Ramnani: Hi, I'm Dr Sapna Ramnani and you're listening to share it with me and the journalist living with the speech impairment, and that means my voice is a little more difficult to understand, but I didn't want that to stop me from asking the questions that matter. In this podcast, I use an AI voice to help me bring those questions to life. The voice is synthetic, but the thoughts, the emotions and the intent behind every question and comment are completely my old you'll hear that AI voice throughout the interview, but know that I'm here guiding every moment of the conversation. Welcome to share with me the podcast, where we explore the remarkable stories of ordinary people who have faced extraordinary challenges and found a way forward. My guest today is Sayem khan, an immigrant entrepreneur whose journey spans continents, career changes, business successes, devastating setbacks, and personal growth. Born and raised in Bangladesh. Sayem moved to Canada with his wife in pursuit of new opportunities and a better future. What followed was far from the dream he had imagined. From struggling to find his place in a new country and navigating cultural barriers to working multiple jobs while rebuilding his career, same discovered that success rarely follows a straight path. He went on to build a thriving Amazon business, only to see it collapse during the Covid nineteen pandemic. Faced with financial uncertainty, unemployment and the responsibilities of a new father. He found himself questioning everything he had worked for in this inspiring conversation. Sayem shares how resilience, faith, family support and a willingness to start over helped him rebuild his life once again. We talk about immigration, entrepreneurship, overcoming adversity, and the lessons he has learned about purpose, perseverance, and creating opportunities for others. This is a story about courage, reinvention, and discovering who you are when life doesn't go according to plan. Let's meet Sayem Khan. Hi, Sayem. How are you?

Khan: I'm good. Thank you, thank you. Thanks for asking.

Ramnani: It is really lovely to talk with you. Thank you so much for your time.

Khan: Well, thanks a lot for making time for me. It's my pleasure to be speaking with you.

Ramnani: I understand around And eleven. You moved from Bangladesh to Canada. Talk me through what life was like for yourself and your wife in Bangladesh.

Khan: Yes. That's right. Back in twenty eleven twenty twelve, I was working as a pharmacist back home and my wife just graduated. She didn't start working. We come from the upper middle class family over there. My dad was a professor and her dad was one of the higher level c-suites in one of the banks. It wasn't much of a struggle. I've seen a lot of other people struggle in that part of the world a lot more than we have. We were privileged, and I should say both of us were pharmacists. I was working, she wasn't. It's literally one fine morning. I'm like, we should move to Canada. So we decided to move back then, and she landed before I did because I was still working. And we were like, you go see how things are. And then I had that notice period for leaving the job. That was a bit of a struggle in terms of both of us not being able to move together. However, it wasn't that long. It was like six to eight months after we reunited.

Ramnani: Why Canada?

Khan: I get asked this question a lot why Canada? So one of the things when I was studying pharmacy in my second year, when I was studying, my wife and I were heavily involved with research and development. I had an international publication which got approved in IDF International Diabetes Federation that was hosted in Canada back in two thousand and eight. And I kept on getting a rejection letter for my visa. After three times, I got on a face to face interview with one of the immigration officers, and his reasoning was that I will not leave the country at that point. This is life changing for a second year student. You don't understand. And he just wouldn't give me a visa. So I sat there. I remember thinking to myself, I will go to Canada the proper way. And I will not leave because I'll migrate to Canada. And that was the actual backstory of why Canada, apart from the fact that when you're in Southeast Asian part of the world, you see all these other things in Europe, America, right? And you're like, the grass is always greener on the other side, right? Especially at that age, you're like, oh, okay, life's going to be better there. Leave everything that you know and move. So that was one of the reasons.

Ramnani: So did you have any apprehension about immigrating?

Khan: When we were studying as well? I saw a lot of my friends move to different parts of the world. Some went to UK, some went to Australia, some of them moved to North America. One of the things that I was seeing at that time, you're just seeing the tip of the iceberg, right? You don't see the back end of what's happening. So I'm like, okay, life's great over there and life's going to turn out to be great over there for whoever goes right, which is a common mentality when you're seeing someone from the outside not knowing what's happening internally or the struggles that people face. So one of my biggest things to migrate in was that both of us are going to go in as pharmacists. And we all knew this is ten, fourteen years ago now. My thought process was whatever I'm making back home compared to pharmacists in US or Canada at that time, were on an average, making like ninety thousand to one hundred and ten thousand annual salaries. I see that's what you see. And you start thinking about it, and life's definitely better over there. So that got me into looking into immigrating and everything.

