Finding Your Purpose Through Faith, Fashion, and Fearlessness with Amina Salami

In this transformative episode, we sit down with Amina Salami, founder and CEO of Good Apparel - a Los Angeles-based modest fashion brand for the cute, the covered, and the curvy. Amina's journey from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship is a masterclass in staying true to yourself while building something meaningful.

Guest Bio

Amina Salami is the visionary behind Good Apparel, creating timeless, high-quality modest fashion for women who want to look good, feel good, and stay true to their values. With a background in leadership and administration, Amina spent years guiding teams before betting on herself to turn her lifelong passion for fashion into a thriving business. What started as a small reselling venture has evolved into a brand solving a real problem: stylish, modest fitness wear for women who refuse to compromise on comfort or confidence.

Connect with Amina and shop Good Apparel:

• Website: goodapparella.com
• Instagram: @goodapparella

What Makes This Episode Essential

Amina shares raw, honest insights about navigating corporate America as a Muslim woman who chose to wear hijab, the courage it takes to start your own business, and how faith became her anchor through every challenge. Her storytelling is authentic, vulnerable, and empowering - she doesn't sugarcoat the struggles but shows you how to overcome them with grace and determination.

You'll discover:

• How to handle doubt - both from yourself and others - when you're breaking barriers
• Why representing your values unapologetically creates respect (even in unexpected places)
• The surprising connection between pitching clients and pitching to God

Key Takeaways

[00:03:00] - On Making the Transition to Covering
Amina shares her powerful decision to wear hijab in college and corporate America, navigating judgment from women bosses who called an "intervention" to question her choice - and how she stayed grounded in her faith and identity.

[00:15:00] - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Through Community
The antidote to self-doubt? Writing down your accomplishments and surrounding yourself with women who reflect back your greatness. Amina explains how even Tina Knowles battles imposter syndrome - and how that revelation changed everything.

[00:22:00] - The Power of Baby Steps Over Perfection
Inspired by Julie Andrews' autobiography, Amina discovered that discipline doesn't mean killing yourself. Small, consistent steps - without the self-punishment - are what actually move you forward in business and life.

[00:28:00] - Finding Your Purpose is a Process
Amina gets emotional describing the moment she became sure of her purpose: "God takes you through tests, ups and downs, friends, relationships, work - it's a journey. But once you get there, it's the most liberating feeling."

Take Action

• Shop Good Apparel: goodapparella.com
• Follow Amina on Instagram @goodapparella 
• Subscribe to Career Wanderlust Podcast for more impactful conversations about how to succeed in you career

About Your Host

This session was hosted by Jolie Downs with Paradigm, a voice in career evolution and growth. You can connect with Jolie here: linkedin.com/in/joliedowns

If you are looking to add talent to your public relations, marketing, communications, advertising, sales, or business development team with the best talent - and quickly - check us out at paradigmstaffing.com.

Transcript

Amina Salami

Jolie Downs: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Career Wanderlust Podcast, your compass for new career horizons. Today we are talking with Amina Salami. Amina is the founder and CEO of Good Apparel, a Los Angeles based, modest fashion brand for the cute, the covered, and the curvy.

With a background in leadership and administration, Amina spent years guiding teams and bringing structure, creativity, and purpose to every space she entered. This was before she decided to bet on herself and turn her lifelong love for fashion into a brand of her own. And it all began as a passion project for modest clothing with a small reselling venture.

And it has evolved into a brand that celebrates individuality, confidence, and authenticity. Without compromising on comfort and values. Now through good apparel, Amina has solved a real issue for women in the fitness space. Fit women who want to maintain modesty while feeling stylish, confident, and supported in what they wear.

Amina is carving her own lane by creating [00:01:00] timeless, high quality prices for women like herself who wanna look good, feel good, and stay true to who they are. Her journey from leader to entrepreneur reflects her belief that with faith, vision, and a touch of boldness, women can build something meaningful.

And look good doing it now. I'm excited to learn more. Amina Thank you for joining us on the Career Wander List podcast. 

Amina Salami: Thank you so much, Jolie. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. 

Jolie Downs: Oh, I'm excited to hear more about your story. I'm fascinated to be honest with you, and so I'm curious, what had to happen to get you to where you are today and was there any advice that helped you along the way or belief?

