Women’s History Month gives us a chance to appreciate the many influences women around the globe have made and highlight those who are doing dynamic things. During March, we have the opportunity to center all things fabulous and female. (Although here at Haute Hijab, we do that throughout the year!) As stories of historical figures and modern women making waves proliferate our landscape, I often wonder about the women in their lives who inspired or continue to inspire them to take chances and persevere.

Muslim women can be each other's best inspirers and motivators. I wanted to explore who other notable Muslim women credited as their inspiration, and with that in mind I focused my attention on business strategist Halimah DeOlivera, who recently was featured in Haute Hijab’s Positive Threads campaign.

I’ve watched Halimah encourage Muslim women in business by providing vital resources and motivation through her work as a consultant, coach and author of financial self-help books like Pray and Grow Rich. Halimah is a ball of encouragement with the ability to uplift a crowd. She spends a lot of her time and energy building up Muslim women through her BeYouInHD coaching, Boss Hijabi Society and Boss Hijabi Preneur Podcast, which is what I’m listening to while I write this post.

For someone who is in the business of inspiring and motivating others, I wonder who inspires Halimah while engaging in her great work.

Halimah says she draws on great Muslimahs from the past and present for inspiration. One woman she especially relates to is Hajar, wife of the Prophet Ibrahim.

“The reason why I choose Hajar is because of her tenacity, tawwakul (trust in Allah) and undying faith in Allah (S). No matter what was going on in that desert, she knew that Allah (S) was going to see her through that and she would be victorious. Although we may look at it from a faith standpoint, there are also business lessons to take.

“While she (Hajar) was in the desert, she ran back and forth between Safar and Marwa with the complete faith that Allah (S) was going to see her through. We learn that while we should have faith in Allah (S), we should also do something on our own. We have to move our own feet.”

The second business lesson, says Halima, is “that within Hajar’s story is when an angel stamped on the ground and water sprung up. Hajar took rocks and debris to contain the water, creating an entire business and industry around it. We now drink from that well today. Zam Zam is a well that provides us with blessed water, but it is also a well that generated jobs and a business, essentially until the end of time.”

Hajar’s presence of mind at that moment created a business. “She inspires me because she took something potentially harmful (being left alone in the desert with a baby) and turned it into something good for herself, her child and for humanity to receive sustenance and goodness for the rest of time.”

Another Muslimah who Halimah cited as a source of inspiration is Haute Hijab’s CEO Melanie Elturk. She tells a story about how Melanie’s support contributed to her keeping her Not Without My Hijab project afloat. Halimah wrote the book Not Without My Hijab and produced a play with the same name to highlight the struggles some Muslim women go through in wearing, removing and reclaiming hijab. In the initial stages, the campaign faced challenges.

“I didn’t have Muslim community support when I started the Be You in HD LLC,” Halimah explained, “particularly when it came to the ‘Not Without My Hijab’ campaign. I was struggling financially, I was putting up my own money and knocking on doors for support. I met with a lot of resistance in the beginning, specifically by men in the community. I had more people against ‘Not Without My Hijab’ than for it. You would think that there would be more people behind hijabi and Muslim women empowerment, but there wasn’t.”

Halimah says that connecting with Melanie helped save the campaign.

“I didn’t know Melanie at all, but I reached out to her and asked for 20 hijabs that I would be able to give away. When I received the hijabs, I cried. I didn’t know this woman from anywhere, yet she trusted me with her product. When I opened the box, I said, ‘Allah this is from you, and I know this is you telling me to keep going.’ Just from that box, Melanie gave me fuel to keep going for another year.”

Halimah said that since connecting with Melanie, she also benefits from her advice.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but we go to the same mosque,” Halimah said. “I get to see her at Jumu’ah every now and then. We’ve had conversations, and I’ve asked her questions. She has given me very sound nasihah (advice), from personal and business perspectives.

“One of the things I admire most about her is how she conducts herself in business. It’s never really about her, it is about her team and the community of women she serves. She also reminds me that we have to remember the platforms and amana (trusts) we’ve been given, and we have to hold ourselves accountable. While we are being true to ourselves, strong and powerful, we have to understand that there is something greater than our ego or what we got going on.”

Halimah continues to look toward Muslim businesswomen and influencers like Melanie while she edifies women in their ventures with her advice and encouragement. Since I had her ear, I asked her how she maintains the strength and positivity to be a source of inspiration.

It’s not easy being other people's cheerleaders. Tooting someone else’s horn is potentially draining and thankless. But for Halimah the importance of supporting and uplifting Muslim women is worth the effort.

“I believe that empowering and uplifting the women of the community helps not only the Muslim community but the society as a whole. The more we allow women to tap into their intelligence, the better the Muslim community and society will be.

“When a woman comes to me with an idea, I tell her, ‘go sis!’ Often, there is no one around her doing that for her. I hope that my little, ‘go, go, go’ will motivate her and count on my scale of good deeds in the hereafter.”

Halimah says that there are times when she is drained, but she engages in self-care to fortify and reinvigorate herself. “I often get worn out when I’m trying to help people who don’t want to be helped or when I’m helping in a capacity that is beyond what I am able to give.

“On the days that I’m worn out, I am silent and ask Allah (S) if this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I spend time with the Quran and praying, begging for Allah (S) to guide me and for strength.”

Islam teaches us to support one another. Prophet Muhammad (saws) said

By helping each other, we pave a way for ourselves to earn Allah’s (S) pleasure and mercy.