Melindi: 00:00

the right time is now. Bet on yourself, invest in yourself. It's going to be the best decision you ever make. Don't live in regret and wait four years like I did to take the exam or to enrol at the academy.

Intro: 00:13

Are you ready to know what you don't know about Privacy Pros? Then you're in the right place. Welcome to the Privacy Pros Academy podcast by Kazient Privacy Experts. The podcast to launch, progress and excel your career as a Privacy Pro. Hear about the latest news and developments. Discover fascinating insights from leading global privacy professionals.

And hear real stories and top tips from the people who've been where you want to get to. We've trained people in over 137 countries and countries. So whether you're thinking about starting a career in data privacy. Or you're an experienced professional. This is the podcast for you.

Jamal: 01:07

Welcome to another episode of the Privacy Pros podcast.

I'm particularly excited today because I've got an amazing guest on the podcast. She is an absolute inspiration and she is living proof that amazing things can happen and do happen you push yourself past your comfort zone.

Melindi Dean is a dedicated privacy data compliance specialist and admitted solicitor in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia. She has a strong passion for privacy law and empowers businesses with professional and customized privacy implementation strategies, policies as well as internal trading. She also advises entities with mitigating financial reputation and litigation risks. And Melindi is motivated and driven to creating a more privacy conscious world.

Jamal: 01:59

We're going to learn more about her incredible journey from where she was once stuck, feeling uninspired in her role to where she's managed to smash through all those things. Ace her CIPPE exam within seven days of completing her training and she's going to share all of her secrets and top tips on how she did it so you can do it too.

I'm your host, Jamal Ahmed, award winning global privacy expert and founder of the Privacy Pros Academy, where we're building a community of amazing people, just like Melindi, who are higher performance privacy professionals.

And we empower businesses to adopt honest privacy practices. This episode is brought to you by the Privacy Pros Academy, the world's leading provider of practical data privacy education programs for world class privacy professionals. We've helped over 500 people all around the world to secure their first role, to get promoted, and also to become industry thought leaders. So if you're interested in transforming your career or you want to pivot into privacy, then get in touch with us today. And to claim your free chapter of my international best selling book, The Easy Peasy Guide to the GDPR, you head over to www. bestgdprbook.com/free. Melindi welcome to the Privacy Pros podcast.

Melindi: 03:11

Thank you so much, Jamal. So happy to be here.

Jamal: 03:16

All right. Now I'm reading the question that Mahmoudat has prepared for me. And for those of you who don't know, Mahmoudat is our podcast producer. She's the one behind all the amazing stuff that you see here and she's put as your icebreaker question. What's one thing most people would be surprised to know about Jamal?

Melindi: 03:36

Oh wow. So this is for me to answer not for Jamal.

Jamal: 03:39

It’s for you to answer, and she's left it there for me to ask the question. I don't often talk about myself in the third person, but here we go.

Melindi: 03:47

I would say, one thing people don't know about you is that you're Kind of a modest, humble guy. You know, when we were doing our course with you, and you were like do a review and then you were like, but don't just talk about how amazing I'm, talk about what you actually learned throughout the program and how it affected you.

So I would say you are pretty humble. You always encourage your mentees to keep their value and to promote their value and not to be shy about it.

So I think you actually are a very humble, modest guy despite all your amazing achievements.

Jamal: 04:21

That's so kind of you to say, Melindi. I'm not sure many people will agree, my wife certainly won't. Sometimes, you know, I need a little bit of extra support around my shoulders. But that's very kind of you to say, thank you. Now I want to understand where were you in your career prior to the academy?

So when you first spoke to Ananya, one of the things you described was this feeling of frustration and stagnation, and like you was. Going for role after role, and you found yourself where we always find ourselves getting ghosted, and feeling a bit dejected. Could you kind of step back into that time and share your journey with us a little bit?

Melindi: 04:55

Yeah, sure. So essentially I was in a career in the same position for a period of six years at the same company. I was in a position as a privacy law compliance, legal advisor, as well as the consumer protection act here in South Africa. So every promotional role, a senior position opened up, I would apply for it.

I'd do the interview at the company and I'd get rejected. So all that rejection after rejection obviously affected my self confidence, my self worth. It made me doubt my abilities, what I can do. So it was a very difficult time. And I had to make a mindset shift in terms of getting out of that.

