safaraz ali background

1. 04 July 2022
by Abid Khan
Morning people!

2. My journey
Your past doesn't define you,
nor should it scare you,
it is part of you.

3. Born and raised
on the streets of
Alum Rock….not
literally of
course!

4. Up bringing
was innocent
yet
constricted…
Joyful, eventful
and hopeful,
but as you
know…

5. Nothing goes to plan

6. But that doesn’t
matter, as we say…
its our ability to react
and adapt that
matters…

7. Here's a quote that
says it well:

8. “The illiterate of the 21st
century will not be those
who cannot read and write,
but those who cannot learn,
unlearn,
and relearn.”

9. Lets talk about my education,
or some may say the lack of
it…

10. Bear in mind that education is
not the same as intelligence

11. We know that now, nor does it
lead to success

12. That goes for both education
and intelligence!

13. Okay, first things first
so what was my initial score
I mean my GCSE’s…

14. My GCSE
results

15. It ended badly,
but it wasn’t that bad to begin
with.

16. I have some evidence to show
you, my young friends…

17. and not
forgetting
Mr Ali in the
room
giving me his
odd looks, he

18. Don’t answer that…..anyway:

19. Leaving school…
“very polite and
courteous, although
he is a little quiet at
times.”
Please note, there
was no mention of
being ‘easily
distracted’ or wanting

20. So when the plan doesn’t
work, what do you do?

21. Act Plan
Check Do

22. Its time to get down and focus
and recover, isn’t it?

23. BTEC First Diploma in Business &
Finance

24. BTEC National Diploma in Business &
Finance

25. Okay, Uncle we get the
picture?

26. BTEC National Diploma in Business &
Finance

27. BTEC National Diploma in Business &
Finance

28. Do you get me……

29. Degree

30. & then some..

31. & there’s more

32. A bit more….

33. I thought you were meant to
talk about apprenticeships…

34. Yeah, but.
There is a lot more to talk
about which matters……

35. So, lets talk about success
and even failure.

36. What does success look like
to you?

37. What does success look like to you?
• Work life balance
• Big House, Bigger Car!
• Money in the bank!
• Family Business!
• Happiness
• Qualifications
• Professional Career
• Social Media Fame!
• Marrying someone of your
choice!
• Having Sensible Children!
• Helping others, giving back!
• Balance work and religion
• Inspiring others
• Stability and security
• Physical wellbeing
• Mental health and general
wellbeing

38. In reality, it could be all, any or
something else…

39. The key is success is evolving
and changing,…

40. It begins with you,
knowing you!

41. It’s about knowing yourself
• It’s a matter of understanding
what you don’t want to do.
• I don’t want to do this…
• Process of elimination
• Procession of selection
• Understand what you want to
do, and do it.

42. Known
to
Others
Known to Self
Known
to
Others
unknown to Self
Open Blindspot
unknown
to
Others
Known to Self
unknown
to
Others
unknown to Self
Hidden
Unknown
Potential

43. Skills,
attributes and
traits

44. Paraphrasing the Great Muhammed Ali
“Success is having a desire,
a dream, a vision. You have
to have the skill, and the will.
But the will must be stronger
than the skill.”

45. No longer a job for life
• 50 years ago, people would have a job that would have a job for
35-30 years (a job for life)
• Now, average tenure for a job is a lot shorter, people have to
reinvent and reskill.

