Fatima Omar Khamissa is the woman behind Spiritual Biz Moms, a multi-pronged Toronto venture that offers personal life coaching, professional consultation and book publication services. But her overarching focus is bringing women together — especially Muslim women like herself — and encouraging them to lift up one another. As she said in her 1,000+ Stories profile, she “wanted to be the voice for the voiceless and show women through my example what was possible for them.”

Khamissa has weathered more than her share of storms, including a rocky divorce from an abusive spouse decades ago that left her and her children — one of whom has cerebral palsy — on welfare. Since starting up in 2012, however, the possibilities have been endless for her professionally. She has created a successful brand by writing books, taking on speaking engagements all over the world, and winning media attention from the likes of CNN and The New York Times.

The financial independence achieved has given Khamissa the same personal freedom she wants for her clients. She celebrates being able to financially support causes close to her heart, like combating hunger and domestic violence, and to give her children the little things in life. “If they need something, I’m there,” she says.

It has also given her the freedom to choose her relationships. Mere hours before the launch of Khamissa’s second book, she discovered her second husband had been unfaithful to her. But this time, she left on her own terms. Unlike during her first marriage, Khamissa had kept her finances separate , which allowed her and her kids to make a clean break. As she says: “There’s a power in having choices.”