready, hit, set that timer. So my name is Michael according, I was born and raised in Washington. And, um, I became Muslim in 1999, which is a really important part of my journey and story today, honestly. And I, about, I guess, four, almost four years now, I went full in on my modest fashion brand.

And then two years ago, I opened a women only collective called Baraka Beauty Collective here in Northgate, um, serving women, really focused on accommodating Muslim women, but we're open to all women. So. Um, we've had a lot of great, um, events and wins like winning the Intentionalist Award for Heart of the Community last October, sponsored by BECU.

Lots of great stuff like that featured on King 5's, um, Pacific, what is it, Northwest New Day. That happened pretty quickly, um, when we opened Barakah Beauty. So, yeah, and at the heart of all of that is really building communities, so I'm excited to talk to you about that more.

Roger: You've built this business around modest fashion and self care for Muslim women.

Yep. Um, and when you talk about Barakah Beauty Collective, uh, you, you light up and I've, you know, I've been able to, to see you when you've had popup stores at Nordstrom. When you and I go for lunch or coffee and you talk about it. Like you light up and it's really, it's really about this community that you've created.

So tell us a little bit more about Barakah Beauty Collective and what inspired you to create it.

Michaela: I mean, it definitely started with the Modest Fashion brand, which bears my name. Um, And needing a space to grow that business that was outside of my home. And that is what led itself to creating Barakah Beauty Collective.

Um, you know, I've had my modest fashion brand for over 20 years. I started that just right after I became Muslim. So in the year 2000, and so I, I created that brand to serve at the niche of Muslim women who are American, who, um, you know, want a modest fashion. Choice that culturally represents them. And I just didn't find it at the time.

And so I was sewing, importing, doing all kinds of things and really as a side hustle, mostly, even though I wasn't making like a ton of money at it, calling it a side hustle, makes it sound like I was like rolling deep in it. But, um, I really found a lot of fun in like connecting with other women and. You know, women, they're obviously like me.

I always liked fashion. So it was kind of a natural progression of, of, you know, my new faith plus the fact that I love fashion and, you know, that kind of carried on until 2020. And then the brand really took off when COVID hit. Um, and after about, I don't know, I guess a year and a half, two years, I realized God, I cannot keep doing this out of my home, but as you know, real estate's really expensive.

So I thought, okay, if I open a space and I can share it with other women, it allows them a platform. It allows me the space that I want. Um, and I, you know, for many years I've had women in the community asking me, To coach them, to help them, to mentor them sometimes in the corporate world. But you know, also in the business specifically being a, an entrepreneur and a business owner and I don't wanna open get another business.

So I thought, wow, maybe I could just kind of do a little bit of that ad hoc business coaching in one common space. And so from an entrepreneurial perspective, I did open Barca beauty really to help Muslim women grow their platform, grow their business. Um. Knowing that maybe I have a lot of answers to things that other people don't, but they also have answers to things that I don't necessarily have, right?

So coming into it really with a, um, an open heart and mind to know that I might be older, more experienced or have higher, you know, degrees or whatever, but at the end of the day, everybody in the collective has something to offer each other. And I didn't realize just, I think part of it is my nature, how that would build this immense community.

Beyond the entrepreneurial landscape of what we first created.

Roger: Yeah. My understanding is that a similar community didn't exactly exist, that there wasn't a template for how you go about creating this community. So yeah, if you could unpack that a little bit more, that'd be great to hear.

Michaela: You know, you don't really understand a community unless you're a part of it, right?

I think that some of the challenges that Muslim women have. in America or in general, you, you're not going to get it unless you're a part of it, right? Which is the case with, with most communities, unless you're a part of it, you don't really get it. One of the biggest challenges that Muslim women have, especially those of us who observe hijab, who, you know, wear a head covering, getting your hair cut, which is like something that probably you don't even think about Roger.

I mean, maybe you haven't cut your hair in a while, but I'm just thinking

Roger: I think about it all the time, but sorry, go ahead.

Michaela: You know, most people just kind of go into a salon, you know, and then that's it. But for those of us who wear hijab, like we don't want to take our hijab off unless we are for sure that a man's not going to walk in.

First of all, going to a conventional hair salon, going in and saying, Hey, do you have a private room? Is in many ways, very demoralizing, frankly, dehumanizing it. A lot of times people look at you very suspiciously, um, which probably is like, what it's so obvious. It's so obvious to some, but it's very not obvious to other people.

So, and then if they do make that accommodation for you, usually you're relegated to some back room or the janitorial closet or the training room. And then. You know, so you don't get the full salon experience. Um, and then even then, like people have told me that a guy walked in, you know, like, so you just don't feel secure.

