Hi! I'm Zaakirah (zaa-key-ra) I help you Go from where you are (stuck, stagnant, scared) and where you want to go in your business and life (freedom). I provide Black and Indigenous creatives with strategies that empower them to achieve their goals through branding and storytelling, and marketing.For the last 20 years, I've been storytelling by any creative means necessary; photography, writing, film, and podcasting.I check all the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility boxes.I’m a visually impaired, hard of hearing, cancer survivor, chronically ill Muslim Woman. Knowing your history helps you propel and prepare for your future. Entrepreneurship is ownership, and flexibility is key. Sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter!
No Keynotes, No Panels, Okay?
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Reader, I don't have a keynote or moderated panel confirmed for the rest of this year, yet. This isn't a gap I'm scrambling to explain away or fill either. I chose it. What I do have is a handful of internal marketing, accessibility, and travel related workshops and focus groups coming up to wrap up the year with Focus Black Oklahoma, World Eye Cancer Hope, Bermuda Travel Experience, and Chocolate Mindfulness Retreat. Good work, meaningful work, work I'm genuinely glad to be doing. But it's a different kind of quiet following sitting on a stage in front of a few people at Essence, or moderating a panel with my brand name on the program. The first two quarters of this year went into grant applications, speaker applications, foundation block building — the kind of work that won't notify me until November, which means for months now I've been doing intentional work with no confirmation and no applause, just waiting and chasing opportunities. Alongside that, I've been readjusting to living on the east coast of the U.S. again after a year in Kenya and 45 days in Ghana, which is its own quiet, unglamorous labor that doesn't show up on a highlight reel, not yet anyways. And underneath all of it, I've been building my documentary — the kind of project that needs sustained, unbothered attention and financial partners, not a calendar full of travel and stage time pulling my focus in six directions. So when I answer the question what am I up to next or where to next, I don't see it as momentum lost. I see it as the natural result of choosing to serve, to resettle, and to build something long-form instead of chasing the next visible win. However, speaking of the next visible win, most major conferences still follow the vanity metric of "have I built a big enough name for myself?" Yet, the best conferences pay you for your expertise based on your pitch. I've spent a long time in a version of ambition that only counts the visible wins. This year, I'm okay with the fact that the invisible work I have put in since 2019, is coming into fruition. If you're in a season like this too — where the external markers of "doing well" have gone quiet on purpose, because you redirected the energy somewhere unglamorous and necessary — I see you. This isn't stalling. It's work that doesn't look like anything from the outside yet. Next week I’m launching The Accessible Creator Container — A 3-month program for creators ready to build accessibility into their content from the ground up, not bolt it on after the fact. We are approaching the busiest marketing and retail season. It's a great time to be inclusive. Two tracks, so whether you're a solo creator or building a team, there's a lane for you. Mentorship sessions are still open at the current rate for a limited time. Book Yours Today. If traveling to Ghana with me has been something that has been on your radar, check out the itinerary for March 1-10, 2027 - Ghana’s 70th Independence day.
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Your Branding and Marketing Therapist
Hi! I'm Zaakirah (zaa-key-ra) I help you Go from where you are (stuck, stagnant, scared) and where you want to go in your business and life (freedom). I provide Black and Indigenous creatives with strategies that empower them to achieve their goals through branding and storytelling, and marketing.For the last 20 years, I've been storytelling by any creative means necessary; photography, writing, film, and podcasting.I check all the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility boxes.I’m a visually impaired, hard of hearing, cancer survivor, chronically ill Muslim Woman. Knowing your history helps you propel and prepare for your future. Entrepreneurship is ownership, and flexibility is key. Sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter!
Reader, I'm thinking about the news of actress Hayden Panettiere's passing. I knew of her music from Disney Channel days, most people know her from Bring It On or Nashville. My favorite song of hers is My Hero is You. In May, she released her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning and shared her story publicly of being a child star and dealing with grief. Her passing is a reminder of something I've often spoken of: Heal, but also don't wait to tell the story. Don't wait to create the thing. Don't...
Reader, June this year, I had the opportunity to attend SXSW London 2026. SXSW (South by Southwest) brings together people from across technology, culture, media, music, film, and entrepreneurship to exchange ideas and shape what’s next. While the conference did an excellent job accommodating my hearing and vision dual sensory needs, accessibility is still treated as an add-on in most media, event, and experience design, when it should be the starting point. Being in that space reminded me...
Reader, Apparently, I have a pattern I hadn't named out loud before: I tend to move to a new place roughly every two years. I find myself packing boxes and luggages, moving to a new place, and stepping into a new season of life. I don't intentionally plan it that way, but looking back, it's a rhythm of embracing change, trusting the process, and creating space for what's next, while intentionally choosing a lesser known historically black city and neighborhood that has Black owned businesses...