Permission To Pause

By Aishah Iqbal

This summer my glow was - giving myself the permission to pause.

After more than two decades in data and marketing leadership—across tech, media, and storytelling, I experienced a redirection. And with that redirection, I made the decision to step away from full-time work. Not to slow down, but to align. Not to retreat, but to refocus.

We don’t often hear stories like this. Especially from women who have been conditioned to equate productivity with value. The messaging is loud and clear: climb higher, stay visible, don’t lose momentum. We’re applauded for sacrifice, praised for resilience, and told that the moment we stop, we fall behind. But somewhere along the way, I realized that forward isn’t always fast. Sometimes, the boldest move is to stop long enough to ask yourself: Is this still mine? Do I still want this?

This summer, I wanted something else. So I made space for it.

I’m currently marketing my first short documentary film, #whitehairdontcare. A project that was born from years of working behind the scenes, observing how aging is treated in the boardroom and the beauty aisle. For most of my career, I’ve been the strategist. The operator. The voice behind the campaign. But this film is different. It’s deeply personal. It challenges the language of “anti-aging,” reframes maturity as power, and invites women to consider aging not as a decline, but as a becoming.

#whitehairdontcare is more than a film. It’s a calling forward. A conversation starter. A legacy. A place where women of all ages, especially those entering their 40s, 50s, and beyond, can see themselves not as “used-to-be’s” but as “right now’s.”

And while the story is mine, the experience isn’t unique. That’s the point.

Women across industries are rewriting the rules. Some are climbing higher. Others are stepping away. Some are building companies. Others are building capacity for themselves. Every version matters. Every version counts.

This summer, I’m choosing alignment over urgency. I’m saying yes to creative collaborations that prioritize meaning over metrics. I’m taking time to learn new skills, explore new forms of storytelling, and lean into joy for joy’s sake. No pressure to monetize it. No pressure to post it.

Though I live in California, this season feels like the most Californian I’ve ever been. There’s an ease here, a belief that reinvention is always possible. That confidence doesn’t have to be loud to be heard. That impact doesn’t have to be tied to titles.

I’m showing up more intentionally. Online, I’m creating space for honest conversations around aging, identity, and reinvention. In real life, I’m traveling more, listening more, resting more. Not because I have the next big thing lined up, but because I’m making room for it to arrive.

There’s grief in this kind of shift, too. I won’t pretend otherwise. Losing a job, especially one that was a core part of my identity, isn’t just a line on a résumé. It’s a life disruption. I’ve grieved the team, the rhythm, the routine. I’ve grieved the version of me who used to know exactly what came next. But I’ve also discovered something else: clarity.

Without the job, the calendar, the nonstop urgency, I can hear myself more clearly. I can trust that there’s value in stillness. That my worth was never tied to a company, a title, or a deliverable. That success can look like building something new, or simply being okay with not building at all.

If you had told me five years ago that I would be filming a documentary and sharing it with the world, I would have laughed. But here I am. And it feels like exactly where I’m meant to be.

To any woman reading this who’s questioning her next step, who’s holding her breath, who’s wondering if she’s allowed to rest, consider this your permission slip. Reinvention doesn’t belong to the young. It belongs to the ready. It belongs to the brave. And it belongs to you.

You don’t have to earn rest. You don’t have to hustle for your worth. You don’t have to stay small to be seen. Your power lives in your truth, not in flawless execution. Say what you mean. Show up fully. Trust that the right people will meet you there.

This is what it looks like to live boldly. To choose purpose. To glow on your own terms.

And if you need a reminder, #whitehairdontcare.

Connect With Aishah

www.whitehairdontcarefilm.com

Iinstagram: aishahiqbal

TikTok: grayloxx

www.linkedin.com/in/aishahiqbal/