And then you don't, it's not like you get some discount for being relegated to the training, training room or the, or the janitorial closet. So it just doesn't make you feel good. Right. And it makes you feel like less than or subhuman. So there are women in our community who, you know, cut hair out of their homes, who do like kind of mobile businesses, will they go to your house?

But you know, a lot of us want that full salon experience, right? And so when I saw the space here in Northgate and wanted to create Barakah Beauty, I thought, God, imagine if I brought in complimentary businesses. Like, you know, salon, makeup, whatever. We do a lot of wellness stuff too, like acupuncture, massage, and so on and so forth.

Um, and women could come in all women, but really focusing on Muslim women. It's like a women only space. We're very intentional about that. Um, and, and not only the security and privacy of knowing you can take your hijab off and not worry about someone walking in, but also the women who are doing hair.

Have your same hair type heard from many people, not just folks with textured hair that, you know, I went to this particular salon and like the person said they could cut curly hair and they could cut this kind of hair and they just didn't, or they don't understand the styles at certain cultural groups within the Muslim community.

Like, so those are things that, you know, you walk in and you feel, okay, if people get you, it doesn't require a conversation. It doesn't require, is there a man who's going to come in here? Or like, you know, you show a picture. And that person's not going to be like, Oh, that's a lot of makeup. It's like, well, not for my cultural group.

Like, you know, so those are the kinds of conversations that people who come in about a community just really don't have to have. My brand might have the biggest following, the biggest amount of sales or whatever. But when I see Muslim women, this is one of the beauties of the business is that if I see a woman walking in the mall or whatever, and they're wearing hijab.

Automatic potential customer. So I will literally approach them and say, Hey, have you ever heard of Barakah Beauty? And what's amazing is like 50 percent of the time they have. And the other 50 percent they're like, Oh my God, what's that? I'm like, I have a women only salon. Wait, hold on. Like that is literally like these lights go off.

The fact that we also do events. So I'm like, we also have these different spiritual events. We have these different networking events or just fun parties. And again, it's a women only environment. So like if we are dancing or we're dressing up, we don't have the hijab. We don't have to worry about someone coming in.

These are things that again, like, unless you're part of the community. You wouldn't really think about, um, it's just a nice safe space. And I've had so many women that are not Muslim who love our space because we are very diverse in the people we serve in the practitioners that have businesses there.

And because we don't allow men inside, women will say like, again, who are not Muslim, who don't necessarily. have some of that, um, sort of separation, if you will, um, that they just feel safe because they don't have to worry about the male gaze. And I have literally had like middle aged white women who are not Muslim, like break down in tears and tell me how amazing it is to come there and feel so cared for and listened to, um, which is a part of our faith, frankly.

And it's a great opportunity for people that are not part of our community to To experience our community in that way, it gives folks a way bigger insight into the Muslim community that I think a lot of people just do not have right for a variety of reasons. So, maybe 3 weeks ago, I had a woman come into the store to buy a kufiya and middle aged white woman, not Muslim.

She's actually a doctor of naturopathy and we started talking just like I do. I talk to everybody who comes in the store and. She was asking me about my journey to embracing Islam. And, you know, I was talking to her a little bit about it and also about the fact that I thought I was a very liberal, open minded person when I first became Muslim or before it was, was kind of studying the religion and how I had a lot of what I didn't realize at the time, like deep seated stereotypes and anti Arab bias that I did not realize.

Until I was confronted with it. And so we were having this very deep conversation about that particular topic and talking about, um, you know, where did that come from? I mean, I'm almost 50 years old and I was a kid when, I mean, there was no social media. There was, it wasn't like this massive consumption of news.

There wasn't like all of that. Right? So where did this come from? And so I had to like really think about it. I think part of it is, I mean, a lot of us grew up watching like Popeye, right? And they always had these segments of Alibaba and the 40 thieves. And if you, those are Arabs, right? And the imagery and caricatures of Arabs was terrible.

I mean, it was completely racist and just dehumanizing and everything else. I was telling her that, and she's like, Oh my God, I didn't even think, but those are, you don't like you underestimate how impactful some of those subtle, subtle or not even subtle, but that imagery is, or things that maybe you watched.

10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, whatever. But how that kind of was that seed to start to grow that anti Arab bias in this particular case. And so we had this conversation, then she left. And then later, maybe the next day or so she texted me or messaged me on Instagram. And she said, Oh my God, thank you so much for the conversation, Michaela.

Like I've been unpacking my anti Arab bias ever since we had this conversation. What other sort of safe space could someone come in and have those real conversations? You know, I mean, I think a lot of times those conversations can be very charged. People can, you know, maybe talk about white fragility and stuff, right?

