Usman Sheikh · 43 min
A Pakistani immigrant boy who fell into gangs and nearly dropped out of school found his way back through grit, a supportive relationship, and a father's relentless belief in education, and built a business that now creates opportunities for others left behind by circumstance.
Hear this story
Usman arrived in Canada at 11, stepping off a plane into a world of cramped apartments, multiple jobs, and the sharp realisation that his family couldn't afford winter boots. His parents worked relentless hours to keep them afloat. By his early teens, with too much unsupervised freedom and not enough oversight, Usman fell into the wrong crowd. He got pulled into gang activity, failed multiple courses, and nearly got expelled from school. His parents had no idea. He was getting beaten up, skipping classes, doing things he knew were wrong but couldn't seem to stop.
What changed was a girl from school who saw him slipping and refused to let him disappear into it. She kept telling him he could be better. Around the same time, his father kept hammering the same message: education was the way out. His dad had taught himself IT with no prior experience, left school as a teenager to support his own family, and now he was saying the same thing to Usman. By grade 12, something clicked. Usman walked out of that school, enrolled himself in a different one without telling anyone, and studied harder than he ever had. He got a 86 average and earned scholarships to university. His grades proved something to his younger siblings: the way out was real.
Today, Usman runs a business he built from the ground up, hiring people from backgrounds like his own, talented people nobody else gave a chance to. He learned long ago that fairness doesn't happen by itself, and that the people who genuinely care about you, the ones who stick around when you're lost, are everything.
“it really is a story of him coming into his own finding his own identity in a brand new country which is something that people who've never understood that or lived in a different country can't understand”
“we can't afford to get boots for the winter right you know so we would have to work with the sneakers we had throughout the summer and that's what you have”
“it was a period for a couple of years where it became very dark where I got involved in lots of fights I skipped classes and I believe in grade 10 I failed two courses in grade 11 I failed three courses and I almost got kicked out”
The hero, today
The people around you who genuinely care about you are the difference between staying stuck and finding your way out; you have to recognize them, stick with them, and let go of the ones holding you back. Moving away from a toxic environment is not giving up; sometimes the only way to turn your grades around and change your life is to physically remove yourself from the people and places that keep dragging you back. His father never went to university himself but worked multiple jobs to give his kids that chance, and even though the man was angry and overbearing, his work ethic and his refusal to accept the status quo rubbed off on Usman in ways that shaped everything that came after. Usman cannot ignore people doing the wrong thing or tolerate unfairness in a workplace, which cost him corporate advancement but led him to start his own company where he could protect his team and give opportunities to people nobody else would hire. Getting a degree your parent demands and then refusing to use it is not failure; Usman got his CPA to keep his father happy but left accounting because it was not the kind of freedom he was chasing.
Yes. Usman Sheikh is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
The people around you who genuinely care about you are the difference between staying stuck and finding your way out; you have to recognize them, stick with them, and let go of the ones holding you back.
Moving away from a toxic environment is not giving up; sometimes the only way to turn your grades around and change your life is to physically remove yourself from the people and places that keep dragging you back.
His father never went to university himself but worked multiple jobs to give his kids that chance, and even though the man was angry and overbearing, his work ethic and his refusal to accept the status quo rubbed off on Usman in ways that shaped everything that came after.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 00:03
Welcome to the Kintsugi Heroes podcast, where we share inspirational stories of everyday people going through different challenges and how they overcome them. Please be aware that the story you're about to hear may have moments of deeply felt emotions and personal experiences. If anything you hear has a triggering effect, please reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you love this conversation, please like and share it with your friends so we can continue to share more inspiration and hope to as many people as possible. Now listen up for our next hero's story. Today's episode is with Usman Sheikh, and his story takes us on a journey of migration from Pakistan to Canada as a young boy. He talks about the challenges they had as a family, and then the expectations of his parents and his dad in particular, and how that shaped him, and how when he landed in Canada, the challenges he went through, you know, the bad behavior, dropping out of school, getting into trouble with even gangs and things behind his family's back. But he figured it all out, and he found his way, and he found himself. And it really is a story of him coming into his own, finding his own identity in a brand new country, which is something that people who've never understood that or lived in a different country can't understand. So for me, it was really eye-opening. Beautiful story, a beautiful man. It was wonderful to hear how he navigated those challenges of being an immigrant in Canada. So enjoy this one with Usman Sheikh. Hello and welcome. It's another episode of Kintsugi Heroes. I'm Aveline Clark and I'm here with my guest Usman Sheikh. How are you, Usman?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 02:01
Well, thank you. Thanks for having me.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:04
I'm so grateful that you're here. Uh, whereabouts are you based?
