Urmi Hossain grew up in Italy to Bangladeshi parents, always feeling like an in‑betweener. In this episode, we explore how she defined her own cultural identity, discovered finance almost by accident, and embraced her guiding belief: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Check Out These Highlights:
Urmi opens up about growing up in a strict, traditional South Asian household in Italy, where women were expected to follow rigid rules and boys were given more freedom. She reflects on how those early experiences shaped her drive to challenge inequality and advocate for women.
She shares how questioning her cultural identity led her to embrace both sides of her heritage, turning what once felt like a limitation into a source of power. That clarity inspired her to mentor South Asian women, especially those navigating immigrant experiences, and to join organizations like Women in Leadership.
Urmi also talks about how she discovered finance almost by accident, falling in love with the subject during university and pursuing challenging certifications to prove herself in a male‑dominated industry.
Her guiding belief, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” shows up in everything she does, from mentoring women who never had a mentor to writing her book about transforming dual identity into a superpower. Her story is a reminder that identity struggles can become the foundation for leadership and impact.
About Urmi Hossain:
Urmi Hossain is a financial professional, CFA and CAIA charterholder, author, and host of the Stories Beyond Borders podcast. She mentors women of color and advocates for diversity and representation in finance, turning her dual identity into her greatest strength.
Connect with Urmi Hossain:
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urmihossain/
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/urmihossain
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About Me: https://tobymyles.com/about/
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Okay, you guys, you are in for a real treat this week. My guest today is Urmi Hossain, a financial professional, CFA and CAIA charterholder, author and host of the Stories Beyond Borders podcast. In this episode, Urmi shares what it was like growing up in Italy to Bangladeshi parents, always feeling like an in-betweener and never quite fitting in one box. We talk about the strict traditional household she grew up in, how she eventually did the work to define her own cultural identity, and how that led her into finance almost by accident. We also get into her guiding belief, "Be the change you want to see in the world," and how that's shown up in her life from mentoring women who never had a mentor themselves to writing her book about turning her dual identity into her superpower. I'm so excited to share this with you. Let's get into it
Toby Myles: Hey, Urmi. Welcome to the podcast.
Urmi Hossain: Hi.
Toby Myles: I'm excited to have this conversation. Um, I- we were talking a little bit ahead of time off-camera. I usually kick things off by saying how we know each other, and your situation was a little bit unique in that you emailed me to tell me about yourself and, um, who you were and things about your background and why you thought you'd be a good fit for the podcast.
So anyway, I read your intro and your story and I thought, "Oh, this s- she sounds like she'd be a perfect guest." So we connected and, um, you said h- so you felt, like, honored. And you should feel honored, because again, it does not happen often.
In fact, most of the time I just delete the emails without even reading them. So I'm glad that I read yours. I'm excited for this conversation. So, um, can you take us back to, uh, a point in time that you feel like really put you on the path or the journey that you're on right now?
Urmi Hossain: Yes. I always say that when I think about my own story, I feel like it always goes back to, to the beginnings, literally to when I was a child, 'cause that did have a huge impact to the woman that I am today.
Mm-hmm. The way I grew up had a huge, huge impact about who I'm becoming and who I became so far. And I often share this story to people, which is my s- story of my cultures. As someone who was born in Italy and grew up in Italy, I grew up in a very South Asian household. Both of my parents are from Bangladesh, and I was born and raised in Italy.
Growing up, I always felt I was an in-betweener. I often felt I was an outsider because I grew up in a pre... in a very Italian-dominated environment, so everyone around me was Italian. There were not that many people that look like me. There were not that many immigrant, immigrant, uh, kids either. So I always felt like I was not in the right place.
And I always question my cultural identity, and I think I questioned that even more when I grew up, when I became an adult and I understood things better, because people would ask me a simple question, "Where are you from?" And then people would label things based on what they would see And I didn't always quite agree with what they would tell me.
So I felt like I had to do a little bit of a work on myself to understand what I was, where I was coming from, to understand what my cultural identity was. And when I got that answer, I feel like I was finally able to step into my power and s- and do the things that I really enjoy doing, uh, such as becoming the mentor I never had.