Like, this is a space that kind of brings some of those barriers down a little bit. And I think part of it is like, this is a space that is predominantly, uh, Muslim women. Muslim women are predominantly women of color. I just happen to be the one that's not right. And. So it's, it's, it's like our platform, our space.

So we're inviting you into that space. We are the predominant people. And so it's just an interesting sort of power shift, if you will. It has taken on this life of its own over the course of the last two years from again, entrepreneurial, and then it's just like adding, adding, adding, adding, adding, and a lot of that is why I.

Decided to make Barakah Beauty just a month ago into a nonprofit organization,

Roger: what you were just talking about of, you know, there's individual biases and then there's systemic biases or oppression. And you're, you know, from what I'm, what I'm understanding, I'd like to get your take on this is your space, kind of like the, the space in between individual experiences and a system that provides.

The space where people can can experience something other than the biases that they might run into whether it's You know going to super cuts or going to a nail salon

Michaela: Super cuts, you're so funny

Roger: well, you know this this head of hair might go to super cuts, but

Michaela: um, so I will say that um, A lot of my reasoning for not going back to the corporate space was how performative I felt that it was.

I, I say to people all the time, If the white lady in a hijab is your diversity hire, you don't know what the hell you're doing. Okay. So, so, and that came out of that final experience at that consulting firm and feeling like. Is that, is that what I was to you? I was a diversity hire and, and that, uh, um, the number of employees that were running to me for conversations that they felt safe.

We're, we're, we're people that are from communities that I am not a part of, so they were black employees, they were employees identify as LGBTQ plus coming to me because I was the only safe person they felt like they could cry to express frustration, express hurt, because they didn't feel safe going to their immediate managers.

I was like, I'm happy to have these conversations and be supportive. But the fact that I'm the only safe person in this entire organization, and I'm not even from the group that you represent, that is the reason you are feeling the way you're feeling like 1 particular employee is like, I don't feel like I can cry or be angry or whatever to any other person, Michael about George Floyd.

Because if I do that. I will be, I will be deemed the angry black woman that, that was like the cherry on top, that experience for me of just feeling like, Oh, I cannot be here anymore. It's just, you're working so hard and you don't feel heard. And again, I'm just the white leading the job. So if I'm feeling that God help other people from more marginalized communities.

Right. So when I left the corporate space, I, I just, I mean, I think I did a lot of soul searching. I, Realize that why am I working to make somebody else rich? I would rather be poorer and do something I love than work in this corporate environment that's completely soul crushing. Um, and at the end of the day, I have to fit in this box or I'm labeled certain things like we were chatting before we were recording.

Um, you know, I am, I do have a dominant personality. I'm very outgoing. Um, things that in, you know, other demographics, like demographics that Roger belongs to are typically deemed as like good leadership qualities. But when I left the corporate space, I thought, you know, all the things that I, all the micro aggressions and all the stuff that I went through over the course of, you know, 20 plus years, we as Muslims, and this applies to many other disenfranchised communities.

But I can only speak to the community that I belong to, which is Muslims, is that we are not going to grow. We are not going to, um, exceed or be successful unless we're creating our own spaces. So you can work in the Microsoft's, you can work in the Amazon's. But you never feel like you can fully bring yourself to work as a fully authentic Muslim person because you're going to be labeled certain things.

Right? And so when we're creating our own environments, when we're creating our own spaces, you know, I people, for example, if I think about Baraka Beauty. When it's time to pray, I am one of the girls who works for me, like, Oh, my God, I need to pray. I can't argue with that. Like that's, these are our obligations as Muslims.

I don't have to think about, Oh, I'm going to be late to this meeting or how is it going to be perceived? Where am I going to pray? If I'm praying, someone sees me praying, they're going to think I'm like dropping dead. Like people do all kinds of weird things with signals and praying, you know, not being familiar with it also.

And in Barakah, we don't have to worry about that stuff. Right? Right. Like. There's a million other examples I can give you, whether that person is fasting, um, even if it's not Ramadan, um, or they have their own limitations as Muslims, or like boundaries, I would say, like, hey, I don't listen to that kind of music or whatever that might be, right?

Or they dress very conservatively. You know, I do a lot of photo shoots and I don't force women to wear the hijab or force them to wear it a certain way or, you know, whatever, like, or force them to put too much makeup on or they don't want to do that. Like I let them be who they want to be. And. That is allowed because I'm the person running the show.

I'm not in a non Muslim space trying to be palatable to other people because I don't, I do not care. Like it's not, it's like, we are fully Muslim deal with it. It's, and if you want to be in the space, like our religion teaches us to be respectful and have good manners and etiquette, that is an essential part of our faith and you will feel that if you come into my, our space as a non Muslim woman.

