Passionate about all-things to do with her family, friends and new business Mini Explorers, meet
Fal Qadir an entrepreneur with a huge heart and knack for making people happy
NAME: Fal Qadir
AGE: 32
INSTAGRAM HANDLE: mini_explorersuae
JOB TITLE: Head Teacher for Mini Explorers
Whether it be mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend or female business owner - Fal she loves everything about her life and always lives each day to the fullest and says: "I love what I do. I love working with babies and toddlers. I love seeing them reach their milestones in a holistic manner. I love that my job is full of fun and laughter whilst still laying down the foundations of learning. I love seeing the pride and joy in the parents as we see their little ones grow and develop." A brand new baby sensory company, Mini Explorers believes that sensory activity during the early years of a little one's life is the key to long-lasting and effective development for children. Using the power of exploration, imagination, and learning through play as its foundation, Mini Explorers aims to nurture happy and confident little ones with consistency, quality, and compassion. Working with children has taught Fal some of the most important lessons in life. Read some of them here...
#LIFELESSON – 1
Be kind to yourself.
The number one thing I tell mothers in my classes is to BE KIND TO YOURSELF. New mothers, existing mothers, mothers of toddlers, and mothers of babies, I can see the worry, the stress, and the challenges of motherhood on their faces. I simply want them to know that they are doing an amazing job. It is acknowledged and appreciated. Always. However, this advice is not solely for mothers, it is for all. We as mothers, as parents, as humans, should be kinder to ourselves. Whether it's navigating the journey of parenthood or simply the realms and realities of life. Kindness starts from within, so don’t be so hard on yourself. As someone who can feel anxious at times, I found I was doing exactly that. I held myself up to impossibly high standards. Eventually, I came to understand and accept no one is perfect and we are certainly all fallible. And that’s ok. Mistakes happen, and life happens, but that’s the beauty of it all. We pick ourselves up, we don’t beat ourselves down. We are kind to ourselves.
#LIFELESSON – 2
Be kind to others
My eldest son is one of the most highly intelligent, brilliant, loving precocious and phenomenal people I know and his on the Autism spectrum. He is the one who inspired me to become a sensory teacher. I noticed he had sensory sensitivities at an early age. Loud noises, bright lights, and crowds would overstimulate him. We started attending different sensory classes during those early years. And I started seeing the positive impact the classes had on his (and my) life. Now during that time, I was a worried mother, allowing doubt and uncertainty to grow within me. I was constantly questioning myself. It was not an easy time for me. However, It was the kindness of others, other moms, dads, friends, teachers, and strangers even, that truly helped me through it. Kind words, kind smiles, kind hugs, just simple gestures, that’s what helped, what made the difference.
I have learned through this that we live in a world that at times might not always be fair or just or as idealistic as we would hope. Now, I can’t control the world, but I can control what happens in my house. So, I strive to teach my kids (above everything else in the world) to be kind to others as others were kind to me, and to us. I want to instill in their kindness and compassion, not just to their peers who are similar to them but to all others.
#LIFELESSON – 3
Lead through kindness
When I first read Robert K. Greenleaf's essay “The Servant as a Leader” inspired by Hermann Hesse's novel, The Journey to the East, I was introduced to the ideology of servant leadership. I knew instinctually then that this was going to be the manner in which we would run Mini Explorers.
Servant leadership is part of the ethos of our company. As leaders in the company, we don’t manage, command or run the company by dictating or imposing power over others. We take traditional leadership concepts around power and turn them upside down.
We lead by guiding and we lead with kindness. We lead with caring, understanding, acknowledging, and valuing our team. There is no company hierarchy. These are a large part of our core values. We run our company by rolling our sleeves up and getting into the nitty gritty. You will find both co-owners, rolling out mats, lifting equipment, boiling spaghetti, counting inventory, vacuuming, scrubbing, anything and everything with smiles on our faces and quite often tears in our eyes from laughter, as we love what we do, and we love doing it with our team. We believe in aiding and assisting the team for their and our betterment as a whole. We aim to empower and uplift those who work with us. The leader serves the employees, and the leaders lead with kindness.
For more information visit miniexplorers.ae