Professional women need spaces to speak openly about ambition, recognise achievements, and build relationships that help them move forward, an empowerment coach and former European kickboxing champion said.
Sobiya Jawaid, an empowerment coach and former black belt European champion, broke barriers in the sport as the first hijab-wearing kickboxer to compete at international level, representing England on the international stage.
She was speaking at a Community Conversation & Coffee event at Metro Bank in Bradford, organised by Anita Pickersgill FCICM, which brought together women from different business and professional backgrounds to be heard and to connect.
Several award-winning BPA Lionesses also attended to support Anita and the event. The network brings together women recognised by the Business Power Awards (BPA), and BPA Empowering Women Awards, creating opportunities for peer support, mentoring, and stronger professional connections.
It was a fitting example of one of the messages that emerged from the room: women showing up for other women.
Just one ally can make a difference
Sobiya centred her conversation around three things that have shaped her own journey: values, “humble confidence” and vision.
Growing up in a traditional British Pakistani family, she began wearing the hijab when nobody in her family or friendship circle did.
She later stepped into the very different world of kickboxing, training for almost a decade, earning her black belt and going on to compete internationally.
Her message was not just about sporting success. It was about the people who make difficult journeys feel possible and give women space to be heard.
“If you’ve got one ally, one person in your life, one person who believes in you, you can overcome anything,” Sobiya told the room.
That struck a chord as women shared experiences of leaving secure careers, starting businesses, and finding their place in professional environments where they sometimes felt different, isolated, or unheard.
Sobiya said knowing your own values is especially important for women, who can be surrounded by expectations about what they “should” or “must” do.
Knowing what matters to you makes it easier to say yes to opportunities that feel right and no to those that don’t, she said.
Finding ‘humble confidence’
Her second message was about “humble confidence” – recognising what you bring to the table without feeling you have to apologise for it.
Despite her success in kickboxing, Sobiya recalled feeling embarrassed about winning a silver medal because she believed only gold represented success.
A coach challenging her thinking helped her recognise how much she was diminishing her own achievement.
For Sobiya, that lesson extends far beyond sport. Women should be able to talk about their skills, credentials, and successes without fearing they will appear arrogant, she said.
Sharing those achievements can also matter to somebody else. Hearing another woman’s story, she said, may give another woman “permission” to see what she too could achieve and to speak up for herself.
Her final message was about vision.
After almost 15 years in teaching, Sobiya left a secure career to build her coaching business. She now speaks to international audiences and works with clients in the UK and overseas.
She encouraged women to give themselves permission to think bigger, even when they do not yet see exactly how they will get there.
The conversation repeatedly came back to why rooms like this matter: places where women can share experiences, find allies and champion one another.
Sobiya said we cannot control everything happening around us, but we can focus on our own “circle of control”.
Asian Express newspaper’s Managing Editor and Business Power Awards co-founder and chair, Andleeb Hanif, attended the event as part of the BPA Lionesses network. She said spaces like these had become increasingly important for women to speak openly and back each other.
“These spaces allow women to build allies, recognise what they contribute and, importantly, champion each other,” Andleeb said.
“There’s so much negative noise around us, especially in the current social climate. We have to work harder to highlight the good happening and the people making a positive difference.
“Sometimes it isn’t about changing the world overnight. It’s about chipping away, one conversation and one connection at a time.”