But I'm not going to go into your space anymore and try to force things. And that just gets so tiring. So I feel like what I'm doing is encouraging women to create their own spaces and their own businesses where we set the tone. We set like we put people first, like really, truly like Muslims put people first.

It's, I mean, Islam is about justice. So this is where I'm coming from with Barakah Beauty. Right? Like, there's a choices I make that maybe that might not be in the best interest of the business, but they're in the best interest of that person, or they're in the best interest of the community. And I think a lot of people look at things I do, and they think, why the hell would you do that?

It makes no business sense, but it actually does make business sense. If you're thinking long term about stuff. And not transactionally, but I'm also not always coming from a place of making money. And I think that's why we won the heart of the community award from the Intentionalist, right? It's community.

It's collaboration above profits.

Roger: The collective is. Not only, you know, and as you were introducing it here in this conversation was really born out of a business opportunity and that's really important to it's, it's, you know, success and how it thrives, but it's also an opportunity to create a, you know, there's the opportunity that's both business, but also community base of providing a space for people who, you You know, don't have to run into those microaggressions or the biases that they would find elsewhere.

And then there's the intersectionality of it all.

Michaela: Oh, so much intersectionality. Yeah. So the Muslim community is the most diverse religious community in America. The most diverse religious community in America. So there is not an ethnic group in our community that does not exist. Recently we do this monthly, uh, social called Halal, which Halal is like kosher for Muslims, Halal taco, Halal taco social, and the amount of Latin or Hispanic or Spanish speaking Muslims, like that is the largest, that's the fastest growing segment of the Muslim community in America right now.

Are Spanish speaking or Hispanic, you know, Latino, Latinx, whatever you want to say, Muslims. And so there were a lot of women, um, who are in that category who came to the halal taco social, and they're like, it's going to be like my food, my music, whatever. And the woman who, um, was doing the cooking, Claudia, she has, um, a business called El Halal Taco or El Halal Tacos.

And so it was an opportunity for her to. Showcase her food and market her business. I collected money. And so majority of it went to her, a portion of it goes to Bottega Beauty, and then it's also a social event where people can have fun. But this is the whole point of sort of that social enterprise and ecosystem.

Like here's one event, but it has all these different. pieces. There's a business aspect. There's a marketing aspect. There's a communal aspect. There's like a, just to let your hair down literally and figuratively aspect. We had non Muslim women who came and they were like, Oh my God, Muslim women have so much fun.

And we don't even drink alcohol. It's like, who needs alcohol? We don't, you know? So Um, and I think that was also like a learning opportunity for those women who came into the space respectfully to go back to your question about why do we become a nonprofit? Each individual woman has her for profit business, right?

So, you know, I have my fashion brand. Nora does, you know, hair and makeup and so on and so forth, but the collective itself and that sort of platform. I think it makes sense to be a nonprofit because we can go up after certain grant money because we are a resource center. We do referrals for all kinds of things.

Um, we really are helping uplift Muslim women primarily in our, in the community around many different aspects, whether it's healing, whether it's, you know, social, whether there are events that are focused on art and helping artists. We do so many things that I think that there are a lot of organizations out there that want to fund those kind of activities, especially since the majority of women in our community are women of color.

Roger: I love that. And I think it makes a lot of sense because it is a community organization. It does sound like it's an incubator for other small businesses. For those who are not familiar with the term, could you describe what modest fashion means?

Michaela: Okay. So 20 years ago, 24 years ago, when I started my brand, there was no, no one was really calling what I was doing or other Muslim women as modest fashion.

Most people refer to it as Islamic fashion or hijab fashion, not modest fashion. And then I would say about 10 years ago, because of some of the, um, some of the trends in kind of conventional fashion. predominant, you know, Western fashion toward more modest looks. Um, that is when the modest fashion industry kind of started to come into the conventional, like, you know, Western space, but it was definitely sparked by Muslim women specifically.

A lot of things that we wear are appealing to people that Are not necessarily Muslim or that don't necessarily want to wear or observe hijab. So the idea of saying modest fashion is just a little bit more inclusive sounding. Because a lot of people do like, I mean, You know, people bought things from my brand when I was doing my pop up in Nordstrom that aren't Muslim, that maybe don't wear hijab, maybe are Muslim, but don't wear hijab.

So it's not necessarily just for women who observe hijab. And so I think the idea of modest fashion really, really is kind of just a little bit more inclusive terminology. The definition has Widened and in some ways it's kind of widened to a point where this is maybe fashionable hijab, but it might not be a specifically religious, but there's definitely like an intersection between those two things.

And even the cultural element, if I were to do like a consulting diagram, religion, culture, and it can all meet in the middle. So asking what modest fashion is like, it's definitely, there's been a trajectory and it's, there's certain things that are very specific to. The American Muslim experience, which I think is why my brand has been as popular as it has been over the last few years.

