Defiance Academy

You're a professional Muslimah.

So, you value your deen over this dunya.

And your goal is to achieve career success without sacrificing your faith or family.

And without burning yourself out from being in constant survival mode.

But you're navigating workplaces that make balancing your faith, family, and career impossible.

The reality is, these workplaces were not designed to accommodate you or your values.

My goal is to work with you to: (1) Take control of how you navigate your life and career to overcome the unique workplace challenges you face as a Muslimah so you can (2) succeed in both deen and dunya.

Taking charge of your life and career...

If you're ready to embrace a new career strategy that helps you achieve career success without compromising your faith or family, and without burning yourself out, then check out Defiance Academy's unique career strategy specifically designed for you

Taking UP Space

Establish Your Career With Confidence, Without Compromise

As an early-career Muslim woman, you shouldn’t have to choose between your faith, family, and professional ambitions. The Taking UP Space course equips you with the tools to build a thriving career while staying true to your values.

In this self-paced, on-demand program, you’ll gain immediate and lifetime access to strategies that will help you:
✅ Establish yourself as a confident professional while maintaining your faith and personal priorities.
✅ Navigate workplace challenges with ease, from bias and microaggressions to navigating religious accommodations.
✅ Protect yourself from retaliation and backlash while advocating for your rights and career growth.
✅ Create a sustainable career path that allows you to excel without burnout or feeling pressured to conform.

Your career should empower you, not force you to compromise. Taking UP Space helps you set the foundation for long-term success—on your terms.

Dominate Your Space

Take Control of Your Career and Break Through Barriers

You’ve built your career—but now, you’re ready to level up without sacrificing your faith, family, or well-being. As a mid-career Muslimah, you deserve a strategy that allows you to advance with confidence while maintaining balance.

Dominate Your Space is a private, confidential group coaching program designed to help you:
✅ Strategically position yourself for promotions and leadership roles while staying aligned with your values.
✅ Negotiate flexibility and boundaries so your career works for you—not the other way around.
✅ Overcome workplace barriers, from discrimination to lack of advancement opportunities, with proven advocacy strategies.
✅ Expand your influence and impact without burnout or compromising your personal priorities.

Join a supportive, like-minded community of professional Muslim women who are pushing past limitations and rewriting the rules for success. Enrollment opens periodically—don’t miss your opportunity to take your career to the next level.

Own Your Space

Lead with Purpose, Build Your Legacy

You’ve worked hard to establish yourself in your career—now it’s time to step into leadership, make a lasting impact, and create a legacy that reflects your values. Whether you aspire to lead within your industry or leverage your expertise to build something of your own, you deserve a strategy that aligns with your faith, family, and long-term vision.

Own Your Space is an exclusive 1-on-1 intensive coaching experience designed to help you:
✅ Develop a clear roadmap to leadership—whether in your organization or as a thought leader in your field.
✅ Break past limitations that have held you back from senior leadership roles and decision-making positions.
✅ Build your personal brand and influence, allowing you to leave a meaningful legacy without compromising your faith.
✅ Master high-stakes leadership strategies, from executive presence to strategic decision-making, so you can lead with confidence.

This individualized coaching program is available through application-only open enrollment periods. If you’re ready to own your space and lead on your terms, apply now to take the next step in your journey.

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MEET THE FOUNDER

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

I’m Dr. Qaali Hussein—a double-board-certified trauma surgeon, a mom of six, and the founder of Defiance Academy.

Throughout my surgical training—during which I had all six of my children—I refused to choose between my career and my family. But when I entered the workforce, I was met with an unwelcoming environment that dismissed my personal and professional achievements as if they were nothing.

Because I prioritized having a family, I was suddenly no longer seen as a "good fit" for leadership or career advancement. I knew then that the workplace wasn’t designed for Muslim women like me—and it never would be unless we changed the rules.

