Beyond the Hijab: Why This Space Exists

Written By Jodi Markham

Why This Space Exists

For a long time I felt like I had to earn my right to speak. To prove I was competent before I could be confident. 

To be exceptional before I could simply belong. To soften my voice so others would feel comfortable listening. 

Wearing the hijab made me visible and it also taught me something powerful: visibility can be a burden or it can be a platform.

This space exists because too many stories like mine are still treated as exceptions.

Betting on a Hijabi was never just a book title. It was a challenge to systems that underestimate, to leaders who overlook and sometimes to myself when doubt crept in. This blog is a continuation of that challenge. 

What This Blog Is About

Here I’ll write about leadership as it’s actually lived messy, meaningful and shaped by identity. I’ll share reflections, from motherhood and faith, from moments of rejection and moments of deep purpose.

Why This Space Exists

This space is for:

  • women who have had to work twice as hard to be seen as half as capable

  • leaders who want to lead with empathy not ego

  • organisations serious about inclusion — not just the language of it

  • anyone who has ever been told, subtly or explicitly that they don’t quite fit

An Invitation

You don’t need to agree with everything I write, but I hope you’ll sit with it.

If my story encourages even one person to back themselves — or one decision-maker to look again at who they’re overlooking — then this space is doing what it’s meant to do.

So welcome.

This is where we talk honestly.

This is where we lead in colour.

This is where we bet on ourselves.

Jodi Markham