ConquerHub Podcast
Yasemin Kanar, better known as YaztheSpaz, is one of the most popular hijab fashion bloggers today with a social media following of more than 1 million. Yaz has been praised by young Muslim women everywhere as an inspiration with her modestly yet fashionable styles while simultaneously spurring worldwide competition within the hijab fashion industry. Despite her current success and popularity, Yaz faced heavy negative criticism in the beginning of her career:
“I think the challenging part with everything I was doing was not really the work being put into it because I was doing something that I actually really loved doing. It was dealing with negativity, the negative comments in the beginning that would affect me, like, just a woman being online was enough to say ‘haram.’”
Checking all of her comments at that time, Yaz’s first instinct was to respond and defend herself against criticism and negative comments. She learned quickly that responding to comments only provided commenter’s the attention they sought from her and did not make a difference to how they perceived her. Yaz now deals with criticism very differently by instead, focusing on herself:
“It doesn’t even affect me anymore… I know who I am as a person, God knows me, who I am as a person, and the only one I care about judging me is God. So if I know in my heart that I’m a good Muslim, a good person, and my intentions are pure, why do I care about what that person thinks about me?”
Yaz remains steadfast in her career and keeps a positive outlook by not considering her career choice as her job, but as a passion she has committed to wholeheartedly. Her ability to overcome negative criticism by understanding herself, her intentions, and her aspirations to sincerely cling to her passion for fashion demonstrates Yaz’s truly admirable and inspirational attitude. Her passion has led her to start-up her own hijab fashion line and has plans to launch soon. To hear more about this story and Yaz’s full interview, check out this podcast at www.ConquerHub.com.
–Written by Sami Tabbaa, Co-Producer of the ConquerHub Podcast, evoking a message of empowerment to those who desire to overcome and conquer all struggles of life on their path to success.
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