SPEAKER_01 0:12

Hi, my name is Brendan O'Sullivan, a Toastmaster from Brisbane, Australia. Welcome to my Toastmasters World Tour podcast. Please join me as I travel virtually around the world and chat to Toastmasters from different countries and all walks of life. Let's explore. We go there to chat to Uramie Hossein, author, YouTuber, podcaster, and co-chair of Women in Leadership Montreal chapter. Let's hear her inspirational story, and women followers, listen out for the announcement of an exciting online event coming this week. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Yes, my name is uh Urmi. I am a member of the Toastmasters Club. I've been a Toastmaster member since uh 2019. And um besides that, I'm also a corporate professional. I like to say that I am a corporate professional by day and a creative soul by night. I um I'm a self-published author, speaker, youtuber, podcaster. I'm a big advocate of women's empowerment. I'm part of an organization called Women in Leadership, where basically we organize in-person events, webinars to empower the women of our community. And I'm a big advocate also of uh of learning, and this is also why I am part of Toastmasters for such a long time. I think it gave me so much uh confidence and opportunities to learn as well as uh to learn about leadership throughout these years.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Wow, that's a lot to unpack. Why did you join Toastmasters in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 2:38

I initially joined Toastmasters because I thought that eventually I was going to become a professor and teach. And of course, if you're a professor, you have to have good public speaking skills and be able to speak to your students. But what happened as well is that I also watch a lot of TED Talks and and TEDx, and I told myself that my big ambitious goal would be to deliver at TEDx eventually one day, and so that was uh what got me started and like joined me the day, like what got me, what pushed me to join Toastmasters.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

What would you like to do a TED talk on?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

You know what? I haven't thought about it uh thoroughly, but I think all the time, like every every time I go to a podcast, my signature talk is my book where I talk about my experience in in being born in Italy, growing up in Italy, and I also talk about my experience being of South Asian origins, and I talk about this the struggle that I had in trying to fill in. That would be probably my signature talk if I do a TEDx. Um but who knows?

SPEAKER_01 3:51

What's the name of your book?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

It's called Discovering Your Identity, A Rebirth from Interational Struggle.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Well, what year did that come out?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

In 2022. I self-published it.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Oh wow, that's amazing. And can you tell me a bit more about the book? We got some interesting stories from that.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yes, um, basically the book talk talks about my childhood and teenagehood in Italy, and I make a comparison between the two cultures, the Italian culture and the Bengali culture, and how often it was difficult for me to navigate the two worlds because here I am growing up in Italy, having all all like friends from friends who are Italian, and I was always self-aware that I did not look like them, and so I I felt like I never really fit in. But then I would go back home, and the other struggle was that I looked like everyone else, but then my mentality was so western, and so I'm I'm like talking about those experiences and how I feel like I was never being my authentic self because I was just trying to, you know, fit a box or fit a mold. And so I talk about different episodes, uh, especially when I was a kid, when I went to school. Like uh we like I went to a school that was of course in like I went to school in Italy, and uh it's uh like I remember seeing a church inside the school, there were nuns walking around, but I don't follow that religion. I don't follow that religion, so for me it was also like a struggle trying to understand like who are these people, you know, and no one would like explain it to me. So I'm I'm making that comparison between the two the two worlds.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

I hear what you're saying, and I can while I haven't been in that situation myself, I can understand that must be challenging. Did you learn anything from it? Or would you have any advice for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

So I for me, what it was is that I went through the struggle for many years in like always trying to fit in. But I think at the end of the day, it's about embracing who you are. Like I remember people would tell me, Oh, you're Italian, you're like one of us. But then I never completely agreed with that because I'm not 100% Italian, and then when I would be with my Bengali people, they would say, Oh, you're Bengali, but I was like, No, I'm not, you know, like I'm I'm both. And it's not up to people to to say what you are, it's up to you to decide what you are for yourself, and you have to be comfortable and you have to be convinced about that so that you can live your most authentic self. So for me, it was really about embracing my two identities rather than choosing one.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Well, that's really profound. I think a lot of teenagers, even without those cultural background issues, face that you need to find your identity anyhow. So it's quite a universal message, but obviously even more powerful for someone who faces that between the two cultures situation. That sounds like a fabulous message, and it must make your book very interesting reading because you're talking from personal experience.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah, it is my my personal story, and uh for me, writing it was quite therapeutic, I would say. Like I felt like I was just reliving every single moment, and a lot of these episodes are pretty vivid in my mo memories. Like I really remember them as they happened yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Is it just in paperback form or hardback form, or do you have it in other forms? Are there audiobooks or are they Kindle versions?