Amina Salami: Yeah, I mean, for sure. So there's been a lot of different situations or, learning lessons and, also like my belief system and, you know, that evolves too with, with time and with age. So I think the most important thing for me always has been, you know, not compromising who I am and who,

who [00:02:00] I, I like what I do based on societal norms, right. So I, as you know, I'm a Muslim woman. Very much covered. I haven't always been covered. So that was something that became very important to me, like early college ish age. I've just tried to like live my life in accordance to the teachings and, the

laws and everything of a stem. And so I felt it very importantly, 'cause I've always liked fashion. I've always Designed, I've always dressed people up, like in high school and even like in college, like I'd pick out outfits for. Events, like there was some, like a, I guess you can call them a, a photographer for models that I worked with, and I would pick out like styles and looks and things like that. So I've always found it to be 

Jolie Downs: fun. I love it. 

Amina Salami: Yeah, I know. 

Jolie Downs: So, so that's really interesting. So you didn't grow up, being covered. You grew up having your own style, doing kind of what you wanted, and you basically, as your faith grew, you decided that this was what [00:03:00] you wanted to do.

Is that correct? 

Amina Salami: That's correct, yeah. Okay. So we've always been modest, but it's just, yeah, I started covering after I got older. 

Jolie Downs: And what was that like for you making that transition? 

Amina Salami: It was really, I'm not gonna lie, but it was peaceful and perfect. No, it was, it was challenging. 

Jolie Downs: Well, you know, I curious to know, being the fashion lover, so.

Did you 

get 

Amina Salami: creative with it? 

Jolie Downs: You know, 

Amina Salami: it was hard initially, but there's something, you know, you're doing it for something bigger than yourself. Right. So this is a commandment by God that says, you know, miss Element should cover. So that's like. Yes, you have your freedom to not cover like, I mean like we didn't cover growing up, right?

So that's a choice. You have your free will, so you could choose not to if you wanted to, but I chose to come to it. So I felt like this was something that was bigger than myself. I could have kept just wearing my hair all cute and I was the every different, like different hairstyle every two weeks, every one week girl.

So trust me, it was very challenging [00:04:00] because my hair would match my outfit and I plan my outfit out for a week, you know? So it was definitely a challenge, like changing all of that and being like, you know what? This is for you God, and I want it to be like easier. And honestly, he made it. So peaceful.

 I think also having my sister who was extremely close with doing it at the same time was very helpful as well. Yeah. Yeah. So we had to like grow a little community ourselves. 'cause as you can imagine, our, our friends, our family didn't really do it. So it was, it was challenging to begin with, but definitely something I grew into.

It gave me so much. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. Yeah. 

Amina Salami: And 

Jolie Downs: so, so you were in, the corporate world for a while, correct? Yeah, I was. Yeah, that's correct. And so during that time, did you ever have, any issues with your, with covering and wardrobe within the corporate world, or was that completely 

Amina Salami: accepted? Oh, yeah, but you, am I this Jolie, like, it wasn't even the men, it was the women.

It was my women bosses who were like, what [00:05:00] is this like. What are you becoming? And it's so cliche. 'cause God forbid you decide to cover, now you're an extremist. But if you decide to come out to the office with your cleavage out, you're just being beautiful. We have choices. Like I 

Jolie Downs: Yes. 

Amina Salami: If I wanna cover it, that's, that's my prerogative.

So there was, it was so funny, like I look back on it now and I laugh about it, but it was very, it was tough for a 21, 22 year old girl. 

Jolie Downs: Oh yeah.

Amina Salami: How do you deal with 

Jolie Downs: it? That's 

Amina Salami: a cool, I was, they literally called me to an office or we were having an, and they called it an intervention and they're like, we're just trying to make sure there are no like extremist ideologies going on

'cause you were, you were fine and now you're wearing this. So what's going on with that? And so, I mean, I laugh about it now. I was so offended. I was like, wait, I miss some guy. I've always worn 

Jolie Downs: this. 

Amina Salami: I just didn't wear it every single day. So having to explain that to them, and they were like, we know we have family members that are [00:06:00] doing that.

We just wanna make sure you're okay. I'm fine. Thank you. I appreciate the check-in and you know, yeah, it was interesting dealing with that. I think from the male perspective, it gave, like, honestly, it felt like I was a little bit more respected where a lot of, like guys at my job who initially would

you know, 'cause guys at work just wanna slight you for no reason. I think in a way they were kind of like, all right, she's, she's like, more reserved now. Let's just not mess with her all with certain things. So that was, that works. That was, yeah, that was like a, that was like a positive for sure. But for me, like, I just loved it, like being the, I like being representative of like what I believe in a representative of what I believe in.