And so I started to mentor South Asian women. Or the fact that I work in a very male-dominated industry, which has made me realize that maybe we need to change that. So I joined organizations- Mm-hmm ... such as Women in Leadership. Like, I feel like a lot of the things that I do, do come from the fact that the way I grew up had such a big influence in my life.
And the way that I saw also womanhood in a way for many, in, for, for the Bengali culture or even the Italian culture. And, and the fact that I also grew up knowing that women cannot do a lot of the things that men can do, that had a huge, huge impact in my life. It wasn't something that I questioned when I was a kid, but it was something that I did question when I became an adult.
So that's a little bit about the story- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... in the beginning.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Y- yeah. Can you talk a little bit about the culture, um, of your parents and in the household? Just so we can have like a, a picture of, of what it's like. Um, because I know in some cultures, o- it's really the boys that are supposed to be, you know, they're put on the pedestal, and they're the ones that are supposed to succeed.
And I'm guessing that maybe that was similar. So could you talk about that a little bit?
Urmi Hossain: Yeah. That was exactly what you just said. Uh, I, we were... I, I grew up in a house of, uh, just m- like, with my father. There was my mom, and then my sisters. We were three women and one man. Mm-hmm. And it was very, like w- women did not have a say.
Uh, that's the way I grew up. It was a very traditional, very conservative household because that's the way my parents were raised, of course, knowing, like, learning that it's only the men making all the decisions. Women are supposed to have certain r- roles. Women can only do certain things. So me, for instance, as a teenager when I was growing up, there were things that I wanted to do like everyone else, such as go out with my friends, maybe go to the cinemas, uh, maybe spend an afternoon at their place, maybe do a sleepover, things like that.
But I was always told I could not do that.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Mm-hmm. It was a big no for me. Because there was a perception that, one, I was going to become way too Italian. Which wasn't... And that's how they would actually say, like, "Are you s- Mm-hmm ... do you see yourself as too Italian?" Or the other thing was that there was a perception that the community, the Bengali community in Italy, was going to perceive, perceive me as a bad girl.
And because of that, I always refrained myself from doing things. So I just kept quiet. Mm. And I would just follow the, the rules. But I think I did have a lot of, um, like, resentment. 'Cause when I think back about it, I wish I s- I had spoken up. I wish I just did the things I really wanted to do, because I do feel like I missed out a little bit of my teenagehood because I was just following the rules.
And that's because it, it wasn't anyone's fault, to be honest. It's just, it's just two different ways of seeing the, the world. My parents saw it a dis- different way, I saw it in a different way, and it's a very gender-biased culture, the, the South Asian one. So that was, uh, that was the way I grew up.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. I almost feel like, like maybe you can, maybe you can think this now looking back, but I almost feel like had you not been so restricted in the things that you could do, and h- had, had you not witnessed, um, you know, that w- um, women were, you know, only meant for certain things, women couldn't do certain things, like maybe you wouldn't have gone on to do the amazing work that you're doing now and being really a, um, an advocate for, like, women in leadership and things like that.
So w- so when you started to, like, really develop your own ideas and, and identity, um, and sort of break out of that, like how you were raised, was that, um, when you went to college? Was it after college?
Urmi Hossain: No, it was a bit, uh, it was a bit late I would say, even after college- Mm-hmm ... or we call it university. Um, so for me it was...
Okay, so first of all, you're so right about what you said. I feel like if I, I di- if I did not have that upbringing, I would have not done the things that I do, because I feel like I have something to fight for.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Um, and for me, that realization just came later on in life, like mid-20s, even closer to my 30s, that I suddenly realized that, okay, these are some of the things that I have to change and th- and this is how I can do it.
But I already had those conversations before, I just never acted on them. I think I was always questioning things, especially in my mid-20s. I would talk about this with friends, and I would openly talk about, let's say, the inequality that I would see among men and women, especially in the South Asian community, which was something that was always bothering me.
Like, why are we put in second place? Why are we- Mm ... not given the same education as a boy or a man would have? Why do men have so much more freedom and no one questions anything about them, but then us, we just get so much backlash and so many comments and criticism? And so I would always have this conversation, but I would just never act on them, because I just felt like I had to do something that was massive and big to make a huge impact.
Like, I never thought that I could start small- Mm-hmm ... and just build upon that. I just felt like I had to be a celebrity and just work for an organization like UNICEF or things like that, and just change the world. But then my friend of... A friend of mine made me realize that you can just start small and you can start locally.