46. All the jobs I’ve had
Retail
Assistant X 2
Security
Officer X 2
Customer
Service
Representativ
e
Assistant
Accountant
Accounts
Assistant
Budget
Support
Officer
Billing Analyst
Pensions
Reviewer
Calculations
Team
Contractor
Complaint
Handling
Financial
Services
Contractor
Compliance
Officer
Endowment
With Profits
Bond
Contractor
Financial
Advisor /
Independent
Financial
Advisor
Mortgage
Broker
/Finance
Broker
Director x7
Managing
Director x1
Founder and
Chairman
Co-Founder
Shareholder
Business
Mentor
Author Podcaster CEO

47. Did I mention being an Author:
Canny Bites
• Book Trilogy
there's a Podcast as well

48. Pathway Group
Awards and recognition always
nice.
• Brand of the Year Award
• Best Audit Outcome
• Outstanding Partner Award
• Contribution to Education –
Birmingham Awards
• Best Provider Award
• Best Self Assessment
• Outstanding Achievement

49. Great British Entrepreneur Awards

50. Nationwide Care Services
Covering:
• Birmingham
• Erdington
• Solihull
• Derby
• Nottingham
• Worcestershire
• Dudley

51. Lifetime goals..

52. The next five years, and the next five
years after that…
• Consider what you want for
your life
• List your skills and experience
• Identify your transferable
skills
• Learn about your goal
• Refine your goals
• Write down the steps
• Be prepared for changes

53. What are your lifetime goals?

54. Young People
• People think being young is
easy, but you have it harder
than any other generation.
• There’s a lot more young
people, meaning more
competition
• More young people now, then
age groups
• We would have had less
competition
• GCSE Grading
• 1-9
• Explanation and breakdown

55. Robots are taking your jobs
• British Gas
• Land Rover
• Productivity, robots are doing
the work
• What work is now being done
by humans?

56. Skills
• What skills are employers
looking for?
• Best age to learn is between
8 and 14
• Examples of learning

57. Information is out there
• Knowledge has less value –
everyone can Google
• Creditable, realisable
information
• How we forget things

58. Education,
education,
education!
Target of 50% of young people in to
Higher Education

59. Euan Blair, tech entrepreneur
• Start-up has been valued at £147
million
• Millennials have largely been told
that they will grow up to be poorer
than their parents.
• While that is the norm, it is
certainly not the rule
• Backers for his tech start-up,
include Google Ventures and John
W Thompson, the Microsoft
chairman.
• The company, seeks to provide
young people with an alternative to
university by matching them with
apprenticeships at leading
employers.

60. How many young people in Birmingham?
• As of 2017 there were
199,390 young people in
Birmingham.
• In 2018, there were 2,441
reported young people across
Birmingham that were no
longer studying or
employment
• 66.65 million, UK Population
(2019)
• 11.7 million young people

61. BAME Apprenticeship Awards
I founded the Asian Apprenticeship Awards which
are now know as BAME Apprenticeship Awards
in May 2016 with the first event held in
November 2016.
I was aware that British Asians made up only
4.1% of apprentice starts and were severely
under-represented as there was a stigma
attached to apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships were misunderstood by the
Asian community specifically, meaning that
university was seen as the best and only option.
I knew that change was needed. The aim of the
awards was therefore to recognise and celebrate
the talent and diversity amongst apprentices from
the British Asian community and showcase their
achievements.
My aspiration was that more British Asians would
consider apprenticeships and more employers
would provide work opportunities to benefit from
their skills. Increasing BAME employment is a
government target and I am keen to do my bit!

62. BAME Apprenticeships

63. Average graduate salary by year
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
• The median starting salary for
UK graduates in 2021 is
expected to be £30,000 for
the fifth consecutive year.
• Median is incorrect, need
Mode figure

64. Knowled
ge
Facts and
information,
acquired through
experience or
education; the
theoretical or
practical
understanding of a
subject.
Skills
Learning an ability
to perform an
action with defined
results with good
execution often
within a given
amount of time,
energy, or both.
Behaviou
rs
The actions and
mannerisms made
by individuals in
conjunction with
themselves or their
environment.

65. Do not follow the
majority
Do not follow your friends, follow the right
path for you.
However, when the facts and situation
changes, be ready to change.

66. Apprenticeships are a real
solution and we are striving
for people to say: I am the first
in my family to do an
Apprenticeship!

67. There are just too many people
going to University leading to
Under employment and at the
same time the British Asian
Community has over
representation of NEETS.

