Going through a life crisis and with no means of income, Soumaya, 27, had hit rock bottom in life. However, instead of feeling sorry for her situation, she decided to take her faith in her own hands and turn her life around not just for her sake but for her child too.
Homeless Woman Turns Life Around For Good, Becomes A Life Coach
By
Samantha in
For The Win
On 3rd March 2021
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2020 was the year of pandemic crisis and more than half of the world remembers it as nothing short of a nightmare. However, during this crisis, Soumaya Ettouji was able to turn her life around for good.
Soumaya was previously working in Kenya as a regional sales and marketing manager for a luxury architecture and decoration company before the firm officially hit the financial crisis. She eventually lost her job in December 2019.
soultysister/Instagram
As a single mom, with no immediate family in Kenya, Soumaya was left struggling with no financial means to support herself or her child.
She then took a leap of faith and shifted to the UK. Before coming to the UK, she lived with a family in Morocco after leaving Kenya. She didn't even have a place to stay when she first came and had to search for one through social media.
soultysister/Instagram
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In an interview with UNILAD she said:
I didn’t know what to do professionally, I didn’t have good relationships with my family… I was a mess! Then the first lockdown happened. In the past I would go out a lot to forget my problems. Socializing and traveling had become like a distraction from my sad reality, on top of drinking and smoking.
At first it was horribly uncomfortable to be at home and alone with my thoughts. I had to face everything that was holding me back: past traumas, abandonment wound, anger and resentment for the men in my life.
soultysister/Instagram
When she lost her job in Kenya she was going through a divorce with her now ex-husband.
The time however came when she realized that she cannot keep on drinking and waking up with regrets only. If not for herself then for the sake of her child she has to do something about her life.
The first step in the right direction started when she started taking care of her health and her lifestyle. When she heard that COVID-19 causes respiratory problems, it was at that moment she decided to quit smoking for good.
Talking about why she suddenly decided to turn her life around, the mom-of-one explained, ‘The panic caused by the virus also gave me that “end of the world” feeling that made me question everything about my lifestyle. I knew this wasn’t the real me. I had completely neglected my spirituality as well and the pandemic made me get back to it and pushed me to treat my body, soul and mind better. I started praying and meditating again, which I had struggled to do consistently for years’.
soultysister/Instagram
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After successfully bringing herself in the right direction, Soumaya began helping her friends through her situation, and eventually, they recommended her to other people too.
Soumaya gained popularity among people and decided to get an online certificate and created her own online business called the Soulty Sister.
She told UNILAD:
I had no source of income at all so I dug out an online course I took four years ago about starting a profitable business online. The first module was about finding what I was good at, was passionate about and could make money from. That’s when I realised what I did for myself these past few months, I could help others do too! I had always been a great listener, people would come to me for advice and a non-judgmental opinion.
soultysister/Instagram
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Looking back at her journey of the past year, Soumaya says she feels like a completely new person with new experiences.
She said, ‘Today I feel like not only I’m the person I was before my depression but I’m also a better version of myself because of those struggles. I’ve learnt to always have a positive outlook on things’.
Soumaya continued, ‘I don’t have anger or resentment anymore towards the whole world for misunderstanding me or not helping me the way I needed it. I take responsibility for what happens to me. I feel grateful for what I have even if it is not perfection, it’s perfect for now’.
soultysister/Instagram
Regarding her online business Soulty Sister, she wants to keep on working to help empower people with hopes of creating a ‘new generation of proactive self healers’.
She dreams that one day she would be able to open a spiritual retreat center in Morocco.