And so that's when I started to think a bit deeper. Okay, what is it that I wanna do? What is it that I... How, how do I make, how do I make an impact? What kind of legacy I wanna build? And that's how I started to build upon the different things, and I joined different organizations. And, um, I feel like the more I did it, the more of a clarity I got of what I- Yeah
wanted to do. It was, uh, really a lot of trial and error until I finally found my calling or vocation. But, uh, that's, uh, that's how it happened. It was l- literally a bit late, in mid-20s, closer to my 30s I guess.
Toby Myles: Yeah, but I don't... I think, like, I don't know, I think maybe that's not that unusual, right? Because when we're young, we don't necessarily have the confidence or think that anybody is going to listen to us or value our opinion because we're young, right?
For that very reason. It... We could be, like, the most brilliant person ever on Earth, and there definitely is an age bias that, "Oh, you're young, you don't have that much experience. What do you know about the world?" And so it sounds to me like your- Your, um, clarity and your ideas and your thought leadership actually came at the right time for you.
So like, what were your, um, early experiences on, like, joining organizations and things like that? Was it just a slow build, like each time you did something, you knew you were on the right track?
Urmi Hossain: Um, no. It was... Uh, the way it started it, it was through books actually.
Toby Myles: Okay.
Urmi Hossain: Like, I actually took time to read a lot of motivational books such as, um, there was this book called Who Says You Can't Do.
So I read that book to... I think I needed to put it in my head that I could do anything I wanted to do and get that confidence. So I really had to read books. Then I would watch YouTube videos. I would watch motivational, uh, s- speeches. Uh, that's how I had to build that confidence, and then I just jumped on it.
And what happened at the beginning is I did join several organization, especially when it came to mentorship, which I felt like this world just kept coming back to my life, and I thought the universe was sending me a signal.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: And so I told myself, "Okay, I very much enjoy talking to people and I very much enjoy giving guidance, so I'm gonna start with mentoring."
At the beginning, I joined different organization. They were mentoring, uh, a woman of course, but it was just women from different backgrounds. And the more I did that, the more I realized that I think I wanted to mentor women of color. So it- Mm-hmm ... started from anyone, and then I shifted to women of color.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: And then I shifted, uh, more towards a niche, women of color who have moved around from one place to another, who maybe go through a certain struggle, especially being an immigrant, 'cause I know what that means- Yeah ... especially because I saw it with my parents, I saw it myself too. And I, I think we always need that hand holding us, especially when we're trying to step up into our power, maybe, you know, going, uh, making friends with people, networking, looking for a job.
So I, I think I was able to shift a little bit more towards a niche after doing all these different things.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: And what came afterwards was also my involvement with women in leadership. And but that too, it just happened Like it happened because only later on in life I realized that even the environment where I work is very male-dominated, but I wasn't aware of that until someone pointed it out.
Especially because I come, I come from f- from finance. So when someone mentioned that, I started to think about how it was in university, and it was exactly like that. Mm. Like, we would be in a classroom of 60 people, and 50... There were 50 men, 10 women, and that's when I realized it was always like that, but it just, it j- just never clicked.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: It just never clicked in my mind. And so that clicked afterwards, and I started to look into different companies I would apply, and I would see that there wasn't enough representation. Mm-hmm. There wasn't enough diversity. So I told myself, "Okay, I can change that." So then I looked into organization like Women in Leadership, but that too, it came with a lot of thoughts.
Like, I really had to put a lot of thoughts before making that decision, so.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So you were very intentional about that. Yeah. I think that's just fascinating because I think m- most people don't figure out, figure that out until much later in their career. So- So, I mean, your, your choice of, um, background going into finance, was that intentional, or was that just something you were always good at?
Urmi Hossain: Neither one or the other. No, but I, I'm, I'm serious. It was neither or, or, or the other because I did not grow up learning finance. I knew nothing about finance. School doesn't teach about finance. You just figure out on your own when it comes to finance. Mm-hmm. And when I was in university, I had a d- I was majoring in a different major.
Toby Myles: Okay.
Urmi Hossain: But I did not like that major back in the days, so min- so finance was my minor. And what happened is I told myself, "I'm just gonna take one class just to start on my minor and see how I feel about it." And I always tell this, tell this to people, it was love at first sight.
