Why I Started Nayla’s Lab

Welcome to Nayla’s Lab – a space that’s honest, messy, healing, and very, very real.

I started this blog (or website… whatever we’re calling them these days) as a creative outlet. A place to land. A place to breathe. Over the past six months—though really, it’s been building much longer—I felt the life draining out of me. I wasn’t living. I was existing. Then one day, I realised that I had become a shell of the person I used to be.

So I started experimenting. Little by little, life started to come back online. It’s still waking up. This blog is part of that awakening.

Here, I’ll be writing about transformation, self-reinvention, the stuff no one talks about—but everyone feels. I’ll explore what it means to come back to yourself, especially when you’re not sure who that even is anymore.

The Spark

This isn’t my first blog. I’ve started a few over the years—usually with the goal of “finally” launching my dream business. But I could never quite turn it into something profitable, and deep down, I realized I didn’t want to. What I truly wanted was a creative outlet. A space to write, reflect, and express myself without the pressure of monetizing it.

But back then, not making money felt like failure. So I shut everything down.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that in doing so, I cut off my own creativity. And it turns out, creativity was the thing that made me work.

Six months ago, I quit my job to finally pursue a business of my own. It was a lifelong dream: be my own boss. Social media was cheering me on, feeding me a steady diet of “you’ve got this.” So I jumped.

I became a freelance project manager on Fiverr. And I hated it.
Yes, I was getting requests. Yes, I was getting five-star reviews. But I was exhausted and severely underpaid compared to my previous job. The variety of clients and projects wasn’t liberating—it was overwhelming. Eventually, I shut that down too. It felt like a complete rejection of the business dream I had built up for so long.

One client stuck—and thankfully, I enjoy working with them—but the experience shattered my vision of entrepreneurship.

After all that, I found myself empty. No passion. No drive. No clue what was next. And that terrified me.

What did it mean to feel this flat at 42? Was this it? Had I reached the end of ambition?

So I did the only thing I could think of—I turned inward. I meditated like a monk. I joined a gym, just to stir something up inside me. Slowly, the idea for Nayla’s Lab emerged. Not as a business. Not as a brand. But as an experiment in becoming.

Why I Created This Space

Because I have things to say. And I’m not willing to die with my music still inside me.

I want to express myself. To give language to feelings that I know others carry too. Maybe my words will help you articulate something you’ve been struggling to express. Maybe they’ll make you feel seen. Maybe they’ll just make you laugh.

That would mean everything to me.

I’ve always loved the idea of helping others. I just never believed I was particularly good at it. But maybe it starts here. If my confidence, my moments of clarity, or even my confusion can offer something to someone else, then this space will have been worth it.

What This Site Represents

This is a digital version of me.

I used to think a blog had to be about one thing. But I’m not one thing. I am a meditator. A transformational artist. A project manager. A mother. A failed business owner. A Pakistani woman in her 40s navigating the in-between.

I’m not here to perform polish. I’m here to be whole.

This blog is a mirror of that—sometimes deep, sometimes funny, sometimes chaotic. Just like me. And maybe just like you, too.

Let’s Stay Connected

If anything here resonated, I’d love to find a way into your inbox. I’ll be sharing more stories of transformation, raw honesty, and the quiet (and sometimes loud) moments that shape us.

I also create digital freebies—because I love making things. You can grab one here (insert link), and hopefully we’ll stay in touch.

Until then, thank you for being here.
Welcome to the lab.

Nayla x