SPEAKER_00 7:27

I I do have the digital version, the Kindle version. So if you like it, it's available on Amazon. So if you go on Amazon and you just type my name or the title, you can get the two options available.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

And what was the title again for the audience?

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Discovering your identity, a rebirth from intuition struggle.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Awesome. So has Toastmasters led to any opportunities that you didn't expect?

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yes, a lot of them. Uh a lot of them, and I think uh I also wanted to leverage what I was getting from Toastmasters also in my personal and professional life. And I think one of them has been the fact that um I of course I do a lot of podcast appearances, and I think that was like I got that because I understood a little bit how to how the impromptu speeches work and tabletopic session, and also the fact that I have also opened my own YouTube channel and decided to create content there. Like, you know, it's it's one thing to deliver a speech in person, but then it's also important to know how to deliver something online as well. There's also a certain etiquette that you have to follow, and I think my biggest accomplishment has been that I was invited to fly over to Chicago to be part of a panel session for a conference, and I never expected that, honestly. Like I never expected someone would contact me to do that. And I remember I was I was part of a panel session, and at the same time I was also the MC for a student, uh, for a student event, and that was um that was I would say my biggest accomplishment. And and what what was even more interesting about that is that a lot of the students would approach me and be like, Oh, we follow your work, we really enjoy everything that you do. We're here just for you. And in my mind, I was like, but I didn't think I was that big. And so, like getting those feedback and hearing from people that they were there because of me, like it was really something that I am quite grateful for.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

That's awesome. Amy, you touched upon the difference between face-to-face delivery of speeches and online. What do you think is different online that you should do to do it well?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Definitely the lack of engagement uh that that we have when we are doing online events. I think it's really, really hard to engage with your audience. So if you are delivering a webinar or if you're doing an online uh event, it's always important that you try to engage with your audience. So that could be maybe ask them to react, and maybe you know, when you have that reaction react icon on Zoom, maybe ask them to type something, like try to engage as much as possible. I think it's very, very important because you don't get to see them. That's um I would say that's one of the disadvantages. So you don't see how they're reacting, you don't see what they're thinking. It's very it's very hard, I would say. So it's important to keep that interaction going throughout the the webinar, and I think that what makes it successful. I did participate to a couple of webinars as like from the other side as um as the participants, and I feel like it always worked when they were engaging with me, when they were asking us questions, when they were allowing us to unmute ourselves and like say our opinion, or maybe they would say say something in the chat. I think those those really, really work. And also the breakout rooms uh where they put you in a smaller session in a small group with other people, I think those are also a great way to engage in the conversation. So I would say that's probably one of the, for me, at least one of the key parts when it comes to uh doing an online session.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

That makes so much sense to me. Excellent advice. I mean, you mentioned before that you have a YouTube channel. What's that called and what's it all about?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

So it it's simply called Urmi Hosign. Uh it's just my my name, and I I do talk about a little bit about public speaking. I did have a few guests who talked about public speaking, communication skills, toastmasters. I also had a few people talking about language learning since this is something that it's uh something that I'm very passionate about. And I also give a few tips on how to pass certain uh finance exams. And um and I also upload the audio versions uh of my uh of my podcast.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Well, quite varied then, all on the one channel. Awesome. I love language learning as well. What language is are you learning?

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Currently I'm working on my Spanish. It's um it's a language that I have learned back in school, back in university. I took um three courses, I was quite advanced, and then of course I graduated and I wasn't using it as much, so now I'm like not I have to go back on it. And um it's it's for me it's not too hard. It's I mean, it's not true. It's not that it's not too hard. I just I just tend to mix it a little bit with my French because I I work in French pretty much the whole day. And so when I'm trying to like speak in Spanish, like some of the French words come out, but I also know Italian, so it I I mean I feel like I have that foundation and debate.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yes, they're all romance languages, so they're all very similar. So I can 100%. I've certainly done the same thing, mix them up because some of the words are very, very similar often. I I was gonna ask you, uh, because I thought you might say French. How long have you lived in Montreal?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Uh 15 years, but I learned French also back when I was back in Italy, and then I took a few um few classes, I mean few classes, a few conversation classes in Montreal when I moved, but I'm I'm not like I'm not learning French, I work in French, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

