Spiritual Intelligence: Platform

Salaam!

So far in 2025, there have been an estimated 112,000 layoffs in the tech industry and another 72,000 in the federal government. Since 2022, more than half a million people have been laid off.

Common advice says that we must be smart and build our savings account or negotiate the best severance package. But in 2025, the best move to counter corporate greed is to build a platform while comfortably employed.

I learned this lesson firsthand. In 2021, I was head of AI at a company I helped grow from $500M to $1.3B in revenue. Then one morning, the infamous "HR meeting" mysteriously appeared in my calendar.

Two hours later, I was laid off.

Four kids, a wife, bills, and now I was out of a job to no fault of my own.

After some of the shock and anger dissipated, I was actually excited. I had plateaued at that job and had nowhere to move within the company but I didn't want to jeopardize my family's financial security.

Instead of reaching for my savings account, I tapped into something else I had been building for two years prior: my LinkedIn platform.

I'd been posting on LinkedIn for two years while comfortably employed. Building my voice. Growing my list. Sharing my expertise.

That month, thanks to my platform I successfully launched my coaching business without having a single certification. I went on to pre-sell and then publish my first book, which got featured in Vogue. But more importantly, I went from helping millionaires become billionaires to helping thousands of Muslims worldwide be unapologetically Muslim and unconditionally successful.

All because I built a platform before I needed one.

Here's the spiritually intelligent reframe: Building a platform isn't about becoming an influencer. It's about owning your voice in a world that wants to rent it from you.

You can triple a company's revenue, transform their operations, build their entire AI infrastructure, and they'll still discard you in a 15-minute Zoom call.

Not because you failed, but because quarterly earnings dipped 2%, or a new CEO wants "their people.", or because some manager thinks that AI can now do what you built.

Your employer doesn't care about your kids' tuition, your mortgage, or your decade of loyalty. To the capitalistic machine, we're just a line item.

But your platform? That's yours. It's your professional sovereignty.

Platforms in the age of influencers and propaganda

Most people don't understand what a platform is. We often erroneously think that a platform means having many followers. A platform needs not be online or on social media. A platform is a place where people can come to hear your message. A platform is a place where you can build trust with an audience and share your valuable expertise, knowledge, product or service.

Hosting monthly in-person dinners can be a platform. An email list, like this one, is a platform. A weekly community discussion at your local mosque or community center is a platform. And yes, having a loyal social media following can be a platform as well, but it's not the only way.

The best example of building and utilizing a platform, is our blessed Prophet PBUH. Before prophethood, the Prophet (PBUH) built his platform and his 'brand' by being thoughtful, honest, and generous to the point that he was known as "as-Sadiq al-Amin" (the truthful and trustworthy).

When he became a prophet, Mohammed (PBUH) capitalized on his platform once he was commanded to publicly share Islam's message. One morning, he (PBUH) stood on Mount Safa near the Kaaba and called upon all the tribes of Mecca: "If I were to tell you that an enemy army was advancing to attack you from behind this hill, would you believe me?" The Quraysh responded that they would believe him, as they had never known him to lie (a sign that he had build a strong platform!)

He had (PBUH) not built his platform years prior, the Prophet (PBUH) would have had a much more difficult time recruiting the early Muslims and gaining protection from other Arabs who didn't accept his message.

Our community is full of talented professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, creators and educators. Yet, their high quality work is drowned by louder voices with lower quality work (like Charlie Kirk & co) Why? Because others have mastered the art of platform building while we haven't. We have to accept that having good ideas, a good product, or a truthful message is no longer enough. In the era of "AI slop" where every racist has a microphone, it is our responsibility to build our platforms so that our great work can reach the people who need it.

Three Pillars of Platform Sovereignty

1. Build While Employed

Your 401k protects your financial future. Your platform protects your professional future. Both compound over time. Both require consistency. Both feel unnecessary until you desperately need them.

Start posting while you have stability. Build your list while you have credibility. Share your expertise while you're not desperate.

2. Own Your Distribution

Social media is rented land. Use it – but always drive people to what you own: Your email list, your website, your real-life community. Every post should bridge from their platform to yours.