Ramnani: So can you tell me about the problems and challenges of fitting into a new country coming from Bangladesh?

Khan: Our winter is over. There would be eight degrees. The day I landed in Canada it was Twenty seven, twenty eight, something like that. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, it felt like a slap on my face. Like, what is this? Right. And I didn't have proper clothing as well. We don't get that type of winter wear over there. You're not used to it, so you don't necessarily need it. One of the biggest challenges was the weather. It still is. I don't think anyone can get used to this weather ever. Whether you're migrating or if my son was born here, I feel like he will never get used to this weather. You have to understand the overall culture over here and then understand the people what they think, like how how different it is, right? And then get accustomed to it very fast so that you fit in. So unless like one of the reasons I say understanding people is because like, as I mentioned, I was a pharmacist, but I knew I wasn't going to get a get into a pharmacy right away. So I had to go through other jobs. right? So understanding people. Also, as I mentioned earlier, like I did come from a family where I'm lucky enough that I never had to think about, oh, where is the food going to come from? Where is the money going to come from? But when you're on your own and reality hits, it's very different. So trying to figure out how we want our life to play out right away. My wife and I knew that both of us weren't going to able to pursue pharmacy. She wanted to. So because it's, it's a lot of self study. And if one of you are studying, the other one needs to kind of work. Although my wife was studying and working, I wanted to be there to support her as much as I could, just for her to pursue her dreams of being a pharmacist back in my mind. I didn't want to continue pharmacy, but that's. So I did have. So in that and going a different route. Biggest challenges are getting to understand how people function in a different country. The weather being in Canada, the weather was a big difference as well.

Ramnani: Do you experience racism?

Khan: I would say almost minimal in in terms of like over the span of fourteen years. It's I can pinpoint a couple of times when I have. It wasn't like extreme. It was something that maybe the other person. Negligence or lack of knowledge about things. I wouldn't say blatant racism, but there's been a couple of times that I've had to come across it for sure.

Ramnani: And was it difficult to fit into a new culture?

Khan: It wasn't that difficult for me. There's a big Bengali community over here in Toronto. I interacted with that community and a lot of people were a lot negative in terms of, oh, you can do this, you can do that. They portrayed their own struggles up on to me saying, you won't be able to achieve this, you won't be able to do this and that. I kind of understand their mindset, but what I had in my mind was like, okay, I'm going to do whatever it takes. I left everything behind. Yes. I shouldn't say like, everything was like a bed of roses, right? There were nights where I would think, like, why did I even do this? Why did I come? Why did I leave everyone and everything I know behind? So coming out of a comfort zone always takes a bit of time. And also the mental strength. And hence I mentioned my wife, I even when I wrote that out, like dream and my loving wife. So she was always there to support me. She was like, okay, we can get through this together. It's a team work, right? So one of the things that I didn't find as difficult as others was to fit in. I do have an accent. My language barrier was a bit lower than other people that I've spoken to, understanding what others are looking for. So one of the things that I've always kind of looked into is like, let's say someone saying something to me. I try to find out what that actually means. Like if someone says, oh, I don't have time for this, that means you're prioritizing something else. So what's the priority? So getting to understand people like that helped me fit in a lot better.

Ramnani: Some people tend to be unfavorable to immigrants. Did you ever experience this?

Khan: That's one of the things I did experience right away when I came in. There was this person who looked at me and he was like, oh, you're not from around here. That was the first thing he said on an interview. That's how he welcomed me. It didn't feel very welcomed, but eventually I have experienced that kind of situation more than once. They were like, oh, like, you don't have any experience here. Which I understand again, like trying to see their perspective, what they're looking for kind of help. It was like, okay, you have way more experience than what we're looking for, but you're not from here. We're looking for someone from here. And as a permanent resident, you kind of feel I shouldn't say bad, but are bringing you down. But there were barriers like that. They would be like, oh, we're a couple of them blatantly said we need citizens because we don't know if permanent residents would stick around long enough. The reason I think that is, is because they have experienced something before. What is the story they're telling themselves? It's always from a previous experience. So maybe they have experienced people who migrated, got them like maybe a job, and then they left the country and didn't come back, or then they weren't the right fit because they didn't understand what they needed to. That's the perspective I've always looked at.