Melindi: 05:35

I couldn't carry on doing the same thing every day or every year expecting a different result. So I decided to change my mindset and I also wanted to keep my integrity, my values, my authenticity, and whilst changing this mindset, I have decided to get the courage to apply to the academy.

And then during that time, after I applied to the academy, I also got an amazing new job, at a company called Cloud Essentials as a compliance specialist. We're based in South Africa and the UK. So we're designated Microsoft solution partner for security and modern work. We assist clients across a number of solution areas, including content management and compliance risk through the deployment of Microsoft purview and Microsoft copilot.

So it's been really amazing to be able to apply my privacy knowledge in a tech field. It's been completely scary and overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. I'm still learning, but I'm slowly getting there.

Jamal: 06:38

Wow. Amazing. Now I'm going to take it back to something you said a little while ago. You said you was doing the same thing over and over again, and you at some point realized that there's no point doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome. And so you decided to change your mindset. What was the pivotal moment that brought you to change your mindset?

Melindi: 07:01

I think it was just as humans, we get into a pattern of I'm going to do this and I'm already got my law degree. I'm an admitted attorney, I'm really great at my job. I work hard and then we get fixated in this set pattern. And it's so easy to stay in that pattern.

So I think it was after my last rejection at the company. I just decided, something's got to give. I need to change something. I didn't want to get rejected after rejection anymore. I have a real passion in what I do. I have a passion for people. So I decided, you know what, let me try something different. Let me take a step back and see what can I change. So I started changing my personal life, my daily habits in terms of, getting exercise, eating better, walking my dogs, you know, making more time for family and friends.

And that really also made me more positive in my outlook. And it was in doing all these small, small changes every day that enabled me to get that courage, as I said, to enroll to the academy, to bet on myself, to invest on myself, and actually see the value that I want to bring into the privacy community.

Jamal: 08:08

Okay. And what was it about the Academy that attracted you most? Was it the first thing you came across and you just said, let me just go for that? Or was there a research process. Talk me through that journey because I've never had that conversation.

Melindi: 08:20

I think two years into my privacy career, I wanted to do the CIPPE and I was on the fence and I was nervous and everyone said, the exam is so hard, you're not going to pass it. So then as I said, I changed my mindset and I decided, no, beginning of this year, I'm going to achieve my goals.

I made a list of goals, CIPPE being one of them. And then I started doing my research, and actually I spoke to Ananya, I asked all my questions I wanted to ask, and in the beginning I thought, it's a lot of money, it's this, it's this. I did my research and your team actually encouraged me to do this research on other facilitators.

Melindi: 08:55

And some of them were a bit cheaper, but what I really liked about the interview with Ananya was mentorship. All the reviews I read about the academy, how it's not just a generic program. You know, you do it, you pass and then they forget about you. You offer the Skool platform where there's still the community where you can bounce ideas off with other privacy professionals.

And what I read about you is so profound in terms of the practicality. Anyone can learn a theory and regurgitate it to their employer or to their colleagues, but what makes you unique is in terms of being able to practically apply it in your field of work.

And that's what really counts at the end of the day.

Jamal: 09:35

Okay, great. So you had all these high expectations. You spoke to Ananya. She probably made lots of promises. You saw some things that other people were saying. Your expectations are really high by the time you've decided you're in and you turn up on the first day. How was your experience in reality?

Melindi: 09:51

So the first day, it was a bit overwhelming in terms of, learning about all the institutions and learning to get to know all the other people in the class.

But actually, even though my expectations were high, this course even exceeded those expectations. Because I walked away with confidence, with clarity, with credibility.

Melindi: 10:10

And even writing the exam. The fact that I was able to apply everything that you taught me, and even the questions that I maybe didn't know, I just took a step back like you always say, how does everything that you taught us in the academy apply to this, and I think I applied it pretty well.

Jamal: 10:28

Well, I mean, given that you aced the exam within just a week after finishing the training, I think you did pretty well too. Congratulations on that. Now I want to get a bit more specific on, you said it exceeded your expectations, in what way did it actually exceed your expectations? Was there something specific that stood out to you? Was there something that happened that you wasn't kind of expecting?

