In the season finale of the Quality of Life Podcast, Raha welcomes Cynthia Karam, Senior Director of Public Affairs, Communication and Sustainability for the Middle East at Coca-Cola. Cynthia is an advocate for sustainability, gender equality and empowerment, leading initiatives that have shaped opportunities for women across the region.

This episode is a celebration of courage, grace and living by your values. Raha and Cynthia explore what it means to lead with empathy while owning your seat at the table, even in male-dominated spaces.

In this heartfelt and insightful conversation, Cynthia shares:

• What quality of life means to her and why safety, purpose and simple joys matter most
• How her parents shaped her values of kindness, humility and resilience
• Her perspective on inner peace and the small habits she uses to protect it
• The story behind Tumo, a pioneering women’s empowerment initiative in Saudi Arabia
• How she finds balance between motherhood, career and personal growth
• Her honest take on failure, redundancy and trusting the process
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and learning to advocate for herself
• Why collaboration, not competition, is key to women thriving together
• Her motto: “Iron fist in a velvet glove” and what it has taught her about leadership

Cynthia’s story reminds us that true strength lies in staying grounded in who you are — and that you can create lasting impact without losing your softness.

📚 Cynthia’s Book Pick

Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho

🌿 Everyday Joys

• Long walks by the sea with a good playlist
• Journaling and sharing travel memories
• Dark chocolate and quiet evenings with family

Produced by Pineapple Audio Production

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Raha sits down with trailblazing Emirati athlete, speaker and mental health advocate Amna Al Haddad.

From becoming the first Emirati woman to compete internationally in Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit, to helping the UAE qualify for the Rio Olympics, Amna has carved her own path often without support, and in defiance of expectations.

Together they unpack:

• What quality of life means when you're no longer performing for approval
• How Amna found her way in sport without cheerleaders or sponsors
• The weight of cultural expectations and breaking free of them
• Her favourite way to reset and recharge (hint: it involves the ocean)
• Misconceptions about women and lifting and why muscle doesn’t equal masculinity
• Navigating burnout, intuition, and redefining success on your own terms

Amna’s story is a raw and powerful look at what it means to build strength from within and how sometimes the absence of support is the greatest fuel.

Books That Inspired or Reflect Her Journey

• The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
• A book about letting go, tuning into your inner self, and finding peace beyond the mind.
• Grit by Angela Duckworth
• A powerful exploration of passion and perseverance, the science of what keeps people going.
• When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté

Produced by Pineapple Audio Production

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Quality of Life Podcast, Raha sits down with global strategist, storyteller, former ballerina and proud single mother of two — Mona Elsaka,

With over 20 years of experience working with Fortune 100 companies and leading some of the most iconic sports and entertainment partnerships in the world, Mona’s career is powerful on paper but even more powerful in person.

In this open and deeply honest conversation, she shares:

• Her visual triangle of quality of life and what sits at the top of it
• How she rebuilt her identity after divorce and burnout
• The grief of losing both parents young and how it shaped her independence
• Why her two sons are her greatest source of joy and strength
• The deep power of female friendship and why her girlfriends are her board of directors
• The moment a therapist asked her the question that changed everything: who are you without the titles?
• Why ballet helped her reconnect to herself after years of forgetting
• What people don’t see behind the glamorous world of global partnerships
• Her honest take on mental strength, asking for help and what it means to really pick yourself up
• The pressure of performance, the beauty of softness and why resilience is her true superpower
• This is not just a conversation about career or motherhood. It’s about remembering who you are, choosing to grow through the hard seasons, and showing up as yourself, one day at a time.

📚 Mona’s Book and Life Picks

• Let Them by Mel Robbins
• Daily rituals of dance, classical music and drawer organizing
• Favorite mantra: Everything happens for a reason. One day at a time.

🍕 Guilty pleasures: pizza and a little numbing TV in the background

Produced by Pineapple Audio Production

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.