Why I Created Defiance Academy

I created The Defiant Career Strategy out of sheer necessity. I needed a way to break barriers, navigate discrimination, and succeed without sacrificing my faith, family, or well-being. This strategy has allowed me to thrive in a career I love, advocate for myself in environments that weren’t built for me, and raise my family without compromise.

Now, through Defiance Academy, I help Muslim women like you achieve your career goals without burnout, without sacrifice, and without trying to fit into a system that was never meant for us.

What Makes Defiance Academy Different?

Defiance Academy is the ONLY career coaching program designed specifically for Muslim women, integrating faith-based values with professional development. Unlike generic career programs, we provide real strategies for navigating workplace discrimination, negotiating flexibility, and achieving leadership success—all while staying true to your faith and family priorities.

I’ll show you how to:
✅ Take UP Space as your authentic self while establishing your career.
✅ Dominate Your Space so you can advance on your own terms without workplace bias holding you back.
✅ Own Your Space and lead with impact, building a lasting legacy without compromising your faith or family.

You don’t have to choose between success and your values. You can have both—on your terms. Let me show you how.

What our clients are saying ...

"In my 14-year career, I’ve been through a few mentorship and professional development programs. As a Muslim woman of color, I did not find anyone who was speaking to my specific career barriers and needs at work. Dr. Qaali’s approach is unique in that she’s providing an intersectional method, being a Black, East African, and Muslim woman who has been through all the trauma and “isms” herself. She breaks down the racialized and gendered work dynamics and gives practical career advice in a way I have not yet received or seen elsewhere.

I have learned so much in just one month, and am amazed at the breadth and depth of her course content. She truly covers everything, with direct examples and straightforward advice that you would need to advocate for yourself as a minority person at work.

Dr. Qaali has offered us many culturally-specific tools, resources and first-person advice about how to manage up. How to self-advocate as an immigrant, as a woman of faith or woman of color. How to negotiate our contracts as working women, or as working parents. How to feel confident embodying our whole selves while at work.

I've also really benefited from the confidential, live, group coaching calls, where we were able to learn in a cohort model of giving and receiving tips, stories, advice and feedback from Dr. Qaali and from each other. It was such a safe space to share things we were going through at work on those calls. That has been so invaluable to me!

I cannot thank Dr. Qaali enough for the lessons, tools and career advice. If you're considering taking one of Dr. Qaali's courses or working with her, just do it. It's an investment you will not regret one bit."

- Lolla

"I often felt alone in my journey and I was determined to find someone who shared my background and that's why I discovered Dr. Qaali Hussein and I immediately enrolled in her Taking Up Space course. And let me tell you...that was the best decision I have ever made in my life. Prior to the course, for example, I was often discouraged by those who believed that someone like me could never become a physician. And because I took this course, it has opened up my eyes and instilled a new found belief in myself. Dr. Qaali reminds us of the challenges we will face on our journey and she teaches us how to navigate them."

- Deqa Mohamed

"I definitely agree that is possible for women to pursue their ambitious career goals, but at the same time, I am very aware of the influences that discriminating work and organisational policies have on the ability of women to pursue these goals. My introduction to the Defiance Academy's work...has helped me see the possibilities out there. It helped me realize the importance of challenging discriminating policies and personnel and how I can make these systems work for me."

- Fatemah Osman

"Dr. Hussein has offered much-need guidance to women of color physicians via a series called Taking UP SPace: A Masterclass on Defying Norms and Setting Your Own Standards. Through this personal and professional development platform, Dr. Hussein has offered valuable skills on how physician women of color need to defy the norm so that we can achieve our dreams and maintain our values in a filed that expects people to sacrifice everything in service of their profession."

- Sondos Al Sad, MD, MPH. Family Medicine

Faith, Family, and Career... on YOUR terms -

Transform Your Life with the power of

Defiance!

Learn how our proven Defiant Career Strategy, uniquely designed for professional Muslimahs, can help you overcome burnout, workplace bias, and impossible schedules so that you can thrive as you achieve your personal and professional goals.