I mean, I also put a lot of energy and all of my time energy into that versus trying to do it on the side, but the folks that are in my sweet spot of demographic. Our sweet spot demographic would one skew a little bit older. So it's not the 20 something year old Muslims. It's usually the like 30, 35 to like 55 age range.

So, um, you know, women that, you know, know what they want, they want to look good, but they also want to be comfortable. Um, they don't necessarily, they're not necessarily like chasing what's the cheapest thing. They want something a little bit more ethically sourced. They want something that feels that culturally represents them.

I would say the majority of my customers. identify as American first and then secondarily their cultural heritage. So, which is a little bit different than maybe when I started, people were like, Oh, I'm Pakistani. Oh, I just happened to be American. Now it's like, no, I'm American. My family, my parents immigrated from Pakistan.

Does that make sense? So it's a, definitely a shift as the generations go. Um, so that, I think that's part of why my brand sort of came, like came at this, you know, kind of right time. Um, I also do a lot of naming and things that are cultural pop, you know, cultural references, American cultural references, like I have a hijab that's called so rad because it looks like MC hammer pants.

So anyone who watches the video from King five, we'll see that. Um, it's interesting cause I've had women ask me. What is modest fashion that are not Muslim as if we're trying to force something down, down their throat, if that makes sense. And I'm like, no, it's, it's like, how modest do you want to be?

Roger: You're talking about intersectionality. You're also talking about consulting Venn diagrams and, and yeah, you're kind of in the middle of that intersection. You're in the middle of those Venn diagram and why, why I think it's. Wonderful to be talking to you about the superhero power of community building is because you're in these worlds.

Um, and yet you are uniquely you. Like you, you mentioned a dominant personality. I was thinking strong, a very strong personality.

Michaela: That's a nice way of saying what people really want. You have a very strong personality. It's like, what are you really trying to say?

Roger: Well, you're authentically you. Yeah. And, and so, you know, and you also stand up for, you know, when, when there's injustice and you will speak up when something is not being done, that's equitable when there is an injustice and you'll stand up for yourself and you'll stand up for others.

When I think about community building and the community you have built, part of it is because I, I, Yeah, from, from what I can tell, there wasn't a community like this to begin with.

Michaela: I think what's unique about Baraka Beauty is that it is an ecosystem. So there's a lot going on there. It's not predominantly a place to pray or predominantly a place of business or predominantly a place of events.

It's something that does all of that. And sometimes like at the same time, right? I don't, I'm not trying to like put little, like we only do that kind of thing. We only do that kind of thing. It's about what serves women, what serves Muslim women specifically. That's where, like, if that's going to serve Muslim women, we're going to do it.

What makes Barakah Beauty also unique aside from the fact that it's an ecosystem and we're doing all these different things is that it's by Muslim women for Muslim women. It is a space created by us for us. And, and I'm not saying that just because it's distinct from non Muslim spaces, but it's also distinct from Muslim spaces that are led by men.

And, you know, Islamically, we don't have this idea of like men versus women. You know, we have women's events sometimes at different mosques. We have, you know, spiritual gatherings that are for men and women at mosques, or maybe some community spaces that are created by mosques. What makes what Barakah Beauty different is that It's like, we know what we want, we know what's going to make us thrive.

We know whether it's, it's whatever kind of event it is. It doesn't have to be a spiritual event. But we know the kind of space we want. And so women walk into Baraka Beauty and they're just like, Oh my God, this is beautiful. And that is the kind of place that we want to be. It's really a third place for Muslims.

Like people talk about this all the time. Like I feel free here. I feel respected. I feel happy. I feel at peace. I feel heard. And we create that environment and it's very intentional. Like, I actually. It's funny because I think my background in HR, human capital, whatever you want to call it, has definitely helped in the creation of Barakah Beauty.

Um, I think that we definitely, I look back and I'm like, okay, that's why God sent me there and sent me there and sent me there and sent me there. And now I'm here. Okay. Gotcha. After like maybe a year or a little bit less than a year of being about a beauty. We were like, God, why? Like, why are we getting all this positive feedback from people?

What are we doing? Like, I had to really think about how are we showing up as entrepreneurs? How are we showing up? That's making this place so inviting that that that makes people say to me, Michael, I have never felt so welcome in a predominantly Muslim space. I feel here from other Muslim women. Um, I had to really think about what are we doing here?

That is making this space so welcome and inviting instead of, like, creating the poster of our how we show up and then trying to live to it. I was more like, how are we showing up? Let me sort of, let me, let me write that down. And so we have what we call. Yeah, the guiding principles of the women of Barakah Beauty.

