Soumaya Fikri : from burnout and call center to teaching Darija, turning a side idea into a calling

#5 What if the breakdown was actually the breakthrough?

This episode is in English

At 20, Soumaya dropped out of business school to work night shifts in a call center and support her family. The paycheck was there, but the cost was huge: constant breakdowns, chronic anxiety, and the feeling that her life force was being drained day after day.

Years later, she quits without a plan B, goes back to university to study English, and almost by accident finds her calling: teaching Darija, the Moroccan dialect she grew up with but had always taken for granted. Her program Darija Daba now helps hundreds of people – especially Moroccans in the diaspora – reconnect with their language, their roots, and their loved ones.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• dropping out and the mental health toll of a job that doesn’t fit you
• going back to school after years in the corporate world
• creating a full Darija curriculum from scratch, with no existing structure to lean on
• Darija as more than a language: connection, heritage, spirituality, healing
• internalised shame around our mother tongue
• imposter syndrome, especially for women, and how to confront it with real evidence
• why reinvention is less about a perfect plan and more about following your curiosity, one small step at a time

Soumaya’s story is honest and incredibly powerful – a reminder that what we take for granted (like speaking Darija) can become the most meaningful work we do in the world.

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00:00 Introduction and Early Life

03:32 Career Decisions and Call Center Experience

05:44 Struggles and Breakdowns in the Workplace

08:01 Transitioning to Coaching and Content Creation

10:28 Returning to Education and New Beginnings

12:51 Teaching Derija and Building a Community

26:54 Designing a Curriculum for Derija

29:16 The Emotional Connection to Teaching Derija

31:55 Personal Growth Through Teaching

35:23 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

39:13 Identity as a Language Teacher

41:33 Vision for the Future of Derija Daba

45:51 Creating a New Life Beyond Unfulfilling Jobs