So, yeah. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. And good for you for standing strong and true to what you believe. Absolutely. And representing that for yourself and not being swayed by other people's opinions. 

Amina Salami: No, absolutely. 

Jolie Downs: Thank, which isn't always easy to do. So, so what happened from [00:07:00] your transition from corporate world to entrepreneurship?

'cause that's a big deal and there's a lot of people who think about it, but 

Jolie Downs: Don't make that leap. Right, 

Amina Salami: right, 

Jolie Downs: right. So, so what was that like for you? Like, was there a trigger that made you decide to go for it? And then also when you did that, what was that leap like as far as going from being employed in the corporate world to betting on yourself and moving in that entrepreneurship role?

Amina Salami: So, you know, it's really funny. My mom has always encouraged that while she also encouraged school and having a career, she's always been like, have your own business. Have your own business. Yes. So they, there was never a time even growing up where I was like, I'm gonna always work in the corporate world.

That's gonna be it for me. So at the back of my mind, I always knew I wanted to do something of my own. It just kind of had to happen organically. So I kind of in a way wish I started sooner. 'cause honestly, there are different personality types and had I maybe gone into business sooner, I may have not ran into the issues that I did with like corporate and like the [00:08:00] structure and all of that.

I like doing my own thing and I think that's why I thrived really well in leadership and got into leadership roles easier. But I think that the autonomy that the, that business gives me is 1000000000% my personality. So, yeah. My only thing is, if I had gone into it earlier, but no, it was something that I always wanted to do.

And, you know, my mom was my biggest inspiration and her mom was a business woman. Her mom's mom was also a business woman who I, I was lucky to meet. So it's just kind of something that ran in the family and something I always wanna do. 

Jolie Downs: That's a blessing. That is a blessing. You, you don't always have the support in those situations.

Absolutely. And it makes, it makes a world of difference. Yeah. Were you nervous about making the jump? Now how did you do it? Did you do it slowly or did you just make the leap and like make the cut? 

Amina Salami: No, I kudos to the people who do that. Even now, like I'm still kind of like, you know, because I'm like in my pre-seed ish phase mm-hmm.

For Good Apparel. I've always done apparel and I had my full business earlier, but I was just focused on dresses [00:09:00] with full apparel is more like, what's it called? You know, fitness wear and, modest, casuals. Whereas with that was like traditional like dresses and, abaya as we call it.

Jolie Downs: Mm-hmm. 

Amina Salami: So yeah, it was, it was definitely slow. There was a time where I focused fully on that, like this, the clothing business, and it was okay. And then I went back into corporate for a little bit, and now it's, back to just focusing on this full-time, which has been really, really nice.

Jolie Downs: That's fantastic. 

Jolie Downs: So, I mean, there's, there's a lot that happens on both sides, whether you're in the corporate world or whether you're an entrepreneur for yourself. We all have our ups and downs and we go through a lot of different things. I'm curious, you know, what has been one of your bigger challenges that you faced in this process?

Actually it could be in your entrepreneurship or in your corporate world. And how did you overcome it? What'd you learn from it? 

Amina Salami: I think doubt for sure. Oh yeah. So one thing is self-doubt, right? And you having to overcome that.

Another thing is people doubting you and then putting those limitations on you, whether it's because you're a [00:10:00] female in a male dominated, sphere, or area or work environment, whether it's you being a Muslim woman and they believe you should ask, act a certain way 'cause you dress a certain way or speak a certain way.

So there are a lot of those limitations projected on you. And I went through that in the corporate world, yes. But even like in the fitness space, I remember when I first came in and I would go to like, and I go to a pretty like, I don't wanna call it boutique gym, but I'm definitely the one person who dresses the way that I do.

'cause my gym wear is very much like I'm here. It's not like a small scarf. Right? So, it's very like noticeable. And even like having, like, I've had a few people ask me like, what are you wearing? Why do you wear it? I don't want to see it as a challenge. I don't see it as a challenge anymore. I see it more as a learning, a chance to teach and to learn from others as well.

So I think initially it was a little bit discouraging 'cause you're like, this is a lot of, um, and [00:11:00]I do think a lot of it too is like people projecting their uncertainties and like maybe misinformation and things like that. But you have to get to a point where you're like, I'm not gonna let this, that bother me.

