“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” – Michelle Obama

At EIU-Paris, one of our most long-standing missions has always been ‘study anytime, anywhere’ and these ideologies have been strongly engraved into everything we do as we are driven to become an economic and accessible yet high quality source of education across the globe. With the ability to offer high class education, we wish to expand across the globe as a tool that people use to boost their skills, careers, and applicative mindsets. Needless to say, our more recent venture proudly connects back with these values, allowing us to grow the dream we’ve envisioned. 

One of such exemplar is of Ms. Shabista Bakhtiar who is a CEO of at Learning Lab, in Karachi, Pakistan. Her venture strongly focuses on providing better learning experiences to students across Pakistan as The Learning Lab acts as the perfect medium for to engage with students and provide its expertise in varied fields that young learners might wish to engage into. An experienced individual like Ms. Shabista Bakhtiar has truly given insights into the needs and preferences of students in Pakistan which makes the experience all the more worthwhile and personalized. The assistance and support by Learning Lab makes a comfortable environment for students themselves who might find our courses helpful and insightful. 

Her mission to provide quality education worldwide and reach out to multiple students across countries that wouldn’t normally have access to world-class or recognized education. Since the courses at EIU-Paris include a wide range of options, they could help aspiring entrepreneurs or even boost the careers of currently working individuals.

“Being an educationist I am really excited about this project that aims to bring high-quality yet affordable education, especially to the working adults of the country.” said Ms Bhaktiar who is helping bridging the gap between students and their career goals. 

Shabista’s Background in her words

I got married at 18 and a mother at 20. It was one of the toughest emotional experience of my life. When things get out of the hand financially I decided to start working and got a job a school as a co-teacher. I grew at a regular pace in the career and did my ECE to be a more professional and competent teacher. It was after 12 years of teaching, that I decided to switch careers and joined an IT company as a content writer. Since then I have been working in the field of digital marketing, started my own animation studio and now Learning Lab. It took me 20 years to get out of an abusive relationship but I never led myself down or doubted myself. I knew I have talent I believed in myself and by the grace of God have achieved everything I wanted in this life and it goes on. All we women need is to be strong and confident enough and there is nothing in this world that we cannot do.

Abusive relationships can be incredibly difficult to escape and can take an immense physical and emotional toll. However, sometimes the experience of being in an abusive relationship can lead to greater strength and resilience. Many survivors of abuse find that the experience helps them develop skills like problem-solving, communication, and the ability to identify and set healthy boundaries. These skills can help them lead more fulfilling and healthier lives. Additionally, survival of an abusive relationship can help survivors gain a better understanding of themselves and their needs, build a greater sense of self-confidence, and develop an increased appreciation for life.

When a person is in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, it can have a huge negative impact on all aspects of their life, including their career. After the end of the relationship, they often experience a newfound sense of freedom and an improvement in their career. With the freedom to focus on their career, they may find more energy and enthusiasm to take on new opportunities, or to pursue their goals with more passion. They may also find the confidence to take risks, or to try new tasks or projects that they would have been too afraid to tackle before. All of these factors also lead to an overall improvement in Shabista’s career.

As she narrated in a conference “This creative sense of the world along with the motivation to achieve it all might be what led me to be a digital marketer, content strategist and expert at client communication. I partnered with some of my exceptionally creative friends around 8 years ago and we started a design, animation and post-production studio called Torq Labs. There has been no looking back since then and we have been honored to collaborate with clients like Disney, Fox Sports, HBO, Haier, Burger King, TFM Dubai, US Open and many more.

We were also one of the two animation studios from Pakistan to be invited and represent our country at Hakaya Misk 2019 Riyadh, organized by Hakaya Misk Foundation, chaired by His Highness Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. It was a great honor and a privilege to share an arena with production and post-production teams worldwide. With an experience of content writing now spanning over 7 years, I have been designing digital communication strategies for some of the most renowned, well-reputed brands in Pakistan. I have also been associated with the Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry Korangi since 2019 and hold the honor of being in the office as the Vice President of WCCIK in 2021-22.

My venture Learning Lab, an exclusive collaboration with Pedagog, in Pakistan is what I being an educationist along with my team are really excited about and we aim to bring high-quality yet affordable education, especially to the working adults of the country.

We believe that such projects bring us one step closer to our goals including EIU-Paris which aims to reduce commercialization in education, since good education is an important tool for growth and career building throughout the world. As unfortunate as it is, this quality of education still remains missing in varied countries – an issue we aim to eradicate with such ventures. We realize the large opportunities that technology has brought in the field of education and have taken no time to implement them and become available to students in remote areas who wish to build careers. This not only gives people an upperhand in their careers but also allows them to build their careers abroad with a degree and higher level expertise that prepares one for industry-focused learning. 

Submitted by Student Intern Rea Shah [email protected]