I flunked my GCSEs but now earn £100k-a-year & go on luxury holidays – it happened thanks to a chance celeb meeting
WHEN Mayah Riaz left school having 'flunked' her exams, at the time she thought she'd never be able to achieve what she has now.
Like many students, she was convinced in order to be successful she needed to get good grades - but has now proven any doubters wrong, with a successful career earning over £100k a year.
Now 40 and working as a Celebrity Manager, , from London, can afford the finer things in life, like luxury holidays and designer handbags.
She says: "I didn't think I could earn what I do without good exam results, and I never thought I could be my own boss as I didn’t think I was clever enough.
"Being my own boss now is something I'm so proud of."
And while the path to success has been far from smooth, here she shares how she did it.
'I just didn't try hard'
Growing up, Mayah didn't enjoy school, but was told getting good grades was vital for job success.
She says: "I was brought up thinking it was important but I just wasn’t interested in academia, so I didn’t try hard at it.
"I did my GCSEs but I didn’t get great results - mainly Ds and Es, and even a U.
"Somehow I got to do AS levels but I didn't pass those either, so I ended up doing a BND [national diploma] in business."
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A last resort
It wasn't Mayah's first choice, but she persevered, convinced she needed to pursue a path in education to establish a good career.
Mayah says: "I'd always been told if I ever wanted to get anywhere, that I’d need good exam results as my future employers would ask for them.
"Business wasn’t something I thought I’d go into, but it was the only thing I could have done with my results, and it was all coursework and no exams.
"I scraped into university but dropped out in the second year, and at that time I started my own handcrafted greeting cards business and got a temp job.
"I hated it as it was so mundane and began to wish I had paid more attention with my education."
Steps to success
Lost and unsure what she wanted to do, Mayah jumped from one job to another, even setting up her own magazine at one point, but made sure she was always open to any opportunity that came her way.
She landed a job at a TV station, and grabbed the chance with both hands, saying: "I truly believe I am where I am through networking.
"Saying 'yes' to invites, which led me to meeting people who could help me and I began to explore PR and social media too."
It was with this approach while working at the station, she landed her first celebrity client - a Dragon on Dragon's Den.
She says: "He had hired me to train their teams on social media.
"On that day, by coincidence, he had PR crisis and his publicist was away. I was called in to help.
"I thought 'I have no idea what I am doing' but didn’t let that stop me.
"As the media interview went well, he hired me for PR - before I even had a business.
"On the back of having a Dragon as a client, I had a lot of The Apprentice candidates from BBC show wanting PR.
"More high profile personalities came onboard and the business naturally grew from there.
"After a while, I decided to do management too and the rest as they say is history!"
Don't stress it
In terms of advice for those who haven't got the grades, Mayah says: "Honestly, it may seem easy for me to say, but don’t stress it.
"Unless you want to be a doctor or lawyer or something that requires great results - your results don’t matter.
"You have the world of possibilities ahead of you, even if you can’t see it.
"Take some time out to think of what interests you and what you enjoy.
Careers these days are not for life, and you can keep reinventing yourself as many times as you wish."
The finer things
Now, Mayah earns over £100k a year, and can afford the finer things in life - something she never thought possible all those years ago.
She says: "I like luxuries such as designer handbags, clothes and jewellery, but I don’t go mad on those.
"Now, I live for experiences. Recently I went to South Africa for a holiday of a lifetime.
"I went Shark Cage Diving, had a helicopter ride over the cape and a magical safari.
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"I experienced so many firsts on that trip and that to me is worth more than a Chanel handbag.
"As you get older, you realise the true luxuries in life aren’t the tangible things."