Meet Maryam Mallhi | Certified Life & Relationship Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maryam Mallhi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maryam, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Since a very young age I was someone who found immense satisfaction in helping anyone around me who was going through a hard time emotionally. My desire to make an impact only strengthened after I went through emotional turmoil following my father’s demise in 2014. This is when I knew my life had a purpose. I wanted to channel my grief into helping anyone who experiences an emotional crisis as I did. As I grew older, I realized that there is a dire need to not only eradicate the stigma around mental health but also to empower people to find the inner strength that helps them navigate through hard times in their life. This led to the creation of Mental Education & Care Association (MECA). MECA is a platform aimed to raise mental health awareness and build a safe space for anyone who feels unheard or invalidated in their daily lives. Here at MECA, we provide Life Coaching services, Couple’s Coaching services & Self-Help Support Group sessions called the Breathing Lounge.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets MECA apart from others is our relentless pursuit to empower young adults to create a happier life for themselves. At MECA we provide quality Life Coaching & Couples Coaching services accessible to everyone world-wide. I realized post Covid that the gift of virtual communication can be used to connect with people world-wide and make our services accessible to anyone world-wide because why should geography be a barrier?

Being where we are today certainly came with its fair share of challenges. One of the biggest challenges was to destigmatize talking about mental health concerns. When I started off initially, I remember going to one of the top schools in the region, where I offered to conduct mental health care workshops with the help of top school psychologists. The response from the administration was a simple: “We don’t need that! Our students never feel stressed out.” As big as a shock it was, this would be only the first of many rejections that followed. It was at that moment that I realized just how important this cause was to me. I did not let any of these rejections come in the way of my dream to create a space where no one felt afraid to seek treatment or help. In fact, the more anyone discouraged me to pursue my dream, the stronger the determination within me grew. I created a team of passionate individuals, worked on a marketing strategy to promote the cause, and went door to door with donation tickets to raise funds. It was only in credit to our sheer relentlessness, determination, hard work, and resilience that we were able to successfully conduct over 100 workshops and events, along with providing the necessary treatment to various people.

We live in a world where it is very hard to find people who can give us unconditional positive regard. Imagine the feeling when you are able to give that to yourself. I am most excited about the recent launch of our Life Coaching & Couples Coaching services because I believe everyone deserves to have an easy access to platforms that help them feel their absolute best.

With my story I want the world to know that if you put your heart to something and are relentlessly passionate, it eventually pays off because there is absolutely nothing in life that you can’t achieve.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was in town, I would definitely take her to all the beautiful hike spots in Atlanta and of course, the Coca Cola Factory, it’s a super fun experience. After that I would take her to Six Flags because that’s an obvious must. After the crazy roller coaster, I am sure she would need some time to relax so I would take her to Gatlinburg on a short weekend get-away and book a cottage there. The drive is absolutely mesmerizing and the mountain rollercoaster at Pigeon forge is an experience not to be missed.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my loving my mother who has been a constant source of endless support and strength for me. My mother has never failed to remind me to preserve and prepared me to face any challenges I would face, especially when it came to setting up MECA, with faith and humility. She is a constant source of inspiration in my life. I would also like to dedicate this to my late father. Although he is not physically present to extend his support, I always feel his presence that urges me to strive to achieve my goals in life. Lastly, I would like to give a special shout out to my husband who has always shown confidence in me and offered me love, encouragement and support through-out this journey. His unwavering faith in me gives me the strength to overcome any challenges that I face in life.

Instagram: mecaglobal