Sihame El Kaouakibi
speaker
330 appearances
6 recordings
1 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard May 2025
Sihame El Kaouakibi’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
And I had to experience it in a very hard way. But this healing journey is... It was an opportunity, is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to pivot. It's a journey to re-node purpose and direction. And today you just understand that you need to build your mental health and the way you approach life and projects or work or whatever, relationships in a more sustainable way.
And of course, it took me a lot of time. It took me three years. And so that's why I said besides consulting, I love coaching because I don't think it has to take three years and you can do this alone. So I'm so privileged that during my mental health crisis.
journey like going from rock bottom to where i am today and how i approach life today is of course because i had an abundance of love and warmth and grateful to have the health the physical health as well and to be able to cope with this very dark period to where i am today full of light
Politics is a difficult chapter in my life, so I'll take time to think about the lines that I want to share. And I think I have to start from the beginning and then go towards the lessons learned. So if I start with the beginning, back then I was 28, working at full speed as an entrepreneur.
Our organizations were making a huge impact on youth and people through empowerment, impact-driven consultancy. And actually, I never...
intended to run for elections really several party leaders asked me to join their party and run i always said no was my default answer because we had impact and freedom to speak up without political affiliation so we could advocate for change for equality and justice really but like the rest of europe and the west belgium saw the rise of extreme parties
far-right, conservatism, we had this racism, sexism, name it, you name it. And social media, and I was a target for that, social media became a hotbed for hate speech, which of course hurts as a community builder and leader that what we were doing, bringing people together, creating sense of belonging, uniting people through projects, tangible achievements, youth centers, et cetera.
So when I saw that these elections In 2019, this was end of 2018, beginning 2019, these elections would be pivotal for the country. So that's where, when one of the, some people came to me from a certain party, that's the first time, it was the timing as well. I was emotional because everything was happening. I could see it in the news. I was like, well, what is this?
All these campaigns, anti-women, anti-migrants, et cetera. So I decided to run in 24 hours. I consulted, of course. People close to me, but like with everything, these people that knew me as a high-performing woman, always stubborn, just doing my thing, ego-driven decisions, they just, they couldn't hold me back. I know they wanted to do, but they couldn't.
They just knew that I wasn't, they weren't able to hold me back. And that was like part of my personality and also part of being stubborn in your goals and in your visions to make a change. I decided to run, got elected, but it was from... Day one of campaigning, very challenging. We had this conservatism, nationalism, far-right. They had almost 50% representation.
So can you imagine being in parliament? More than 50% is really the opposite of what you stand for and who you are and, you know, what my looks are and etc. So it's created a tough work environment. People forget that it's a work environment. You go to your work as a member of parliament.
Plus, we faced COVID and Black Lives Matter during my first year, making me work from zero to 200% in politics. And that's where I really regret the decision because I went into politics at a bad time. I had several big projects and teams running. So when I started my mandate, I invested all my time in politics and people, leaving my teams and projects behind.
And of course, there were other managers and board members, etc. You were the face, so you were accountable. And this really gave my political opponents the best shot to spin and turn disinformation, hurting my reputation. And I almost lost everything. My health even led to, like I said, bankruptcy.
And it's just because I was quite naive, because choosing one party made other parties that supported, for example, our organizations... organizations, yeah, furious. They felt that's something typical of politics. They always feel that you owe them, right? And because of my choice, it felt for them like betrayal.
So my initial motivation to speak up in these hard times, pivotal times for the country, as a community builder with 15 years of experience, let's go into politics and have this system changing. The initial motivation was it may be legit, but the consequences. I didn't think about the consequences enough. And it was a very hard way to experience this harsh truth.
And it became now a reset button on my 35th birthday. But the good thing, I lost a big part of my ego and my relationships and health are stronger than ever. Because the key lessons really is, because that was a big part of your question. So sorry that I'm just answering now. If I think about it, I wasn't aligned with my values and beliefs anymore.
So my lesson is, if you feel you have to give up on your principles, quit. Certainly in politics, quit. Don't fight. And it's like, oh, see, that's not really courageous. It's because the status quo is hard to change. And especially if you speak up for the underrepresented, if something happens to you, they can't speak up for you. You lose anyway.
And especially when you started politics from a kind of a messiah complex, where you go into politics because you want to change things, because you believe you can change things. And thinking that you can change deep-rooted inequalities, like just by yourself, it's Not true. It's not possible.
So first of all, I actually had to convert my circles of trust and credibility communities to the bigger purpose. And then at the bottom, you need to build strong foundations. Your mandate actually isn't associated just with you, but stands for bigger projects. That's the only way that you don't isolate, but that you can start to collaborate together.
And another key lesson, don't make eco-driven decisions. Sometimes you have to stay low, work harder, because when you rise too fast, the powers in place will focus on you, will bring you down quickly. And then the question is left, like, what legacy is then left? What change did you bring? Was it for the better or for the worse?
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