Success requires qualities like hard work, commitment, dedication, perseverance, and resilience to overcome adversity. For some people, it takes a lifetime before they are able to reap the rewards of all their hard work; but once they taste its ripe fruit, every sacrifice seems worth it.

However, the journey to that point is not easy in any sense of the word, and Aytakin (lka) Aliyeva, the founder of Femigrants, offers a few words of advice to immigrant women looking to live a fuller life with all the sweetness of their labor.

During her childhood, Aytakin experienced the devastation caused by war first-hand. However, she was lucky enough to be born to parents who supported her dreams of going abroad. She was one of the few students in her country, and the only girl in her community, to go on not one, but four student exchange programs to the States. But it wasn’t until she hit her early 30s that Aytakin moved to America permanently and began her life anew.

She has experienced life in all forms, yet has seen, firsthand, what determination and a little belief in oneself can help achieve in the long run.