What It Takes: To Live And Lead with Purpose, Laughter, and Strength

by Zahra Al-Harazi, Sarah J. Robbins

The trajectory of Zahra Al-harazi’s life defies expectations. In this electrifying book that travels from a small village in Yemen to a small town in Minnesota to a Calgary suburb, Al-harazi describes surviving two civil wars; her years as a young, stay-at-home immigrant mother with little education; and how she became one of Canada’s most successful businesswomen.

Navigating two worlds, Al-harazi has struggled to find her own way between East and West, religion and belief, freedom and obligation, family and desire, love and honour, despair and gratitude, war and war again. With warmth and courageous honesty, she recounts how it is only through gratitude and persistence that we can find happiness and the courage to build the life we want.

343 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 21, 2020

Reviews

[Sara]

What an amazing life Zahra has led (& I chose "led" rather than "had" intentionally), & what a terrific telling of it she's given us -- with honesty, awareness, and her universal instinct to help others. It's a compelling, fast-paced page-turner that both my husband & I read within a few days. She's a resilient dynamo, & it's energizing just to read of her life. I was constantly reminded of Tennyson's "I am a part of all that I have met." Highly recommended.

[Majd]

The book was recommended to me as a relatable and inspiring immigrant success story. While I enjoyed reading it, I believe it was advertised wrongly to me. Zahra’s story of her struggle back home and her move to Canada were far from relatable. Her life was full of opportunities and privilege given her family’s status in Yemen compared to life for a regular person there. Not to take away anything from her success which is absolutely incredible but it ended up being just a memoir and an interesting story to follow about a woman exploring who she truly is. The book was lacking in every other sense for me.

[Soo]

Gosh this was an irritating book. Started off ok, found it really interesting to read of authors early life but then she started giving us advice and the key to her success. Incredibly smug, self centred, boastful and arrogant woman, I really disliked her. The book would have benefited hugely from being edited down by at least 50 per cent. Not an enjoyable or recommended read in my view

[Jennifer Cox]

I picked this book up thinking I would get some tips on leadership, goal setting, and living with purpose.
While the book provides some of this, it is more of a memoir, and it was the personal, family stories that I enjoyed most.
I loved following Zahra's journey from Yemen to Canada, and her honest account of family life, from her relationship with her parents to her struggles navigating marriage and family life, juggling her career with her children's needs and her own. It was a very relatable and inspiring book, I'd recommend it.

[Nancy Milton]

This book was suggested as a good read.
Made it to page 105.
It was her life story. (perhaps to age 17 at that point)
105 pages in and nothing about "leading life with purpose, laughter, strength" yet....

[Juliet Turpin]

I really liked the Canadian insights and view into Zahra’s perspective melding lived experiences from Yemen to Kenya to Calgary. I also grabbed a few “life” nuggets and had at least 2 a-ha moments. Well worth the read.

[Dar]

Inspirational tale of a spitfire immigrant from Yemen who became a top-tier marketing CEO in Canada. Unusually candid.

[Lynette Evans]

Fascinating story, Zahra has done it all and excelled.

[Cindy Harris]

Interesting story. Impressive person.

[Hails Kirker]

Pam recommended. I don’t tend to enjoy the self help genre as they tend to be judgemental but this was an interesting story of her life from Yemen to Calgary.