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Usman cannot ignore people doing the wrong thing or tolerate unfairness in a workplace, which cost him corporate advancement but led him to start his own company where he could protect his team and give opportunities to people nobody else would hire.
This conversation includes a family leaves pakistan for canada, learning what poverty actually costs, running with the wrong crowd, failing courses and almost expelled, a friend who saw him slipping and changing schools to escape the environment.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 02:08
We're in a small city, uh, Mississauga, uh, right by a half-hour drive from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 02:16
Lovely. Well, welcome. Thank you for making the time to be here and joining with me. So this is obviously Consumer Heroes, and you know, this is about sharing our stories, and I'm really looking forward to hearing your story. Um, how about I hand over to you and you take us back to the start? Like, where does your story begin?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 02:40
Yes. Uh, okay, so this is, um, this is, I guess Beginning for us, or for me, for this story, was really kind of the time we migrated from Pakistan into Canada. Pakistan, in that part of the world, given the income stream we had, we were a reasonably middle-class family, what have you. And then we worked really hard to migrate to a better quality of life because of better education, what have you. And we wanted to do something that was, as a family, you know, to grow in the right direction. However, when we migrated into this nation, I think I was 11 years old and it was a June hot summer day. And I still remember that day because I had gone through a 24-hour flight and that dress shirt that I was wearing, even at the age of 11, it was sticky by the time I came out the airport. So, but, you know, it was very hopeful, very delighted, great to be here, but surprised that it was so hot even in summer at this time of year. But very, very happy. But, you know, we came in and we didn't know a lot. You know, we had some family here as well. But everybody was really, you know, the working class, they weren't all well off, they were just getting by and everybody had, but they were kind enough to kind of let us into their homes so we could transition into this nation. You know, I had, and it was the 5 of us at that, 6 of us at that time, myself, my 3 siblings, my 2 parents, and then we moved into another apartment, small apartment, a bone bag apartment with one washer and a family of 6 that moved into it with another family that was there. So it became quite a crowded little place. And that to me was a bit of a shock because we were coming from a reasonably established house and then moving into a very small little area where even getting access to like the washroom, you had to wait 40 minutes or whatever and plan these things out. And that was a bit of a rude awakening. And, you know, and obviously because we didn't have the The conversion, currency conversion didn't yield us a lot of funds to start with. We quickly learned how expensive everything was. And what that led to was my mom and my dad really becoming very good workers where we traded dollars for hours. And in order to support the basic needs of the family and feed the family. My mom did 3 jobs. My dad did 2 jobs at ridiculous hours. He loved doing overtime because they would pay time and a half and he still jokes about it. He loves overtime. And what that, when that started happening in the first 6 months, just so we could survive, we soon realized that, you know, financial struggles that everyone kind of knows about but takes for granted unless they don't go through it was a very real problem for me at the age of 11, when I realized that, hey, this is an actual struggle where, you know, we can't afford to get boots for the winter, right? You know, so we would have to work with the sneakers we had throughout the summer. And that's what you have, you know. And so at that age, you know, having to kind of step up because my parents were working so much, take care of my younger siblings, take on a parental role where, you know, everything from having to deal with cooking, making sure you have good enough playtime, they're entertained. And at that time, there was no such thing as Netflix where you can kind of put screen time. If people have it, take care of the kids. And so you do have to be a more engaged older sibling. And that was a bit of a surprise. And at what, that age, I had come to the realization that we have to kind of get out of this rat race and have to figure out a way to do that. So the seeds for coming up with the vision or the dream that I really wanted to make reality as I got older, were kind of planted at that young of an age. We struggled through it, you know, but over time with hard work and progression, you know, there were setbacks at times. You know, my dad had to go layoffs, you know, we made some bad financial decisions. And because of that, we felt it again and we