Urmi Hossain is Bengali by blood and Italian by birth. An avid boxer, she is the author of 'Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle,' which dives into her journey as a Bengali from Italy now living in Montreal, where she works in the financial services industry. She is a blogger, speaker, mentor and polyglot fluent in Italian, Bengali, French and English.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
—Joseph Cambell (1904 – 1987)
Every journey is a tapestry of experiences, and Urmi Hossain’s story weaves a vibrant pattern of culture, identity and self-discovery that stretches across continents. Our conversation peels back the layers of Urmi’s life, from her early years in Italy to her adventures in Canada, illuminating the bittersweet nature of frequent relocations. She recounts the challenges of being a Bengali Muslim in Catholic schools and the complexity of being a third culture kid caught between worlds. With each move, Urmi faced the daunting task of bidding farewell to friendships and adapting to new surroundings, yet she found a way to embrace the excitement of exploration and the richness of Canada’s multicultural milieu.
Digging deeper into the heart of immigration, Urmi reflects on her parents’ brave leap from Bangladesh to Italy—perhaps influenced by Italy’s permissive Martelli’s law—a journey made not for work but for the promise of a better future. This chapter of Urmi’s life paints an intriguing portrait of identity struggles, as she feels more anchored to her Italian and Bengali roots than to her Canadian citizenship. Urmi likens the move to Canada to Joseph Campbell’s “cave you fear to enter,” which holds “the treasure you seek.” The analogy captures both the risks and the rewards of diving into the unknown, a country where even the language, Quebecois, created a formidable hurdle to acceptance. Her adventurous spirit is a testament to the power of taking chances and the profound impact such decisions have on shaping one’s life narrative.
In the final stretch of our intimate dialogue, we traverse the landscape of Urmi’s personal growth and the resilience she has honed over the years. Becoming a Toastmaster has helped her in pursuing her ultimate quest for giving a coveted TED Talk. She is a dedicated mentor to other women and girls through her volunteer work in Canada, and Urmi shares how her commitment to fitness, particularly boxing, has fortified her mental and physical strength. As we wrap up, we contemplate the paradoxical relationship between joy and sadness and the adaptability that is carved from life’s hurdles. Urmi’s journey from Palermo to Montreal exemplifies the transformative process that many of us navigate, reminding us that the essence of our shared human experience is as unpredictable as it is beautiful. Join us for this heartfelt exploration that is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever sought their place in the world.
Highlight Timestamps
(03:08 - 04:27) Exploration and Self-Discovery Through Moving
(10:17 - 12:06) Immigration Experiences of Bangladeshi Family
(14:54 - 15:52) Questioning Ethnicity and Accents
(21:08 - 22:18) Journey of Personal Transformation
(29:50 - 30:55) Exploring Career Paths and Personal Accomplishments
(32:23 - 33:06) The Importance of Taking Risks
Places mentioned in this episode:
Palermo
Bangladesh
Italy
U.K.
Montreal
Canada
About Urmi Hossain
Urmi Hossain is Bengali by blood and Italian by birth. She is the author of Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle. She works in the financial services industry in Montreal, Canada, where she currently resides. Blogger, speaker, mentor and polyglot, she is fluent in Italian, Bengali, French and English.
Urmi is an advocate of women’s empowerment and very passionate about teaching and mentoring other girls and women. She is part of the organization called Women In Leadership for the Victoria Chapter in Canada as the social media lead. She enjoys being a promoter of self-investing and personal development. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and boxing.
Contact Urmi at her blog: https://www.myways.ca/
Urmi’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZoiI0SGU0Xo9_lNjtLWtgg
Urmi’s book on Amazon: Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle
Urmi Hossain on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/urmi-hossain
Christi: [00:00:00] Welcome to Moving Along. Urmi Hossain is my guest today. She is Bengali by blood and Italian by birth. She works in the financial services industry in Canada as an investment associate in Montreal. She is an indie author. Blogger, YouTuber, public speaker, polyglot, fluent in Italian English, Bengali and French, and mentor for other women and girls. Her book is called Discovering Your Identity, A Rebirth From Interracial Struggle. Welcome Urmi.
Urmi: Hi,
Christi: It's so nice to have you.
Urmi: Thank you for having me.
Christi: I wanna ask you, you grew up in Palermo, Italy, correct.
Urmi: That's right. . Part of my life. Yes.[00:01:00]
Christi: And your parents are Bengali. They came from Bangladesh in the late eighties and. You grew up going to Catholic school as a Muslim? Correct.
