The renowned journo, Aamna Haider Isani, had always wanted to pursue her passion for writing while being a young stay-at-home mother. Over the years she has built her reputation as the Clearheaded writer through freelance projects, which she saw as being self-contained and more manageable, gradually building her career to become the Editor for Instep by the time her children had grown up. Aamna Haider Isani
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The reason she chose fashion journalism was because she saw it as a means to express creativity, back in the 90’s when the fashion industry was still starting off – “it was a hunch and it paid off.” Since then this arena of journalism has grown in Pakistan and so has Isani’s credibility. Her journey was had its ups and down with Isani commenting “Nothing is easy because we are restless people. Once we achieve one thing we want to move on to the next level and then the next. And that’s a good sign because it is the sign of a successful person. I enjoy each challenge more than the other, so it is never easy but not difficult either.”
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Her example is one that should be learnt from – behind every successful woman in this society is a supportive family and she credits hers as her enabler. Her parents have been there for her through thick and thin and have helped her grow into the person we know today. Isani’s biggest sacrifice, perhaps, was not taking up a full-time career because she didn’t believe in leaving her children alone. She made it a habit to take them with her wherever she went, teaching them important lessons through this process.
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The journo wanted a connection with her children and the route she took paid off, without loosing out on pursuing what she loved and enjoyed. Eventually, as time passed, her priorities changed once her children grew up and she took on more work whereby making that mental jump from freelance writing to a full-time writing career was a tough challenge for her which she persevered through.
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A role model for working mother who work on transforming their hobby into a career, her advice is to never restrict yourself: “work for a woman should be as natural as for a man. Many a times the things women sacrifice their career for are things that can usually be managed or delegated”.
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Currently she maintains an inspiring work-life balance while managing a leading fashion weekly and being there for her family. She also advocates nurturing ones body and soul, with skincare being an essential component of her daily life.