struggled, but, you know, we kept together as a family. And even with all of that, you know, it progressed on, life progressed moving forward in the direction of, okay, just surviving and surviving. But then we got to a point where we From age 11 to 13 or 14, a couple of years passed where high school was, again, when you have a kid who's got so much responsibility and who's got so much autonomy in their decision-making and they're working, the parents are working so fast and so much in order to make their ends meet. That's too much, I think, you know, freedom at that age. And you know, you get exposed to the wrong crowd. And I did get exposed to the wrong crowd. I was at that age, you know, 13 to 14, I was hanging out with folks that were part of a gang that, you know, were part of drugs. There was, you know, illegal activities that I was exposed to on a regular basis. And my parents didn't know about this at that time because obviously they were too busy and they were just trying to be good parents by making sure that at least we could pay the rent and put food on the table. But it was tough because there was a period for a couple of years where it became very dark where I got involved in lots of fights. I skipped classes. And I believe in grade 10, I failed 2 courses. In grade 11, I failed 3 courses and I almost got kicked out, expelled out of school because of problems. In fact, I think I failed history below the age of 35. Like, who fails history? You just have to show up to kind of finish the stuff and read the material and then write what's that happened, but I failed it so below the mark that I couldn't even repeat it and make it up for in summer school. In fact, I think I failed chemistry. No, I failed biology and history below the 35, so I couldn't make it up. So I was really falling behind in school by the time grade 11 happened. And I got into too many fights. One time I got beat up very hard. I didn't go home until late until I had cleaned up and put them bandages. My parents didn't even know about this. And among all this, as I'm struggling through it, I think what happened was I became really good friends with, at that point, I didn't know she was going to end up becoming my wife, but at that point she was just a friend. And she just kind of saw me struggling and tried to steer me away from it. And I think that light, that show, that was there that pulled me out of the community that I had become so ingrained in, whether it was through drugs or gang activity or just doing horrible school or just like pointless BS. You know, there was something positive there that I said, hey, I want to keep this. And it kind of became a hope. And I realized at that moment, and when I was there in that school, when I kept failing courses, that I've got to get away from this crowd. So by the time grade 12 happened, I walked away. And because, no, actually in grade 12, I didn't walk away. In OEC, I walked away. By the time I was in grade 12, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to turn this around and I'm going to make this work. And I have to get into college because my dad was at that pace. After me is like, you're the first kid, you have to set the example. You know, we came here for getting education, quality of life, you must do this. And all he talked about to me, it's all day. In addition to this new support system, Abiyababiya, my wife at this stage, is saying, what the hell are you doing? You got to get organized and I want you to be a good human being and all that stuff. So I finally some, and then having experienced all the negativity that came with all the miserableness that comes with just being an aloof idiot and hanging out with the wrong crowd for so many years and doing so much bad things, I realized this isn't what I want to be by the time I'm 30 or 40 or 50. It was just, it was bad. And then I think in grade 12, I tried. I really tried. To get better grades, not skip classes. But because I was in the same school, they would still draw me in. I would still be asked to come out or there'd be a fight broken out. Okay, gotta go support. Or, you know, there was something, some other event happening. For whatever stupid reason, I just couldn't attend class. And this was a very simple and a complete reality. A lot of folks in that neighborhood in my age group. If it wasn't my gang, it was somebody else's gang in that neighborhood. And because especially for immigrant kids who don't have, you know, good oversight and a good family structure at home that kind of grounds them. So even me trying in grade 12, I couldn't get past the 66% average in my courses. And I need a minimum 70-odd or 72 to get into the most basic level university. And I realized at that point, this isn't for me. And I just left. I didn't even tell anybody in grade 12 and I just left the school and I moved to a different school and I went in, registered myself and, um, I just, it turned around and something clicked. And because I didn't have these distractions, and I think I did night schools to make up because I was going to be short credits to graduate from high school. I just