You're already native level in French.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

I I know that one of my goal, uh one of my goals when I moved to Montreal was that I was eventually going to work in a French environment. Like I I told that to myself. And of course, in Montreal it's a it's a Balengo uh province and uh it's a bilingual city, and we speak um Quebec, which was quite challenging if I have to be honest. It sounds very different from the French that I have learned at school. However, um I told myself that it's enough of me working in an English environment. I do want to work in a French environment, and I managed to, at the end of the day, I managed to do an interview in in French, and I really worked hard towards that goal. So now I it's been four years that I've been working in a French environment, and I don't see myself working in an environment that is not French.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

I love that. And where about were your parents from exactly in Bengal?

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Uh they were from Silet.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Okay, cool. Would you say you have a native level of speech in Bengali?

SPEAKER_00 14:37

I have a very good level when it comes to having a conversation. Yes. Uh, because that's a language that I was taught to speak at home. And I do speak it and I do understand it. However, I do not know how to read it and write it, which is probably the um what I regret the most. I I think uh especially because I would I lived my whole life in Italy, I grew up in Italy, I was born there. Of course, it you're naturally like just gonna use Italian a little bit more, and you will like I learned I learned everything in Italian, so I did not have time to learn Bengali besides talking, talking it at home. So sometimes I wish I wish I actually took some time to to to really know how to how to write how to write it, how to read it, because it's it's still part of my identity.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Where do you see yourself living in 20 years' time?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

You know what? As I always say, once you're a mover, you're always moving. So I uh I mean I like to think that I will be somewhere else in another place in the world.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Um I love that spirit of adventure.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Yeah, yeah. So I mean I've moved so many times, um, especially when I was in Italy. We did not stay in one city, we moved around even within Italy. I also lived in the UK for yeah, I came back now, living in Canada. Like, I I do like to keep that door open that I'll be living somewhere else. Yes, for sure. Yeah, I'm manifesting that.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Where is home?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Home is in Italy. I I don't have a physical home that I could I could go back to, especially because I think we changed I think like we changed houses like five, six times. I don't have one that I can go back to like every single uh friend of me of mine that that have an actual physical home. But for me, home is a feeling and it's where I have most of my vivid memories, and that's in Italy.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yeah, awesome. You mentioned before as well that you're a podcaster. Can you tell me a bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Yes, I have launched my first podcast uh last year in August, and it's called Stories Beyond Borders, and it's a podcast about immigration, people who are multicultural, and I I basically invite people who have different backgrounds, different cultural exposure to share their story. And I think stories that's something that we learn at Toastmasters is something that really help uh stories help people to connect with one another. So that's what my podcast is all about immigration stories.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

I imagine you're the perfect person for that with your background. Have you got any stories that have you got any stories that stick out?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I think every single story is always um they're all very unique. Um, but there was this one story that I think stood out, especially because I think I like I I really like my guest, and uh she talks about being um mixed race. So she's uh half it half uh white and half black. And she talks about her experience about um not feeling black enough, and she looks very white. So when you look at her, like you wouldn't think she's half black. She also told me I I would have not known if she didn't tell me, and she talks about the experience that she went through because she feels like her skin color, the fact that she was white, helped her to get a lot of privileges. And so sometimes she wishes that she was a bit more black and embraced that a little bit more. And so she she talks about the struggle that she went through when it came to that, and her experience was quite unique as well because she has some siblings, but her siblings they look much more black than than she is. And so it was very interesting when she was talking about it because even within your family, you might not go through the same experience.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

I imagine some stories are quite emotional too. People go through a lot sometimes when they're immigr emigrating, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, especially because some people move for work opportunities, but for some others, they don't have a choice and they have to move maybe because of war or any other reasons that were not really they were not giving a choice uh for for for the moving part.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Do you find that hard interviewing those guests if it's quite emotional?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