Ramnani: He told that you had big dreams. Can you describe them?

Khan: One of the things that I always wanted to do was have something of my own, be it a business, be like. At that point, I didn't know what it was. I never wanted to keep on working for someone else for the rest of my life. That was my dream. I didn't know how to get to that point, but that was a goal. My dad, he's a professor or like he used to be a practicing professor. I've seen him work for over forty years. I haven't seen him for forty years or so. One of the things that I always saw was he was doing everything. He did the best he could with limited time. He spent enough time with. My sister and I are as family like he valued the family time more than other things, which is something that I'm grateful for because I've always had a very present person in my life. Not just him, even my mom. It's like that helped me become who I am today. I've also seen him struggle, struggle in terms of not just with timing, in terms of working. I've seen him compared to one of his friends who had his own business. He had a lot more time, freedom and financial freedom than my dad did as a kid. I used to compare at times, and one day my dad told me that never compare your life with someone else's. This is your life. That's their life. He did mention that, yes, if you want to be like someone else, always aim for it and work your way towards it instead of like trying to work hard and like, okay, I'm going to keep on working for someone else instead of working for someone else. I wanted to have my own things, have the time, not necessarily the financial freedom. Yes, I understand with jobs I could have certain aspects of it, but with the time, freedom and things that I want, I like doing. I used to play cricket professionally as well for a long time. If in my mid forties, if I can do more of that, that's what I want to do instead of keep on working for someone else. That was my big dream. I just don't want to keep on grinding my life, you know what I mean?

Ramnani: So who did you leave behind and how did they respond to your big move?

Khan: I left everyone behind. So I grew up in a joint family. My dad, there were four brothers and we all lived in the same household. So I grew up in a household of like twenty plus people with fifteen plus dogs. And so and of that setup and moved to a different country. I had an older cousin who did go to us for higher education, but he came back. So I literally left all of my family behind, all my friends behind. So just my wife and I, that's it. We moved and it wasn't easy. I was very attached to all those people and unfortunately, after I moved, a lot of my uncles passed away. I never went back. For these fourteen years that I've been here. Those are the people, the faces that I missed. Those connections I don't have is what I missed for a few years initially. Then like after a couple of years of me moving over here. So that was a very big help. My sister and her husband migrated to Canada as well.

Ramnani: You opened the path for others to follow.

Khan: Now we have like eighteen to twenty people from my immediate family and friend circle who's moved to Canada. And I'm like, I left all of you behind for a reason. Why are you following me? Oh. Everyone lives in different parts of the city or the country, but mentally I'm at a lot better place after they kind of move the first part more than the initial struggle.

Ramnani: Yes, I can imagine. It must be nice to have some of your family there.

Khan: It is nice, especially when my sister moved up. So after a couple of years of both of us moving here now my in-laws are like permanent residents as well. My wife applied for them to come here, so they live with us too. My parents are still like on and off kind of visits us, which is nice. I haven't been back for fourteen years, so it's nice to have a lot of them visiting or a few of them, like also living in the same city or around you. Worst case scenario, we get together in like a couple of months. We see each other once or twice, or if there's a big event during all the holidays, it's nice to get together with family and friends instead of being by yourself. And usually for the first couple of years, I didn't even take any of those holidays off. I was like, I'll work, I'll work. That's my life. Now it's a bit different, and it's very nice that I have that support around me.

Ramnani: So what were your thoughts on what Canada would be like and how did this differ from reality?