studied my ass off right at that, in my final year, because until then I was going to drop out of high school and I wasn't going to get anywhere in life. Uh, whether I was going to be involved in gang, gang, uh, gangs and drugs and just bad crowd. In fact, I do have still colleagues that are addicted, have addiction issues, and they struggle with it even at this day in their 40s. You know, but if I didn't move out of that environment, I think, I think I'm happy that by always see something happen by that time I was, I was older, I was 20 years old., and, um, I was able to get my grades and I actually, my final year when I didn't have all that distraction, I got like 86 and I got scholarships in all universities. Um, and again, it wasn't like anybody was helping. I didn't have an older brother. My, there was no tutors in place. I just worked my ass off. Um, and, uh, I was able to get to universities and get through and that kind of led to my siblings seeing it, um, and turning it around as well because they were distracted while I was distracted and because I wasn't providing. In high school, because of the Brad crowd, I stopped playing that paternal role as well that I played, um, in my younger years. Yeah, and it's kind of sad because the crowd environment plays such a role in, in a person's character development. I don't know, so that's where I ended up transitioning. And I think I feel like that's where that awakening moment was from. I started when we came, um, and then I realized that I had to get out of it and I was trapped for a number of years.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 15:50
Apart from your, um, now wife, your friend at the time, was there anyone else that gave you advice or support or, you know, words of wisdom? To help you?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 16:04
I had good friends and my dad was definitely there in the moments that I was there. He used to work, he was an IT specialist at Rogers. He did anything in IT they gave him there, to be honest. And you know, he's never done IT before coming to Canada. So he had to go back to college. We didn't have a computer where we came from. Like there was no knowledge of that. At that time it was like Commodore 64 and there's like the big floppy disk that nobody sees anymore. And they're like, you see them in museums. But that's the stuff that was popular when we moved to this country. And it was, I know how much he struggled and how much he worked so hard to get that one job. At Rogers, but because of that, before that he was in telemarketing, he did retail sales, he did shipping, and he really struggled because he couldn't find his roots. So he went to colleges, he got some courses out of the way. I don't think he got a full diploma or degree of any sort, just a bunch of courses. That was enough to get him a job at Rogers, which is a very big telecommunications company in Canada. And because he was in IT, he's always working. But the moment, and he was very stressed because of a very toxic environment. So he always depressed at home to a certain extent. But in the brief moments that I did, you know, interact with him or whatnot, I think for whatever reason, he really emphasized the importance of good education and how that's going to be the salvation to our problems. And it's going to right-size everything. And now that I think about it, and I talked to my wife, Avir, about this as well, and part of the reason why I feel like he feels like that was a salvation is because my dad, to a certain extent, was also a self-made person. You know, his father died from cancer before he was born. And his mom never remarried. My grandma never remarried. And so she raised him from the age of 20 till she passed away before sometime when I was in university. And, you know, he had at that point, you know, he had to get through and he is His cousins that had a proper household, you know, his first cousins, they all got really good education. They went to Canada and US and UK and other places to get the PhDs in various different— so my uncle, my first uncle, he's a chief statistician. My other uncle, he's the head of, civil engineering at University of Toronto. And, uh, you know, for whatever reason, my dad always, I guess, looked up to them and felt that because they had access to the resources and a stable family system, they were able to get the education and get out and get ahead. And I think part of that was the reason he, whenever he did talk to me, in my teens, it was always about that story. Hey, I'm trying to create this environment so you can go get this education that I couldn't. And to be honest, I don't think it resonated until I really got in a lot of trouble and got beat up a couple of times. And I'm like, hey, what the hell am I doing? Why did we move here? Why did I struggle? And where am I going? How is this going to make somebody who cares about me so deeply and who's working his butt off? Happy. And something happened in that timeframe, that struggle that flips the switch the other way because I made wrong decisions midway. I was doing fine when we migrated