And the first of those, and it's very much in the lens of our faith. So the very first one is we start with pure intentions. And as Muslims, we have a very strong emphasis on Making sure we have the intention to please God first and the things that we do. That's our intention. It's not to show off. It's not to please Roger.

It's not to please myself, make myself look good. I need to like do this to please God. That's, that's the purpose. And so, and if for someone who's not Muslim, maybe it's having that, that place of, of, um, intentionality. Of being a person of conscience, right? The second is that we show up. And so what makes this space work is that we show up for our community.

We show up for our businesses, for ourselves, for each other. And I think that, you know, that's a big emphasis around showing up. And I think it's very easy for people to like, not show up on many levels, right? I say, you know, and this is kind of from that HR, that HR world is that we give people the benefit of the doubt.

And we seek to understand. And in fact, these are things that, you know, in the HR space, everyone's always on sync to understand and be understood like Stephen Covey, you know, whatever, if we want to talk about emotional intelligence, and if you want to do an analytical study of the prophet Muhammad, he is the absolute most in emotional intelligence.

And so. If you look at the story of his life and how he interacted with Muslim, non Muslim, whatever, it was always about giving people the better. That is actually an Islamic edict. He said to give people 70 excuses. And the number is not important. It's just you give them an immense amount of excuses and that you seek to understand.

And so he would trust when people come to him, but he would always validate what they're saying. My point saying that is that because we are a diverse group of people, I always tell people, give people the benefit of the doubt. Everybody comes from a different place, a different understanding of the faith, a different level of education, socioeconomically.

Some people come, they're from war torn countries, they have massive amount of trauma, they have, there's a lot going on there, right? So, give people the benefit of the doubt and seek to understand. If somebody does something that, you know, quote unquote, ruffles your feathers, Have a conversation with them.

Say, Hey, you said this thing. I, can you talk to me about that? Um, the other thing is that we believe that everybody matters. And what that means is that, you know, we believe as Muslims that God created every person with a soul and also created animals with souls. So that he created them for a reason, regardless of whether they agree with us or agree with us or the same faith, they are on this planet for a purpose.

So, and we, as Muslims believe that. We are souls with bodies, not bodies with souls. And so it's very important for us to have that perspective when we're talking about that. Everybody does matter. And lastly, um, that we come with open hearts. So those are the, our guiding principles. And whenever we have events, whether they're fun events, spiritual events, whatever it is, like that is, I go through that as a grounding exercise so that people understand, like, that's why this space works so well, and we're going to fall short and we're going to falter.

It's, it's kind of heartwarming, I guess, when other women Whether they're entrepreneurs there or people running the book club, whatever, that they do their rendition of the guiding principles. I'm just like, Oh, this feels like so amazing that they believe in that. And it's really coming from a place of our faith.

It's not Michaela. It's like, this is why this space works is because of it being grounded in our faith and in reality. So grounded,

Roger: grounded in faith and coming from the heart, like we are making that connection heart to heart. Yeah, yeah,

Michaela: it's really about putting us first and what is right for each individual person and also the collective.

Like, it's not just about individuality, which I think is where the West goes really off. Like, it's all about me. It's all about my needs, but what is a community need? And so. You know, recently, just literally like a week ago, we opened what we call the Baraka Community Closet and it's a free community closet of like mostly modest fashions and so that someone who is a new Muslim or someone who maybe is struggling financially, um, can come and take things from the closet for free.

And these are all donations that people have given me, um, from the local Muslim community. I've had people send me things from other states. People might think like, you're going to give away free stuff and you sell hijabs. Like I think to someone with like some, some business would be like, why the hell are you doing that?

I'm like, well, because it serves people like, you know, and again, this goes back to. The faith base of what we're doing and that we believe that provision is from God. So we don't like, we have already been allotted what we're going to get. So I don't have to, like, if someone's going to come in and take a free hijab and they're not going to buy a hijab that was written for me.

So why am I, I'm going to do what's right by that person. I don't own that provision that I'm not the source of that provision. My business is not the source of that provision. So people will come in and get free things and then they will buy something from me. Okay. That's okay. Like we're, and we're also not going to do the like Western way of, do you qualify?

No, hell no. I'm going to, it's an honor system. I mean, imagine it's an honor system. Like, it's just a very beautiful, in my opinion, a very beautiful communal concept. That it's like, buy if you can free, if you can't, it's good. You don't have to fill out a qualifying form. You know, if the, if it's going to focus on serving the community, then it needs to reflect the community that it's in and what they need, right?

Like that's a duh, but you know, I mean,

Roger: it might not be obvious to everyone, but obvious to you,

Michaela: maybe not. And I would say that there almost isn't a day that I'm in Barakah beauty that I don't have tears in my eyes. That's how impactful what we're doing is to people's actual lives. It's, uh, it's, it's very, it's crazy.

