Mahnoor: 00:00

You don't know where you're going. You can't even see the pinnacle . So for me, because it was so overwhelming, I was like, I just need someone to just show me the mountain almost on a map.

Intro: 00:09

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 counting. So whether you're thinking about starting a career in data privacy or you're an experienced professional. This is the podcast for you.

Mahnoor: 01:03

Hi, everyone. I'm Mahnoor Rahman, and this is my Privacy Pros story.

Jamal: 01:07

So Mahnoor, can you describe what was going on for you that led you to look for some training to begin with?

Mahnoor: 01:13

You know, there were many things. I'm a lawyer. I work for a hospital right now and there are just so many lawyers in this entire world and I wanted to do something that was different and relevant. I live in Qatar right now but, you never know where life takes you. And so you want to bag the things that will be relevant in every area.

And data protection is an area that's just relevant everywhere. So any industry that you go into, any kind of organization that you go into, whether it's in a hospital, whether it's in a bank, whether it's a home business that you're doing, data privacy is just very relevant. And it's something that, I can apply in any job that I get in any time of my life, wherever I move. And I specifically chose GDPR because that is considered to be the most detailed and the most stringent data privacy protection law.

You might as well start off with that and then if you need to learn anything different, if you're going to be practicing in a different jurisdiction, then you can learn that area too, but ultimately it's about knowing the most detailed and stringent ones.

Jamal: 02:27

Mahnoor 02:51

I think one of the issues is where I'm even working right now because we obviously have a lot of personal data. And that's what made me more interested in it. I'll give you a little backstory about this. You know, Jamal, anything that you do, anything, you have to have a good intention. Because if you don't have a good intention, then the result, I don't believe is going to be good. And so two years ago, I had a friend who had come to me and she said, You know, Mahnoor, I'm doing a course on life coaching. And in order to complete that course, I need to find five people to coach. So can you please volunteer? Is that okay? Now, to be honest with you, just like everyone else, life is so fast and so busy. I am a mother of two young children. I work full time. I go to the gym.

Mahnoor: 03:42

I love cooking. So I make sure every time I come back from home, I cook, so frankly speaking, I don't have time. But I thought to myself, just generally as a person, I love helping people because I do believe that, what goes around comes around, right? You give, you get. Tomorrow I may need help and I was rooting for her. So I said, you know what? Sure. Let's chalk in some time and let's figure out a schedule and I'll sit with you. So I went with that intention genuinely to help her.

And in that coaching, she said, where are you in life right now with work? And where do you want to be? And before speaking to her, I just thought everything is fine. It's smooth sailing, but when I started talking to her, I started realizing, you know what, I've been where I am for many years now.

Mahnoor: 04:23

And I actually want to do something different, something that's going to really make me stand out. And I said, you know what, I want to do something that I'd be able to give back to the community and something that's going to make me stand out in the industry that I'm in right now. That was just the initial part that came. But as I went more into it, I started realizing listen, this is not only where I'm working right now. I can actually use this in any industry that I work in. I don't know if that answers your question, but I just have to give it back.

Jamal: 04:54

You're going to work, you're coming home, you're doing this, like what happened one day that you woke up and decided I need growth, I need to change, I need professional recognition.

Mahnoor: 05:03

And it was this, I didn't think about it at all. It was just with the intention of helping someone else, I actually have helped myself. And one more thing, by the way, something that you always say that I did practice, but I did it unintentionally, you always say you need to take quick actions. I've forgotten the exact words that you use, but basically you say speed of execution. Exactly. Speed of execution. A year and a half later, I call this girl just three days ago to tell her, listen, thank you so much. I have to tell you that you were a big part of this because you're the one that made me realize that I need to do this and I've done it.

Mahnoor: 05:40

And you know what she told me? She said after coaching you. I coached other people and what makes me really happy. And what you need to pat yourself on the back about is that you actually did it. You didn't only identify the gap or what you want to do, but you actually went and did it. And that makes me so happy and lots of people don't do that. So that's there for your speed of execution.

