MWP Spotlight: Fatima Ibrahim, Optometrist and Content Creator
Tell us about your professional journey both as a Doctor and a Content Creator.
Healthcare and the opportunity to care for others has long been an interest of mine. My mother’s work in the hospital and my father’s position as a math and physics teacher helped foster a desire to care for others and a love of how different systems functioned. My own near-sightedness and yearly trips to my Optometrist for glasses and contact lenses gave me an early glimpse into the field. During high school, I completed a research presentation on different eye care professionals and interviewed with individuals in different positions. Optometry stuck out to me and I dreamed of pursuing it as a career. My interest in eye care was maintained during college where I started a club focused on eye health and participated in an introductory summer program at the graduate school I would later attend. I was accepted into Optometry school and began the fall after finishing undergrad. After graduation, I started practicing at one of the clinical sites I had rotated at. Today, I practice primary care optometry in Dallas as an associate Optometrist and love the impact I make in helping others reach their visual goals.
While healthcare was a primary professional goal of mine, I have always felt drawn to design and the creation of written and photographical content. During summer vacations from high school, I took a class to improve my sewing skills and would sew articles of clothing for my own use. In college, I joined an organization dedicated to fashion and as a member, created two clothing collections, interviewed notable fashion figures, wrote print magazine articles and edited blog drafts from others. I continued writing when I entered Optometry school as a paid contributor on the school blog. I started creating content on Instagram featuring various aspects of my lifestyle including fashion, food, vision and travel. A love for creating content had been a part of me for a while and Instagram gave me an outlet to share my lifestyle with others, connect with my peers, and work with companies on a professional basis providing them with my own stylish vision.
How do you balance being in the medical profession with content creation?
Integrating my full schedule in the clinic with content creation is a balancing act! I try to plan my schedule on a week by week basis. I use a paper calendar to visualize timing that is best for me to create content for both my own personal brand and the companies I’m in partnership with.
Have you faced racism or exclusion from the Muslim community (including online community) because you are a Black Muslim?
Alhamdulilah, I have not faced overt racism from the Muslim communities I have chosen to participate in. However, being the single Black Muslim in a group can be a challenge at times. Group conversations about matters specific to individuals more largely represented, chatter that breaks from English and into another language, and ill-informed or insulting remarks like how someone “is pretty for a black person,” would make me feel different and excluded from the group I was physically in.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as a person of color and Muslimah?
The lack of representation is the biggest challenge that I have faced.
What are some ways the greater Muslim community can be inclusive of Black Muslims?
The greater Muslim community can be more inclusive of Black Muslims by involving and reaching out to more creatives who are black and making representation not an after thought but a necessity from the start.
List your 5 favorite Black Muslimah IG accounts to follow and why.
@Emanidil: Eman is a law student, journalist, yoga teacher and a down to earth sweetheart. She’s also a designer! Just over a year ago, she presented a collection at NYFW.
@AyshaHarun: Aysha is a beauty guru with an eye for style and sophistication. She recently collaborated on a successful hijab collection with Voile Chic.
@Smile.Leey: Aaleeyah is a dental student who just passed her boards and is about to start practicing dentistry. Every week she produces entertaining “Tooth Tuesday” videos that showcase her personable and amiable vibe while imparting dental knowledge.
@IdentityPolPod: Makkah and Ikhlas are the two co-host of the Identity Politics, a podcast talking about everything from fasting during Ramadan and seeking community to hijab struggles and intimacy in marriage.
@Hafymo: Hafsa is a fashionista and muse whose style speaks volumes. She is also a designer with an eye for modesty and flare.
And finally what does women empowerment mean to you?
Women empowerment is the provision of women with the tools, resources, representation and inspiration to live life to their fullest potential.
