Sama Farrag I have always wanted to go back in time and speak with my 18-year-old self. She was very cynical, slightly emo, and refused to accept the fact that she is not the reincarnation of Effy Stonem from Skins. Maybe I’d give her some advice: put the eyeliner pen down. Maybe I’d scold her: “Babe, you have a curfew; go home.” Or maybe I’d just tell her where we end up: somewhere we definitely did not expect. I think everyone feels this way sometimes—like they want to go back in time and have a conversation with their teenage self. Who better to understand your lowest lows and relish in your highest highs than she will? I’ve always deemed it important to communicate and connect with your younger self, to keep her in the loop and remind yourself of the first person you ever became. Have weekly check-ins with her, “Hey! Remember so-and-so from high school? She got fat,” or “OMG you will never believe what we do for a living.” I think no one understands me or will even be able to more than she does, and I find myself writing her letters sometimes. Now, I have written her countless letters, and they’re all tucked away in my Zara bomber jacket from that time (because it’s the first place she will look), and we have also asked 6 of the most influential and successful women to take on that task as well. They’re personal, raw, and speak to their past selves directly from the heart—a feat very few of us have been able to accomplish.
Hala Hegazi, Managing Director and Group COO at Nogoum FM & Nile FM
Dear 18-year-old me,
You think life is just beginning, and you’re right. But what you don’t know yet is how quickly the years will pass. One day you will wake up and realize that decades have gone by in what feels like a moment. So let me share a few things I wish you knew earlier. First, take care of your body. Move, exercise, stay strong. Being fit is not about how you look, it’s about how you feel and how long you can keep doing the things you love. Your future self will thank you for every walk, every workout, every moment you chose health.
Learn early the difference between what is truly important and what is simply urgent. Life will constantly throw “priorities” at you—deadlines, expectations, noise. But not everything that demands your attention deserves your heart. The important things are fewer and deeper: your health, your family, your peace of mind.
Be generous, but not blindly so. Your time, energy, and kindness are precious. Not everyone deserves unlimited access to them. Choose carefully who you give yourself to. Some people will nurture your spirit, and others will drain it. It’s okay to walk away from those who do. And remember this: giving is a beautiful thing, but it is meant to flow both ways. It is normal, healthy, and human to expect care, respect, and effort in return. Mutuality is not selfish—it is balance.
Spend more time with your parents than you think you need to. Sit with them, listen to their stories, laugh with them, ask questions. These moments will one day become some of your most treasured memories, and they cannot be replaced once they’re gone.
When you become a mother, you will want to do everything perfectly. You will worry about getting it right all the time. But here is the truth: perfection is not what your children need. What they will remember are the moments—your laughter, your presence, the warmth of home, the memories you create together. Enjoy raising them. Let go of the pressure to be perfect and embrace the blessing of watching them grow.
Life will be beautiful, complicated, joyful, and sometimes painful. But it will also be rich in ways you cannot yet imagine.
So breathe, trust yourself, and remember: life is not only about doing things right. It is about living them fully.
With love, understanding, and the wisdom of forty more years,
Your 58-year-old self
Rania El Adl, Chief Marketing Officer at Modupay
Dear 18 year old Rania,
You are about to step into a world that will challenge you, surprise you, and shape you in ways you cannot yet imagine.
You will work hard, push yourself, and hold yourself to high standards. That determination will take you further than you can imagine and open doors you cannot yet see.
Never lose sight of what truly matters: not just what you achieve, but the kind of person you become and the impact you leave on others.
Along the way, remember that you do not always have to keep the peace or make everyone comfortable. It is okay to take up space, trust your voice, and stand by what you believe.
And pause sometimes. Take in where you are. The journey will be full of moments worth appreciating, even while you are reaching for what comes next.
Be kind to yourself and enjoy more of it along the way.
Rania
Amina Khalil, Founder and Creative Director of Amina K.
Dear 18-year-old Amina,
As I approach my 41st birthday, I’ve decided to fully embrace this new phase of my life, to appreciate the woman I’ve become and everything I’ve achieved.
You’re in for quite a ride. There will be challenges, many of them, but remember: God never gives you more than you can handle. You will doubt yourself often, but keep going.
You are ambitious, resilient, and you have a dream. Fight for that dream. Have the confidence to ask for what you want, no one will simply hand it to you. And remember, you deserve everything you are working for. Don’t feel guilty for wanting it all.
You have a purpose, and that is a blessing.
Stay grounded. Try not to be so hard on yourself, you have a tendency to burn out when you push too hard. Don’t let your need for perfection get the best of you.
Focus on the work. Master your craft. Stay creative. Don’t seek approval, seek growth.
Trust your instincts and don’t be afraid to take risks. Deep down, you almost always know what the next step is.
Learn to delegate. Ask for help. Seek mentors, they will support you when the road feels long or lonely.
Remember that everything changes, so stay focused but flexible.
And most importantly, enjoy the journey. You are doing what you truly love, and that is one of life’s greatest blessings.
With love,
Amina
Mennat Sharkas, General Manager of Lipton Teas and Infusions
Hello Mennat,
When I look back at the 18-year-old version of you, I see a young girl standing at the edge of life with hopes in her eyes and questions in her heart. And today, as I look at you again, I see a woman—stronger, wiser, and far more beautiful in spirit than you could have ever imagined.
Life tested you in ways you never expected. Some challenges you conquered, and others you stumbled through. Yet every victory filled your heart with gratitude, and every setback you carried with quiet grace, turning even your falls into lessons.