Urmi: Mm-Hmm.
Christi: And so tell me, what did travel and moving mean to you when you were growing up? I.
Urmi: So me, when I was growing up, traveling, moving meant a lot of sadness because and probably this wouldn't, this won't be my, it wouldn't be the same answer, but if I think about it retrospectively. For me, it was always of, sadness we would move a lot within Italy. We moved from the south to the north.
Urmi: Even within [00:02:00] the city, we moved a lot from one place to another. And every time I had to always like, make new friends, meet new people, learn to adopt in a new school. So for me was always, .It was always very sad because the friendship that I was making, I had to somehow, you know, cut them off and back in the days we didn't have a phone, we didn't have social media, so there was no way for me to connect with these people.
Urmi: And, right, I did, grow up in Palermo, but then I also moved to, to the north, into the north. I was in different places and at some point we also went to U.K. And then we came back to Italy. So I was continuously moving from one place to another. But if you ask me this question nowadays of what it means I would definitely use a different word, which is exploration.
Urmi: So it changes, like now it changes the, the whole [00:03:00] meaning with moving and traveling.
Christi: So now moving and traveling means exploration to you.
Christi: Is that part of why you came to Canada? I.
Urmi: also, Also, I moved here a long time ago and, I did my, my school here now I work here and, this probably has been my . Biggest exploration, but also a lot of self discovery. So that's how I like to associate this other part of my life, which is, happened, in my twenties. It, it has been a lot of self discovery in Canada, which I don't think I would've got if I was, if I was still living in Italy.
Christi: Why do you think that is?
Urmi: I think because, . Canada is so like multicultural and there are so many people from different countries, different [00:04:00] ethnicity, which I don't think I would've met if people was living in Italy. Yes, we do have a lot of, immigrant people, but not as much as in Canada. Like Canada is really the definition of a melting pot.
Urmi: And even in Italy when I was growing up, like all my friends. And people I was hanging out with, there were mainly Italian. There was not that many, you know, immigrant kids. So for me it was very hard to learn about other culture, learn about other parts of the world. because in Italy, like there's, there's only so much, you know, like even when I was going to school, I was probably the only one who looked different.
Urmi: At some point. We did have few other people, but honestly, we belong to the minority. In, in Sydney, Canada. It was like, oh my gosh. I have friends from like China. I have friends from Vietnam. I have friends from like Mexico. You know, like it's something that I would've not expected to ever have.
Christi: I think in your book you talked [00:05:00] about having friends. When you were growing up, you did make friends, but that you couldn't go to their houses, you weren't invited to birthday parties. Was this on them or was it, you lay this at the feet of your parents, but maybe, it sounds like it went both ways or?
Urmi: Yes and Meaning that yes, they would invite me, but at some point they, they did stop inviting me because it was, they all, they already knew my answer, you know? It wasn't because I didn't wanna go. It wasn't because they didn't wanna invite me. It was just that. Like, my parents were very, very strict with me, and there was, let's say there, there was whole cultural aspect that, you know, we shouldn't give too much freedom to, to a girl.
Urmi: And so it was a little bit of both ways. I was a, a bit of both because of that. I like, I feel like sometimes I did not have the teenage life that I wish I had. I wish I had like other, peer friends. . So it was a [00:06:00] little bit of both. was that, perception, you know, like if we give too much freedom, it's, it's gonna be an issue afterwards.
Christi: Do you have brothers or sisters
Urmi: I have a sister,
Christi: and she's younger than you? Mm-Hmm.
Urmi: yes.
Christi: Suddenly I'm. Thinking that having a younger sister is maybe why you enjoy mentoring.
Urmi: I think my whole, passion for mentoring started because I did not have one. Like I wish I had one who looked like me. when I was growing up, but I did not have So it was, often it was a struggle for me because I had to find answers through other ways. And often I would go to my Italian and friends, but there was only so much that they could understand because we were not sharing the same identity, we were not sharing the same culture.
Urmi: We were not . You know, we were not from the same [00:07:00] ethical background, so it was, it was hard for me to make myself understand, you know, as much as they were trying to be understanding. But you will never understand fully one person unless you are in their shoes. And so then I was like, you know what? I think, I think when I be the mentor that I never had, and I wanna be a mentor for people like me.
