Akeelah Kuraishi is a wife, mother of two boys, lover of travel, a supporter of women and the founder and CEO of Little Global Citizens. Little Global Citizens is a subscription box that takes children on adventures around the world from the comfort of their own homes.
Each box is carefully crafted with a Montessori Educator to promote healthy and happy child development. Each month, Little Global Citizens brings a new country to life for children & their families through award-winning books, cultural activities, interactive crafts, language tools, music, toys and a themed dinner party kit.
Through Little Global Citizens, Akeelah seeks to nurture open-mindedness, compassion, and global awareness in children through an introduction to new cultures, one country at a time. In addition to promoting global awareness, Little Global Citizens donates 5% of its profits to Room to Read, an organization that seeks to promote education equality and literacy in low-income countries.
Kindness is the driving force behind Little Global Citizens and the advice Akeelah gives to those around her. “Be kind to people,” she says, “Help them where you can. Share knowledge you’ve gained. Connect people with your contacts. Offer thoughtful advice where it’s requested.”
Akeelah’s compassion shines through not only in the mission statement of her business but in her day to day life as well; we are so lucky to be surrounded by her light and kindness.
Optimistic, Supportive, Supported
Q&A
- What is a lesson you wish you could teach your younger self?
- DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT. And don’t be afraid of what people will think. Most people you know will be supportive and help you out any way they can because they’re proud of you and also they wish they were following their own dreams.
- What three (or more) tools (apps, books, podcasts, etc.) would you recommend to anyone trying to start her own business?
- JOIN EvolveHER!
- Tribe of Mentors
- Join relevant FB groups
- Seek out relevant podcasts - there’s one for every niche. I’ve found that“entrepreneur” focused ones are too broad, give me anxiety about all the“other things” I could be doing. Read books about building TRIBES;
- Blinkest - (summarizes books into 4-5 pages or 5mins audio).
- Headspace - for when I need to turn it all off at night.
- The Influencer Podcast
- Oprah Super Soul Conversations (for inspiration & a dose of reality when I get caught up in my own head)
- When was a pivotal moment that someone advocated for your career?
- I was very fortunate to have a very empowering boss at BuzzFeed. The CRO of the company was beyond supportive, and definitely saw strengths in me that I didn’t know I had; he pushed me to put myself in positions that I would not have put myself forward for. He was very vocal with me about his belief in me, and even wrote down a list of what he considered to be all of my strengths & leadership traits. His belief in me, the training he invested in for me made such an impact on my career and life and ultimately gave me the confidence to branch out of the advertising industry to start my own business.
- How can we find you? Please list your Instagram handle, website, etc. so our members can find you!
- Insta: @littleglobalcitizens
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
LittleGlobalCitizensSubscripti onBox/ - Personal: facebook.com/akeelah
- Personal Insta: @akeelah2782
- LinkedIn: Akeelah Kuraishi