Khan: It's not at all how I thought it would be, to be honest. I was like, oh, I'm going to go in and I'm going to get my education done, like further education if I wanted to and be the pharmacist I wanted to be or then have my own pharmacy. And that was one of the goals I own my private pharmacy and compete against all the big name chains over here. That was the thought process. But in reality, there were times when I knew I was qualified for certain jobs and I would go in and they were like, okay, didn't work out. Back of my mind, I know why. Some were pretty blatant saying, okay, you're not from around here, so unfortunately you don't fit in. ET cetera. ET cetera. I always had a knack for doing events, even back home when I was a student or even before university days, I used to enjoy doing smaller events, be it a seminar or be it helping out. In one of my cousin's friend's wedding, I realized it very quickly that if I wanted to grow a career over here, I need a degree. I know at the end of the day, it's just a piece of paper on the wall. So I jumped on one of the event management courses while doing the course. I was still working. At that time, I was working as a security for special events. So late night shifts like two, three a m kind of ending time. I was studying at that time and doing that. However, I knew if I could get my face out there in various other events, people would see the value. So I volunteered at like forty different events in less than a year, and I volunteered for everything that shows up. So it's kind of working your way in instead of trying to force people to see you, you're like, okay, I'm meeting this person. And then the opportunities kind of open up from there. And due to all those volunteering, I got a job at the Pan AM Games back in twenty fifteen. I was the fleet manager over there. So opportunities came along and that's literally not how I thought it would be. We were kind of sheltered from the reality a little bit. Maybe not intentionally, but that's how it worked out for us. So when reality hit, it was a bit difficult. I can't talk about others, but at least my parents always put me in this path where they were like, okay, the path is going to be difficult, but you have it in you to figure it out. And I'm always thankful to them for doing that to me. Otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today.

Ramnani: So they trusted you?

Khan: Both my parents did. From a very young age. My dad was my biggest fan. When I was trying to get into cricket. He would take me to cricket practice at six a m before going to work. Even if he was getting late for work, he would be there. I still remember the first game that I got selected for. I could see him in the stands cheering the loudest for me. The day I told him we are applying for emigrating to Canada. A lot of people back home, a lot of family and friends. They were like, oh, why do you want to do this? But my dad was one of my biggest cheerleaders. He was like, if that's the route you're going, that's the route you're going. Keep your focus. He always not just him. My mom also trusted me a lot. Maybe shouldn't have at times when they did, but that's the learning process. They trusted in me in terms of they knew that they've installed their values in me, and up until a certain point, they could hold my hand, walk the path with me. But then it was my own path to walk. They always gave me the freedom to think. They never tried to enforce anything on me, which is great because I've seen others, very close people around me who didn't face the same things. They were like, oh, I have to do this because my dad's telling me to do or because it's enforced, but it doesn't come from within. And that creates a big difference.

Ramnani: So you managed to have a successful business with Amazon. Can you explain the problems and challenges that you faced while establishing the business?

Khan: Back in twenty nineteen? I was still doing contracts here and there. The contracts were great because I could still look into building my own business because I would have a six month contract. Since that time, I got introduced to the online marketing world and I tried everything I was trying selling on eBay. I was trying selling on Facebook Marketplace or retail arbitrage, you name it. I've tried all the side hustles that you can think of affiliate marketing, flipping websites, building websites, and outsourcing work as a freelancer. Along that journey, I did come across Amazon and then I tried doing a few dropshipping kind of model in Amazon, which is like Amazon fulfilled by merchant is what they call that someone buys a product, you ship it. I did have a bit of success with that as well. It wasn't substantial. One of the biggest challenges for that model is you have to have upfront money, because you're paying someone to ship things over to Amazon warehouse and they fulfill it. You have to buy in bulk. I did have a couple of connections from Hong Kong and China, and they were doing that. That's how I was able to scale it a bit faster than I thought. Initially, I made back end deals with them in terms of, okay, I'm not going to pay you five grand up front. I'll pay you two grand once everything's shipped. I knew how to sell inside of Amazon, so I was like, I'm going to sell and then give the supplier some more money. It wasn't necessarily the best sustainable model because I didn't have the upfront cash. I couldn't give them at that time. I specifically remember I had a credit card, which was twenty five thousand overdue because I was doing what I was doing. And back in my mind, I'm like, how do I get out of this? How do I not keep on getting into the same cycle of it? Then one month it just clicked. I actually had twenty seven products on Amazon and only one or two worked out very well. And one of those months, something clicked and we got fifty zero zero zero in sales in a month. And I was like, alright, at least I can clear my credit card. That was a very high light moment in my journey for, for Amazon. But most of the struggles would be the upfront cost, trying to get the right suppliers for your products. And then also someone actually wanted to sue me from us because the product that I got from the supplier, I could only sell it in UK, Canada and Australia, but I didn't realize that and I posted it on us as well. I posted on like Amazon dot co dot UK or dot com or dot CA. I posted it on the dot com version of it as well. A few days later they were like, we are going to sue you. Here's all the legal paperwork you need. I'm like, ah, I can't afford to get sued. Oh my gosh. Those were some of the challenges and finding the right partner in terms of the manufacturing partner and the supply chain. Those were a bit difficult when I first got started.