Jamal: 06:04

It started off by taking action. Like you took action, you actually went out. Look, I'm trying to build a story up here. So your friend wants to get into life coaching. She says, Hey, can you be one of my case studies? You agree through that case study. You identify that you're actually not fulfilled with where you are because you've been there for a long time and you want to make a bigger difference. You want to make a bigger impact. You want to be somebody who is valued more than you are in your current role and that's going to come from professional recognition and credibility. So you go on this journey. At what point did you decide you wanted to do that in data privacy? Was it before the coaching it was something you were interested in? Was it during the coaching or was it when you realized I want to be more and I want to do more and then you identify data privacy?

Mahnoor: 06:45

It was during the coaching. Before I went to the coaching session, I was like, look, I'm fine. I don't need coaching. I'm getting a salary. I can come home at reasonable hours. We're living a comfortable life. I'm a lawyer. I'm working at a fantastic organization.

And it's only when I spoke to her, did I realize, you know what, hang on, that's all true. What I just said, but I've just basically been here for the past few years. Now I need to challenge myself more. Another thing that I also want to point out, first of all, good intention And second of all, is that,

I'm going to get a little spiritual over here. I believe in God, right? Other people may believe in some spiritual divine. So, you know, you have to believe in something, right? You have to believe that whatever you get in life that you're blessed with you, you get it because of some divine force.

So when you do get that, whether it's through your own strength, your own hard work, it's as per the universe's will, and when you get it, that's a blessing. And that blessing is not just for you. It's your responsibility and your duty to share that with others and to build on it.

Mahnoor: 07:53

So if I've been blessed with being a lawyer, if I've been blessed with time where I do have the opportunity to do other stuff, to help and to give back, you have to serve and that service needs to be significant. And so I'm blessed with being a lawyer, I'm blessed with working at a great organization, I'm blessed with being trusted to handle people's personal data. So then I need to serve those people who I'm handling their data. And it's my responsibility to do it the right way.

Jamal: 08:22

At what point did you decide to pursue a certification? And why did you decide to pursue a certification?

Mahnoor: 08:27

At the point that I decided to do it, it just all fell in place. The organization had a budget and said is there anything you want to train on? And I said, actually, I've been thinking about it and I chose this and they said, sure, we'll sponsor you for this. And that's why I keep on repeating. It's the intention. And it all falls in place. Had this not come, by the way, I would have gone further and looked more into it and in order to make it. So first of all to actually be recognized, to get that respect. I need that piece of paper. So the piece of paper wouldn't even just officially make you recognizable as someone who's certified or knowledgeable person but it also gives you within yourself that confidence that you can do it, right?

Mahnoor: 09:18

It gives you some direction. So you need that certification because it gives you that direction. Like right now I, I have it. So without the certification, where would I start? What do I follow? Do I follow the GDPR? Do I follow my own laws? Do I follow Canadian laws? What do I follow? It just gives a sense of direction as well.

Jamal: 09:36

I like that. I like that. What did you try before you even came across the Privacy Pros Academy? And why didn't it work?

Mahnoor: 09:42

I got material from where I was giving my examination. I bought material from there because I didn't know any better. And I was just jumping in, eyes closed. I had no idea. I really had no idea what this was all about. And where I was giving my exam, I just said, okay, you know what? I'll just buy the material that's available.

Jamal: 10:03

Where are you giving your exam? What do you mean by that? Because you give your exam at the Pearson Review Centre. The certification is by IAPP. So do you mean from IAPP or do you mean another course provider?

Mahnoor: 10:13

No, from IAPP. I got the material from there which it's very detailed and it covers a lot. And it's really good in explaining all of the details that are there. But for someone who's just starting and who doesn't know anything, it can be a little overwhelming. At least for me, it was. I haven't had a single person yet who says this was nice and easy.