Urmi: And so I started to mentor . After I came to Canada, I did it as a part-time job, and I was actually getting paid for, for this, but this was like at university, but then after university I was like, you know what, I actually very much enjoy mentoring, so let me do this through volunteering activities. So I joined, couple of organizations, did dual mentoring, and a few of the girls that I mentor are actually from the South Asian background.
Urmi: So I very much enjoy that. Yeah.
Christi: When your sister came along, did you feel like you belonged in a way that maybe you didn't feel before then? [00:08:00]
Urmi: What do you mean by belonging?
Christi: Somebody else who looked like you, who was not your parents?
Urmi: I don't know if I can describe it. she's like my younger sister, but there was like, I never questioned this like, oh, do I have a sense of belonging or anything? I think because of the age gap and it was something that never crossed my mind.
Urmi: Now that you're asking me, it's crossing my mind . So, no, I don't think I can describe it that way.
Christi: Well, she's much younger than you are.
Urmi: Yeah.
Christi: So it's not like you were besties,
Urmi: we are besties. We are besties but , we don't discuss like culture, identity, belonging. 'cause I also feel like we both had a different upbringing.
Christi: in what way?
Urmi: In many ways. and many ways. 'cause I, I feel like the freedom that I didn't have, she had it. And I always think there's so much, so much easier on the younger.
Urmi: Siblings, [00:09:00] you know, like , you're the first one to be born. Okay? You are like, you go through all the hurdles and then the easiest path, you just paved the way for them basically. So for, for her, I feel like it was always a little bit easier. She always had a little bit more freedom. She still does have a lot of freedom and she grew up a with a, with Bengali people, a lot of Bengali people.
Urmi: Whereas I grew up with a lot of Italian friends and. Her circle of friends are just mainly Bengali, where mine are not. It's different people from different countries. Yeah.
Christi: Wow. So it's just she still in Italy
Urmi: She's in U.K.
Christi: and she's in the U.K.. And your parents, where are they?
Urmi: in U.K..
Christi: Oh, so they're in the U.K. You moved around a lot. Was this because of your dad's work
Urmi: no,
Christi: No.
Urmi: That's a very good question. No, we just moved around for a better life. Cause Sicily, it's a good, I mean, it's the good place. It's [00:10:00] okay, but it's not. Eventually , you are better off moving elsewhere for a better life still. So that's why we moved a lot. We moved a lot to have a better life, basically, better future.
Urmi: There was, it wasn't, it was never related to, to work.
Christi: Interesting. So the US is a nation of immigrants, this is about your story, but I'm also curious about your parents' story.
Urmi: My parents, I think they moved really early nineties, so right after they got married, they moved to Italy.
Christi: how did they get to. Palermo, did they go through Libya?
Urmi: You know what, that's something that I never really asked to, to my parents. I know that my dad, he was assessing between few countries. I know Canada was one of them. Then there was U.K., there was Italy, and I think he chose Italy because it was a bit easier to immigrate. . And so I think going through Sicily was a bit, a bit smoother, so that's why, but [00:11:00] I don't know the whole, like, I don't know if you have to go through another country before coming to Italy.
Christi: I was just curious. there was Mar Martelli, Martelli's Law, something in Italy that made it a little bit easier for not just people from Bangladesh, Bangladeshis but other people, not from Europe to get a path to citizenship.
Urmi: Mm-Hmm.
Christi: they naturalized? As in if they
Urmi: became eventually yes. Yes,
Urmi: yes,
Christi: Do you plan to become a Canadian or are you,
Urmi: I am by law
Christi: you are by law.
Christi: Oh,
Christi: that's cool. Tell
Urmi: I, yes, I
Urmi: am Canadian by law, but I, never tell anyone that I am Canadian 'cause I, I'm not able to associate myself with the Canadian identity. And I don't know why. I don't know why. I think I just proudly feel Italian and Bengali. , even though Canada is great, but I, I can never go [00:12:00] around and tell I'm Canadian.
Urmi: I, I never, never, never say it. 'cause I know I'm lying to myself and it's not because I don't like Canada. It's just, it, I just feel like it's, it's not, it's not there yet.
Christi: you're not saying I'll never feel Canadian, you're saying you don't feel it yet.
Urmi: Exactly. Even when I'm traveling and people ask me like, oh, where are you guys from? Like, I never feel like staying, I'm from Canada, although I live here, you know, like for me it comes naturally just to say I'm Italian. But it's, it's a bit of a struggle, I have to say. So I just say I live in Canada, but I, I never stay, I'm from Canada, even though, 'cause I feel like if I, I'm from Canada, people think I'm born that I'm raised, but it's not true.