Like this is a way to teach someone, someone something new and they, like a friend of mine was like, it's 2025. They can Google that. Like, I don't have to teach you. I don't have to teach you what a hijab is in 2025. You know? But unfortunately, we still have people who were like, oh, you know, why do you wear that?

Are you hot? Do you get really hot? Are you hot in that? I'm, I'm just as hot as anyone else who's working out. So it's just like these simple challenges as far as like, motivation, like self-doubt goes. A lot of women have like imposter syndrome. 

Jolie Downs: Oh yeah.

Amina Salami: Right. So when you're, there are times that you're just, you just beat yourself down for no

good reason and you're coming back and you're analyzing like what caused that? Like what is it? And [00:12:00] having to overcome that and having to deal with that every day. 'cause it's not something that's just like, oh, it's gone one day. I hope. I hope I get to that level. There's some people who are that confident and you know, they just know what they're doing and their business or at that level.

But yeah, there's definitely that, that I. Still have to overcome on a daily. So I think it's the internal for me. 

Jolie Downs: What, what helps you with that? 'cause this is really important. A hundred percent imposter syndrome is, is prevalent. It is, persistent. Sure. It doesn't just go, you know, it's you. I, I've learned that.

I have imposter syndrome, and then I'll, I'll push past it. I'll push past it and I'll get over it. But then as soon as you stretch into something new again. Yes. 

Amina Salami: Yeah. 

Jolie Downs: It comes back when it comes 

Amina Salami: back. 

Jolie Downs: Right. It's, it's the friend for growth, right? 

Amina Salami: Yes. No, honestly. 

Jolie Downs: How do you deal with it?

What helps you, because I know this, this 

Amina Salami: Yeah. 

Jolie Downs: This is something that a lot of people deal with. Most people deal 

Amina Salami: with it for sure. For me, I a lot of prayer. A lot of, you know, there's something that Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mom said. [00:13:00] And I didn't pay attention to it, but she was like, I had that too.

And I was like, what? You are a whole Beyonce's mom? Like, what are you, you know, like, you know what I mean? And she was like, she had to write a, like a little list of all the things that she's good at and all the things she's accomplished. And she's like, I raised great children. I did this, I did that. And she was like, that really helped her.

And I, that's helped me. I'm like, these are the things that, yes, we have all these other areas where we think like we're not really amazing at, but these are the things I've accomplished. And also tapping into other women, like, you know, that little group of women we were with. Where you can like, see your reflection in them and be like, this is someone absolutely amazing if I respect them and I love them, and I think they're, they're so great at what they do.

They're, they're pouring that into me as well. Then I have no choice but to believe it. You know, 

Jolie Downs: that gave me little tingles. I love that 

Amina Salami: so much. Yeah. So shorter. 

Jolie Downs: And I love, I love the, the, writing down your accomplishments. I'm actually really passionate about that. I tell [00:14:00] everybody that everyone should have, I call it an already accomplished bucket list, if you will.

'cause I, I'm a big believer in the bucket list in the way that, 

yeah. 

Jolie Downs: Anything that you think of that's interesting. Everyone should have a bucket list on their phone, on their notes app. Yeah. And anything that sounds interesting. It doesn't need to be big stuff. It can just be like, I wanna check out that restaurant, or that's a really cool program happening.

Or This is a class I wanna take. You add it. 'cause you, you should have a consistent list, but also every few months. You add to your already accomplished bucket list and it's like nothing is too small for that list too. Like the fact that, you know, if you have kids and you went bowling with your kids, you know, you add that, right?

I mean like whatever it is that you've done that other people may not have had the opportunity to do or experience. Yeah. You add it to that list, and it grows and it grows and it is, it's like whenever you're feeling a little down or you're feeling that imposter syndrome or what have you, and you just go and you look at all the things that, that you did and have accomplished over the past, like, you know, couple years, what have you.

It's, it's, it's very eye-opening. It's very humbling and it makes you [00:15:00] realize how much beauty you have in your world that you're not always fully paying attention to. 

Amina Salami: Aware. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I love that. I'm gonna take. That and use it. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. I, I, I'm a big believer, and here's the other thing, a great thing about a bucket list too.

When there's something that you don't wanna do You add it to your bucket list and then it makes, it makes it like, oh, well no, I get to do that. 

