HI! I'M SABAH.

I am a strategic advisor, writer, storyteller, and specialist in interpersonal connection.

As a child, I saw my parents welcome people, both alike and different from us, into our home as they did family. This practice nurtured my interest in people, their stories, and relational dynamics from an early age, even though the work I do now first took shape in 2017.

At the time, I was a marketing executive managing a global team, living with a constantly traveling partner, parenting three active kids, fretting about the changing socio-political climate, and driving 2-3 hours a day. I felt down and drained.

I decided to put my corporate career on hold and figure some things out.

Through experiences from various work and social settings, and conversations with people from different walks of life, I realized my struggles weren’t unique. Regardless of context or condition, fellow humans— teens, community activists, business leaders of great success— were stressed, lonely, depleted.

A lack of understanding— of oneself and one another— explained

some of these problems. Something deeper was missing, too: affirmations of our human dignity.

In work environments, both were cast aside in the name of productivity. At home, same pattern, different reasons: people leaned on personal screens as go-to outlets for comfort and entertainment.

As someone who cares deeply about the human condition, I wondered how I could narrow the gap of separateness to create better working and living conditions.

The answer? Thoughtfully designed gatherings that bring people together for games, activities, stories, and conversations to create meaningful connections.

Curious to know more about my journey?

Check out my story, below!

My story

With an aptitude for math & science and not-so-subtle life advice from pragmatic immigrant parents (“Maybe you do arts and humanities as hobbies...”) I leave home in Canada to study Engineering at M.I.T.

As a freshly minted Mechanical Engineer, I head to Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Among lifelong automotive buffs, I design, test, and troubleshoot cars & trucks, all as a young, immigrant woman of colour. For the first time in my life, I feel completely out of place.

At Stanford Business School, I learn Strategy and core values with an icon: Professor Irv Grousbeck. I’m sold. After graduating, I choose to pursue strategy consulting instead of tech or entrepreneurship, unlike most of my fellow classmates at the time.

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At work, I love problem-solving and strategic thinking. Outside work, I'm drawn toward people—social advocacy, mentoring youth, and serving under-resourced communities. Soon, this extracurricular approach to humaning doesn’t feel like enough.

In the summer of 2020, I partner with a few Stanford friends to launch Allies99, a racial justice initiative. Over the next 2 years, we recruit 100+ classmates, create and facilitate a series of workshops, and build empathy-based leadership skills for a community of global leaders.

Incorporating earlier work and life experiences, I design and lead two workshops on Connection and Belonging that are among the most highly attended and impactful Allies99 events.

One participant asks if I would do something similar for her company. I create the first Empathy, Trust, and Belonging workshop. My work in its current form begins.

Clients who experience the workshop love it and ask for more. Building Trust, Connection, and Belonging parts 2 and 3 are born.

Early in the pandemic, I start study and community practices of teachings by Professor Omid Safi (Islamic mysticism/ Sufism) at Duke University, and Professor john a. powell (Belonging) at U.C. Berkeley. Both teachers have had an outsized impact on my work and personal development, since.

Through a course led by best-selling author Bernadette Jiwa, I rediscover my love for creative writing, enroll as a founding member in her community of global storytellers, and learn the power of personal storytelling in business and life.

I become a published author!

Ongoing deep dives into heart-centered communities— along with observations from my work as a strategist, adviser to young people, and human striving imperfectly to live my own life— inspires me to create the Believing workshop on Core Values.

I obtain a certificate in Mindful Facilitation with Lee Mun Wah. I also join two communities dedicated to Compassion: the Center for Compassionate Leadership and the Global Compassion Coalition (GCC).

As I continue to explore the factors that determine the quality of our interpersonal experiences— at work, home, and play— the importance of listening as a foundational skill emerges.

My Deep Listening workshop is born.

Deepening heart-centeredness with communities of practice

Aligning heart with business & leadership

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In 2017, I start my own brand strategy and consulting practice, guiding people-friendly and non-profit organizations to develop Core-Values-driven brand strategy.