Urmi: it's a struggle. 'cause I don't, I really don't associate myself to Canada, but I always say I'm Canadian by law. That's why I always emphasize it by law.
Christi: you identify as a third culture kid. Someone, kids of [00:13:00] immigrants. Right.
Urmi: Yeah.
Christi: Would you agree that third culture kids. Are citizens of everywhere and nowhere.
Urmi: Yes. , yes. Yes, I do agree with that sentence we're citizens of everywhere, but also nowhere. And I follow some pages on Instagram and I, I found a page for Third Culture Kids and I saw the struggle they go through like, people questioning their identity. Them not knowing, no.
Urmi: Not knowing how to associate themself struggling. When you're being asked where you're from, it's like you belong to so many countries, but at the same time, you're not, you are never sure what kind of or what type of answer to give. And it's, it is a struggle. I do think it's a, it's a big struggle because I feel like you always have to find yourself, like you find yourself explaining too much And that's the problem. It's like we just have to justify every single thing that we're saying. And I went through that struggle as well, [00:14:00] especially after moving to Canada people, because people would question my my identity, they would question my answer. And like, I, I feel like if I was just born and received, no one would question it, you know?
Urmi: But if I was just coming from one, one country, but because I have this like multiple ethnicity people question even because of my accent too, which I, which I don't know if it's like as strong as it was before, but that was also a factor too.
Christi: when you speak French, do people think you have an accent in French too?
Urmi: I am pretty sure I do have, I'm pretty, no one ever said anything, but I'm pretty sure. I have an accent and I think it's there. My Italian accent comes out.
Christi: That's what I think it is too. An Italian
Christi: accent.
Urmi: It does, it does come out. I know It It does. I can't sense it.
Christi: But they look at you and they don't necessarily think Italy at first. Right. They think something else.
Urmi: they think, Latina [00:15:00] actually.
Urmi: Yeah.
Christi: how does that feel?
Urmi: I kind of like it. I kinda like it that people think I'm from Mexico. Some people think I'm from per Peru it's like nice 'cause I'm like, oh, this is how I can come across, which is cool.
Christi: What's the biggest risk you feel you've taken in your journey?
Urmi: You know what, 'cause I, I work in finance and we stay higher the risk, higher the return and, for me, definitely coming to Canada was a big, big risk. It is just because I, I, I had no clue of this place. Like zero, zero clue. it was a little bit of a cultural shock at the beginning, but I was also like, I'm also very curious and so I led my curiosity to guide me through this and you know, there is like a quotation says, the cave you fear to enter, holds, the treasure you seek. I don't know if you know this quotation, and I do like to think of everything that I do, [00:16:00] which is unknown as something that has, you know, treasure at the end, which you're not aware of, but it's there. So there's like a prize waiting for you.
Urmi: So that's how I like to associate. When I take a, take a risk because there is a lot of unknown uncertainty, but with a lot of unknown uncertainty, there are like good things on the other side. So for me, I think probably the biggest risk was coming to Canada 'cause it was really a place where no one speaks Italian as a first language.
Urmi: No one speak Bengali as a first language. So I really had to like adapt myself to a new environment and you know, make new friends work in a place like I never worked in Italy, so even working here was different. I had to study in a different language, which wasn't my mother tongue. So it was really a lot of like exploration and discovery.
Christi: Did you already have [00:17:00] English when you got to Canada
Urmi: Yeah,
Christi: and French too, or no?
Urmi: Yeah. I had but, here they speak, the French Quebecois so Quebecois is not taught in Europe. It's not, you learn French from France. So when I came to Canada, the, the Quebecois was a little bit of a challenge for because, , I never heard the, Quebecois before coming to Canada. so they have a different accent.
Urmi: They use different expression, different words for other things. They speak very, very fast. So I had to really like, adapt to that accent and I had to like, work on it for a couple of years before I could just be like, okay, I, I can work in a French environment. So it took me . A few years to adapt with the Quebecois but now I work in a French environment, so I feel like I also overpassed a challenge.
Christi: I don't think that the people you work with could ask for anything better than having someone who's [00:18:00] so adaptable and flexible and has an ear for languages
Urmi: you can ask them how they feel.
Christi: You should ask them how they feel. Have you ever.
Urmi: No.