Jamal: 10:34

So it's not just you, it is everywhere. Somebody once said to me, this book feels like it was written by somebody who hates people. Look, this is an opinion. now a year later, I've passed this exam. I'm certified now. If I go back to that material, yes, it'll make sense to me, but starting off for me, with the knowledge that I had, with the experience that I had, to be honest, for me, it was overwhelming.

Mahnoor: 10:56

I got more scared, actually, like, Oh my gosh, if I can say this metaphorically, it was almost like. You know, when you're looking up at a mountain, there's just a lot of information and it's not a smooth incline. The weather's getting bad. There's so many hedges on the way. They're like bumps. You get halfway, but then you fall down in the middle. You don't know where you're going. You can't even see the pinnacle actually. And so for me, because it was so overwhelming, I was like, I just need someone to just show me the mountain almost on a map.

Just map it out for me and tell me, look, you need to go to this base camp first. This is the equipment you'll need to go to this base camp. Once you get to this base camp, put a flagpole there. Someone to map out a path and then guide you.

And I needed it in a map form. And I needed someone to say, and by the way, the flag posting, your easy peasy prep guide was really good because every step I did a tick on it. It was almost like a flag post like i've gotten somewhere and i'm putting a flag post And then when I went to the second base camp if I was a bit unclear on something on the second base camp I know where the first base camp is because i've put a flagpole there if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. It's like you're not falling all the way to the bottom, you know where you are, you know where you need to go back to, and you know how I know where I need to go back to, I'm not lost.

Mahnoor: 12:22

Before we get into the material, what made you pick the Privacy Pros Academy? So the Privacy Pros Academy, I have to say this, again, It was the intention. It was the prayers that I just said, look, I need guidance. You need to drop someone in my lap who's going to guide truly. People who don't believe in stuff like this are going to laugh, but I really believe in this truly. This is what it was. For months, I was looking and I said, I don't know what the hell to do with us. And it just came up on my LinkedIn. Someone had said, I couldn't have done it without privacy pros academy. And almost telling me the problems that they face, that you guys help them with that I was facing.

And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I need someone like this. So I got in touch with you and when you spoke to me, it was what gave me that confidence.

Mahnoor: 13:06

By the way, I didn't know you at all. I didn't know what Privacy Pros Academy was. You have to trust, by the way, you have to trust, because Jamal, you can't guarantee, you're definitely gonna pass. It also takes the other person's hard work. You've put your heart into this. We give you the guide then you have to walk. Absolutely. So you have to have some trust in that as well. But what gave me that comfort was that you used simple language and I just felt like you got where I was coming from. It's almost like you've had hundreds of students and that's what gave me that security in that conference. 'cause I thought, there are so many other people who are climbing this mountain and who've gotten there. And this guy is just helping everyone to get there. I'm not the only one, because that's another thing that scares you is when you think that you're the only one.

That's right. And by the way, procrastination, because since I was a student, everyone's constantly procrastinating to give exams when they're in A levels or in university. People say, oh my gosh, I work very well under stress or whatever.

And you don't procrastinate because you're lazy, you procrastinate because you're scared of getting into it. That's right. But once you get into it, then you're like, you know what? I actually belong here. It's fine.

Jamal: 14:19

So when you picked the Privacy Pros Academy, what did you love most about the Privacy Pros Academy? How did it help you to overcome your challenges?

Mahnoor: 14:23

So the first thing that I loved was your exam prep. That was fantastic. So you had this introductory video that was really good because it again, give clarity of direction. This is what we're going to do. Don't be scared. This is going to be the step by step process. If you are ever scared, even in the middle, you can come back, you can come back to me and you know what, Hey, you're not the only one who's going through this. That's your introductory video. In your CIPP Mastery, I loved how you split it up into videos.