Amina Salami: Right. Instead 

Jolie Downs: of I have to. 

Amina Salami: Right. Exactly. I like that. My mindset. I think it's a good, it's a good, it's definitely a good way to restructure your mindset.

I see that. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. 

Amina Salami: Yeah, yeah. 

Jolie Downs: So, so now what about, 'cause I'm sure you've had a lot of impactful experiences that have just stuck with you and it's something that, that you ended up learning a great deal from. Mm-hmm. Is there any story that's happened on either side, entrepreneur or corporate that you've experienced that it was a big impact for you?

You learned a great deal from it and by sharing other people might learn something from it as well? 

Amina Salami: I think. There's been so many, I honestly can't [00:16:00] pick one, but I, I don't know, for a lot of people who were like naturally nurturers and like, just self-starters motivated, A lot of times we do a lot and don't, like, I just go kind of going a little bit off the whole conversation we just had or,

just in general, I'd say for myself, there are a lot of times where I would just go, go, go, go, go, and not really reflect on what's going on, what I'm doing and what really helped me was people, like a lot of people I didn't even know or didn't think about coming back and be like, Hey, what you did really,

this is what it did for me. So I'm a big believer in letting people know what, how you feel, what you did for them, like how much you appreciate who they are. Not just your family, not just your friends, like a stranger. I'm like, you could literally go to a show and meet someone and be like, look what you did for me.

A, B, C, D. 'cause a lot of times you don't see that yourself. So I think that's been impactful as far as like my [00:17:00] nonprofit work, right? With my business, a lot of it too has been just the, oh my God, like you're actually doing something impactful for, it hasn't just been women that cover, it's been. non-Muslim women, women who don't cover.

It's been men. Men surprisingly, who were like, you know, my wife would like this, my sister would like this, my mom would love this. And that's been so motivational for me. I think that at the end of the day, our goal is to just touch people, inspire, help. You know, just make someone's life better. And if you're getting that feedback, like, you know, what you're doing actually is doing something for me, that's amazing.

And ultimately you want God's pleasure. Right. So that, these are the signs I would say, like hopefully, I, I pray that, that he's, I love it with the efforts. Yeah, 

Jolie Downs: I love it. I'm right there with you. You know, that is what life is about. We're, we're here to, yeah. Send. I like, I like to say [00:18:00] send positive ripples into the world as much as possible.

Amina Salami: Right, 

Jolie Downs: right, 

Amina Salami: right. Absolutely. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. I think that's beautiful. Thank you. You know, so what now with good apparel, where can people find your, your product? And, and, and you, you mentioned this isn't just product for Muslim women. Women, it's. 

Amina Salami: Yeah, 

Jolie Downs: it's for everyone. It's all kinds of people. Yeah. Absolute. So tell us a little bit more about good apparel, how they can find it and who, who's gonna be interested in it..

Amina Salami: Of course. Of course. So, good apparel is for everyone. I do cater to women who are, you know, believers and women who work out. But all of our. I mean, we have a casuals line, which is for everyone. So it doesn't matter what you believe, it doesn't matter what you, don't believe. Like you're welcome to shop good apparel and, be a part of that, whole movement.

So we did start with just the, casuals for now. And the pieces that I told you about that I came on that, that that show for, Is what I'm still working on. That would be the modest [00:19:00] workout line, modest workout pieces for specifically women who cover. And like I said, I've met women who were not Muslim, who were like, I would love for,

to where what you're making based off the prototype, based off, you know, the material it's made with. And so yeah, you can definitely shop at goodapparella.com to get our t-shirts Definitely support, especially if like you're big on faith. There's a lot of faith-based stuff there and the workout fitness stuff and a lot of California themed.

Perfect. Hoodie and shirts and stuff too. Perfect. So you here you wanna Yeah. And you wanna bring something home, like a good gift for your family members? You can find it on our website. 

Jolie Downs: That's fantastic. 

Amina Salami: Yeah. 

Jolie Downs: I, I'm curious, have you been using AI at all to help you with your business? 

Amina Salami: AI is definitely helpful.

I try to be authentic with everything. And I haven't gotten to a point where I am able to really tap into the mastermind of ai. [00:20:00] You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I, I do, I, I still use it kind of like the, like the premature like. Google way, if that makes sense. But there's, there's so much more you can do with AI now.