3. Focus on the message

Personal branding is about the message, not the messenger. What is your message? What truth do you believe that no one else does? What if money and time were no object, what would you talk about? That's your message. You are building your platform to share that message.

Myths about building a platform

Here are a few myths that are stopping you from building a platform:

"Building a Platform Is Self-Promotion"

This is the biggest misconception holding Muslims back.

Building a platform isn't about promoting yourself – it's about serving at scale. Every piece of knowledge you share is sadaqah jariyah (continuous charity). Every insight that helps someone avoid your mistakes is an act of worship. Every time you model Muslim excellence publicly, that's da'wah.

When you share what you've learned, you're not boasting. You're teaching. When you document your journey, you're not showing off. You're showing others what's possible.

Your expertise isn't yours to hoard. It's an amanah (trust) to share.

"I Need to Post Daily to Build a Platform"

Another myth that keeps professionals paralyzed.

I built my initial following posting once a week. Quality beats quantity every time. One thoughtful post that solves a real problem is worth more than seven generic updates.

My most successful clients post 2-3 times weekly. They focus on:

• Monday: Share a lesson from their weekend reflection
• Wednesday: Solve a problem they faced that week
• Friday: Offer perspective on industry news

That's it. No content calendars spanning months. No posting at 3am to hit optimal engagement windows. Just consistent value delivered on a sustainable schedule.

"I Don't Have Time"

You have time for what you prioritize.

You scroll LinkedIn while waiting for meetings to start. You browse Twitter during your commute. You watch YouTube while eating lunch. That's your platform-building time right there.

Writing one LinkedIn post takes 15 minutes. Recording one video takes 10. Sharing one insight takes 5.

You're not too busy. You're too afraid. And that's okay, but let's call it what it is.

"My Company Won't Like It"

Unless your contract explicitly prohibits it (rare), your company has no say in how you build your professional reputation outside work hours.

In fact, having employees with strong personal brands benefits companies. It attracts talent, builds credibility, and demonstrates thought leadership. Smart companies encourage it.

The companies that discourage employee platforms? Those are the ones most likely to lay you off. They want you dependent, not sovereign.

The Ms. Rachel Principle

Last week, Ms. Rachel (the children's YouTube educator) won Glamour's Person of the Year.

Remember when Zionists tried to destroy her for saying Palestinian children deserve to live? They flooded her with death threats, organized mass reporting campaigns, threatened her sponsors, attacked her team's personal accounts.

A children's educator. Targeted for having a conscience.

But when you own your platform, you own your voice.

Ms. Rachel didn't back down, didn't delete her posts, didn't apologize for having values. She kept creating, kept serving millions of families, kept using her platform for good.

Now she's Person of the Year.

If she'd worked for a network, she could have been "cancelled." If she needed their approval, she could have been silenced. If she didn't own her distribution, she could have been erased.

The key to success in 2025 and beyond? Great product, great message, great platform, great distribution. That's how you resist. That's how you become immune to Zionist threats or to staying at job that sucks your soul.

The Hidden Benefit: Becoming Unfireable (Even After Being Fired)

When you have a platform, getting laid off becomes a pivot, not a catastrophe.

Within a few hours of posting about my layoff, I had:

• Consulting offers
• Board advisor invitations
• Coaching inquiries
• Speaking engagements

Not because I was special. Because I was visible. People knew my work, my values, my expertise. They didn't need to check references or wonder about my capabilities. My platform was my proof.

Start Before You're Ready

You don't need a personal brand strategy. You don't need perfect writing skills. You don't need thousands of followers.

Pick one platform. Share one insight weekly. Build one meaningful connection at a time.

Because when that calendar invite appears – and in this economy, it will – you want to be smiling too. Not because you're delusional, but because you're prepared.

The Real Question

Companies will always choose shareholders over you. When will you choose yourself?

How many more years will you give them before you start building something that can't be taken away in a Zoom call?

Your platform isn't just career insurance. It's professional dignity. It's the difference between begging for opportunities and choosing among them.

The best time to build your platform was five years ago. The second best time is today, while you still have the luxury of building without desperation.

Reply to this email and tell me: What's really stopping you from starting today?

Peace and blessings,

James