It wasn't like five hour long things that could be, frankly speaking bloody boring. Okay. So I loved how you divided each video up mostly into 10 to 15 minutes slots. And then every time you got onto a new video, you're like, all right, guys. This is what we did in the previous video and you highlighted the previous thing, you know, just a quick reminder, this is where we're starting off from.

Mahnoor: 15:25

This is where we left off from. And now next we're going to talk about A, B, and C, I really liked that. Number three, I really liked that you motivated and encouraged us as a teacher to sit and put our key takeaways, and kudos to you, because it's not like you're getting anything out of it.

And people need to realize that, right? It's not like Jamal is getting anything out of me putting my key takeaway. But ultimately you're doing this for yourself. And it's because you kept on reminding me and I always think like, where does this guy find the time to remind all of us?

Like he has hundreds of students. Where does he get the time to message me and tell me, Mahnoor, where are your key takeaways? And he's not doing this for himself. And these key takeaways, I mean, that's the extra edge that you give over any other institution that provides these classes is that personal care.

Mahnoor: 16:17

Again, Jamal, it's your intention. It's your intention, and that's why you're very successful right now. It's giving back, it's serving. You know, God has blessed you with the support that you have, the family support, the financial support, the mental, the blessing that you have of being sensible about things and your intention, and you're taking all of that and you're saying, you know what, God has blessed me with this and I'm going to give back.And I'm not going to give back halfway just to make money. I want these guys to succeed just like I have.

Thank you for your kind words. You've humbled me. Isn't it true, Jamal? You have to own it. This is true. This is true. You give back and that's why you're constantly being blessed over and over again. Because you're giving back.

Jamal: 16:59

The thing is, I know this is my intention. This is what I intend to do. This is the conversation we have as a team all the time. But when someone recognizes that and says it back to you, it's very moving, so I appreciate it for that. So you enjoyed the videos, the way things were broken down.Was there anything else about the Academy experience that you found really useful?

Mahnoor: 17:17

Yeah. you mentioned the people in the community. I mean, that was another thing. You have the Wednesday calls. And that's another thing, just showing up and working as a community because one of the biggest things I love is that it's not just about learning about data privacy. It's just so much more. It's about connecting with humans and actually caring. And knowing why you're doing this in the first place. Why am I doing data privacy protection in the first place? Am I just doing it so that I can get a higher salary? Sure. That's one of the big reasons.

Great. But in order to get that high salary, you need to care about what you're doing. And that's something that you instill in all of us by these community conversations is that we actually start caring about the subject and we start caring about how we're going to deliver it because ultimately anyone who's listening to this, you guys can go and learn whatever you want.

Mahnoor: 18:12

But if you don't care about it, you're not going to get the money back. You're not going to be compensated. Because we all have brains, and we can use it and we can memorize and we can learn and we can share that knowledge that's great, but that sense of caring about it while delivering, that's what's going to give you that extra bonus and that extra managerial executive level. That's what's required, caring about what you do. And that's something that your community conversations brings out and teaches you.

Jamal: 18:42

Thank you. So we know where you was before you came across the academy. We know what you loved about the academy. What has been the result? What's been the result of going through the Privacy Pro CIPP Mastery program for you?

Mahnoor: 18:53

Oh my gosh. I can't put it into words because last year at this time, honestly, I was so scared. I was so scared of failure. I was so scared about if I fail what's the world going to think of me now? They all have a great impression of me because I'm a lawyer working at a great organization.

This is amazing. If I fail in this, they're going to think like, Oh, she's not smart enough at all. She can't do this. Why would we rely on anything else on her? So getting through this, It's not even for them, it's even for you. It's even for me, I didn't believe it.

Now, if I don't believe it, how can I convince other people to believe it? So by getting the certification, I believe it that I can do it and I did do it and just five minutes before the exam, honestly, I was a nervous wreck outside when I was waiting.

Mahnoor: 19:46

And there was a person who had come for another exam who was sitting in the same hall and he was even a complete nervous wreck, and we were trying to give each other courage and all of that. And I remember getting in touch with you a day before and you said, listen, I know you're going to pass, but highly unlikely, if you don't pass is you telling yourself that you're not going to pass.