Melindi: 10:49

So actually, the course reaffirmed my passion for privacy law. You brought us all the way from the beginning of privacy law, the how and the why. How privacy law actually started in 1948 with the United Declaration on Human Rights, and seeing how privacy law evolved with people and technology over the years and the great need for it.

So it reconfirmed being an advocate for privacy law. And then as I mentioned earlier, you also made it practical in terms of implementing everything. You answered all my questions. I know I had a lot of questions. Sorry about that. But it was,

Jamal: 11:26

What did I say about apologizing? You never apologise for asking a question.

Melindi: 11:31

Okay.

Jamal: 11:31

Because here's the thing, Melindi, because you asked those questions, what you might realize in hindsight now is you helped everyone else that was training with you. Because you asking those questions helped everyone else get the clarity and they got even more value From you actually asking those questions, coming up with your challenges.

So you actually helped so many people on that program. So thank you for that and all of the people that go and watch the replay They'll all be benefiting from that too. So never apologize to me specifically for asking questions. I love questions Keep asking them.

Melindi: 11:59

Okay. Thank you.

Jamal: 12:00

So you had lots of questions carry on

Melindi: 12:03

Yeah. Lots of questions. Further about the academy was the key takeaways that you made us do after each session. I think that really imprinted all the knowledge in my brain. And then also what I appreciated was how you explained the European institutions, how they all fit together. I read an article the other day on LinkedIn and they spoke about, The European institutions, I was able to understand it and read it with confidence and not be like, okay, who's this institution?

How did this one link with this one? So that was also really a key takeaway for me.

And as I said the mentorship of it, the fact that it wasn't just a generic program, okay, you sign in at this time, end at this time, you really took an interest in all of your students and all of your mentees and adapted the learning program accordingly to fit everyone and you made everyone interact with each other, so it was a very great experience.

Jamal: 12:59

And what would you say was the most challenging aspect of it?

Melindi: 13:03

So the most challenging was in terms of regurgitating all the information. It was a lot the first day, but as the program went on, it obviously got a lot easier because we have about five minutes after the lesson to write everything down and then present it.

So that was challenging for me in the beginning, but as the program went on and on. By day three, for instance, it was easy for me. I didn't even have to make all the notes because you opened up that learning area in my brain to be able to take those key takeaways, explain it in a plain language and not overcomplicate things.

I'm very inclined to overcomplicate things in my brain, but your approach and your teaching method, just it's easy peasy, don't stress too much. And then I'm able to explain it in a simplistic way that even layman can understand.

Jamal: 13:51

Amazing. Amazing. Now, I remember one of the mornings you started off the session and you said, I woke up so early today. I was feeling happy. It was feeling great. Talk to me about what led to that change in your mood as well.

Melindi: 14:03

So I think it was just getting that clarity and confidence via your teaching and me in the evenings being able to sit there and go through my notes for the day with perfect clarity.

So that morning I woke up naturally, I didn't need my alarm to wake me up. I felt motivated. And I also now, remember that you taught us to write down or memorize five things that you achieved today, like your big wins. And that was really cool because then I was able to wake up as a champion, wake up as a winner, know that I did this and this and this yesterday. And then those in the morning, say those 10 things that I'm grateful for.

And, you know, you start the day off then with positivity and clarity in terms of what you want to achieve, where you want to go because it is a constant reminder.

You're not going to wake up every morning feeling motivated. I have to still sometimes convince myself like, okay, you need to get up. You need to go to gym. You need to do this, it's a constant choice that you have to make at the end of the day.

Jamal: 15:01

Great. Thank you for sharing that. And you're right. Every day is not going to be the same. Some days you will wake up on the right side of the bed. Sometimes you'll wake up on the other side of the bed.

So, Melindi, if there's somebody listening to this podcast right now, who is in a similar position to you, where they're looking to progress, where they really want to, upskill, get the credibility, get the certifications, and they're thinking about joining the program, or joining the Privacy Pros Academy, what would you say to them?

Melindi: 15:25

So if I can inspire at least one person today, who's listening to this, I would like to tell them the right time is now. I know we always make up excuses to say, no, no, this time of the year is financial year end or whatever your excuses, but just know the right time is now. There's never going to be a perfect time to, to upskill or to take an exam.