I'm like, I don't think I've cried this much in my entire fricking life. I'm not really a crier anyways. I'm like, and then for those young girls to come in and see, you know, it makes me actually emotional. They see Muslim women reflecting. That's a reflection of themselves like I can be that person. I can be that business owner.

I can, I can be friendly. I can, you know, I don't have to go work at Microsoft or just be a stay at home mom. I can do whatever the hell I want to be. And I could be that person. I could be doing hair or who's a nurse practitioner. That is a very powerful message for girls that are like 8, 9, 10. 11 years old.

And so that is the, that is especially the group of girls that I feel that Barakah Beauty serves the absolute most, because that's that space that did not exist for their mothers if they grew up here, you know?

Roger: You have this wonderful way of anticipating my questions. The next one was, the next one was going to be, What does it feel like when your community building has had a positive impact on others?

And you just went through about six stories there of the positive impact it's had on others. What's, and, and, and you were just getting emotional. What's the impact on you?

Michaela: There's a lot to say here. I think that one, um, I am exactly where I was meant to be. And I'm, I'm saying that not because of the way that I feel, but because like, we believe in fate and destiny.

So like, God put me here for a reason. He made me go through all that hell for a reason. And now I'm here and I'm at, now I'm at Barakah Beauty and showing people something different, better, like what community building really can be about. And, you know, it's not transactional. It's, it's heartwork. Like this is heartwork.

This is changing people's hearts.

Roger: You just said that you're, you're there at Barakah Beauty, but you created Barakah Beauty, or does it, does it take on a life of itself?

Michaela: It takes on a life of its own for sure. I mean, I'm not going to say that I'm not a significant part of the driving force, but, It would only be it's it wouldn't be possible if I was the only person there, like, just would not be possible.

Like, people have to show up, like, whether it's the other entrepreneurs or it's like more who works for me, like, there's another great example of, like, a young Palestinian girl whose parents would never accept her working somewhere else. But she can work with me and like, see the ins and outs of creating a business.

Like it is hard fricking work. And there's a lot there that she's learning and then also in a safe environment, it's just like, there's a lot there, but if the community didn't show up, if people like Yomna didn't show up and say, Hey, I'll, I'll run the book club or like Ilya who runs our, every other week we have a spiritual gathering that we say in Arabic is called Halakha.

Like, Ilia's running that for free, like, we're not paying her, right? So, like, those are all, I mean, I have many more examples of people in the community who are like, Hey, we have this really cool space, like, let's do X, let's do Y. And I think what's very humbling for me is that I don't like to ask why, because that's Not necessarily a thing I'm going to have an answer to, but I feel very, very humbled that this is the path that God has put me on, you know, every time someone comes in and we have, they have a life changing experience at Barakah Beauty and I get to witness that it's very, very humbling.

Roger: So, Michaela, what do you know to be true about community building?

Michaela: That it is very hard work and it is hard work.

Roger: What did you believe early on about community building that you've come to learn is not true.

Michaela: I think sometimes I get really excited and passionate about something and think that everybody is going to automatically understand and get that right away.

And it takes some people longer to get there. And sometimes they're never going to get there.

Roger: And typically I ask people about the connection with their superhero power and their purpose, and you've touched on it a few times. So, you know, there's so many, so many things that this is lighting up. Um, it's lovely, lovely to learn more.

Michaela: So much of what I do is driven by my faith. And yes, I would say that right now, my purpose is in part building community, but that's not where it started. So again, like going back to like, what is the driving force for why I'm doing what I'm doing? It is that belief in God. And God says in the Quran that we created you to worship, like we, the royal, we, okay.

There's only one God, but the world, we, Created you to worship. God created us to worship him. That is our purpose. And so, but worship isn't just praying. There's many things you can do and serving people is a huge part of the Islamic faith. And so I am in my serving community, I'm actually worshiping God.

And so if we focus on that community building, that's very, um, like focus in the life of this world where my focus is really on. The afterlife. So that, I mean, just to be completely true and not to like whitewash what I'm talking about or like, I'm just going to show up 100 percent Muslim. Okay. Right now.

Roger. Um, you know, my purpose is worshiping God and how I worship him. One way is in the building of community and serving people. And serving them as serving him. So that is the crux of what I'm doing. Absolutely. A hundred percent. So my purpose has never been anything but worshiping God, but it shows up different.

I mean, sometimes you're worshiping. God is in serving your family. Sometimes it's in making money to build the mosque or feed your family. There's, it could be caring for your parents. There's many things you can do that are ways of worshiping God that maybe aren't the way that we typically think about that in a like Judeo Christian construct or in a, maybe a non faith based one.