Toby Myles: Oh, okay.
Urmi Hossain: Yeah. I just loved the subject.
I w- I felt it was effortless for me to study for finance exam, to take the exams, to listen to my professor. I just really, really enjoyed it. Mm-hmm. And then I graduated, and I told myself, "I wanna continue learning." And I, and I adopted this mindset of being a lifelong learner and always investing myself, improving myself.
So I, I pursued o- um, I pursued certifications that were quite challenging, especially in the financial se- sector.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. '
Urmi Hossain: Cause I wanted to prove myself that I could do it.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: Especially because a lot of the certifications are s- like, they're very challenging, and I was always scared that what if I cannot do it?
But I also tried to reframe the way I was thinking and be like, "Okay, but there is still a good percentage that pass it. There is still a high percentage of success rate, so if they did it, why can I not do it?" And so I had to reframe a lot of my thinking, and then I had to intentionally surround myself with people that have passed it, with women that have actually passed it.
Mm-hmm. And so that I was rewiring my brain to think that way. So I pursued different designations, and then I continued, of course, working in finance. And I think finance is so dynamic and diverse. That goes really well with my personality, which is very dynamic, very diverse, and I just enjoy... I j- I just enjoy it.
But I, I, I was never, never aware it was male-dominated. I just thought, yeah, it's like every- everywhere else. Yeah. And then someone was like, "No, it's very male-dominated." I was like-
Toby Myles: Yes. "
Urmi Hossain: Okay."
Toby Myles: Yes, and that it was a good fit, too, because there is a perception that, uh, boys are better at, at math and anything- Mm-hmm
you know, math and science than girls are. Um, and so I'm just curious, um, and I don't want to, like, suggest that this is the case, so I'm really just asking you, do you feel like you get treated differently than your male counterparts?
Urmi Hossain: I wanna say If, if I talk about myself, no But I can see that happening.
Toby Myles: Okay.
Urmi Hossain: Yeah. I can see that happening. But I think one thing I have learned throughout the years is that I have to speak up for myself-
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm ...
Urmi Hossain: and that I have to be my best advocate, and that I should not lay, let anyone step on me. Yeah.
That's one thing that I really had to learn. Mm-hmm. And I do feel intimidated time to times when I am in a room full of a lot of men, because- Yeah ... I'm not su- I'm, I'm, I'm starting to second-guess myself and wondering, do I deserve to be here? It's just me. Why am I the only woman? But I tell myself I need to be there, like, that my presence is important to bring that change.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: So, so yeah, that's what I remind myself, I deserve to be h- here, and I'm equally as good as everyone else.
Toby Myles: Yep, absolutely. Yeah. So your decision then to move to Canada, was that job-related, or is that where you went to college?
Urmi Hossain: No, it was personal. And then, of course, yeah, I did my university in Montreal, yeah, which was-
Toby Myles: Okay
Urmi Hossain: an istr- interesting dynamic for me, because growing up in Italy, I only spoke Italian and Bengali. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I only studied in Italian, and at home we would speak Bengali and Italian. But then when I moved to Canada, I find myself studying in, in English and working in French now.
Toby Myles: So you're tri- uh, you speak four languages.
Urmi Hossain: And there's Spanish on the way, so I always say I'm a polyglot.
Toby Myles: Ah, that's amazing.
Urmi Hossain: Yeah.
Toby Myles: That, that's amazing. So I guess I'm just curious because, well, you, you grew up in a culture that wasn't the same culture within your household. Um, what challenges then did you face when you went to Canada, having already had kind of a similar experience, like, back home where you grew up?
Urmi Hossain: I feel like I had three different kind of experiences because I feel like there was an experience that I had living in Italy, and then I had one growing up in a South Asian household, and then I have a new one, which is in Canada. I think especially in Montreal, I just I just discover many, many different things that I wasn't quite aware of, and I think one of them was, of course, the diversity.
Like, I suddenly find myself with people that are not just Italian. Like, like, it wasn't how it was at home.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: I see people from different parts of the world. So I was approaching everything as with a lot of curiosity, but it was like, like, for me to meet someone, let's say, from Colombia or someone from China was, like, mind-blowing- Yeah
just to tell you how, h- how it was back in Italy, 'cause we would not see that. So to see someone from Colombia or, uh, I don't know, from different parts of the world, for me that was like, "Wow, I'm finally got to travel through these people."