So what I would say is bet on yourself, invest in yourself. It's going to be the best decision you ever make. If you don't bet on yourself, no one else is going to at the end of the day, unfortunately. So make the decision. Don't live in regret and wait four years like I did to take the exam or to enroll at the academy.

I regretted that after I passed the exam. I was like, oh man, I wish I took this exam a bit earlier. So don't be like me. Don't waste four years or two years. Take the exam. Enroll at the Academy, bet on yourself, invest in yourself, and then you're going to reap all the rewards.

Jamal: 16:23

Okay, great. And the other thing I want to ask is, you went through the academy, you passed the exam, which is great, but how else have you benefited from that in your role right now? Have you seen any other benefits other than passing the exam? What's that been like?

Melindi: 16:36

It was actually really amazing that I enrolled at your academy and then just after that I got this job. And I was actually really thankful for that because as I started the job I already picked up some questions. And things that I was uncertain about and during your course actually brought that into my questions and my interpretation of it.

So that was really a great insight in terms of after the course, all the notes that we made, all the practical examples that you gave throughout the European mentoring program, I can apply that in terms of DSARs, in terms of impact assessments.

It's really benefited me from that front and with privacy. It's a constant learning field, you know. So dynamic it's constantly changing. So I’m also trying to keep up with all the updates that you give on Skool. It's good to stay ahead of the game and every day, you know continue this learning process.

Jamal: 17:31

Okay, awesome. And how are you feeling about what the future holds for you?

Melindi: 17:34

I feel pretty good. Very positive. I'm excited to be part of a privacy conscious world and I really hope to make a difference one day in the privacy community, have an impact on it. And, , like you say, it's a brand new world and you really made me understand the need for privacy and you opened up so many other areas in my brain with the ring door example or with privacy for children and apps and all of these things, it just all came together.

So feeling positive about the future and thank you so much for being a part of that positivity.

Jamal: 18:11

No, that's an absolute pleasure and a privilege, and you said you wanted to inspire just one person. You've actually been inspiring lots of people already. I don't know if you remember, but after you passed your exam, I wrote a post about you on LinkedIn, and shared your amazing story. And dozens of people have been reaching out to me since then. In fact, one of the people that reached out to me, used to be somebody who used to manage you in the past. So you're even inspiring people who are senior and have been senior to you, and they've seen your transformation and they're inspired by that. And so I just want to commend you for having the guts to recognize that something wasn't working and something had to give. And then for taking The brave choice to say, I'm going to bet on myself. I'm going to develop small habits of excellence. And that helps you to have a different perspective, operate from a different energy, and I think one of the things that a lot of people don't realize is when they're in the cycle of constant rejection, they go down a very downward spiral and that energy

Melindi: 19:08

Yeah can be

Jamal: 19:08

Sensed and felt, especially at the interviews by the interviewers. And so they're looking for someone that's going to bring that positive vibe that's going to come and uplift the team. Because one of the three things that you have to convince a a hiring or a manager of or a recruiter of is that you're going to be a great cultural fit and if people are going to spend 40 plus hours of the week with you, they want somebody

Melindi: 19:27

Yeah.

Jamal: 19:27

To be a joy to be around, right? And so when you move to focusing on yourself, focusing on your health, focusing on spending more time with people that matter to you, and that changed your whole outlook, that changed your whole vibe and energy too. And I think all of those things coming together had a lot to do with where you find yourself and this positive outlook that you have about how your career is going to grow moving forward. But it all came down to you saying, I'm going to make a decision that enough is enough. And I'm going to be responsible enough to do something about it. And the right time is now, I'm not going to wait for anything else to happen. I'm not going to wait for my next role. I'm not going to wait for someone to fund this for me. I'm not going to wait for something else to happen. And actually what a lot of people don't know yet. Something that I have discovered because you've shared certain things with me is you're a bit of a go getter, aren't you? you're somebody

Jamal: 20:18

So you’ve been traveling around the world, you used to on the airlines, you've been working on yachts, You're absolutely amazing and inspirational.

Can you share some of your story and your background and how you found yourself where you are right now? Like just share that journey with us.

