Chief Change Officer
#363 Sihame El Kaouakibi: Burnout, Bankruptcy, and the Beauty of Reinvention—Part One
Sun, 11 May 2025
What happens when a rising political star crashes—publicly, painfully, and all at once?In Part One, Sihame El Kaouakibi, Moroccan-born former Belgian MP and five-time founder, shares the deeply personal story behind her public unraveling. Once a celebrated social entrepreneur and national leader, Sihame faced burnout, betrayal, and bankruptcy—all while navigating racism, politics, and impossible expectations.But instead of disappearing, she rebuilt. This episode is a raw look at what it means to hit rock bottom, question your worth, and slowly rise again—stronger, clearer, and more committed to purpose than ever. If you’ve ever felt stuck, silenced, or lost in your own ambition, this one’s for you.Key Highlights of Our Interview:Burnout, Bankruptcy, and the Breakthrough“I lost everything—my energy, my confidence, even my bank account. But it became fertile ground.”When Validation Becomes Addiction“I built my identity on achievements. Without them, I felt like nobody.”Politics Was a Zero-Sum Game. So She Quit.“Entrepreneurship was about creation. Politics was about survival—and I was dying inside.”The Messiah Complex Trap“I believed I could change everything. I was wrong—and I paid the price.”The Privilege of Slowing Down“I had to let go of control, ego, and my former self. Healing took three years—but it gave me my life back.”The Environment You Choose Shapes the Outcome You Get“You’re not stuck—you’re just in the wrong pot. Rejection can be redirection.”Women Leaders OS: Built From Her Own Scars“I help women go from burnout to breakthrough—not with hustle, but with internal belief and system-level support.”The Ugly Side of Glamour“People you envy might be drowning. Success isn’t always Instagram-pretty.”_____________________Connect with Us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Sihame El Kaouakibi --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.18 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1.5% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>170,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: Who is Sihame El Kaouakibi and what shaped her journey?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist humility for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. How do I even begin to introduce our first guest from Belgium who has Moroccan roots? Her name is Siham El-Kawakibi.
She is a Moroccan immigrant, a burnout and bankruptcy survivor, a parliamentarian, a champion of diversity and inclusion. She is also the creator of Women Leaders OS and a Women's Leadership Coach. She is all these and more. Beyond these identities, what truly impresses me are the experiences that have shaped these transformations. Some people thrive in politics. others in stability.
Siham thrives in adversity. She describes herself as more than resilient. She is antifragile. I see her as someone who has learned over time to turn adversity into an advantage. is not an inborn talent. Rather, it's something nurtured and developed. How? Let's find out.
Hello, hello.
Yes, I'm here. Thank you. Seaham has over 20 years of experience across both the private and public sectors, along with a wealth of personal experiences. That's so much we can talk about today. Before that, Could you give us an overview of your journey through the key milestones of your life and career? Then we'll explore different elements in more detail.
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Chapter 2: How did Sihame transform adversity into resilience?
All right. What an opening. That's quite a story, right? So, for the people listening, my name is Sihem. I was born in 86 to Moroccan immigrants in Belgium. I was raised there, studied there, worked there. In the past 20 years, I was an entrepreneur, actually a five-time founder, former member of parliament. And yeah, I actually have to just be very honest.
As a young woman of color, I did face a lot of adversity. And my milestone started there, I think, because I found a way through education, hard work and luck to transform adversity into a sort of resilience. My experience really sparked for me a super deep desire to turn these societal hurdles into driving force for change. So my milestone is there the nonprofit work.
I founded, designed, implemented award-winning empowerment programs, education programs for youth and women. But simultaneously, I did enter the entrepreneurial world, co-founded several firms, especially focused on next-gen inclusion and diversity. Yeah, that was like the first 15 years. And then five years ago, I entered politics as a member of parliament.
And that changed really everything, but more the worse. where entrepreneurship is a positive sum game, I can assure you politics is a zero-sum game. It became this toxic work environment. And yeah, a couple of years ago, three, four years ago, I went through a very difficult burnout. Period of burnout, diagnosed PTSD. So it forced me to slow down.
During slowing down, what is a privilege today that you can slow down, I healed, started pivoting. And actually, I really went from being burnt out, confused, overwhelmed, even bankrupt to now being back in the best shape of my life, physically, mentally. I'm resilient, but actually more than resilient. I love to say I'm antifragile. I really find strength in adversity and
I'm in a career that I'm more proud of than ever. So I can probably say that today I'm a skin in the game consultant. Impact and innovation is my thing at the intersection of people, prosperity, planet. And actually it's about converting SDGs into tangible results. And besides consulting, I love coaching high-performing women because we can relate. And I think that's also the way we met, Vince.
Yes, we met through common friends and explored common topics, which is one of the reasons why I really wanted to interview you. You have so much knowledge and real experience to share. As I mentioned in the show notes, I don't sell the success stories of my guests. They are obviously successful in their own way and in their own space.
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Chapter 3: What led to Sihame's burnout and how did it affect her?
But what makes this podcast special is the real stories, the lived experiences, which sometimes aren't very pleasant. You mentioned mental health, which is undoubtedly a hot topic in today's world. Honestly, in a world as complex and challenging as ours, who can truly say they are perfectly mentally healthy? We all have to deal with different kinds of stress and burnout. So let's stop here.