Christi: No, it's too embarrassing. Right. Did you find Toastmasters in the desire for public speaking? Was that connected with work or school or, or just a, a desire to connect with others from a podium.
Urmi: No. it was it was through school. and we had the extracurricular activities that we had to And, I went to this workshop and they were like, oh, there is Toastmasters. I was like, oh, okay, let me look into it. 'cause you know, public speaking is probably one of the biggest fear shared among many, and it that was, also like my concern.
Urmi: Like I have a lot of fear with public speaking. And so what happened I, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna attend Toastmasters. So I attended [00:19:00] few like meetings and I few speeches, but it was never, like I never actually worked on it as much. It was just for me for the sake of having like extracurricular activities on my resume.
Urmi: But after I was done with school, basically what happened is I was like, you know what? I wanna go back to Toastmasters because I have a desire to do a TED talk. So I went. to, yeah, so I joined Toastmasters and then I, like I stick to it. It's been more than five years that I'm part of Toastmasters and I very much enjoy it.
Urmi: yeah, yeah, yeah,
Urmi: yeah,
Christi: That's wonderful. That's, I'm a Toastmaster
Christi: too, so.
Urmi: I know.
Christi: Hmm. So, how's your progress on the TED Talk? Did you get a TED Talk or a TEDx, or No.
Christi: Not yet?
Urmi: I, not yet. I know it's a very tough process. I know they're very [00:20:00] selective when it comes to choosing people to give a TED Talk, so I'm to, you know, get my foot there. But honestly, it's, it's, it's been really, really hard. It's been really hard and I'm like, you know what? I just, I just have to make sure that I don't give up and I give this TED talk as soon as I find the opportunity.
Christi: That's great. Well, doing the YouTube, right? And your blog, we'll definitely put it in the show notes if you want us to, the YouTube for sure. What was the biggest surprise on your journey?
Urmi: The biggest surprise. Oh my gosh. I don't know. Oh, I'm gonna say life surprises me every day, with everything that I do, but I think probably it was. for me, the biggest surprise, maybe it's more associated to myself and my own evolution and transformation as a person and how I change to become resilient, tenacious, [00:21:00] how I am flexible and adapt, adaptable to to things, which I think it's very important to have. Especially if you're like moving around a lot in different parts of the world.
Urmi: like anywhere you go, you will face different people, different cultures, different religions. So you have to be, you have to be dynamic. You need to be dynamic and you have to be open to the fact that not everyone shares your own vision of the world. There are different.
Urmi: Perspective, there are different visions in this world, so you have to be able to like be welcoming and accepting that. So for me, that was, that was more like a, a change in my character maybe.
Christi: Have your parents read your book?
Urmi: No, they don't know about it and I don't think I will tell them.
Christi: I assume they speak English. They, they must, if they're living in the U.K. Right.
Urmi: No. Don't worry. Not where they live. Where they live. They, there's a big community of Bengali people, so they don't need to speak English.
Christi: Discovering Your [00:22:00] Identity, that's the title of your book, Discovering Your Identity, and that's kind of what you were just talking about, right?
Christi: That unfolding and discovery of being flexible and, and mutable and alive in the world is
Christi: what it sounds like to me and able to traverse the world in a way that many people can only dream of, but you subtitled it, A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle. Talk some more about that.
Urmi: So it's very much related to what we have just discussed. Because like I always went through the struggle of defining myself from a cultural point of view. Like I never knew, do I say I'm Bengali? I never knew do I say I'm, I'm Italian. And after years of reflections, open dialogues, a lot of internal work, I finally came to accept myself. and finally found the answer [00:23:00] that I was looking for. You know, like what do I actually feel like? Do I feel more Italian or do I feel more Bengali? And I always felt like if I was choosing one and not the other, I was never telling a hundred percent of my story. I was never saying like, who am I as a person?
Urmi: And like, I feel like I was just living out a big chunk of my life. And so that's where I come and create a fusion between the two, which is I am both, and that's what I call it, like a rebirth, because I finally came to accept that I am both of the two worlds. And I'm, fully convinced of this.
Urmi: That's why I never say Canada because I can't associate myself to the Canadian part, like it's there. But do I feel Canadian? Like not really. I feel more Italian. I feel very much Bengali.
Christi: Do you ever feel discriminated against?