here and then I met bad company and I succumbed to bad environment and stuck with it and became a worse individual. Until I got kicked in the head a couple of times. And then I really tried to fix it on my own. I couldn't do it. And I realized it's the freaking environment and I had to get out of it. So I think my dad definitely had, for whatever his faults are, and he has a ton of faults. He's an angry individual. He's stubborn as hell. He's, you know, he makes it very hard for anybody to love him, but he's a good human being and he means well. And I think his hard work ethic and his drive to pursue a way out of the rat race that we were stuck in was part of the beacon that somehow guided me towards that as well. Because, you know, as much as we want to, we are our parents' kids, especially if they do work hard to look after us in their own ways. We do see that in one way or another. And you know, there is a time when we're rebelling against them and I even do it now. I want to tell the story in his face, but there was definitely moments where, you know, he got through.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 21:30
That sounds really powerful and what a struggle, you know, and yet it's like all credit to you for somehow having this insight and the awareness Um, like you said, that just helped flip things and the guts to, to, to leave schools, you know, um, that, that takes tenacity and courage.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 21:55
Yeah, I, I appreciate that, but I don't know if it was tenacity or courage or just being sick of, of the status quo and getting bored. And it was just, it was, it was a culmination of things where I was like, hey, I'm really not going anywhere. And, you know, I did see other folks that were good human beings getting ahead. And I'm like, you know, from a work ethic perspective, and, you know, every time I did apply myself, even when I was trapped in that jungle, that was the urban gang where gangs or what have you, petty theft and other bullcrap that we got into. Even in those moments when I did apply myself. I really did enjoy mathematics and English and things of that nature. Like I remember in grade 10, in the 3 or 4 weeks in a row where I would do go to class and for some reason I'm just like, hey, I want to enjoy it. I really did enjoy algebra and what have you. And even amongst all this, like my English grade never dropped below like high 70s. And that's just because I love reading. You know, I love reading since I was like a kid. And even right now, I consume too many books. And because it's reading, and reading is entertainment to me, that's why I like English. I'm like, hey, it's just giving me novels to read and talk about them. How awesome is that? It's like watching a bloody movie. It's like, this is free. So, and there was there was always that tug from actually enjoying the work and that nerdiness inside that kind of said, hey, I want to do this and I want to fully try myself and apply myself. There were things that I definitely deviated from. Sciences, for some reason I had a block. And I think that's another thing my dad did really well when he tried to make me into a doctor. And I think If you talk to any brown dude, you know, they all want their kids to be either doctors, engineers, or lawyers. It's like, it's just, that's just like, you gotta be a doctor, you gotta be a lawyer. My son's a doctor, just, you know, flex your doctor son muscles or doctor daughter muscles. So he realized I really can do sciences, especially when he found out that I got below the requirement that I can't even make up in biology and I have to take the whole damn course again for next year. So he's like, okay, then you know what? All you're going to do is you're going to be a CPA. You're going to be an accountant. Sorry for the interruption. This is Ian Westmoreland, the founder of Kintsugi Heroes. And thank you for listening to this story from one of our amazing heroes. Our mission is for these stories to provide hope and inspiration to people experiencing life challenges and to also educate the broader community on how best to provide support. If you would like to help us to continue to produce more hero stories and cover more adversity themes, we would welcome all donations. These can be made by our website, kintsugiheroes.com.au. The donate function is at the bottom of the home page. We'd also welcome any feedback. You can email me direct using ian@kintsugiheroes.com.au. Now let's get back to the story. And you're gonna stick to this accountant, and you're gonna do this no matter what. You were an accountant. That's what he would say. You were an accountant, and you just, you know, you have to get 90 in accounting. And, you know, I bloody hated accounting, but I'm like, I don't— I hate it less than, um, biology, I think, which is like opening up, you know, frog or, uh, other bloody stuff, which I would puke on. So I couldn't tolerate it. And a lot of my wife is into this stuff, but I'm like, I don't know how you keep up with this. Um, so, uh, I did my CPA because my dad said I have to do it, even