When Saima was 5 years old, she would interview her family members with a spoon in her hand - was this foreshadowing?. Saima says that it wasn't a secret. She often openly shared her passion to get into the media with her parents. Although her parents were very supportive of Saima's dreams, they always emphasized she should have clear, responsible goals in mind as well. This was a smart thing for them to do, because if they hadn't, maybe Saima wouldn't be the resourceful, successful young business woman and media extraordinaire she is today!

Instead of focusing all of her efforts in one area, Saima pursued a few different avenues consecutively. She finished high school and pursued post-secondary in another city then decided to dabble in radio and landed her first job at Radio India. This opportunity allowed her to find an amazing mentor who provided her with extensive training that catapulted her career into South Asian media. Her next stop was RJ1200 where she initiated an amazing working relationship with Shushma Datt and hosted a show with good friends, Gopi & Rakhi.

While all of these amazing opportunities were popping up for Saima in media, she still listened to her parents and had a good plan in place to be a successful business woman. At the age of 21, Saima started Higher Grade Learning Centre with $1,500 as her start-up. Saima worked her magic by utilizing her contacts and managed to open the first Surrey office fairly quickly in 2003. With a family history in the area of teaching, Saima always had a natural passion to provide students with proper resources to help them in school.

Tune into next month's Community Profile on the Higher Grade Learning Centre (owned by Saima Naz) to get more insight into the mandate of this organization and the curriculum offered. She now has another Higher Grade Learning Centre in Vancouver as well - 2 offices in total.

Fast forward to 2008, at the age of 26, Saima recently secured the spot as Tarranum's mat leave replacement on Chai Time - Channel M. This is her first experience doing LIVE television, but no one can tell she comes from a radio background. She is a natural on television! This exemplifies that Saima is open to taking on new challenges and is determined to be successful in any task she undertakes. She embraces all the opportunities that come her way and makes the best of it. This attitude should be an inspiration to all. You never know what opportunities will come your way, therefore you should take it all in stride and use it to your benefit as much as you can.

In the near future Saima hopes to have many successful learning centres across North America, and introduce a new brand of private schools. Something tells me this is very attainable for a young woman like Saima. But don't be surprised if you see her gently grilling the crème de la crème of the entertainment world, at the same time. It is clear that there are no limits for her career-wise and business-wise. She's done the unthinkable and has managed to be very successful at such a young age in three very different industries: business, education and media. Thus, making her business savvy and beautiful - a lethal combination!