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: And I get to see the world through these people, so that was one experience of...
that I, I felt was quite pleasant. Mm-hmm. And I would remem- remember talking about this with all of my high school friends and be like, "Yeah, suddenly I have friends that are very diverse- ... and from different parts of the world." So that was one nice experience. I think Montreal, the fact that it's very bilingual, it's, um...
That was an in- interesting dynamic 'cause I don't know if you've ever been to Montreal, but-
Toby Myles: I have not.
Urmi Hossain: Okay, 'cause if, if you have not, basically you're always approached both in English and in French.
Toby Myles: Okay.
Urmi Hossain: And, and then it's up to you to choose in what language you wanna be s- uh, served in. Okay. So people will always say, "Bonjour," hi, and then depending on what you respond, whether it's in- Oh, okay
French, and then they will carry that conversation in the, your chosen language.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: For me, that was interesting.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: That was interesting because everywhere you go, whether you do an interview, you're always, depending on the job, it could be bilingual interview or- Oh, okay ... yeah, um, if you go to the doctor, like, it could be in either one of the languages.
So for me, that was an interesting dynamic that I had to learn.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Um, and I think what I had to learn is that it's, um, we often speak Franglais, which is the combination of French and English. So you see- Okay ... you see someone speaking in, in English and suddenly they throw French words or vice versa.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: That was an, an interesting, uh, a very interesting dynamic, and I think- Probably my biggest struggle was seeing how in, in your reference and things close late. It's very laid back. Mm-hmm. We really take time for everything, but I could see in Canada the lifestyle was... I would, I don't wanna say it was fast-paced, but it was compared to Europe.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Um, you know, grabbing the coffee and just going to the office with it, like, there was no such, there's no such thing in Italy. You just drink it on the place, the coffee. Yeah. Um, or, you know, rushing to go to work. It just, it just felt it was, it, it was fast.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: So I had to adapt to that. Yeah. So that was another thing, too, yeah.
Toby Myles: Yeah. That's, that is very much how it is in the US, and I honestly, I've traveled in Europe, and honestly I think that we have it wrong when it comes to the pace and time off, and you know, how you spend your time off- Mm ... and vacations, and we, we just treat things very differently, where work and productivity and always, you know, going after the next goal very much becomes, like, top.
That's, like, the top thing, and then, you know, time off to just kind of, like, travel and, like, refresh ourselves is less prioritized until you get much older and, and then who knows if you even have your health anymore to do those things, right? Mm. So, um, I've always admired more European cultures that prioritize, like, you know, I wanna take a big nap in the middle of the day.
Like, that's what I wanna do.
Urmi Hossain: Yeah, yeah. Th- but that, like... So for me, that was always normal. Not that I was taking a nap, but it, it was- Yeah ... very normal in Italy that between 12:30 and 3 or 3:30, everything is closed.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Everything is closed because people are taking time to have their lunch, taking a nap, and then they go back to work.
Like, it was normal for me to see that. Yeah. I never questioned it, but now that I live here, I can see that between 12:30 and 3:30, there's so much going on.
Toby Myles: Right.
Urmi Hossain: There's so much going on. So it's just an interesting dynamic. Even when it comes to work, I think here when you go, when you are off, there is still an underlying message that you have to be available to check your emails.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Uh, which is unhealthy, I think. Mm-hmm, yes. Like, I'm not that kind, I'm not that kind of person, but I can see that in, in Europe it's like, oh, if you're off, you're off. That's it.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there's a whole thing, and I see a lot of people talking about it now, uh, especially on LinkedIn, where they're going away on vacation and they're trying to decide are they gonna bring their laptop and, or are they gonna check email?
And don't get me wrong, I had a job where I felt like I had to do that, and the problem is that you... When the people you work with think that it's okay to contact you, they will contact you, right? Mm-hmm. But if you make it clear like, "No, I'm unplugged, no laptop, no phone," whatever, they're just gonna figure things out while you're gone, right?