So when I show up and build community at Barakah Beauty, it's because I'm trying to please God and worship him.

Roger: So Michaela, are you ready for the lightning round?

Michaela: Oh my goodness. Yeah, maybe.

Roger: It's, it's pretty easy and it's, it's definitely a pass fail exam. And you've already passed. Fill in the blank. Community building is

Michaela: worth it.

Roger: Who in your life built community for you?

Michaela: I don't know if I can answer that. I really don't because I think there's a component of you doing it for yourself. If that makes any sense, like you find your community and we can complain about it not existing, but like, what are you doing to build it? So not relying on others, but being a part of a solution, I think.

Roger: Is there a practice or routine that helps you grow, nurture, or renew your ability to community build?

Michaela: So, so I think that one person that helps me take a step back is my husband, actually. So when he was traveling, I was just like, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And he came back and he's like, woman, you need to slow down.

It's not healthy. And I'm like, I actually, it's not healthy because I was going too much. So he's definitely like a grounding force for me. Um, and I mean, it's part of his culture and part of who he is to just, I'm going to rest, I'm going to take a nap. Like I'm going to do something for me, whatever. And so, um, I think listening to him when I need telling you, because if other people tell me to stop working or slow down, I'm like, eh, lightweight, but with him, I'm like, okay,

Roger: solid nose.

Michaela: He does. He does.

Roger: So, is there a book or movie that you recently consumed or watch that you would recommend that has community building as a theme?

Michaela: One book that I'm rereading. Rereading is, um, a book that my grandmother wrote about my grandfather. She wrote many, many stories, but she wrote a book about my grandfather's life.

Now she would say that she didn't write it. That grandpa dictated it to her. She doesn't like to take credit for anything, but I have it right here. And I think, so the title of the book is. Was my grandfather's life motto. And I think if I show it to you, Roger, you're going to laugh. It says somebody has to do it.

That was my, that was my grandfather's life. DNA is strong. DNA is strong. Roger.

Roger: What is one thing that gets in your way of community building?

Michaela: Like from my own self, probably moving too fast.

Roger: What word or phrase describes what building community feels like when it's had a positive impact?

Michaela: When I think about the young girls who, like, get so excited when they see the hijab, you know, the hijabs in the store.

Like, how many women at the Nordstrom pop up, like, literally have tears in their eyes. Literally walking in an orchard and like seeing hijabs prominently displayed literally had tears in their eyes. I, I mean, I think I go back to what I said before. I just feel an immense amount of gratitude. I just, yeah, our faith is, is definitely grounded in gratitude.

Like when something good happens, we say alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah means praise and thanks to God. It's something, it's a word that means both praise and thanks. And when something, when a tribulation happens, it's not something bad because we don't really believe that. When a tribulation happens, then they're also thankful and they're patient.

So everything, everything that happens, and that's why we have like a lot of jokes in the Muslim community about, you know, you get a good job, you get a good, Oh, Hamdulillah. You lost your job, Hamdulillah, like everything as you just say, praise and thanks. Like, there's just like one answer to everything. And it's very much, it's very much, um, based in gratitude because like I said, like this, we don't have as much control as we think we do.

Roger: So if a listener wanted to ask you a question or follow you, where do you want to point them to?

Michaela: Probably the best places to follow us are on Instagram, I would say. I mean, we have, we have a strong social media presence on Facebook, but. We kind of do some of our funner stuff on Instagram. So either they can go to, um, but it could be the collective at what it could be the collective, or they can go to at Michaela Corning.

Roger: Oh, Michaela, thank you so much for sharing everything that you shared about building community. And, and I, I love how you, you start talking about serving community. That it's yeah, you saw the need and you saw the opportunity, but it's taken on a life bigger. Then what, um, maybe you, you originally intended, or maybe you knew it all along, but because of the, where everyone shows up and live into those principles that you're able to connect everyone with and the grounding in your faith.

Um, and then, you know, just the belief that, you know, what, what will be, will be, um, I, is that my fair lady and not.

But, but you know where I'm going, right? It's, it's, it's the intention and not the outcome. It's what everyone brings to it. It is, um, it, it is, it is a beautiful thing to be able to witness. And I'm so proud of you. And I remember, I remember when you were thinking about, do you go full a hundred percent into this thing, or do you look for another job?

And when you, when you stated that you were Very loud and proud that you were going to go into creating a storefront, uh, for your business and then have it turn into the beautiful thing that it is today. It's, it's, it's an honor to know you. And I'm so grateful to you for sharing what you know, to be true about community building today.

Michaela: Thank you, Roger. I really, really appreciate that.

Roger: Take care of my friend.

Michaela: Okay. You too. See you later.