Melindi: 20:33

Okay. So after school, decided I wanted to study my LLB, but at the same time, I always wanted to travel. So obviously in South Africa, we're so far away from everything, so it's not really cheap to travel, just take a train like in Europe. So in my third year I was studying correspondence. Kind of like what's now been promoted in terms of COVID. And then for my 21st birthday, I decided I'm going to go to Thailand and teach English there. It was amazing. I got to learn about their culture, discovered my love for Thai food. And then after I graduated, I decided, you know what? I'm going to go take an interview at Emirates.

It was a hectic process like a three day interview process and elimination after elimination. And I think we were 400 in the beginning and then we only ended up being 10.

Jamal: 21:24

Program, TV program, like X Factor or something?

Melindi: 21:27

Yeah, it was literally like some kind of show. It was very daunting. So there was 10 of us at the end and then out of that 10, your CV and everything gets sent to Dubai and then you get the golden call. I think only three of us got the golden call and I was super excited.

I got to move to Dubai. I lived there for just shy of two years and I got to travel, see the world and it opened my mind up so much in terms of different cultures and backgrounds and people. And then I realized how ignorant I was before I started traveling in terms of just assumptions you make from TV or whatever the case is.

And then I actually did my bridging course for Australia. It was my goal to move there, but then my circumstances changed and I didn't want to go there anymore.

Jamal: 22:14

Okay.

Melindi: 22:14

The cost that piled up from it was obviously Australian dollar compared to our Rand. I had to go find a way to make money fast to pay off those Australian study debts. So I decided to go to Europe. I worked on the yachts. It was the quickest, fastest way to make money. And it was also a very cool experience. you live in small spaces, you eat with the crew, you live with the crew, you're stuck in each other's space for so long. So it was a very different experience. So at least I've ticked all those three things that I wanted to do before I can settle down into a traditional career and lifestyle.

Jamal: 22:51

Wow. That's absolutely fascinating and amazing. You have so much guts, Melindi, absolutely inspiring. And to be able to travel and expand your mind the way you have, I can see where all of your kind of brilliance is coming from and, you know I find you super inspirational and that's why I really wanted to have a chance to speak to you on this podcast. So one thing I want to understand is we all have challenges and drawbacks and setbacks in our careers, in our lives. Given all of these different experiences that you've had, what was one particularly really challenging story that you'd like to share with us? How did you overcome it? And what are the lessons that that's left you with?

Melindi: 23:30

So my biggest challenge was that Australia dream that I had when I was flying for Emirates. I went there so often and I got to see the courts and it looked amazing. And I really wanted to go practice law there. I was about to go study there. I applied and then Covid hit and then luckily they bought the program via correspondence. I got to still study and do my exams at four in the morning because of the time zone differences so that was pretty challenging in terms of balancing, so I was working full time and then doing those studies.

And it was quite hectic because it was practical legal training. Waking up so early in the morning, COVID, I was living alone at the time. I had to just go through that, and our privacy legislation had just come into effect at that time. So it was really hard balancing not being able to leave the house, working, trying to get my Australian studies, and eventually, at the end of the year, I made it through.

Melindi: 24:27

And then the visa points changed. I submitted all my documents they needed before the time, then their point system kind of changed. So that was also a bit demotivating, you know, I'd spent all this money and I had this dream to go over there. But now looking back, it was a blessing in disguise. I'm still admitted there. I still have that common law country exposure in terms of being admitted there. And I realized my love for my country that I actually do love this country, even though I love traveling as well, this is where I want to be based. And so it turned out to all be lessons and I turned all those failures and rejections and de motivational days into being resilient.

Jamal: 25:09

Wow. That's amazing. Now it would have been very easy for you to just come up with excuses. Oh, no, I'm working full time. I can't wake up at 4am. I have to miss a class or I'm too tired or not today. But you put yourselves through that. Where did you find the grit and resilience to have that level of discipline?

Melindi: 25:27

I just focused on the future. I said, one day you're going to look back and you're going to be proud of yourself. And a lot of days it wasn't easy. It's easy to sleep in or to say it's too hard. I can't do this. And some days I did have those thoughts. I'm not going to lie. But then it had to be overcome with just balance. So I would take a little break or do a little gym exercise cause you have to have balance.