No, not really. I I always uh make sure that my guests are comfortable and are happy to share whatever they're comfortable with. Um sometimes what I like to do about my podcast is that I like to keep that surprising factor where I don't want to know too much, and I let them I let them tell their story based on what they want to share. So I make sure that they're comfortable with that, and then I ask follow-up questions based on that. But it's their story. That's why I always say, like, my first question is always, what is your story?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

That's an excellent question. I was gonna ask you as a podcaster what advice you might have for me, but I think that's probably gonna be hard to beat. Have you got any other advice?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Um I always like to keep my podcast episodes short. I think they work better than longer episodes.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

I I know I'll I'll see you later then, okay? I'm gonna go sorry. Oh, we get we better keep it short so we won't cut it off there. No, I'm I'm kidding. Sorry, keep going, I'm loving this.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

No, no, no. But what I was going to say, I was going to say, I do listen to some podcasts that are like maybe 45 minutes, but I prefer when they're like 20 minutes because you get all the juicy parts in those 20 minutes, and I feel like they're always a bit more effective, and they and people don't have like longer attention span anymore. So I feel like shorter they work better. As long as you are you have a lot of content and you you have a lot of information in those 20 minutes, I think you can have a great and an excellent episode out of it.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Fair enough. And before we were chatting, and you mentioned there's a special event coming up. Could you tell me a bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Yes, so I am part of an organization called Women in Leadership, which is uh based in Canada. It's been around for 25 years, it's a nonprofit organization, and each city of Canada has a chapter. So I am part of the Montreal chapter, and throughout the year we always have webinars in in-person events, and we have one event coming up next week to celebrate the national uh women in leadership day, where basically we have planned on having a webinar with speakers where they will be talking about uh uh wellness in uh work in uh workplaces in corporate in the corporate world. How can we get achieve wellness in a work workplace? So we will have uh a few speakers from HR, and we will have also a wellness coach who will be giving advice and tips on how to achieve the level of wellness when you're working full time.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Wow, I can imagine some of my women listeners thinking, I've got to get onto this. So when is it exactly?

SPEAKER_00 22:07

It's on the 27th of May, which is Wednesday, and it's happening at 12 p.m. Eastern time.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Okay. And can anyone join?

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Anyone can join from any part of the world.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

And how much does it cost?

SPEAKER_00 22:26

It's free. It's this one, it's a free event. We decided to do a free online event, especially because it's online.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

So is there a deadline to register?

SPEAKER_00 22:36

No, you can register in until like literally until the last minute. And this is why we kept it open in for that reason, because we did have an in-person events event at the beginning of this year, and there were a lot of interests, especially from people from other parts of the world who wanted to join. But of course, it's in person, you have to fly over. And so for this one, we decided to keep it open so that we can have people from other parts of the world joining us and join us when whenever they want to.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

So for our listeners, could you say the name of the event again if they're gonna Google it?

SPEAKER_00 23:11

So they just have to go to the website called Women in Leadership Foundation Canada.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

And if they go under events, they will see all the events happening throughout the throughout the whole country, and they can search for the one happening in Montreal. It's gonna be right there. As soon as you go to events, it's it's right there.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Great. And we can put a link in the podcast notes.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

For sure, yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

That sounds very exciting. I think I should make a very special effort to get this episode out in time for that. Do you have anything else you'd like to discuss today, Arimy?

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Um, I think I think no, but maybe I can share one uh one piece of advice for anyone who, especially for Toastmasters or people who want to be part of Toastmasters. Um, I think it's a great community to feel safe and to really grow your leadership and public speaking skills. And many people think it's just public speaking skills, but you get to learn a lot of different things. You get to learn about communication skills, active listen, active listening skills, critical thinking. You learn to give feedback. And I always say the more you give, the more you get you get uh back. So if you are interested in working on public speaking skills, make sure to go to one of those uh meetings, and even though you are scared, just stick to it. Just stick to it.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Fabulous. Well, it's been such a pleasure and an honor having you on the show, Urumi. Muchas gracias, amiga.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

De nada.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Thanks for listening to today's show. One of the key elements of Toastmasters is evaluations. This is how we grow and improve, both by encouraging comments for things we got right and points for improvement. We all learn and benefit from these evaluations, not just the person being evaluated. So any feedback in the comments is greatly appreciated. If you have a Toastmasters story you'd like to share or would like to be on the show, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Toastmasters World Tour at gmail.com. Thanks for listening to the city.