In this debut episode of the Women Who Lead series on Adil Talks, host Syed Zurriyat Adil interviews Zeba Mirza, founder of the design agency Design Hive. Zeba shares her journey from a high-ranking corporate student to a design entrepreneur, discussing the challenges of unconventional careers, the role of AI in modern design, and how to find fulfillment in your work.

Top 5 Key Insights

1: The “Visual Fulfillment” Metric: Success is found where your energy doesn’t drain. Zeba could spend 15 hours on a design without burnout, but 15 hours of law study was overwhelming.

2: AI as a Force Multiplier: AI tools (DALL-E, ChatGPT, Canva) have reduced production time by 80–90%. The value is no longer in the execution time but in the Prompt Engineering and creative direction.

3: Strategic Identity vs. Aesthetic Posting: A “brand” is a synchronized system of color psychology, typography, and human tonality. Random posting yields random results; strategic branding builds trust.

4: The Autonomy of Choice: Designers must “qualify” their clients. Accepting projects with poor terms or indecisive clients leads to mental and psychological burnout.

5: The Portfolio-First Approach: For beginners, the focus should be on building a “fun-loving” portfolio and gaining experience rather than chasing high commercial rates immediately.

Final Takeaway

“It is never too late to start, and you don’t have to leave your home to build a global career.” Success in the modern creative economy isn’t just about technical skill; it’s about the inner fulfillment found in your work and the courage to pivot when your current path no longer aligns with your passion.

Full Podcast Transcript

[HIGHLIGHTS]

[00:00:00] Adil: How do you manage your personal life with your professional life?

[00:00:01] Zeba: Yeah, that’s a question! If you ask my family, I’m not managing it at all. But it is also about giving such amazing ideas—like for DALL-E, I would give it a prompt to give me an idea for a whole cheat sheet. It is going to make a cheat sheet!

[00:00:19] Adil: What are your plans for the next five years for Design Hive?

[00:00:22] Zeba: Like I said, it’s not just blindly believing that “okay, this will get us some results,” but adding a strategic branding to it. A strategic voice.

[00:00:34] Adil: What is some advice that you would give to young entrepreneurs or women that are trying to get into the field?

[00:00:41] Zeba: If God has given you the blessing of a dream that you want to achieve, then He will be there to hold you and make you fulfill that dream. It’s not just going to be you through the path; it’s going to be God with you.

[00:00:57] [VIDEO START]

[00:01:13] Adil: I’m doing great. So Zeba, thank you for joining us today. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:19] Zeba: Sure! Actually, I am what you can say is a content designer. I design, I do graphics, I create content, and I also do some content marketing. I’m trying to get into that, but it’s a long way right now. Of course, right now I’m a content designer doing all of the social media things and other things like branding.

[00:01:50] Adil: That’s awesome. So how did you come about this entire profession—that you should start with graphic and content designing instead of the “normal” other fields that are out there?

[00:02:04] Zeba: Oh no, actually I was doing Company Secretaryship. In the final year—I was a very meritorious student, I even got all-year ranks—but suddenly, just before my final exams, I was like, “I studied the whole year, but let’s just call it quits. I am not meant to be a Company Secretary.” Then came content writing. I did a few gigs there, but something was missing: the visual touch. I’m a person who is more into seeing things. I want to visualize what’s happening. That’s how the whole visual branding and brand identity thing came into being.

[00:03:21] Adil: While you started, there must have been a lot of challenges that you faced, right?

[00:03:27] Zeba: Of course. The first challenge was telling society about it. As you know, our traditional society doesn’t always accept an unconventional profession, especially for a girl, and also from a meritorious student who had always ranked. It was a shock for them. That was a huge challenge—to convince people. But slowly, as this business grew and as I grew, I got that inner strength. I also got a lot of strength from the Almighty. Slowly, the criticism turned into appreciation.

[00:04:25] Adil: Zeba, it’s one thing to be a designer and a whole other thing to run an agency. How did the idea for “Design Hive” come about?

[00:04:36] Zeba: As I was growing, I was getting two kinds of projects: one I was personally interested in, and others that were good but needed a lot of time and more hands. I decided we are going into brand designing instead of just being a graphic designer. Now there are people who do the usual posting for me and the lead generation. Even when I’m delegating, I make sure all the designs go through me for the final touch.

[00:05:50] Adil: You mentioned you aren’t just “posting,” you are doing “branding.” Can you explain the difference between just posting a post versus a brand story?

[00:06:10] Zeba: See, there are two types of profiles. One thing is just posting and blindly believing it will get results. Strategic branding is a strategic voice. For example, my personality is very outgoing, and that’s why I have chosen the color Yellow. Everything—the typography, the color, the tonality—when it is in sync, then they know exactly who they are connecting with. It brings out the human side of the brand.

[00:07:28] Adil: People want to connect with humans. Did these thoughts come to you naturally? You mentioned you are a visual person, but when was the first time you realized you liked visuals more than words?

[00:08:06] Zeba: There is a meme where a character says, “The books with pictures are my kind of books.” That was me! When I was studying those hefty law books, I was like, “Oh my God, this is not going to happen.” I can work for 15 hours on design and it doesn’t bore or overwhelm me. But 15 hours of law? All the stress would just gather. Even with content writing, I felt there was something more that could be transformed using those words into something visual.

