40 March 2015 www.womanthismonth.com PEOPLE | cover story When Aziza Salman realised she was spending so much time at work she had no time to spend her earnings, she promptly quit and decided to change her path. She explains: “I was working for a large credit card company in IT and was leaving the office one night at 11pm, after an IT crisis, when I realised I hadn’t seen my kids for two days. “I thought to myself, ‘Is this the way life is supposed to be?’ I had enough money but no time to spend it and enjoy it. I realised then that something was wrong and the very next day, I resigned. “My boss tried to talk me out of it but I asked myself, ‘Would I be happy here even if I was the CEO?’ and the answer was no, because there would always still be directions to follow and people to tell you what to do. You’re not doing what you think, what you’re passionate about.” Originally planning to be a doctor, Aziza’s family steered her towards IT and finance, believing that was the way of the future. She signed up for a computer science course but says: “My GPA was zero! I didn’t go to the classes, it just seemed so boring.” Next up came biology where “they talked about plastics, nothing to do with humans; again, I had no interest” and another one bit the dust! Eventually Aziza graduated with honours in business information systems, allowing her to put her IT and people skills to good use at the same time. But though she went on to work for several large international organisations, the office environment was not for her – eventually leading to that cathartic late-night experience and the dramatic resignation which left her feeling “liberated”. She continues: “I starting reading about entrepreneurship and went on a course run by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) aimed at helping people to become entrepreneurs. It was inspiring to see people ready to fly and, with the support of my husband and family, I decided to set up my photographic studio ‘Paparazzi’.” A measure of the woman’s sheer guts is that she launched the studio with no formal photographic training, knowing simply that she loved being in front of the camera but was often unimpressed with the professional shots Mum of two, TV presenter and successful entrepreneur Aziza Salman talks flunking college and following your dreams. Live your passion
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