Melindi: 25:51

You can't just be stuck at your computer or at your books for hours upon hours. So just learning about that balance of work life and study life. And just constantly motivating yourself, being your biggest support and telling yourself, okay, you can do this. And also just picturing the future, like just say it's just a few months. What is a few months compared to your whole lifetime? So it was just all those thoughts that I had to motivate myself with.

Jamal: 26:20

Okay, great. So you took a step back, you gave yourself perspective, you realize there's gonna be delayed gratification and all of those things helped you. To keep yourself motivated, keep up the discipline. And it's because you understood your reason why, why you was putting yourself through this and you knew what your long-term goal and vision was. That's absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing that with me. I'm sure there's so many people listening that are finding themselves a little bit demotivated right now. And so everything you've just shared right now could actually be the thing that changes everything for just that one person. And I know your goal was just to transform one person's life. So I'm looking forward to all of the feedback that we get from this. Now, at the end of the podcast, we always let the guest ask me a question. So I'm going to extend that same courtesy to you. What would you like to ask me, Melindi?

Melindi: 27:02

Thanks, Jamal. So my question in the spirit of motivation is literally when you having a bad day or when you wake up not feeling too good, what motivates you? You're so inspiring. You've achieved so many great things. So what can I take from you or the listeners take from you in terms of what keeps you motivated or what motivates you in a moment where you know you're not in a good headspace?

Jamal: 27:27

Really good question. So every morning when I wake up, I start off with my gratitude list, the same thing that I asked you guys to do when you were on the program. So it doesn't matter how demotivated, how upset or how dejected I wake up feeling. I know I have so much to be grateful for, and I could never repay my Lord for some of those things, like for the value I have in my eyesight, like how can I ever repay for that.

So I always count my blessings and see, look, I have so much to be grateful for. And I've got this opportunity today. I don't know if I'll be alive tomorrow or not, anything could happen. So how am I going to make sure that these 24 hours on earth I have today, that I actually make it count? And if you read or listen to a chap called Steven Bartlett, he talks about this thing that he looked at where it shows you how much time you have left. And when you look at that chart, it is profound because you realize you don't actually have that much time left. And let's say every day you wake up and you have 24 chips. Out of those 24 chips, 8 of those chips are gonna go into sleeping and resting and doing all of the stuff that you need to do just to be alive, right? That leaves you with 16 chips. Out of those 16 chips, some of that's gonna go towards eating. Some of that's gonna go towards driving. Some of that's gonna go towards things that you have no control over. And then you're left with a very small amount of chips. A lot of that is going to go towards work. So that's why I want to make sure that the work I do is actually meaningful. And a little bit of that is going to be left over and now you get to choose how you spend that. So are you going to spend that with your family? Are you going to spend that on yourself? Are you going to spend that doing the things that move you? And so when you realize that you have such limited amount of time. There's no time to sit there feeling sorry for yourself and waste. And we're in touch with your reason why and the reason why here is we're trying to create a world where every woman, every man and every child enjoys freedom over their personal information. There is no time to sit around moping around and feeling sorry for yourself, right? You've got work to do.

Melindi: 29:25

Sure.

Jamal: 29:25

You’ve got a few chips left. It's up to you how you place those chips because if you don't spend them, guess what? You're going to lose them. They're not going to stay with you forever. You've got 24 hours.

And if you don't spend those chips wisely, you lose them at the end of the day. And every day you get 24 new chips and it's up to you how you spend them. And everyone gets the same amount of chips every single day. And it's up to every single person how they spend that. And so we can either make choices that put the odds in our Favor in the long term, or we can leave it to chance or we can just waste them. When you put that into perspective and you realize how few chips you actually have left to play with, then you want to make the most of every single opportunity that you get. And I think that's what keeps me moving, even during challenging times, even during tough times.

Jamal: 30:06

At the end of the day, we always have to remember that everything doesn't evolve around us, like this world, there's much more important things, believe it or not, in life, I have to say to myself, than me, like, I'm not the most important person in the world.

It might feel like that to me all of the time, but guess what? It's not. My problems are just minor problems. And when you go and you look at the bigger picture, traveling really helped me to humble myself. I remember when I went to Mecca pilgrimage and I was just this one dot amongst millions of dots. It really humbled me that my problems, my challenges were nothing.