Along the way, you lived moments you once only dreamed about. You became a mother to the most precious gift—your beautiful daughter, Farida. A role that reshaped your heart and taught you a love deeper than words can hold. You also rose to become a General Manager at Lipton Teas and Infusions in Egypt—an achievement built on years of dedication, resilience, and belief in yourself.
Year after year, you kept choosing growth. You kept trying to become a better version of yourself, even when the journey felt heavy. And through that journey, life whispered its most valuable lessons to you.
You learned that hard times always pass, so they should never be given the power to stop your life.
You learned that family will always come first, no matter how busy the world becomes.
You discovered that taking care of yourself is not selfish—it is necessary.
You proved that a female leader does not need to sacrifice her femininity to be strong; in fact, her strength shines even more through it.
And most importantly, you realized that every human being carries a hidden jewel within them—and a true leader’s purpose is to help others uncover it.
But above all, you learned the most beautiful truth of all:
Life is not only about reaching destinations.
It is about feeling every moment, every rise and fall, every laugh and tear.
So keep going, Mennat.
And never forget to enjoy the ride—fully, deeply, and with an open heart.
Heba El Sewedy, Founder and Head of Board of Trustees of Ahl Masr Foundation and Burn Hospital
To Heba, at eighteen,
I want you to take a deep breath and look at yourself through my eyes for just a moment. I see you standing there at the threshold of medical school, with a heart so full it feels like it might burst.
Your dream isn’t just a career; it is a living, breathing vision. I know you keep closing your eyes and visualizing that charitable hospital in Egypt, the doors swinging open, the lights bright, and the rooms filled with people who have nowhere else to turn. Those trips to the countryside when you were a little girl left a mark on your soul that no textbook could ever replicate. You don’t just see a building; you see the faces of the poor and the weary, and you feel a physical need to serve them. To you, medicine isn’t about prestige, it’s a sacred calling.
But I also see the quiet trembling in your hands.
I know how much you love your father, and how the mere shadow of his illness feels like a weight you aren’t sure you can carry. I see you in your mother’s closet, buried in her clothes just to breathe in her scent, trying to hold onto her even when she is miles away. You are the youngest, the “pampered” one, the heart of the house, wrapped in a cocoon of love so thick you don’t yet realize that being loved deeply is not a weakness, it is preparation. Your mother’s tenderness and her presence were building the resilience you would one day need to be a pillar for others. Love was always your foundation, not your limitation.
When she sits by your bed and whispers, “My Lord, expand for me my chest and ease for me my task,” listen closely. She is building strength inside you without you even realizing it, etching a map into your soul for the day the world turns upside down.
And it will turn, Heba.
The moment is coming when the medical books will close. To reassure your father in his illness, you will accept a path that leads you away from the lecture halls of medicine and into English Literature. I know it feels like a part of yourself is dying, but you must remember that a true dream does not die. Circumstances may delay it or reshape it, but what is planted as deeply as yours will always survive.
Please, trust the redirection. When one door closes, destiny does not cancel you; it redirects you. You might feel you’ve lost the path to healing, but in reality, your path is becoming larger than a single profession. Even your fear of losing your father will eventually become fuel, teaching you the value of security and giving you the drive to build something that shelters others in their most fragile moments.
Heba, look at where you are today, after all these years and through such a difficult journey. Look at the lives you have touched and the sanctuary you have built. You walked through the fire of loss and the confusion of a changing path, but you emerged not just as the pampered daughter, but as a force of nature. You realized that impact is far greater than a title.
At 18, you thought the dream was the degree, but you have proven that the dream was always about dignity, service, and healing.
You didn’t just build a hospital; you built the Ahl Masr Burn Hospital, a place where healing goes beyond the skin. You established an Inclusion and Empowerment Center and a Foundation that ensures every survivor is not just treated, but restored to their power and place in the world.
The hospital is real. The doors are open. The poor are being served with the dignity they deserve. You turned every prayer and every tear into a legacy of mercy. You have become the person the eighteen-year-old you only dared to imagine.
With all the love of the woman you are becoming,
Heba
Kesmat El Mehelmy, Founder of Cake Cafè & Catering by Kesmat
Dear Kesmat
This year you will turn 18. Your life has been perfect till this moment.
Unfortunately this year is the year that will shape and forever change your life. You will lose the one strong pillar in your life, your dad. You will suffer, yes for years the pain will be unbearable, you will be devastated but it will pass, like everything in life. This is the first shock that will lead you to the strong you. Life is preparing you to be strong to be able to overcome all the challenges you will have to live. You will go through sickness, operations , don’t get scared. Losing friends either by death or betrayal. You will go through divorce and you will be alone. It’s the path that God wrote for you and you will have to go through it.
I am writing to you from the future, I can see every detail, every heartbreak and every disappointment you will go through, but I can also see how perfectly you handled every issue. God will give you two precious children that will be a reason for you to go on.
One day you will look back on that journey, and you will be extremely proud. You will write your own success story Kesmat no doubt in that. You will be so proud that through it all you never lost yourself. One day it will all payback.
One day your story will be an inspiration to so many, so make sure to live it with ethics, hard work and lots of love.
Through the way, always trust yourself. One day your inner child that you never lost will come out and you will laugh, dance and have fun.
One day everything will make sense.
With lots of love and respect from Kesmat, the strong version that you have become.
