Burned Out? This Neuroscience Nerd Has a Creative Cure (And It's Not What You Think)
Discover how a corporate executive turned burnout coach uses art and neuroscience to help you reclaim your sanity and reignite your passion.
Courage to:
Embrace the Unconventional: From child of immigrants to neuroscience-loving burnout coach, she embodies the courage to defy expectations and forge her own path.
Confront Inner Demons: She openly shares her struggles with anxiety, depression, and cPTSD, inspiring others to face their own challenges and seek healing.
Blend Science and Art: She fearlessly merges the analytical with the creative, demonstrating that healing and personal growth can be a fun and expressive exploration.
Leap into the Unknown: Whether skydiving or solo traveling the world, she embraces adventure and encourages others to step outside their comfort zones.
Share Vulnerability: She courageously reveals her authentic self, fostering connection and empowering others to do the same.
Meet
: Build a Better Brain
Q: Tell us a bit about your background.
: Growing up as the child of poor Bangladeshi immigrants in the UK, education was my ticket to a better life out of poverty. I got hooked on neuroscience back in the 90s, thanks to the fascinating work of Dr. Oliver Sacks.
His books, like Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, opened my eyes to the intricacies of the brain and behaviour, and I dove headfirst into understanding how we function as a teen.
Along the way, I racked up two Neuroscience degrees and an MSc in Computing Science, all while carving out a 20+ year career in transformation roles across financial services, mining, and insurance. Yup, I’m a nerd!
But beneath that corporate success, I battled anxiety, depression, cPTSD, and burnout. It was clear my knowledge and experiences needed to be channelled into something more meaningful than being another cog in the corporate machine.
That's when I decided to become a Burnout Coach in parallel to the day job, so I established my coaching and training business. I wanted to help business owners and leaders, like me, reclaim their sanity, and discover how to use their mind, body, and brain for recovery and transformation.
Through my coaching certifications, based on coaching psychology and art-based coaching, I’ve crafted a unique coaching style that blends my neuroscience and psychology background with creative, art-based tools. Who says healing can’t be a fun exploration?
Q: If you had to choose an SEO keyword for your life, what would it be?
Resilient.
Over time, I realised this was a natural reaction to things happening in my life now or in the past.
With the appropriate help, I’ve retrained my mind, body and brain to function in a better way. It’s not always easy, but I’m happier now in my late 40s than I was in my 20s.
When I look back, I never could have imagined it. My goal is to show others they are able to change, regardless of the hand they’ve been dealt.
Q: What are your hobbies, passions, obsessions, or what excites or inspires you? What sets your soul on fire?
: I’ve always moved between the realms of science and art, easily going from reading neuroscience research to playing with watercolours or acrylics on canvas. People and the human condition endlessly fascinate me.Influenced by my parents’ immigrant journey, I love stories about resilience, courage and taking leaps into the unknown. 1883 and the pioneer tales of the Old West recently captured my imagination. It's amazing how our choices, and environment, shape those around us across time and space.
After solo travelling around the world for a year in my early 20s, I’m ready to explore again after a few years at home. There’s so much waiting to be discovered out there.
Q: What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
: With social anxiety, the thought of approaching a stranger at a networking event is daunting for me 🙂 I find risky physical activities much easier; I’ve cage-dived with great white sharks, bungee jumped, and skydived.
Skydiving is the wildest - there’s something surreal about going up in a plane and not landing in one.
Q: Why do you write on Substack?
: I write on Substack to create a space where I blend my obsessions for neuroscience, art, and personal growth. It’s a chance to connect with fellow explorers who are navigating the challenges of burnout and looking for ways to improve their lives and work. Writing lets me express my curiosity about the human condition while also reflecting on my own experiences. I love sharing insights as a Burnout Coach and Art-based Practioner, offering tips, tools, and a bit of inspiration along the way. It’s easy to collaborate with others along the way, through guest posts and podcast interviews.
It’s important to share evidence-based research concepts, especially ideas people may not have read before. I want to challenge the neuro-myths out there too (e.g., the lizard or reptilian brain - we don’t have one, only lizards do!).
Exploring ideas and sparking conversations with the global community is brilliant too. It’s not just about sharing knowledge; it’s about creating connections and supporting each other on our personal and professional journeys.
Q: What are your values as a writer/creator?
: Curious, Informative, Accessible, Fun.I am a nerd at heart, so having a solid, practical or research-based foundation to what I share and why I share it is key to what I offer. But I want to make it accessible to people who are curious, but might not know how to use what they read in their own lives.
Q: How do you connect with your readers?
: I've been active on Substack Notes daily for the past few months, and it's a lot of fun. There's always something new and interesting to discover. I send out weekly posts and love reading and responding to comments. Over on X, I’ve been writing daily for more than a year - it helps me check ideas resonating most with my readers.
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with Substack Chat, creating threads to ask questions and gather direct feedback from my subscribers. I also share pics of my urban foxes and my cats - I can’t help it!
As I move through 2024 and into 2025, I’m expanding my paid offerings beyond the 1:1 Restore. Reset. Resilient. Coaching Programme to include group coaching, self-paced eBooks, and courses. This is all part of the Burnout Recovery Playbook I've developed from years of research and hands-on experience.
Starting in October, I’ll be launching free group coaching through live Quarterly Art-Based Coaching Action Board Masterclasses - a creative and practical space for exploring wellbeing goals together.
It’s a lot to manage alongside my day job, but incredibly rewarding. I can’t wait!
Q: Why did you join the Connected Community project, and how do you find it so far?
: This entrepreneurial and online writing process is a challenging but rewarding one. It’s much easier to move ahead in a group. This is especially true when you’ve self-censored for decades or struggle to share your vulnerabilities publicly. I’ve found when I share those intrusive thoughts or painful parts, people connect and lean in more. It’s not what I expected, but it’s so important and valuable.
Magdalena and her energy, coordination, and frankly, herding cats skills (!) is amazing to witness. I wish I had 15% of her energy.
I’m always keen to try group activities so we share ideas, lessons, pep talks, and build accountability together.
As a lifelong learner, it’s a wonderful way to connect and grow and helps me get past my perfectionistic and socially anxious tendencies. Ultimately, once we get out of our way, we serve those who most need our help.
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Fantastic interview. I'm a big fan of @SabrinaAhmed's work. It's so lovely to learn more about her in this format. I didn't know her origin story!
Thanks for the invitation to share my story with the community Magdalena! Appreciate it