Jamal: 30:40

Everyone here has got their own challenges. Everyone here has their own individual and everyone's doing their own thing. And so there's nothing that spectacular about what I'm going through. I just got to do the best I can with whatever I have dealt to me. And that's where the chips come in is you place your bets and you hope for the best. You follow a strategy. And if it doesn't work, you change. Just like you were saying, I had to do something different.

And, I guess it's just knowing that there is a limited amount of resources, limited amount of time. And it's up to me to make the most of the opportunity I have in front of me today. And it doesn't happen every single day. I'll be honest with you. There are days where I have better days. There are days where I have challenging days. There are days where my unresolved grief and all of those things come and haunt me. But we've got to keep moving forward and you have to remember the breathing exercises, the grounding exercises, all of those exercises that I've been sharing on the program and all of those things help you get through it.

Jamal: 31:36

Plus you're building up the habits of excellence. You're working on your identity. And every day you're showing up and saying, I want to become the next best version of myself. Because the Melindi you had to become to be where you are now is not the same Melindi that's going to get you to your next goal. And so what you have to focus on now is who do I need to become to achieve my next goal and start working on that. You know, this already, it doesn't happen overnight. We have to work and we have to do small steps. And so that's what I'm constantly doing is who is the next best version of myself, the goals I have for my next milestone, who do I need to become?

Jamal: 32:12

What are the skills I need to develop and what are the daily habits of excellence that I need to adopt to get myself to that situation? And when you put all of those things together and you get the opportunity to help amazing people like you, that is so energizing that I don't have permission to mope around. I have to go and help people. I have to come and help people. I have to help you guys get to where you need to get to. And if I help enough people, then I'll get to where I need to get to at the same time. So it's a mixture of all of those things. I wouldn't say there's any one particular thing. And if there's anyone listening who is thinking I've got it all figured out, trust me, I haven't. Every one of us has those challenging days, but what you got to remember when you find yourself in those challenges is just to pause, take a step back, ground yourself, And just do the thing that you need to do. I hope that answers your question, Melindi.

Melindi: 32:59

Yeah, thank you so much as you inspiring as always and I'll definitely take that as a another learning curve from you. In terms of the chips I remember you mentioned deposits and withdrawals throughout the program as well And you've been doing a lot of those deposits So thank you so much and thank you for that answer. I really appreciate it.

Jamal: 33:19

So Melindi, thank you for coming and sharing your amazing and inspiring journey on the podcast. We learned about where you was and how you overcome those frustrations. We learned about your experience on the Privacy Pros Academy. And also the things that have helped you to achieve the goals and how you actually managed to smash or ace the CIPPE exam within just seven days after completing your training. And you've also shared some very inspirational stories of the things that you've had to go through and endure and sacrifice to get to where you are now and how great you're feeling about the future because you've done all of those things and you achieve all of those things and how much you go out from actually traveling and seeing the world.

It's been absolute speaking with you Melindi.. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your journey on the Privacy Pros podcast.

Melindi: 34:07

Thank you so much for having me and for taking time to meet with me. It's been such a great experience to chat with you tonight and thank you so much for everything.

Jamal: 34:17

If you've been listening to the privacy pros podcast and you're inspired by Melindi and you'd like to reach out to her, check out the show notes where you can link with her on LinkedIn and just send her a message and let her know how absolutely amazing she's been and if she's inspired you in any way shape or form. Please do leave her or me a message and i'll share it with her. Because her goal for coming here today was to help inspire as many people as possible And if you can just inspire one more person, then she would feel great about herself I know we can bring Much more fun stuff. So keep listening, share your takeaways, tag Melindi, tag myself. We'll come and give you some love You Until next time, peace be with you.

Outro: 34:58

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, like and share so you're notified when a new episode is released. Remember to join the Privacy Pros Academy Facebook group where we answer your questions. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you're leaving with some great things that will add value on your journey as a world class Privacy Pro.

Please leave us a 4 or 5 star review. And if you'd like to appear on a future episode of our podcast, Or have a suggestion for a topic you'd like to hear more about, please send an email to team@kazient.co.uk. Until next time, peace be with you.