Two decades later, everything feels surreal. Every hardship feels worth it. Today, I am the Founder and COO of a wonderful full-service digital tech agency, and I am making a difference in the lives and businesses of the people I work with.

But this has been a long journey where I thought of giving up more times than not. I do not want to make it sound easy because it has definitely not been easy or smooth. If you are reading this, know that I too have struggled every day of my life, and it often felt too hard to continue.

But I will forever be proud of the fact that wherever I am today, I have come so far without depending on anyone. I am self-made. I didn’t have endless finances to support me. Everything I have done or achieved, I have done it myself.

And if there was something that kept me going through the storms, it was my undying desire to do something great. Even when people close to me pulled me down, I kept going. And trust me on this, you can fight everything as long as you really want to.

I started my career very early. I was in high school when I realized the need for more cash to get through the everyday expenses. I found myself a job, after months of searching. Nobody wants to trust a newbie, especially a young lad who doesn’t have a degree either. It took me 75 minutes and three different buses to get to the office. I did this for three years.

Fast forward, I finally found a well-paying job and started my career in sales. I was good at it and met my targets almost every month. But the run for numbers stopped intimidating me. I believe that’s when I started to think about choosing a career path that I would not lose interest in anytime soon.

And that’s when I became a brand strategist that tells stories. I am a storyteller, someone who helps businesses solve problems using technology.

All the years of failing and winning have taught me that you always need your family and friends to cherish the good days with you and hold you on the bad ones. I realized that when I lost my father. I think that was the first time everything around me seized. I knew I will never be the same person again. But since then, I have learned to take breaks and not get carried away with the hustle.

I am still learning to do a better job at the work-life balance. And while I am working to make Pakistan’s technological ecosystem a success, I am also learning to fail less.

Running a company has changed me so much, is insane. But that’s a conversation for another day.