You know, I saw someone who has like AI models and there are people who have like ai, like backgrounds and I'm like, look, one day. But as far as, just as far as like I do something on my instagram page where it's like daily quotes, like something motivational. I love something, something. Yeah, please follow.

Good apparel, la it's just add good apparel LA And so like, it could be related to fitness, could be related to just happiness or anything that has to do with good and good apparel. 'cause that's the whole reason I chose the word good, right? Mm-hmm. It's just everything good. And so yeah, ai, I guess in that regard.

Could potentially help with like something like chat, GPT, like giving you like, this is what, you know, people in this area like to hear or like to see. So in those, in those areas and like doing research like [00:21:00] SEO 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. 

Amina Salami: And stuff like that, I think it's been helpful. Overall, though, I haven't gone to a point where I've integrated it as much as I would like to, I would say.

Jolie Downs: Mm-hmm. Just to, just to boost my. 

Amina Salami: Yeah. 

Jolie Downs: At this, in this day and age is, you know, you can be like, Hey, everything is authentic with good apparel. Yes, yes. I love that. That's a, that's a big sell. Yeah. Yeah. That's absolutely perfect. Okay, so, so good apparel la.com is where they go. Mm-hmm. Is that correct? Okay, perfect.

Amina Salami: That's correct, yes. 

Jolie Downs: All right. All right. Well now before you go, I always love to ask people, 'cause I'm very passionate about. How you feed your mind, right? Mm-hmm. Because I mean, we're being fed information constantly without our permission all day long. Yeah, absolutely. And, most of it isn't serving us.

And so I, I like to know, is there anything that you have read, watched, or listened to that had a positive impact on you that you think others could benefit from as well? 

Amina Salami: Absolutely. I mean, the first thing I would say honestly is the Quran. I know there's 

Jolie Downs: mm-hmm. 

Amina Salami: Christian people read the [00:22:00] Bible and the, and Jewish people read the Torah.

Jolie Downs: Mm-hmm. 

Amina Salami: There are some stories, and I say it evolves. Because there's some stories you'll read as a 19-year-old. It's not, it does not hit you the same as a 32, 30 3-year-old. 

Jolie Downs: Totally.

Amina Salami: There's just so many life lessons that you've gone through Where it's just like, oh my God, this is, it is timeless as God said.

Mm-hmm. And it's really like my anchor. Aside from that, I love Mel Robbins. I don't know. Oh yeah. I, I like a lot of what she puts out and I read a book that was, that changed my life and it's. So funny. 'cause I don't know if it, for most people, they'll be like, they'll be like, what? But it's the autobiography of Julie Andrews.

Jolie Downs: Oh, interesting. 

Amina Salami: I know.

Jolie Downs: Interesting. Okay. Tell me why. Tell me why. What did you 

Amina Salami: love about it? I was like, I was like 19 or 20 years old. I was obsessed with Sound of Music as a kid. God, I love Sound of Music too. Yeah. That was like my favorite movie. And then, you know, it's Julie Andrews, you know, she was, um, it Mia, the [00:23:00] Thermophilus, what was that movie?

Prince of Diaries. Yeah. So Oh yes, yes. You know, she's been, yeah, so she's just been kind of like a prominent face and someone I've always liked and so her. There was a, um, there was a, a portion of her, like the whole, the whole autobiography was amazing. It was so authentic. It was so honest, but it was just her discipline.

It was how, with every little thing, how disciplined she was, how structured she was, and then what she never put limitations on herself. I think for myself, while I was transformational, was I, of course I've always been bigger and I, that's kind of why I got into fashion and good apparel and, you know, creating something for women who are curvier covered and feeling comfortable not having the compromise on what you wear and how you look.

 And so I remember reading something in her book at a time in my life where I was so strict and so like, I have to be on top of it, counting calories and all of this stuff where she was like, I just, I didn't [00:24:00] kill myself. She was like, I just. Cut it down. I, I, this is what I did. It was very simple but so impactful.

And it was that mindset that shifted for me. I was like, wait, I don't have to kill myself on things. I can make little steps, you know, commit to them and boom. And that's literally her whole life. She was just like, I, if it didn't work out, like there's a movie role I really wanted, it didn't work out. Yes, I was bummed.

So I committed to working harder. To get to a level where I would be seen and I got the Oscar. You know, so it was, it was just, it was that simple. It was just having a mindset shift, I think, for me. Yeah. So that was, that was a really good book if you, if you wanna check it out. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah, that's, that's very powerful.