[00:09:54] Adil: That makes sense. I remember choosing my field; my father wanted me to do CA (Chartered Accountancy), but my cousin said I was good at computers. He asked me: “Would you rather be unhappy doing finances in a shitty office, or happy doing computer things in a shitty office?” In the worst-case scenario, if you love your work, time goes by and you don’t feel stressed.

[00:10:47] Zeba: Exactly! Like I said, 15 hours doesn’t overwhelm me. My father is a CA, so it was a shock for the whole family when I quit in my final year, but I knew my direction was clear.

[00:11:34] Adil: When did you start this whole social media and designing thing?

[00:11:45] Zeba: I basically got divorced three years back. Divorce brought some trauma and overthinking, and I wanted to channelize that in a good way. I didn’t want it to overpower me. Luckily, I joined a course in Islamic Studies and met a very sweet person running an NGO. She said, “I will give you an opportunity to make my social media graphics because I see creativity in you.” I didn’t know anything about designing then, but that was the first step.

[00:13:14] Adil: Two years ago, design was simple. Now with AI, it’s a different game. How has this landscape changed and where is it going?

[00:13:51] Zeba: Personally, I am an AI person! I love it. With AI, the work has become streamlined. What we were doing in four or five hours, we are now doing in one hour or even 30 minutes. Earlier, we used to scroll forever for a stock image. Now, you just need a good prompt. People are earning crazy amounts just using Canva because they have mastered Prompt Engineering. It won’t replace designers because the human touch and emotions aren’t there yet, but it makes the ideas amazing.

[00:16:30] Adil: You can experiment more. If I need 20 designs, AI can whip them up in five minutes. It gives us visual ideas to blend.

[00:17:12] Zeba: Definitely. When I started, it took me a whole day just to make one post! If I stayed like that, I wouldn’t be able to handle commercials. AI took me from one post per day to one infographic in 15 minutes. Even for DALL-E, if I’m not getting ideas from Pinterest or Behance, I ask it for an idea and then I recreate it in the most human way possible.

[00:19:15] Adil: How different is being a CEO versus being a graphic designer? And how do you manage your personal life now that it’s all professional?

[00:19:32] Zeba: Like I said, if you ask my family, I’m not managing it at all! I had a phase where I was just upskilling myself, but today, being an independent woman with your own money is very important. Managing this with family duties is part of today’s life. I’ve been doing this for two years and I’m still not “managing” it perfectly, but it is fulfilling.

[00:20:59] Adil: What are your plans for the next 5 years for Design Hive?

[00:21:03] Zeba: First, to take it from just LinkedIn to a whole brand strategy agency—including websites and funnel building. After that, I’ll add coaching. I want it to compete with top agencies. I want to diversify—not just in services, but in platforms like YouTube video editing.

[00:23:23] Adil: What advice would you give to young women trying to get into this field?

[00:23:41] Zeba: Just like my journey, it might not be easy. You might get backlash from family or society. You might feel stuck. But stay true to it. Use your unique blessing in the right direction. The beauty of this profession is that women don’t have to go “out” to earn; they can have a blissful career from home even with a family. Stick to it—that’s when miracles happen. I am 29; I came into this at 27 or 28. It is never too late.

[00:26:28] Adil: But how do you find what you are good at? You didn’t know you were good at design until a friend told you.

[00:27:02] Zeba: That’s a very good question. There is an inner fulfillment when you do something that gives you that “inner light.” Like we discussed, working 20 hours wouldn’t matter because you are passionate. Just grab onto it and don’t think only about the commercials at first—focus on the inner peace and joy of creating.

[00:28:43] Adil: I think the best way is to keep testing new things. You eventually find the one you are good at, or maybe you combine two or three things.

[00:29:28] Adil: What is the biggest challenge you have faced while dealing with clients?

[00:29:39] Zeba: As a designer, when you aren’t experienced, people will take your work and then “vanish.” Or at the last minute, they’ll say, “I didn’t like it,” just to avoid paying. You must have upfront payments secured.

[00:30:28] Zeba: Another thing is clients who start with one small thing, like a logo, and then slowly expect you to design every single thing for them at the same price. Or the clients who ask for five different versions, only to go back and say, “Your first design was amazing, I’ll stick with that.” You’ve gone through all that work for nothing!

[00:31:30] Zeba: Then there are the unsure clients. They suggest something, you do it, and they still say, “I’m figuring it out.” It’s irritating. The biggest thing I realized: Don’t take every single project. We have the autonomy to decide if a client is worth working for. If the terms aren’t right, you lose mentally and psychologically.

[00:33:32] Adil: Zeba, that’s all the time we have! Any final suggestions?

[00:33:44] Zeba: Just keep practicing. Don’t focus on the money first; focus on making your portfolio amazing by working with fun-loving clients. Once your portfolio and experience are ready, you are going to rock the industry.

[00:34:29] Adil: Thank you so much, Zeba! Take care.

[00:34:34] Zeba: Thank you for having me. Bye!