68. Top 30 work based applications
Microsoft
Outlook
Microsoft
Sharepoi
nt
Microsoft
OneDrive
Microsoft
Teams
Slack Zapier
Microsoft
Word
Microsoft
Excel
Microsoft
Powerpoi
nt
Microsoft
Power BI
Canva
Business
Suite
(Faceboo
k)
Buffer DropBox
Udmey &
Khan
Academy
Trello Zoom LinkedIn
Team
Viewer
Grammarl
y
Whatapps
Messeng
er
(Faceboo
k)
GoToMee
ting
Shopify
Amazon
Seller
MailChim
p
WeTransf
er
Google
Calendar
Calendly
Twitter
(work
purposes)

69. What stops people from
seeing clearly their own goals
and just going for it?

70. Peers and family
members projecting
their own fears and
insecurities on to you!
You desperately holding to a
specific plan when it needs
changing and adapting

71. Perception and Reality
not aligning-
overconfidence,
selectiveness &
blindspots
Self-limiting beliefs, and an
overbearing fear of
uncertainty

72. The need for constant
validation, or support
and lack of courage
Bandwagon effect and
group thinking!

73. the “winning
mindset”

74. It’s a combination of:
• having emotional intelligence
being self aware
• seeking growth, where learning
and growing is a life style
• taking ownership and
responsibility
…Things that are defined by how we
think, and then the actions that follow.

75. So how is a
winning
mindset
developed?

76. Firstly, look at Accurate
Research suggests that despite
changes to the results we get or
the things we achieve, very often
our own internal image of
ourselves doesn’t change.
Having a realistic and positive
self image, defined not by what
others have said we can and
can’t do, is actually vital in
realising our true potential.
Self Image

77. We’ve all have heard the famous Henry Ford quote…
“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right”
In other words, to develop a winning mindset, we need to start by
being self aware and confident.
It’s a big concept, but it’s the basis on which everything else will
stand.

78. Secondly, having a purpose – this is a big
thing!
Think: If we don’t have a
purpose in what we’re doing,
how is our motivation likely to
be?
Purpose gives direction to
everything we do, it gives our
ambitions a purpose, it gives
our careers a purpose…
As aspirational people, having
that purpose ourselves, reflects
out to others as well.

79. A purpose ensures that the
positivity we can feel from a
winning mindset doesn’t get
wasted on positive thought, but
becomes positive action.

80. We’re often subjected to a whole
range of negative external
influences such as social media,
what others are saying and also
the world in general etc.
All of these things are there, we
need to filter and find what's right
for us
This isn’t just about saying the
right things, but by making
positive things happen.
The power of seeing positive
results from positive thinking can
have a significant impact on
you…and it is contagious.
Positive thinking

81. However, positive thinking is not always a natural
skill – sometimes it needs to be worked on.
Invest time in thinking about the positive elements
of you, your immediate family and encouraging
people to talk positively around you.

82. Next is
Having passion
• It might be cliché, but it’s quite for
people to have some passion and
then get it knocked out of them.
• The key is to keep refreshing and
challenging yourself. It’s a continuous
cycle!

83. By being passionate about our
studies and work, we create a
winning mindset.
We go to school or work every day truly gripped
by our drive and what we’re trying to do…
and when we combine this with positive thinking
and having a purpose, all of a sudden we are
creating the drive for us to succeed.

84. In summary, a winning mindset is not made
up of one thing, but rather consistently
working and focussing on the elements that
create a winning mindset.
Tweet @SafarazAli
Connect with Safaraz Ali

85. Final Takeways.
Some lessons and
observations –
1. Chase fit and not perfection,
improving and growing
2. Play and build on your
strengths, Don’t worry too
much about your
weaknesses. Get known for
your strengths
3. Keep on keeping on,
learning is a lifestyle
4. Avoid complacency

86. Final Thoughts,
Reflections, and any
Questions?
Email: safaraz@pathwaygroup.co.uk or
https://www.linkedin.com/in/safaraz/