And that's, I mean, this is one of the key lessons in people who were very successful and thrive in life is exactly that. I mean, they break things down into baby steps and they don't beat themselves up. I mean, they have the discipline. Yeah. But they're not gonna beat themselves up if they, if they mess up a little bit, they just get themselves back on, you know?

And celebrate their little wins and they break up into baby [00:25:00] steps. It's just like anything that you do, like, I mean, building, building an apparel company is not an easy thing, right? It's if, I were to think about it, you know, it would be very overwhelming to think about all the different things that you need to do and all the different steps, 

Amina Salami: right?

Jolie Downs: But if you break that down into little baby steps, like, okay, well this is what I wanna do, so. My next step is to make a design. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna focus on that. I'm gonna make a design. Okay? Now my next step is to figure out the fabrics. Okay? Now, and you just break it down step by step by step. 

Amina Salami: Yeah.

Jolie Downs: Then all of a sudden, this big thing becomes something that you can climb. 

Amina Salami: I love that. Yeah. That's literally how it has to be, right? Otherwise you beat yourself up, you burn out. You, you get overwhelmed. And you know, like I was even looking at like, you and like a lot of the women who were at that show we were at, 

Jolie Downs: yeah.

There's this entrepreneur show that, 

Amina Salami: yeah. So a lot of them were like managing. So many things. Like a lot of these women were like mothers. Some of them had infants and toddlers and still running [00:26:00] like full-time businesses. Yes. So that's an inspiration. I'm like, if it's your spreadsheets, if it's your Google calendar, there just has to be structure.

Amina Salami: And again, just like that discipline to keep up with things. But not beating yourself up, I've learned is one of the best ways to, you know, get things done and, and stay motivated. 

Jolie Downs: Absolutely. Yeah. Because when you be, I mean, I used to be really, I mean, look, I can still do it, but I've learned that it's, it's not

beneficial and it's not healthy. So, yeah, I, I've learned that when, when I realize that I'm beating myself up, I tell myself, take your hand off the hot stove. 

Amina Salami: Oh, wow. You know, 

Jolie Downs: take your hand, hand off the hot stove. 

Amina Salami: That's a good one. Yes, 

Jolie Downs: yes. You know, because you're choosing to, I mean, it's essentially when you beat yourself up, you're choosing to keep your hand in a hot stove .

And hurt yourself. And that doesn't help in any way. It doesn't make you better, it doesn't move you forward. It, you know, it's just, if you ever find so just like learn from it, move on, 

Amina Salami: move on. Absolutely. And if anything, it sets you back. 'cause now you're overthinking. That's time you could be using, being [00:27:00] productive.

Exactly. You know, like, and, and don't, I'm not saying don't beat yourself up and slack off. Like that's not what I'm saying. Yes. But like, you know, have the discipline but don't, don't overdo anything in life. Like everything has to be a balance, right? So I'm not saying slack off for a week and wonder why your sales plummeted, you know, you know, but 

Jolie Downs: it's all a balance.

Amina Salami: And it's definitely a balance. But you know, like, like they always like the way I think about it. And, and that also take my perspective, someone was like, would you give this advice to someone else? Like your friend or your sister or person if they were to do something wrong. 

Jolie Downs: Right. 

Amina Salami: And that's kind of, I was like, okay, so I have to be nice to myself.

Like, if I could be nice to other people, me, you know, and you'll get it. Right. And, you know, and so it's a, for business, it's definitely a learning process. Like It's, there's always gonna be something it can be better at. It's always gonna be something it could have done quicker, faster, better story.

So True story. So definitely I'm still learning, like you said, but I'm definitely doing that a lot more now where I'm just like, I'm not gonna, you know. Just [00:28:00] put, keep my hand on the hot stove. Yeah.

Jolie Downs: This has been great. I, there's so many great takeaways from this. Thank you so much for joining us. But before you go, my, my last question 'cause I just love to, I love to know what people have to share. 

Amina Salami: No worries. 

Jolie Downs: What are you sure of in life? 

Amina Salami: I am sure of my purpose. 

Jolie Downs: Mm. Tell us. Okay. Tell us more about your 

Amina Salami: purpose.

I know exactly who God made Amina. 

Amina Salami: I know why he put Amina here, and that's not something that, oh my God, I'm gonna get emotional. Whew. Lord. 