And I just, you know, for me, since I started my business, especially when I'm off, I'm off. Like, I- that's my time to just be with family and, and recharge myself, right? But there is definitely... I, I don't think that's the norm. I think most people feel like it- Mm-hmm ... whatever they're doing is so important that they have to be reachable 24/7.
Urmi Hossain: Yep. Yeah. I totally get that.
Toby Myles: So, okay, so finance is what you landed on. You realized it was something that you were good at and was relatively easy for you. I'm sure it was still challenging, but right, it clicked with your brain. If you go back even younger to, like, when you were a little girl, do you remember thinking about, like, what you might want to do or be when you grew up?
Urmi Hossain: Yes. I remember them very vividly bec- I saw... I read this book, which was a psychology book, and I told myself, "I'm gonna become a therapist eventually," and I thought I was going to solve every single person's problem. That's what I thought eventually, that I was going to go towards that path, but then I changed that.
I don't know why. And I thought that because I was living in Italy and because I was learning so many languages, I thought I was going to become a tourist guide.
Toby Myles: Hmm. '
Urmi Hossain: Cause I thought that's one way that I could use languages. And the problem is that in, in high school, or especially in Italy, like, I think the school doesn't do enough of a good job to explore different career opportunities with what you study.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: So I was never aware of what I was capable of doing eventually with my degree.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: So I just went with what my gut was telling me in that moment. And luckily, I mean, luckily I'm happy I didn't go with either one 'cause I don't think I was going to enjoy it. And when I moved to Canada, I thought I was going to become a professor.
That was my idea, that I was going to teach finance, and I think for, for many years that was in my head.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: It was very much in my head because I just loved the university environment, classroom environment. Like, I think you always feel like you're a student if you're in university.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: But then, I don't know, in my head, for some reason I just went for a normal corporate job, which I very much enjoy.
I think there is so much... There's so much learning if you... There's so much learning and appreciation if you love what you do. And because I'm so lucky that I've studied something that I enjoy and I'm doing something that I enjoy, I just, I can't complain too much about it. Mm-hmm. I can see a lot of my friends who, for instance, went in accounting, but they only went because they are like, "Okay, there is a lot of, a lot more pro- opportunities, but I don't like what I'm doing."
Yeah. And I'm thinking, "Why waste your life doing something that you don't enjoy?"
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: So I'm, I'm just, I'm just grateful for the work that I have. But it's true, I did have a lot of different ideas in my head. And I remember when I was much younger, one of my uncles mentioned that I become a lawyer. But he only said that.
It's because in the South Asian culture, there are only three career paths, which is a lawyer, engineer, and doctor. Mm-hmm. And he just said, "Oh, you can become a lawyer," but he never asked if, if that's one thing I like.
Toby Myles: Yeah.
Urmi Hossain: So just, just to show you the pressure and expectation that people have on you so that it just looks in the society.
Toby Myles: Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That's so interesting. So, um- One of the things that you, uh, mentioned is that, um, and this fits very much with the work that you do outside of your, um, your job, your profession, is to, um, be the change that you wanna see in the world. And I think that that is, like, n- a lot of people can say that, but not everybody actually, like, demonstrates that and, and walks that walk.
And so I'm curious, um, because I usually ask my guests, like, what's one piece of advice you can give to our listeners? And sometimes, you know, they wanna give advice about people starting, um, businesses or things like that. But I, I would love if, like, that would be the piece of advice that you would give to our listeners, um, your thoughts on that, your philosophy on that.
Urmi Hossain: Yeah. It is my, uh, my philosophy of life, and it is one of the reasons why I do all of the things is because when I first read it, I just resonated a lot with that expression, "Be the change you wanna see in the world."
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm.
Urmi Hossain: Because I do think that if you are unhappy with something in the society, you can always make the change, but you have to be that change.
Yeah. And that's what I remind myself. Uh, when it comes to mentoring, like, I never had a mentor, but I can be the mentor for someone else. When it comes to changing their environment in the workplace, that's when I, that's why I joined Women in Leadership. And now even for finance, I am actively involved with universities, especially in the next coming months- Mm-hmm
where I wanna promote more women in finance by talking more about- What does it mean to work in finance? What does it mean to study finance? But I, I ta- I wanna talk about it more from a perspective of a woman. Mm-hmm. And so I am in the next month organizing some events with universities where I'll be speaking more with women, young female students who wanna work in finance.