though I've never done T entry in my life, in my career. So I did the whole, you know, CPA exams. I got it. I'm like, I'm like, Dad, here it is. He's like, great, now you're going to be a great individual and you're going to be able to get out of this rat race. I'm like, I don't think so. I think I'm still going to be kind of stuck in this rat race because it's not the kind of freedom that you're thinking about. I'm going to be doing like kind of what you're doing, which is working stupid hours just to bring a paycheck home. And I said, I don't enjoy being an accountant. And he didn't get it. He's like, what the hell? You spent so much money on this and time in this and you were good at it and you've already passed and you've got your designation. A lot of people can't do it. I'm like, yeah, I'm never going to be an accountant. So I did what I could for a few years until I had, and then as soon as I could, I transitioned out of it. I did other roles outside of accounting. And even in accounting, I didn't do the traditional roles and I finally got into marketing and I just stuck with it. And I love marketing because of the psychology behind things and the color and the design and the storytelling. So it's like such a different thing. I'm like, Like, if you think about it, I'm like, how did I end up here? But it's like, that's, you do what you have to do with what you've been given, if that makes any sense.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:12
What was the impact of your career decisions from year 12 and then getting into university? You mentioned that you got scholarships. What was the impact of that on your younger siblings?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 27:25
Yeah, that's a good question. So, you know, it's, uh, interesting because, um, I do believe that, uh, you know, the— there is some things that rub off on them, uh, and I think, um, I think obviously it did have to a certain extent some positive influence. In fact, my dad milked it. I know my dad, uh, he, uh, you like, your older brother got it, you must get it too now, and if you don't get it— so he worked hard to use that to kind of coach or coerce them into getting an education. So all of us have a university degree. And then the funny thing is, all of us have a university degree or master's degree or postgraduate, and none of us are actually working in the field that we got our degrees in. And that's 4 of us. Oh, you know what, actually, let me clear that back. My youngest brother, he is a CPA as well. And he is working in finance and he enjoys it. So with that, with the exception of one, I think all of us are like, black, doing other things that we just got the degrees because our dad wanted to get it. And we got them because, you know, we had a safe base and because he wanted to keep him happy. And he said, that's all he cared about.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 28:38
Um, how looking back, I mean, obviously you've, you've had a career and you're married, you've got children now. Looking back on your upbringing and when you did immigrate to Canada, have those— how have those lessons shaped the decisions you've made or what you've done in your working life since?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 29:01
Yes, a good question. So I am a sucker for equality of opportunity, um, and I've got this, this burning desire or passion to— some reason give people who don't have access to the same opportunities because of the privilege or bank account or class in society or the connection an opportunity to shine. I like finding those. So I've built this company from the ground up finding every member of my team that has been kind of been the diamond in the rough, that is talented, that has a drive, has ambition, has talent, but has struggled from because of the circumstance that they were born in. That, you know, I— and my right-hand person in the company, my head of operations at Webworks Labs, You know, he's part of a minority group in a very backward society. And that is very discriminated on, but he's so bloody talented. And I saw that he needs a chance and man, did he fly. And because of him, more so than me, I think the company is where it is. If I didn't have people like him or Ayo Lil Green or Shazay, I wouldn't be, we wouldn't be where we are. And I think that is because of the struggles that my parents faced in looking for opportunities growing up, you know, and things of that nature that I realized, you know what, the world isn't a fair place. What the hell can I do to make it more fair?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 31:04
That's fantastic. Um, and what about your siblings? Have they had similar imprints of that time that, that's shaped their lives?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 31:20
