Meet the Founder: Shyaw Nawroly
Through its Female Founder Fellowship Program, Five One Labs supports incredible growth-stage, women-led enterprises. For the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to some of these business leaders.
First up is Shyaw Latif, family counselor and co-founder of FAM academy. Learn more on FAM academy’s Facebook page!
Shyaw delivering a training for women at The Lab:Suli in Sulaimani in 2019.
Can you give a brief introduction about yourself?
I am Shyaw Nawroly, Family Counselor and Co-founder of FAM academy. It’s amazing that from childhood I have had a passion to help individuals enjoy their family life. So after graduating from computer engineering, I decided to follow my heart and successfully started my journey in Family Education and Counseling in Istanbul University, Turkey. It was a decision that changed my life both personally and professionally, and hopefully the life of hundreds of families yet to come.
I was fortunate to be among the very first staff of Family Counseling Clinic, a recently established clinic by Ministry of Health, to prepare and deliver sex education programs for newly married couples. Besides conveying my message through training, I have translated four parenting books into Kurdish.
Can you tell us about your business? What inspired you to start it?
FAM academy, family and marriage academy is a pioneer organization in providing professional services to families in the Kurdistan Region. Through its training, workshop, seminar and counseling services, we aim to develop the interpersonal ties within the family.
Soon after my marriage to Ahmed Khalidi, I realized there is lots of work to be done. Because of this I started a self-discovery journey - which I am still in - passing through different levels of awareness. Acquiring the necessary skills to manage emotional relationships made huge changes in my intrapersonal and interpersonal life. I am not exaggerating when I say there is a “Shyaw Before” and “Shyaw After.” Now when I look back I see that investing in myself was the best decision I have ever made. Then I shared my experience with couples and parents through workshops and counseling sessions. The impact was life-changing. Contributing to the marital and parental satisfaction of my people was giving a different meaning to my life. At the same time it made me more responsible toward them which eventually led me to establish FAM academy.
Furthermore, being trained by some pioneering names in their field, like Joseph Dilard, the founder of IDL; Daniala Simons, internationally known psychodramatist; and Adem Gunes author of best sellers in Turkey, created a sense of responsibility toward my community. My people should have access to reliable psychological services as is the case in the rest of the world.
So far we have delivered the following trainings:
Your competent child (parenting with no yelling)
My Family Project
School of parenting (includes six trainings regarding parenthood and child education)
Sex education for couples
Sex education for children
Child protection
Premarital course
Relationship course
What are some of the challenges your business has faced and how have you addressed them?
Maslow has successfully described the human needs in a hierarchy. According to his classification individuals, as well as communities, fulfill their needs for connection and self-actualization after they have fulfilled their physiological and basic security needs. Unfortunately individuals of this geography have suffered a lot and have gone through many traumatizing experiences. Being in survival mode has left so little room for shifting into thriving mode.
That being said, investing in mental and relational well-being is often not given the importance it deserves. It is only recently that people in my community have come to the realization that marital and parental satisfaction have a great influence on the total satisfaction one may have in life. So it can be said that one of the biggest challenges is that people are not familiar with this kind of training services. Not to mention the fact that financial shortages people have experienced in recent years have led them to think of these activities as luxury.
But as they see the big changes occur in their life they pay more and more attention to this aspect.
What is your proudest moment/biggest achievement when it comes to your business?
No feeling resembles the joy of helping someone find her voice and sense of gratitude in life. How lucky I am to be able to do so! I can honestly say that one of my biggest motivators is the changes that my clients make in their life. Through my career as a family counselor and trainer, I have come across so many inspiring stories from which I learned the power of acceptance and gratitude. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your life story. It is a big achievement when participants at the end of each training ask for further sessions.
Can you tell us about your experience starting your business in Kurdistan?
As a startup it was never easy to establish the business of my dreams. At the beginning there were so many uncertainties and challenges, including being a woman, introducing a new service to the community and building a business mindset which I was not familiar with until then, to name a few of them. Having a successful experience in counseling and a good reputation after having implemented several projects with local NGOs enabled me to reach my audience easily. Social media was a practical platform for delivering my content to the audience. I want to take this opportunity to give wholehearted gratitude to my family, mentor and friends from Five One Labs for their continuous support all along the journey.
How have you supported other women in your community?
Today more than any day in history, we can see the negative outcomes of being trapped in gender stereotypes. After decades of struggle and refusing to bend before common provisions, now we are witnessing the age of brave women struggling to make their choices and fulfill their potential.
As a female entrepreneur I am proud that empowering women is at the top of my priorities. Through trainings I have always focused on raising awareness around gender equality and empowering women to set their own boundaries in relationships and provide a space for their individuality.
Through my training I have addressed some issues that were considered taboo in the society; women's rights in sexual satisfaction; dividing household and parenting responsibilities equally; and encouraging women to become productive, just to mention few of them.
Why did you join the Five One Labs Female Founder Fellowship, and how has your experience been?
I joined Five One Labs just at the right time. What does a startup need when she jumps into the busy world of business? A mentor? Trainings on project and financial management? Marketing strategies? Supervision and feedback? Financial support? All of it. right? That is how I was and still am being supported by Five One Labs.
What advice do you have for someone trying to start their own project/business?
Having your own business begins with a big passion and realistic planning. Believe in your inner wisdom and never take self-investment for granted. Start with the end in mind and get sufficient basics about business and management. Find the balance between your career and social life and never ever stray from your values.