And I kept on, thinking to myself, I need to listen to Jamal and if he has faith in me, if this guy who just met me a few months ago, he doesn't even know me and he can see something in me, who am I to tell myself that I can't see it in myself?

You went for these classes, you even understand it. Oh, by the way, that's another good thing that you guys have is like, I really understood it, something that you need to do.

Jamal: 20:27

Before you came across the academy, you had other resources and stuff and you just wasn't getting it. You came to the academy, we gave you resources and stuff. What was the difference between the resources that we shared with you compared to the other resources that you'd been going through for the year before that?

Mahnoor: 20:41

Your resources were very structured. Very structured simple, by the way, truly easy peasy to understand. I love that you did what you did with the GDPR, because you take the entire GDPR, chapter by chapter, each paragraph by paragraph, and you tell us, listen, this is basically what they're saying because there's so many parts of the GDPR, which talks about ifs and buts and article this and article that and it's very complicated.

Jamal: 21:08

Mahnoor if you had to tell someone, imagine that you're talking to one of your friends, and you're explaining the Privacy Pros Academy, the Privacy Pros program, how would you describe what we do?

Mahnoor: 21:17

Oh, I just described it to someone just the other day, by the way, and I referred them to you and they'll probably be getting in touch with you. I would describe it as well structured. Basically, you guys do everything. And what we need to do is show up and be alert and care about ourselves enough to do the extra actions that you ask us to do, for example, the key takeaways that's what we need to give.

The three things that we need to give is show up, be alert and care about ourselves. These are the three things that we need to do and you guys do everything else. Thank you. And why should someone choose the Privacy Pros Academy over one of the other 120 official training partners?

For all of the things that I said before. Look, you get into these certifications generally because you don't know where you're going, where to start, where to end, what to do. And I think with you guys, as opposed to others, I haven't really looked at other ones as such, but the material that I did get from IAPP, I could compare it to that. And the material that I could get from them is that again it's just very overwhelming for someone who doesn't know about it.

And so someone who doesn't know about it, with privacy pros, you guys really structure it and make it simple to understand. And it's less daunting. It's less intimidating. In fact, you build confidence in the person who's doing the course.

And how that confidence come is by making people understand and you're very good at explaining things. And so anyone can understand what is required for the certification if they listen to your videos. Thank you. And is there anything else that you want to share?

Mahnoor: 22:57

I think I just want to share what I'm going to do with this now. That's really important for anyone listening over here is like, okay, great. Now you've got the certification that's fantastic. I want to practice what you preach, which is speed and execution. I can't sit on the certification, by the way.

I can't say, you know what, I'm going to start in Jan. I'm going to give myself three months break. You have to keep on going you got to build on the momentum.

You have to keep on doing that, and everyone has different responsibilities in life. So you have to put realistic goals because at the end of the day, what you don't want to do is sacrifice your health and your personal life while you're serving others, because if your cup is not full, you can't give to other people.

You need to fill your cup first. You need to make sure that you're doing that. That's number one. And that's why taking your own personal circumstances into consideration, you need to set realistic goals. So for example, someone else who's got a goal to do their whole privacy notice in the next week.

Mahnoor: 23:53

That doesn't mean you need to do it in the next week. You need to see what other job do you have at your work? Do you have time to do it? So you need to break it down, right? Say, okay, my goal is to do the privacy notice, but maybe instead of a week, I can do it in three weeks. And why that works for me is because I've got other jobs to do at my work as well.

I'm not just a data protection officer. I'm a legal counsel. So I need to do my other job as well. Yeah. Yeah. I have to do that too. So I think it's about being kind to yourself, being kind to others. And don't lose the momentum. You have to have realistic goals and stick to those goals.

Jamal: 24:30

Awesome.

Outro: 24:31

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.