So yeah, so that's interesting, right? So there's a lot of things that Tesla, they've done, uh, that have this, like, so, um, I'm from a brown family, right? But I, and, you know, they all, I believe, married their high school or university sweethearts or whatever. Someone like that's also, I think I've noticed as a bit of a pattern there that, you know, they all have done that. And I think that's a bit unusual. My youngest definitely did. The middle one did. And so did my sister. So yeah, it's definitely happened. My other siblings, I feel like, you know, they have a drive, they worked hard, but I think they have a much more tolerance for the status quo in a lot of ways than I believe I do. And I can't put up with crap, if that makes any sense. I can't put up with people doing the wrong thing, even if it means not being diplomatic. You know, I'll just say, hey, you're going to do something that's going to hurt somebody else, or hey, don't take credit for somebody else's work and stuff like that. And that doesn't fly well in the corporate world. You really got to know how to keep your mouth shut. And so I did get to a senior director, you know, level where I was making a very good salary. But I definitely struggled because I wasn't diplomatically or politically as stable or as attuned to making it work. So I think that is a defect, I think, in me more so it is them not wanting to change. I've got— and that my wife also sees it. She's like, You're too straight on. You've got to keep things more diplomatic. I'm like, listen, I see it. I tell it. And it's worked well for me so far. She's like, yeah, that's because you finally have your business. But if you try to do this in another environment, it's not going to work.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 33:31
Yeah, there's definitely things that you said it's a defect. I think some people would say that's, that's a gift or, you know, a positive.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 33:40
Yeah, it's gotten me in trouble a few times. Yeah, that's a gift. Uh, so, uh, you know, it's, uh, It's, you know, telling your boss that he's not very good at keeping others happy, or it's not a good idea. You know, I can, we can, if we're in a finally a position to say, hey, you know what, yeah, if a client treats any of my team members badly or whatever, we could say no thank you. You know, we don't do business with, and I'm very protected and I stand up for the team that way. But sometimes in the corporate environment, that's not possible. And I know that and I realize that. That's why I don't think I'm fit. And I think that's also something that my dad has. He was an entrepreneur before he took on his IT jobs. IT can be so toxic. And I'm not knocking the IT profession, but I know it can be a very toxic profession. If, and because of politics and because of what have you, then he struck with it because first he wanted to make it work for the money. And at the same time, He didn't think he could survive doing anything else here. But I think that played into his character and he became a very sad and depressed person in a lot of ways. And he's, frankly speaking, he needs therapy because of it. But I don't think he'll ever admit to it ever because it's just not done in the culture. You know, I realize that I don't want to end up like that. So I know my limitations and I know I can't I take things to the heart. I don't, I can't stand people doing the wrong things and not intervene. And it's an annoyance. It's a weakness that I've got to be able to book away, but I can't do that. And because of that, that's a problem. And I'm like, I can't, I've got to create an environment. So I did two jobs when my first one was born. And while I was taking the business off and working in the corporate world for 4 and a half years until I was able to bring myself on as a full-time on payroll and sustain the family. But I kept bringing on clients, I kept bringing on team members. But I knew, and my wife knew patiently that I was very unhappy in my career. But I, and she was willing to support me through it. And that gave me the time to do it and kind of be the lead in the house, even though we were pregnant with our second one by the time I finally got my act together and the business was finally stable enough.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 36:22
It's been a very interesting journey.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 36:24
Yeah, it's interesting. From gangs, from migration to a middle-class family to 12, 10, 12 people at a given time in one-bedroom apartment. To gangs, to almost getting kicked out of school, to scholarships, to accounting. And now, I mean, with all this, I still do— I know I'm going to sound silly saying this— I'm still very privileged. I still have a very healthy upbringing compared to others that don't even have access to even the most basic stuff in reality that we take still for granted. I complain about like my parents working too much. You know, some people don't even have parents, right? So, or some people have parents that abuse or other things of that nature. So I know it was rough, but there's a lot more rougher out there. That makes any sense?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 37:19
Yeah, that's a really healthy and graceful outlook.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 37:25
Keeps you stable, right?