Ramnani: So I understand when Covid hit, your business nosedived. Talk me through this time in twenty twenty.

Khan: One of the biggest challenges that fifty zero zero zero month I told you about that was twenty nineteen December. So I still remember that month very well. December. The reason it went kind of viral, the product did without any ad spend. This was all within Amazon is because it was being gifted as a Christmas gift. So I'm going to order more of this and white label the product, which we did as well. And then few months in, everything comes in and then Covid starts during Covid. Of course, the supply chain got affected, the manufacturing got delayed, and even the purchasing capacity kind of reduced. People were losing their purchasing power because a lot of people were getting laid off. A lot of job markets got affected more than the consumer behavior. How I was affected and why it like literally took a nosedive was because of the manufacturing capacity. So the same person who I was having deals like, okay, you ship it, I pay you two thousand now wanted eight grand up front. They didn't have that leeway to work with me on the same capacity. At one point, I was like in huge debt. I just got out of it. I didn't want to go back into that debt, especially in the middle of Covid. And June twenty twenty is when my son was born as well. So with a newborn, with the business kind of not going the way I wanted it to go, the supply chain hampered. I was also using air shipping because I wanted fast. My newborn son was there at that time as well. Becoming a parent was again. I wish someone had a handbook on how to be a good parent, but that doesn't exist. I guess everyone's different. I have always been to be a present dad or a present husband instead of just physically being present there. I wanted to be mentally be there, support my wife, and be the dad for my kid. That kind of deviated my focus a bit from the business, but that wasn't the main reason for the business to have a nosedive. The main reason was the relationships with the supplier or the manufacturer. It wasn't the same anymore due to Covid playing a huge role. I understand it's their business and they also had to run their businesses. They weren't able to assist me the way they were previously. And then as I mentioned, I had like twenty seven products. So at one point I was spending two grand each time that I'm shipping all of them. So it adds up fast and I just wasn't able to sustain that. So I cut down on the products and focused on the best selling couple of them. This is something I learned the hard way. Not all products are going to be evergreen. Some products are fad products, some products are seasonal products. And unfortunately my best performing products became seasonal products. The evergreen ones. There were bigger players on the market than me, so I never got a chance to break into that. I literally had to decide to kind of stuff. I was like, okay, this isn't working. I'm not going to go back on that again with all that, especially with a newborn. And I just couldn't afford that. So that business came down crashing big time.

Ramnani: How did it make you feel?

Khan: I was devastated. I felt like everything I worked for over so many years was just gone like that. Why did I put so much time and effort into building something that is now gone? I was at a dark place at that time. You start having negative thoughts about yourself. Okay, I'm not meant for this. I better go and do what I do, like have a job and keep going that route. Those kind of thoughts haunt you all the time if something like this happens. At the same time, one of the things that I was capable of managing was I always had a full time job or some sort of contract and then grow my business. So I never quit my job. But during Covid, I also got laid off.

Ramnani: I'm so sorry.

Khan: So not having a job, not the business, not working, having a newborn, all that kind of brings you down. It's not just stress, it's also the negative thoughts about your own capacities or capabilities. AM I even able to do this? Do I have it in me to go the whole nine yards again? Those were thoughts that I always had at that time.

Ramnani: But you managed to get through this?

Khan: Yes I did. I'm not a very practicing Muslim, but I have faith. So faith was something that got me out of that. The love and care from my wife. I didn't share everything with my family, but my wife knew what was happening and she did support me through it a lot. Her belief in me showed me the path. She trusted that I could get out of it. And one of the things she said was, I don't love you for the money or anything. I love you for the man you are. So whoever you want to be, just try achieving that. And that was a pivotal moment. And as I said, that mix with faith helped me push through. And the bigger picture was like, okay, I could give up and sit back and let life play out or take it by the horn and go forward. And that's all because of my son. At that time, it was like my wife and my son. I want them to have a good life. So what can I do to come out of this? And that's what I did. I'll do anything. Again, it's not like I haven't started from scratch. I moved from one country to another. So it's a fresh start. And then I shifted my career path. That's a fresh start. Something didn't work out great. There's always room to learn the key, learn what happened and why it happened, and then grow from there instead of thinking, oh, why is this happening to me? What are the key learnings? How can I take these learnings and move forward?

