Joy isn't a performance for Cyndi, co-founder of 555. It's how she runs a company.

Cyndi and Kirti talk about what positivity actually looks like inside a fast-paced, high-pressure events business, the little things that carry her through no-sleep weeks, and the one line she won't let anyone cross: "If I am not my kindest version to you, it means you have crossed my values."

Real talk on boundaries, self-care, and leading multicultural teams with kindness that isn't a performance.

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https://www.instagram.com/vanpollaert

Cindy Van pollaert is a person who loves from the heart. She is the Happiness Manager at 555 Live Experience, a cultural bridge-builder, and the founder of the storytelling project Min Al Qalb.She blends live events with human connection and storytelling, turning moments into memories across cultures, with a strong focus on the Middle East.Alongside her work in large-scale international events across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the wider region, Cindy created Min Al Qalb (“From the Heart”) as a cultural platform that celebrates inspiring women through illustration, narrative, and shared human experiences. The project aims to bridge cultural gaps and present a more authentic, human view of the Middle East to the rest of the world.Through initiatives and gatherings the project also brings people together offline, encouraging dialogue, connection, and mutual understanding in simple, meaningful ways.Guided by her personal philosophy, “Enjoy the little things,” Cindy believes that lasting impact is created not only through big moments, but through small, heartfelt connections.

Rehma sees what most people miss. In part two of this conversation, the stylist reads Kirti's wardrobe like a memoir — spotting the London blazers, the shift to free-flowing colour, the body that changed and the self that grew with it. They talk about styling through perimenopause without fighting your body, why modesty is built on cultural awareness, intentional styling and emotional wellbeing, and how to tell cultural appreciation from appropriation. Rehma shares why she wore black to stay invisible for thirteen years — and what made her finally choose colour. A conversation about clothes that turns out to be about acceptance, identity, and the quiet courage of letting yourself be seen.

00:00 Back with Rehma, part two

01:01 Styling when your body changes

01:35 Rehma's conversation with her own body

03:35 Letting go of clothes that no longer fit

05:34 Stop forcing your body

06:14 Perimenopause as a season, not a problem

08:25 Conservative London, vibrant Dubai

09:39 Modesty is not a restriction

10:24 The three pillars of modest fashion

13:46 Appreciation or appropriation

15:43 Wear it for yourself, not to fit in

18:30 The boldest thing she ever wore

20:32 The magic of colour

21:11 Rehma reads Kirti's wardrobe

24:00 One suitcase, two lipsticks

29:23 Do we hide our journeys in our clothes?

29:49 Thirteen years of wearing black

33:13 Dressing to be seen

34:14 What she'd tell her younger self

35:16 The one thing she'd leave behind

Drop Your Noise — shortlisted for Podcast of the Year, Women in Business Awards 2025. Hosted by Kirti Daryanani.
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#ModestFashion #SelfAcceptance #Perimenopause #StyleAndIdentity #DropYourNoise

Rehma grew up being told her dark skin tone made her less — less worthy of color, of fashion, of choosing how she showed up in the world.

In this episode she sits with Kirti and traces the long road from that to self-contentment: the comparisons, the silence she learned, and the makeover that turned out to be about far more than clothes.

This is a conversation about skin tone bias, confidence, modesty and style, and what it takes to finally look in the mirror and mean it when you say you look good. Part one of two.

Would you like to find out more on how to pause the pressure of what's expected of you and find a fresh way to speak your mind?

Connect with us : https://link.kirtana168.com/podcast

About Rehma Mirza

Rehma Mirza is a Sustainable Style Consultant and the Founder of The Self-Investment System™, a purpose-led framework that integrates self-awareness, confidence, styling awareness, and mental wellbeing. She is recognised as a pioneer in the GCC for linking mental wellbeing with styling awareness through structured workshops and educational programmes for both youth and adults.She is also a contributor to ISO 45003 (Psychological Health & Safety at Work) recognition within a government organisation in Dubai. Her work focuses on empowering individuals to build self-trust, emotional intelligence, and intentional self-presentation through culturally respectful, accessible tools that support long-term wellbeing, confidence, and future readiness.

www.stylebyrehma.com, stylebyrehma (Instagram), Rehma Mirza (Linkedin)

Time

01:16 — How Rehma got here, and why

01:21 — Growing up the "different" one: gender bias in an orthodox home

02:27 — When color comparison entered the family

04:00 — Learning that pleasing others was the only path

04:53 — "You don't fit that role because of your color"

06:42 — Falling into depression before she had a word for it

09:54 — Labelled difficult, sensitive, too much

10:17 — Kirti's side: comparison cuts from the other direction too

12:09 — The marriage market and the cost of comparison

14:58 — Married at 21, still dressed by everyone but herself

15:52 — "Are you really happy?" — the question her husband kept asking

17:23 — Mirrors, breaking points and self-harm

22:25 — Pregnancy, melanin and the cruelty of people close to her

24:22 — Normalizing the negativity until it stops sounding like harm

26:40 — The pivot: Dubai, depression, and a gift she didn't want

27:45 — Two hours of weeping in a stylist's chair

28:40 — "We need to get your head fixed first"

29:34 — The eye-opener: every color she'd worn was wrong

31:32 — Turning her own makeover into a way to help other women

33:57 — Inner alignment and outer presence

34:53 — Happiness vs. self-contentment: the word that changed things

36:39 — Kirti's own story: yoga, weight, perimenopause and lost confidence

38:57 — Styling for a body that keeps changing

39:24 — The question that carries into part two