Urmi: No, no,
Christi: So you don't have that experience like many Americans do, With discrimination or the side eye,
Urmi: no, no. [00:24:00]
Christi: you don't get that in Canada. That's, yeah. That's why a lot of people like Canada. It's very different culture than the U.S. you go back and visit your parents?
Urmi: In U.K. Yes, I do.
Christi: Mm-Hmm? You go back like once a year, you go back.
Urmi: eh, once a year? Yeah. Depends, you know, had the whole, pandemic, so it was, it was less, but yeah, usually once a year.
Christi: You are very physically fit, right? You walk every day, you where does boxing come into any of this? How does boxing help your life?
Urmi: I do love working out. I love intense workout. I tried various things, Pilates, yoga, all of these things make me fall asleep and I'm more someone who likes to intense workout where I'm feel like, feel like I'm pushing myself, going beyond my limits. So I did Muay Thai before doing boxing. Okay. So I did Muay Thai for three months, but I had to change the gym.
Urmi: And so I was like, okay, let me find [00:25:00] another gym. But I couldn't find anything with Muay Thai, so I went with boxing.
Urmi: boxing has really revolutionized the whole meaning of like a workout because I feel like I do have a transformation when I am in that boxing gym. Like I just love putting those . Boxing gloves and I feel automatically, you know, when you like become, do you know the, yeah.
Urmi: I don't know if you watched those, superhero movies or like cartoons where you know you're a regular citizen, but then when you have to save the world, you just change and you become a superhero. That's how I feel when I'm putting those boxing gloves. And so every time I put those boxing gloves, I'm like, here is the warrior, and like, I'm ready to conquer the word.
Urmi: I'm ready to like . Go like, win this. So that's how I feel. It just, it just makes me feel very, very powerful. Like as long as it's like it's a cardio workout and stuff like that. And you also learn about self-defense. [00:26:00] But my main purpose is how it makes me feel afterwards. Like I do feel like much more confident I feel.
Urmi: I feel very strong, like physically and mentally. It helps me to release the stress and I, and I think this is indirectly translated, not translated, but transferring in other aspect of my life. So very much, like that's how boxing has changed my life now that now in other type of workouts that I try to do, like hit or bootcamp, I feel like they don't give me the same level of boost that I get with boxing.
Urmi: Like it's just like boxing. It is. Boxing it's gonna be like always .
Christi: That's so cool. there's a whole community of women in boxing too. Is it? Very strong community in Montreal.
Urmi: Like in the boxing gym that I go, we do have few women, but not as much. we're not represented enough in the boxing world, so. Like we are probably 30 people and there are like six girls or something like that. But you know, at [00:27:00] least we show up and we try to pave the way for other women. But there are not as as much unfortunately.
Christi: You are a pioneer in many ways. when you came to Canada, you didn't even know anybody there. Right?
Urmi: No, no, No, Exactly. I had to start from scratch. Yeah.
Christi: And the same in the boxing ring
Urmi: Yes. Yes.
Urmi: So I know I was very intimidated the first time when I went. 'cause I was like, I don't know, like, it's just me going, but you know what, I was like, I don't wanna depend on anyone to go and try new things. So I just went by myself and I, I was like, you
Urmi: know what? I'll make So I did I did make new friends.
Christi: I wanted to ask you, what drew you to finance.
Urmi: It was, you know, when they say love at first sight because I don't, I don't believe in love at per sight, but in finance I do . It was, it was a love at per sight with the finance because it was my minor. And then afterwards, I took few classes and, And I don't know, I was just so in love with it.[00:28:00]
Urmi: I don't know. It was just, it was just love. And I could see that I enjoyed studying finance. I enjoyed doing the exam, going to classes, listening to my professors. It was, it was just like, I was like, this is it. And so I did it. And under graduating finance, then I graduated. I started to work in finance and I was like, you know what?
Urmi: I still wanna study finance. So I did, I did pursue a designation. Which is called the CFA designation. It took me, it's a very hard designation. took me, come I, it took me a couple of years for to complete it because they had to postpone it because of the pandemic. But when I got that, it was like . It was probably my biggest achievement that I finally have those three letters next to my name, and I very much go proud, proud of myself.
Urmi: Like even if no one is proud or if, if no one wants to be proud of me, I am proud of myself that I was able to achieve it. So for me, it was a big, big accomplishment. Sometimes I wake up and I'm like, oh, I've done it. You know,
Christi: Wow, that's the [00:29:00] CFA is certified financial.
Urmi: analyst.
Christi: Analyst. Oh, that's great. Congratulations.