Ramnani: What do you think your experience has taught you about yourself?

Khan: It's a great question. All these have kind of showed me that I always think that no one's special. Everyone has it in them. It's just finding the right motivations that at times I look for that connection with a higher power. Some people call it God. I call him Allah. A lot of people would be like, oh, this is the universe. Having that faith is very important. It's what I learned through all this process. Every time I came out of something that was not going the way that I wanted it to, if I changed the lenses a bit and instead of thinking, why is this happening to me? That helped me learn that it's. Whatever is happening in your life is turning you into the person you're meant to be. Understanding that is what shifts a lot of things. I believe that as a person I've grown migrating that I didn't know what real world was before that. And I've grown from that. Having that mindset of, okay, I want something of my own. That's another growing aspect. And there's various challenges that us as human being will face and those hindrances. And while hitting that wall non-stop one after another is actually molding you into becoming who you are meant to be. There's finding the right motivation into trying to be the person you're meant to be. That gives you a lot of life lessons, right? Like it's not just like, oh, yesterday I was this person, but today I'm this person. Routes don't change. But your mentality does. Your perspective on things does. That's my biggest takeaway. I'm still learning and growing every day like we all are. It's the nonstop process of life. I learned as well through some of these experiences. Always treat other people the way you want to be treated. Like that's like a golden rule. It's not even just a saying. Treating someone with disrespect or looking down on someone. Fortunately enough, I haven't done that. But unfortunate enough, I have been on the other end of that.

Ramnani: What would you like other people to take away from your story?

Khan: One of the biggest things that I can tell someone is that life happens. A lot of things will happen. It's just never give up and look forward to trying to be the person you want to be. Trust me when I say I've chased money. Nothing good comes out of that. I've tried different side hustles. The day I stopped chasing money and started trying to be the person I actually want to be, that changed a lot of things. Money just becomes a byproduct of it.

Khan: I do help other business owners with certain aspects of their businesses. From my previous learnings, it's not like, "Oh, here's what I read in a book," and I've never implemented this in my life. It's basically, "Okay, I have this knowledge and then I implemented this. This doesn't work, this works." And I want to create that impact in their lives. If I'm able to touch one person's life and make it better, that's golden to me. It's worth way more than anything financial.

Khan: So strive to be the person that you want others to see you as. What's the legacy that you want to leave behind? Go for that. Everything kind of automatically gets put in your path. It's not going to be easy because it's very out of the norm that you're trying to do. You're getting out of your comfort zone, but unless you do that, you will never become what you're meant to become. So go for it. That's what I would say.

Ramnani: What are your aspirations for the future?

Khan: One of my biggest mentors is Russell Brunson. In the marketing world, one of the things that he values a lot as well is if you have a skill set that helps others, get your message across to help create that impact in the world. That's where I want to be, where I am capable of not just helping others, but helping them spread their message as well and create the impact that they are meant to create in the lives that they touch. It's a trickle effect or a domino effect, however you say it. That's what I aspire to be.

Ramnani: And do you have any final thoughts?

Khan: Always do your best to help others instead of thinking, "What's in it for me?" which ninety percent of us think. If you just think, "How can I serve someone else?" it makes your life a lot easier and better. So strive to be that helper. Just help others and strive to do that without looking for anything in return.

Ramnani: It was a pleasure to talk to you today. Thanks a lot.

Khan: Thank you so much for your time. Thanks a lot for having me here. And it was honestly a pleasure to be part of this. I look forward to keeping in touch. Thanks for having me here.

Ramnani: Thank you so much for a fascinating interview.

Khan: Thank you for having me again. It was a pleasure being here. Have a nice day.

Ramnani: You too. Thanks a lot. Bye.

Ramnani: You've been listening to share it with me. If this episode offers clarity or connection, consider sharing it the right story at the right time to change everything. This is Dr Sapna Ramnani, signing off. Stay curious. Stay connected.