A global woman – Interview with Mirela Sula
Author, international speaker, journalist, publisher, trainer and psychologist. Mirela Sula is the creator and co-founder of Migrant Woman Limited, and Publisher of Global Woman.co magazine, empowering and connecting women around the world.
She grew up in Albania when the country was under the regime of communism. Democracy came when Mirela was 16 years old, and from the transition of her childhood she entered a new phase with the desire for freedom and prosperity. Mirela engaged with activities to protect women’s rights at a very early age.
To find out more about the award-winning author and speaker, Mirela Sula, her work, career and thoughts on leadership, read the interview:
You started to fight for equality for women at a very early age. Could you tell us about that?
I have always been awake and active trying to understand what is my role in the world and I could not just be a spectator to see what will happen with my life. Being a woman in a small patriarchal country was not easy for me to follow my dreams and it has been sad seeing how women were struggling to find their deserved place and feel respected for who they are. Probably I was born with the desire to make an impact, or I may have developed this in my growing process, and trying to awake women to recognise their values and potential has been turned into a mission.
For me it’s very important to move out of my comfort zone and always seek opportunities that contribute not only to my growth but for the big social good as well. Since I was a child I knew that I’m not a conformist and always was against the flow and never accepted to be submissive only because it happened to be a woman in a country where their values are not respected. This made me continue and not give up on my dream to empower myself and contribute to empowering many other women who I met on my journey.
You started a magazine called Global Woman. Then you developed a whole community around it. What inspired you to start the magazine? How did it all start?
I was 38 years old when I thought it is time to change again. What are you looking for? I remember my mother asked., ‘you will regret it’. I don’t know, I answered. All I know is that there is something that is missing otherwise I wouldn’t need to leave, and if I regret it then it is better to regret for something you do rather than for something you don’t do.
So, in 2012 I started my life from scratch in London. I came to study my PhD in psychology. It was a big risk for me because I was a single mother with my son, 13 years old, totally on my own but with a big faith that I can and I should find a way to succeed. The first year was just a struggle trying to find my path. Every time that I was looking in the wrong place I had to go back and start again and again and again. Until one day I found it. Very simple, each time that I was failing it was because I was not following my own, inner plan. It was the original path and I knew it was the right one because I felt safe, confident, inspired, motivated and doing a good thing not only for myself but for others as well. Global Woman magazine was part of the plan, because the journey was a flow.
Meeting new people, networking, developing the inner world extending the external one, building relationships and creating social bonds, formulating the meaning of my world and re-inventing myself, my voice and speak with it. One small success led to a bigger one, and another one, and another one. It was all part of a big vision, to contribute to the world and when you do this you just grow and extend your limits.
In this short journey I have been lucky to prove myself right without regrets. I never regretted that I rediscovered myself in a big world. Now I have friends from all over the world, I have a global vision and I have a global mission, speaking with a global audience and feeling rewarded.
You are the leader of that community. What advice would you give to women in leadership positions?
I think we all have the capacity to influence others, especially when we prove the positive intention on contributing for the society. When I arrived in London I was trying to find the community where I belong and it was not so easy. I started getting involved with some small projects in the Albanian community, and managed to understand the needs they have and the way they interact in the new world. After a while I felt confident enough not just to wait for what others can do for me but what I can offer for the society and contribute to making this world a better place.
First you need to understand where you want to belong, where is that place that you want to go, and move, because we are not trees.
There are many ways to reach our community and be part of it, but if you can’t then create one, create your own with like-minded people. Once you become part of it, then it is time to give back and invest in building relationships. When I say invest I mean find the gift that you have inside and start sharing it – the more you share it the more it will multiply to continue and give to more people. Women are great leaders and all they need is to accept their values, recognise the gift inside and be aware for the impact that they can create on the world.
Is it more challenging to be a leader as a woman? What do you think? What are your experiences?
Women have many gifts, they have values and once they discover that treasure inside them they are unstoppable. Being a leader is always a challenge, and not only for women. We have been feeding the society with the myth that women can’t be leaders. If we think they can they will, if we think they can’t they will be stopped by these limited beliefs, because we become what we think. Things happens two times in life: once in our mind and once in the reality. We manifest into the reality what we design in our mind first. Therefore it’s very important to empower our minds first. In my last book “Don’t Let Your Mind Go” I emphasise the importance of investing in the positive thoughts in our mind and how we can make things happen by empowering our mental product. I personally never tried to find an excuse because I am a woman, but my mission is to raise awareness on how strong we are as women and value ourselves more, and celebrate our small success and achievements every day.
Mirela Sula is a coach, trainer, speaker and also studying for a PhD research in Psychology at Regent’s University. She is publisher and the editor in chief of Global Woman.co magazine and the organiser of Global Woman Summit. She is available for building confidence sessions, finding inspirations, career coaching, communication skills coaching, conference presentations to home and international audiences.