Let's talk about mental health. If I understood you correctly, Is this something that stems from your years in politics? Or does it go further back? Maybe to your childhood, adolescence, or work life in the private sector? Please share more about the challenges you faced.
Yeah, I love the question again, because like you said, mental health is something a lot of people deal with today. It's not only about measuring mental health and having more assessments and having more people going to therapy or talking about it. It's really an issue that in this
difficult times where everything is a little bit confusing, where we have a lack of leadership as well, a lack of sense of belonging sometimes, that the things that are happening in the world also just weigh on people. And for me, politics was maybe ignited something that was, of course, leads to something from a young age.
And of course, as a child, OK, but it's the last four years that have been transformational. Like I said, I was always on top of my game, going like a high-speed train. I had these very short and long-term goals, high on the prize, accomplishment. And then when life takes an unexpected turn, for me, in just one day, I went from doing very well to hitting rock bottom.
And that confusion, stress, anxiety, but also the rejection that came with it had such a huge impact on my mental health, life, and career that, of course, when you slow down and dig deeper and do the work,
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Chapter 4: How did Sihame navigate mental health challenges and recovery?
Yeah, of course, it's connected with who is Siham, who was Siham when she was like this eight-year-old child and then in her teenager time, what led Siham to this, yeah, to this time of confusion. So for me, for example, when everything happened to me a couple of years ago, like really the big, Clack. The doors slammed shut in my face. I really tried to solve the situation with coping mechanisms.
I knew. But it made things worse. So this really led to life-changing questions. It also led to zero self-belief and confidence. And you mentioned success. For me... I personalize myself with success. But when you personalize yourself with your success, you do the same with your failures. Without success, without my work, without external validation and recognition, I felt like nothing.
I felt a nobody. And this comes from someone whose work was empowering people until they could say, I am somebody. So this was really so painful. The rejection was, I couldn't get a grasp on my life again. So I really had to put in a lot of work. after I realized that rock bottom can become fertile ground. And it became fertile ground for me. But I couldn't do this by myself.
It was my support system. It was coaching. It was therapy. It was podcasts, books, going back to study, all these things, all these programs. I decided to use this rock bottom as a reset button. And yeah, I could just rebuild from the ground up. What are your values? Politics led me far away from my core beliefs and values, so I could align back with my real values.
I could rewrite my purpose, my ikigai. I could align them with what I was doing, with my action, and I could redefine success, health. And even though it's actually this period of struggling with my mental health changed my perspective on what it means to have a successful career and to be at our best in our health, at work, in our careers, in our relationships.
And that personal journey became just this transformation to let go of a lot of things, to let go of control, to let go of my ego, the ego of my past success, I call it. Do you really want to go back to the person you were, the situation you were in?
And no, embrace the privilege that maybe the fact that you can slow down can also has led me to realizing that I am somebody without accolades and achievements. So actually, my mental health today is better than before. But before, I didn't feel it because I was so busy in my head. I wasn't in my body. So today, it's really being aligned with your mind, body and soul. It's true.
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.
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Chapter 5: What lessons did Sihame learn from her political career?
Chapter 6: How does Sihame view success, identity, and self-worth after her struggles?
Chapter 7: Why does Sihame call herself antifragile and how does she find strength in adversity?
I'm in a career that I'm more proud of than ever. So I can probably say that today I'm a skin in the game consultant. Impact and innovation is my thing at the intersection of people, prosperity, planet. And actually it's about converting SDGs into tangible results. And besides consulting, I love coaching high-performing women because we can relate. And I think that's also the way we met, Vince.
Yes, we met through common friends and explored common topics, which is one of the reasons why I really wanted to interview you. You have so much knowledge and real experience to share. As I mentioned in the show notes, I don't sell the success stories of my guests. They are obviously successful in their own way and in their own space.
But what makes this podcast special is the real stories, the lived experiences, which sometimes aren't very pleasant. You mentioned mental health, which is undoubtedly a hot topic in today's world. Honestly, in a world as complex and challenging as ours, who can truly say they are perfectly mentally healthy? We all have to deal with different kinds of stress and burnout. So let's stop here.
Let's talk about mental health. If I understood you correctly, Is this something that stems from your years in politics? Or does it go further back? Maybe to your childhood, adolescence, or work life in the private sector? Please share more about the challenges you faced.
Yeah, I love the question again, because like you said, mental health is something a lot of people deal with today. It's not only about measuring mental health and having more assessments and having more people going to therapy or talking about it. It's really an issue that in this
difficult times where everything is a little bit confusing, where we have a lack of leadership as well, a lack of sense of belonging sometimes, that the things that are happening in the world also just weigh on people. And for me, politics was maybe ignited something that was, of course, leads to something from a young age.
And of course, as a child, OK, but it's the last four years that have been transformational. Like I said, I was always on top of my game, going like a high-speed train. I had these very short and long-term goals, high on the prize, accomplishment. And then when life takes an unexpected turn, for me, in just one day, I went from doing very well to hitting rock bottom.
And that confusion, stress, anxiety, but also the rejection that came with it had such a huge impact on my mental health, life, and career that, of course, when you slow down and dig deeper and do the work,
Yeah, of course, it's connected with who is Siham, who was Siham when she was like this eight-year-old child and then in her teenager time, what led Siham to this, yeah, to this time of confusion. So for me, for example, when everything happened to me a couple of years ago, like really the big, Clack. The doors slammed shut in my face. I really tried to solve the situation with coping mechanisms.
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