Aveline Clark (Host) · 37:26
Absolutely. Yeah. Did your parents talk to you openly about past and decisions they've made?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 37:36
You know, I think, I think some, uh, my parents are a little old school. I think it was a different time and approach and how they were raised. And like I said, my dad was almost raised, almost raised himself. By the time he was 13, he was earning for the family, right? So he had to get his older sister married. And in that culture, it's the family's job to find the sister or the daughter or whatever in that time and that geography. So he had a big burden and sense of being and trying to tell them, hey, you took wrong turns or whatever. I just, you know, and that's okay. That's who they are and you can't change that. I mean, you know, it's really hard to have them see through it. And I don't know if it's even worth their sanity to make them see it at this stage of their life.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 38:41
Yeah. Are they proud of their kids?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 38:45
I think so. I think so. I think, I think, I think, so again, I say that I know inside they're happy, but they can always ask for more. I know them. That's just who they are. Like, we moved away from them a little bit and like, oh, you know, you're too far away. It should be right beside us. There's never a happy medium until we're not in their pockets. I think, I think they're never going to be satisfied. But that's just parents, especially my dad, who's like overprotective, overbearing, because he never had parents. And yeah, so that comes with it. And me knowing this, the psychology of the background and the environment that my parents were raised in, I get where they're coming from. My mom, I don't even think she finished high school and she did 3 jobs, right? So Uh, so yeah, it's, uh, it is what it is. We made it work.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 39:44
You did, you did make it work. It sounds like you've done really well and still going.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 39:50
Yeah.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 39:51
Yes. How long have you been running your company for?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 39:55
It's gonna be 8 years now, uh, I think in December. So I started this company, uh, helping out my daughter's school. When they were struggling to bring people to their website, even though they redesigned it and there was no traffic. And they're like, what are we doing wrong? How come no one's coming to our website? I'm like, because no, it's not discoverable. You're not doing search engine optimization. And they're like, oh, what does that mean? And I'm like, let me help you with that. And then 3 and a half months later, they're like, oh, we're getting a lot of phone calls. What are you doing? And I'm like, yeah, that's called SEO. It's like, we still don't get what that means, but what else can you do? And here's more money. Please do more of it, and here's 6 more people that need your help. And though, at 8 years ago, my daughter is going to be 9 in November, uh, that 8 years ago, they still are clients today. Um, and, uh, it's just from that one success, it like kind of led to more. Obviously, we lost clients in the way. Some came and some left. Some, especially in COVID, uh, you know, some of our beauty salons, they really struggled, and they had to close up shop. But we're here.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 41:09
It was wonderful. I absolutely loved hearing your story, Osman, and just can only imagine, you know, the journey you've been on. And I just want to say thank you for sharing all that and taking us back to your upbringing and what you went through as a kid. Um, I've got a question for you. So there's going to be a lot of people listening to this who are immigrants. They might have gone through things just like you. They might be facing, you know, all those challenges, especially at any age. But, you know, if there is someone listening who's going through a similar thing, what would you like to share with them?
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 41:54
If you, if you have anybody who cares about you and genuinely cares about you and wants to lift you up, you've got to come up with a way to bubble that environment around you with them. Because it's the people that are with you that make the difference. You're going to make the wrong decisions a lot of times. I'm making a lot of, I made a lot of wrong decisions. A lot of wrong turns, uh, but it's the folks that are with you that stick with you because they care about you. Uh, you've got to be able to recognize them and stick with them and let go of the ones that are holding you back. It really is a relationship thing.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 42:42
Great advice. Great words. Thank you.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 42:45
Thank you.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 42:45
I really appreciate you and your time and thank you so much. Uzman, it's been wonderful.
Usman Sheikh (Guest) · 42:51
Thanks again.
Aveline Clark (Host) · 42:54
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes. Please like and share the show to your friends so we can get this out to even more people. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please reach out using the contact details below. Join us next week for our next hero story. Until then, keep being you, and remember that we are all heroes in our own unique way.
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