Salma: Thoughts on journalism, freelancing and more!
Salma is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist, whose work ranges across a multiplicity of topics, highlighting issues in society are often overlooked and underrepresented.
I’m a London-based 4-time award-winning freelance writer and journalist. My work focuses on a broad range of topics including marginalised communities, social issues, contemporary faith and more for a number of leading titles in the UK, the U.S and the Middle East including i-D, Vice, Broadly, DAZED, Time Out London, Refinery29, Cosmopolitan, HUNGER and more. I’ve won a number of awards for my journalism, including ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ in November 2017. I’ve also written a chapter in the Amazon best-selling anthology, It’s Not About the Burqa: My writing portfolio can be found at https://salmahaidrani.contently.com/ and my website can be found https://www.salmahaidrani.co.uk/.
What has been the toughest challenge you faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
The most challenging aspect I’ve faced in my career is how women of colour or Muslim women like myself can often be expected to write predominantly on issues affecting WoC/Muslim women. While I’m fortunate to write on the topics I’m most interested in (these include marginalised communities, contemporary faith, race, social issues, British identity, LGBTQ+ issues), for many WoC making their first foray in journalism, they might be expected or tasked with writing these topics alone. We’re just as capable of writing about far-ranging topics, be it, exhibitions, films, fashion, books and more so it can be frustrating at the onset of your career if you don’t receive these opportunities. My best advice for aspiring journalists would be to kept writing on the topics you’re interested in and don’t limit yourself — never take no for an answer!
It’s great that a number of publications for and by women of colour and Muslim women have launched in recent years (take the likes of gal-dem and Amaliah). But when I first started out in journalism, I never saw many journalists that resembled me, be it at newsrooms, internships or newspaper columns. There’s more WoC/PoC and Muslims than ever before but even so, change remains slow: recent research found that journalism is 94% white, 55% male and overwhelmingly dominated by journalists who are privately educated. Even so, it’s still possible to be the change you want to see: I carved out a career I’m incredibly proud of despite very little representation.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
Never take no for an answer — not everyone is going to support your ideas or project at the beginning. Perseverance and belief is essential — keep going!
Success isn’t just about ‘wins’ being successful shouldn’t be entirely determined by what you’ve achieved (though they’re great!) but how you navigate failure and challenges. Some of my greatest achievements include how I worked through an issue or how I overcame setbacks
Find a mentor — someone who was once in your position can offer unrivalled advice and guidance as well as be on hand if you encounter any issues
Make time for yourself — take weekends off if possible and spend hours without trawling through Instagram/Twitter etc. You’ll be in a much better headspace to tackle your project/ideas with a clear mind
Avoid comparing yourselves to others — it’s easy to get lost in other people’s achievements, particularly on Instagram/Twitter, but if you took stock of your own achievements and reflect on them, you’ll realise how far you’ve come!
Take stock of your achievements — it’s easy to think you could do ‘more’ but it’s worth taking into account both big and small achievements every month. Invest in a journal/diary and reflect on what you’ve gained in six months’ time
Be realistic — it’s great to think big but the more you achieve smaller goals, the more it’ll incentives you keep achieving and getting closer to what you ultimately want to achieve