Because again- Yeah ... we don't have that representation. Right. We just don't have it, and I think women, young girls in their 20s, they do ask, "Is there a place for myself?" And- Yeah ... yes, there is. There is. And even if there isn't, let's just create it together.
Toby Myles: Sure.
Urmi Hossain: Let's just create it together. Like, nothing is impossible.
So that's what I wanna do. Like, I just wanna be able to spread the message that nothing is impossible, and even when you feel like the seat is not there, you can always create it.
Toby Myles: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and who, who better to mentor the younger generation than someone who has already walked that path, and- Mm ... you know, I, I, I know that you, you know, kind of, like, did it without your own mentor, um, which is- Yeah
even more remarkable. But, um, you know, you're proof that, yeah, you can, um, be successful in a, a male-dominated industry. And also, outside of that, you can still, um, speak about the things that you really believe in in the world, right? Which is so inspiring. Like, sometimes just somebody witnessing somebody else do something that they never thought they could do.
I'm sure, you know, you talked about, uh, doing a lot of reading and watching YouTube, and it, sometimes it just takes, like, that one thing, that one person that you see, and you're like, "Oh my gosh," like, "that's it." Like, "I'm so inspired by this person. I want to do that thing or my own version of something, um, similar."
So I think, you know, you are, like, the person that's uniquely qualified to do the work that you're doing, and will probably inspire a lot of women, um, to also go on and, and be the change, whatever it is, you know, whatever they feel like- Mm ... is the thing. So can, um, before we start to wrap things up, I would love it if you would just talk a little bit about, um, your book, Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth From Interracial Struggle.
I'm, I'm fascinated by authors. I'm in the process of writing my memoir, and so I would love to hear a little bit about the book. Um, and, um, what was it? What was the process like of writing it?
Urmi Hossain: So you mentioned inspiration, and when I have written my book, I was very much inspired by another author who was Pakistani-Canadian.
And when I have picked her book, I was just so shocked that her stories just felt like she was telling my own story. Mm-hmm. So I could relate to it 100%, and I reached out to her and I said, "Oh, how did you write your book and everything?" And she said, "Oh, it ju- it was just self-published. I wrote down my thoughts."
And back in the days, I was, I was getting interviewed in many podcasts where I would talk about experience growing up as a South Asian woman in Italy. So I thought, "Why not have a written version of it, a written format of it?" So that's where the book was created, and it w- it's literally about my story.
I'm just going a bit deeper into my memories, and I'm talking about my experience growing up in Italy but from a perspective of a South Asian woman. So I talk about what it was to go into school when there was a crucifix hanging in the wall, for instance. Mm-hmm. Or when I would see nuns at school and wonder who they were, especially because I don't come from the same religion.
Like, I talk about these little episodes, and I'm making a comparison between the two cultures to then eventually conclude it and say, say that you should not see the fact that you carry multiple cultures as your weakness, but you should see it as your superpower, and you should embrace who you car- c- who you are in every forms.
And so I, I talk about just- Loving myself and seeing my, my duality as my own superpower. And instead of just choosing either one, it's just about embracing who you are. So that's what I talk about in the book.
Toby Myles: Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Um, we will definitely link to your book in the show notes. Um, and you've written quite a lot.
Um, you have a lot of, um, articles that you've written. We'll make sure all of that is linked there. So before we finish things up, can you tell our listeners where they can find you and follow you?
Urmi Hossain: Yeah, so my... They can find me on LinkedIn, which is Urmi Hossain, and my book is called Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth From Traditional Struggle, which is on Amazon.
And if people wanna listen to my podcast, which is called Stories Beyond Borders, it's available on, on Apple Podcast and Spotify.
Toby Myles: Oh my gosh, so amazing. I, for one, am going to go check out the book. I love inspirational stories. Um, again, I mentioned I'm, I'm writing my memoir, and it's not an easy thing to do.
Um, and so I'm always, anytime someone has written a book or they're in the process, I wanna kinda, like, get inside their brain and find out how it's going for them. So, um, this has been so much fun, so, um, amazing. I appreciate you reaching out to me, um, and carving out the time to do this. Um, and I know this episode is really going to, um, be a popular one for my audience, so thank you so much.
Urmi Hossain: Thank you.