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!
What Accessibility, Travel & AI Have in Common
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Reader, Global Accessibility Awareness Day is May 21. and as a woman navigating the world with one eye and hearing loss, accessibility is not a trend or simply a talking point for me. It impacts how I travel, communicate, create, and move through public spaces every single day. Accessibility also continues to shape the work I care most about: This is exactly why I do this work. That intersection of accessibility, storytelling, personal branding, and visibility is something I’ll be speaking about more openly moving forward. You can be more empathetic by: This is a snippet from my guide. I got frustrated with seeing the social media posts that did not have captions, that did not have any post descriptions, and that had white text on an orange background that was super hard to see. If you make content or know someone who does, share this guide with them. It has tips to help you create content that works for everyone and how to be more empathetic while you are out and about and traveling. Accessibility matters, and I’m excited to share this with you. On May 30, I’ll be speaking at WITS (Women in Travel Summit) in Chattanooga, Tennessee — the premier event for women and gender-diverse travel creators, industry executives, and tourism boards. It's where creative entrepreneurs, influencers, DMOs, and industry come together to discuss future innovations, build dynamic collaborations, and change travel worldwide. I'm going to talk about what I've seen, what I've lived, and what I know travel creators can do differently starting the day they leave that room. This is not a session about compliance. It is not just a checklist. It is a conversation about what it actually means to build content that doesn't leave disabled travelers — 1.3 billion people worldwide — out of the story. This conversation feels especially aligned with the direction my work is evolving: I’m opening up mentorship sessions. This is for creators and brands who want to be ahead of the curve, not catching up on the topics of • storytelling and personal branding • accessibility and visibility • content strategy and digital identity • positioning lived experience online • building a platform with intention in the age of AI
I've been hearing and reading the same thing lately: AI has made everyone feel like an expert — and now real expertise feels harder to prove. You're not wrong. And you're not imagining it. But here's what AI cannot replicate: your story, your credibility, your community, and the trust you've spent years building. What it can do is drown you out if you don't get strategic about how you show up on the generative AI search engines. If a mentorship session is not ideal right now, that's what my digital guides are built for — practical, specific, written from the inside of this work: Available now in my shop
In Case You Missed It:I uploaded the latest interview I did with the founder of a sustainable fashion institute in Ghana. If you’re attending WITS, I’d love to connect.
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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, Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about visibility—not just physically, but emotionally and digitally. I’ve been connecting with brilliant women who have years of wisdom and expertise but struggle to articulate their value in a world dominated by AI and the constant demand for content. I understand their struggle. I've been there when I first started doing all of the things 10+ years ago. Being an expert at what you do and speaking in rooms in person and being able to communicate that...
Reader, Greetings from Maryland! Happy Mental Health Awareness Month, Retinoblastoma Awareness Month, Star Wars Day and Met Gala Day.It’s my first time back in the Maryland area for a good 20 days since I lived here from 2012-2014, and wow, so much has changed. Back then, there was no Uber, no Turo, no Cash App or Zelle, or food delivery apps. There was barely a Google Review for businesses and no shuttle to take me from the MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) train to the BWI airport for...
Greetings, As I prepare to leave Ghana, I’ve been reflecting on how this trip began — and how it’s ending — and I’m realizing something powerful: This journey has resurfaced the urgent need for media. I started this trip attending a photography symposium in partnership with NYU. I’m ending it attending a community film screening at the University of Ghana. Still images to moving stories, the entire experience has reminded me how important it is that we document our narratives, our...