Meet Safiyyah O’Quinn | Nonprofit Leader + Marketing Technology Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Safiyyah O’Quinn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Safiyyah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The Susie Amin Foundation (SAF) started as a passion project in 2020 to help with my grief after losing my mother to cancer in 2016.

She was a well known entrepreneur in the food service industry for 30 years with her restaurant Salaam Seafood.

I wanted to celebrate her life and that’s how SAF turned into a 5013c

To date we’ve raised over $4,000 and provided over 30 pallets of food to 1,000 families with the help of 70 volunteers.

Our goal is to raise $100,000 to feed 2,000 families and launch her scholarship fund for our January 16, 2023 service day. Donations can be made by texting the keyword SUSIE to 44321 or online at susieamin.org. Any amount helps. This foundation is my way of personally honoring my mother while making an impact in underserved communities.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a Product Marketing Strategist at Microsoft and I’ve been in marketing for 15 years.

My role as a nonprofit leader and a marketing strategist blends well because in both roles i must know those I’m impacting and servicing. Once I accomplish that we say in tech, I am the voice of the customer/community.

In my role at Microsoft I share my nonprofits goals to impact the underserved communities because it’s very important and is apart of me. I don’t separate these two roles because I am one woman driving towards really making a difference. I’m living the life.

Much of my success comes from understanding what success is to me because it’s definitely changed within the last 5 years and connecting with people. I genuinely enjoy getting to know people. I also know me being very self aware helps tremendously.

Getting to this place was not easy but having the right people around me helped so much. When I tapped into how much my mindset attracts opportunities it was a game changer. But you only know this by trying, failing and trying again. Once you’ve been down and have felt that blow to your gut, you’ll do everything to not feel that low so I got myself together and vowed to help others too.

This is bigger than me is my personal mantra and drives me daily. I’m driving change through my nonprofit and with technology that helps businesses do more to achieve their goals.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my bestie was coming we’d definitely do some of the following

1. Dinner at Twisted Soul Cookhouse Pours
2. Hit up a walking trail w/ a nice view
3. Massage by Cassandra at Respire
5. Lunch at Zekes Kitchen + Bar
6. Happy hour at The Select
7. Head to Serenbe for peace and quiet

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My sister, Khaleelah Amin, is my everything and has impacted my life tremendously since losing our mother. Her protection, guidance and prayer over our lives motivated me to dig deeper into myself. She encouraged me to look within to find happiness and to share my love of writing and uplifting others through my blog, soqweenly.com. Thank you sister for being my daily inspiration and I love you.

Website: www.susieamin.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soqweenly/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soquinn

Other: www.soqweenly.com https://www.instagram.com/susieaminfoundation/

Image Credits
Jay Daniel Photography