Jolie Downs: It's really beautiful 

Amina Salami: because that took a while. It's not like. You're not gonna wake up and find it. Sometimes it happens where you do, but God literally takes you through a series of tests and ups and downs and friends and relationships and the work.

And it's, it's, it could be a lot. It's a process. It's a journey. But once you get there, it's, it's the [00:29:00] most liberating feeling where you don't feel like you have to, you know, act a certain way anymore or appease certain people anymore. You're just unapologetically yourself because you know exactly what you're doing and who you are, you, who God called you to be.

And that's, and I I, that's still a learning process. Like I'm not gonna say I figured it all out. I, I, perfect. No, absolutely not. Every single day I'm still learning. Every single day I'm still asking for directions, but as far as like the, the concrete think things go, like even the the jumping into business when I was so fearful, like, how is it gonna work?

Go. You know, you, you pray about it. You ask for direction, you ask for guidance, and when you get it, just do it. Just, just go for it and trust that you will not be let down and God will guide you every step. 

Jolie Downs: That's so beautiful. It's, it's really Thank 

Amina Salami: you. 

Jolie Downs: I love that because it's so, it is something that it takes a long time to find that peace within yourself, that [00:30:00] knowing within yourself, but when it happens that it is very.

It's like the calm, I don't know. There's just this calm that didn't exist before. Once you do it, yes. 

Amina Salami: That's the, that's the, that's the end. The calm. The calm. Mm-hmm. So yeah, that's what all of the pieces have been. Like the putting a hijab on and not being sure of what it was, and then you know, always loving fashion, always wanting to start a business, and then all of it finally coming together.

Like all those little pieces. And you know, like I said, just praying for guidance and trying to stay grounded as well. Just like, okay. There's some days it's gonna be a lot more confusing than others. And I say to like younger people, especially people in your twenties. Chill like you. I promise you it's gonna be, we were, oh my, I don't know if it was you too, Jolie.

Oh my God. I was. I had like a life crisis every day when I was like 20 years. I was like, I, my life isn't figured out. Like I, what am I doing? So, [00:31:00] so you're not gonna, for some people you do, for a lot of people, you don't wake up and it's just there. So it's definitely a process.

It is a process. For sure. 

Jolie Downs: A process of finding yourself For sure. Yes, 

Amina Salami: yes, for sure. 

Jolie Downs: But it is, it's highly worth that process. Yeah. Finding 

Amina Salami: yourself for 

sure. 

Jolie Downs: And it's that going inside. It is the going deep. But like you were talking earlier about the, you know, being super busy and you go and you're going and going, you're not really paying attention to yourself.

Mm-hmm. And so I find it's a lot of that of like. Taking a break. Yes. Taking a breath, coming inside. What's happening here? So, mm-hmm. 

Amina Salami: Yeah. 

Jolie Downs: For, yeah, for sure. It's a really beautiful, thank you. Thank you for this. 

Amina Salami: Thank 

Jolie Downs: you. It's wonderful. Amina, thank you for joining us on this podcast. 

Amina Salami: Thank you so much for having me.

This has been amazing. And yeah, I would love to talk to you more sometime. Not even on the podcast. Girl. Let's talk about that show. 

Jolie Downs: I know. Yeah.

This is a lot 

Amina Salami: to say.

Jolie Downs: There's a great entrepreneur show coming out that, listeners might be interested in [00:32:00] out 

Amina Salami: For sure. Check it out for sure. 

Jolie Downs: Project Empire. Excited 

Amina Salami: Project Empire. We're all excited. 

Jolie Downs: Take a look at it. There'll be a lot of very fascinating women and I'm sure some interesting, interesting challenges to, to check out for 

Amina Salami: sure.

It's exciting, but definitely it's something we're all looking forward to. Yeah. So yeah, definitely check out. 

Jolie Downs: So this has been great. Thank you Amina. 

Amina Salami: Thank you Jolie. I hope you have a lovely rest of your evening. 

Jolie Downs: You too.

Amina Salami: Thanks.

Jolie Downs: Thank you for joining us on the Career Wanderlust Podcast. If you find value in learning from others, give us a like and subscribe.

If you're looking to grow your communications, marketing, public relations, or sales and biz dev team with the best talent, and quickly check us out@paradigmstaffing.com and submit a request. We are wishing you a most successful and fulfilling [00:33:00] career. Until next time.