Urmi: Thank you,
Christi: And where do you go from here with that?
Urmi: we'll see, we'll see. I, I'm open to many things, but I, I like what I do right now and, hopefully I can. Be a portfolio manager, but because I wanna show other women that, you know, you can do it. So I wanna be also pioneer in in that, route as well. the one part is to, you know, become a portfolio manager, but I'm also open to other things that might come to my way.
Urmi: Like, I was going to complete this designation regardless of my choice of my career. You know, it was my own personal accomplishment.
Christi: when you said it was love at first sight, so I assume like numbers and math, all that comes very easily to you ?
Urmi: Yeah, but I, I never thought, like, I never thought I was, talented, I guess, like I, when I was taking math classes at school, I very much enjoyed it. [00:30:00] Enjoyed it, but I would never go and tell everyone, oh yeah, math is my favorite. Subject. You know, like it was just something that I enjoyed and I was good at, but I can never went around and tell, oh, yeah, I'm, I'm, I love math.
Urmi: It's my favorite subject, but I guess I carried it, you know, in, in finance.
Christi: You did it anyway. lot of what interests me about people's stories on Moving Along is the level of risk that people take in finding.their way on their own personal journey, right? how do you talk to other women and the people that you mentor and work with about risk in their own lives? Taking risks or assessing risk.
Urmi: We never had a conversation about risk per se. But I would definitely tell them to assess the different outcomes that comes with taking risk. [00:31:00] Because I think, and this is probably one of the trait that we share, is that women tend to be a little bit more risk-averse in men in many ways compared men who are risk takers. Risk were, us were a little bit more cautious, but I think it's always very important to assess all the different options and to assess, you know, the different outcomes and take an approach that works best for us. So that would be like something that I would definitely tell them to, to look at, like, okay, if you take this risk, risk, what are the consequences?
Urmi: You know, versus taking The other option is a, is a risk. So it's really like evaluating different options, the different outcomes, and then just go with the one that you feel the most. I also think that, you know, if you don't take a risk, you're never living your life and you're not, developing yourself at the fullest potential.
Urmi: That's how I also like to see it. That's why I say, I [00:32:00] say like, higher the risk, higher the return. I think when you take a risk, even though there is a lot of uncertainty, if you never take that chance, you will never know. So it's important to like, you know, take those risk and figure it out afterwards. I think you're not losing anything.
Christi: Have you ever failed?
Urmi: But
Christi: Well, well, the higher the risk, the higher the return. But sometimes the risks don't play out.
Urmi: I, I am a very hardworking person. I'm very hardworking, but I also know that if things don't go the way you're supposed to be, that's okay. That's okay, because I think it's not about, you know, always succeeding, but it's more about you getting up. Up after you fail. And I think I'm, I'm very good at that. I think, I think resilience is much more important than, you know, just always succeeding. So [00:33:00] I'm someone who doesn't like to give up easily, and I'm not someone who feels down if bad, bad happens, I just think it's part of life. I learned to to accept that it's part of life. I learned to accept to, don't hold grudge, don't feel upset about things.
Urmi: It's just a lesson learned and it's, it's, it's just gonna help you to grow. So you have to see this more as something positive and not negative, basically.
Christi: That almost brings us back to the sadness that you talked about in the beginning,
Christi: associated with travel and moving when you were growing up.
Urmi: Yeah. .Yeah, that's why I used It was It was very sad. But one, now when I think about it, I'm like, you know what? I think it was in, it wasn't so much of a sadness moment. Like as much as I wish I had a place that I called home, like physically home, it's still, [00:34:00] you know, I think it just helped me to gain a lot of experience and
Urmi: I get a lot of learning and also get different vision of the words, like if I was just stuck in one place, I don't think I would've got all of this.
Christi: don't think I could have said it any better myself. That's that's an amazing life lesson. is that how you see it? It's life lessons.
Urmi: yeah.
Christi: inside the sadness. Then somehow that adaptability and mutability is like born of that. And
Urmi: Yeah. you need sadness to find joy
Christi: That's, that's a great, we should end it right there, Urmi that's, that's beautiful. So it's quite a journey you've made from Palermo to here to Montreal
Urmi: I know, right?
Christi: in a pretty short period of time,
Urmi: Yes.
Christi: all things considered.
Urmi: Yeah.
Christi: I That's great. Well thank you. Thank you very much and I [00:35:00] appreciate it.