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Carving Her Own Path: Dreams, Determination, and the Universe’s Support with Hurriyeh Iftikhar, Siena AI

Ever wonder what it looks like to turn vulnerability into your greatest business asset while building brands that feel like conversations with your best friend?

Today, Charlene sits down with someone who's not just building marketing campaigns—she's building movements rooted in authentic storytelling and human connection. Hurriyeh Iftikhar is the founding marketing lead at Siena AI, former marketing leader at LiveLike, and a proud Pakistani-Canadian who landed every major job through shameless cold outreach. But what sets her apart isn't just the tech—it's how she calls herself "the most fortunate person in the room" and believes the universe conspires to help you achieve your dreams.

They chat about everything from Hurriyeh's grandfather's challenge that changed her life to why her hands still shake before presentations (despite everyone calling her confident), to how visualization and team psychology turned an "impossible" campaign into their biggest success.

If you've wondered what it means to bring your whole self to work while navigating constant change, this conversation is for you.

Meet Hurriyeh Iftikhar — In 5 Fun Facts

  • Landed Every Job Through LinkedIn DMs - Has never gotten a major position through traditional applications. Every opportunity started with a cold message saying what she loves about the brand and what they're doing wrong.
  • Still Gets the Shakes Before Presentations - Despite being called "confident" by everyone, admits her hands tremble before every important call or presentation. She's just learned to mask it over time.
  • Printed Success Mantras for Her Team - Asked team members how they'd feel achieving an impossible goal, then had "I'm a f*cking genius" graphics printed for everyone when they hit 39,280 leads instead of the client's 15,000 target.
  • Her Professional and Personal DISC Were Identical - Was the only leader at Sienna AI whose work and personal personalities matched almost exactly. Refuses to have an "on/off" button for different personas.
  • Dreams in Econometrics Stories - Turned advanced econometrics into storytelling by viewing numbers as narratives about the future and past, making her feel like she has "superpower to see what's coming."

"There's power in being yourself and being authentic and being vulnerable. It's not your weakness. It actually helps you be more proud of who you are." - Hurriyeh Iftikhar

Topics Covered

[00:07:15] - The grandfather's challenge: The conversation that changed everything—from comfort in Pakistan to chasing dreams in Canada.

[00:12:30] - Brutal job rejection reality: How graduating with honors led to crushing rejections and what her grandfather taught her about jumping pads.

[00:19:45] - The shameless cold email strategy: Being brutally honest about what you love and what they're doing wrong in outreach messages.

[00:23:40] - The COVID career pivot: Working with Pakistani startups during lockdown and how the universe conspired to bring her back to Canada.

[00:28:45] - The 45,000 lead campaign psychology: How visualization, team mantras, and reverse engineering turned impossible into achievable.

[00:32:15] - The LAQS methodology: Listen, Audit, Quantitative analysis, Systematize, Scale—her framework for every decision.

[00:35:20] - Hands still shake confession: The vulnerability behind the confidence everyone sees and why authenticity is her superpower.

[00:38:15] - Brand philosophy revolution: Why brands should hold candles instead of megaphones and ask "How was your day?"

[00:42:30] - Following passion vs. auditing passion: Balancing dreams with reality and making life modular to achieve long-term goals.

3 Key Things You Can Apply Today

  1. Be shameless about what you want. Don't take rejections personally and don't let shame stop you from reaching out. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Cold outreach with brutal honesty about what you love and what could be better often opens unexpected doors.
  2. Bring your whole self to work. Stop trying to have different personas for professional and personal life. Your authenticity and vulnerability are superpowers, not weaknesses. The right companies will value you for who you really are.
  3. Back your dreams with data. Be a dreamer, but always support your vision with quantitative analysis. Use the LAQS method: Listen to stakeholders, Audit current reality, do Quantitative analysis, Systematize your approach, then Scale what works.

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Humans Behind the Metrics

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