About Defiance Academy

Meet the Founder

I Built This Because I Was Burned Out Too

I’m Dr. Qaali Hussein, a full-time, double board-certified trauma surgeon and a mother of six.

I loved my career and my family, yet I was always exhausted no matter how much I self-care I did. 

From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, I was carrying constant pressure and an invisible workload, believing sacrifice was the price of ambition.

At one point, I nearly walked away from the career I spent fifteen years building.

That’s when I realized burnout wasn’t personal failure; it was the result of a broken career model.

So I created Defiance Academy to help women succeed without sacrificing their values, well-being, or families.

This work is grounded in lived experience, medical understanding of burnout, and real-world strategy.

You're not broken. You're burned out.

And there is a better way forward.

Why Defiance Academy Exists

Defiance Academy exists because too many high-achieving women are quietly paying an invisible price for success.

You were taught that if you wanted a meaningful career, you had to push harder, prove more, and accept exhaustion as normal.
That balance was unrealistic.
And that burnout was just part of the deal.

It isn’t.

Defiance Academy was created to challenge a career model that asks women to adapt to systems that were never designed for them.
Instead of "leaning in," overworking, or sacrificing, we teach women how to build success on their own terms.

This isn't about doing less because you are less capable.
It's about doing what actually works.

Our Approach

Defiance Academy offers a strategic, grounded approach to career growth that accounts for real workloads, real pressure, and real lives.

We don't teach hustle culture.
We don't teach coping strategies.
We don't teach women how to endure burnout more gracefully.

We teach women how to:

✓ Get clear on what they want and stop living by expectations that aren't theirs
✓ Protect their time and energy without guilt or fear
✓ Navigate workplace dynamics strategically, not reactively
✓ Build careers that grow alongside their lives instead of competing with them

This work blends lived experience, medical insight into burnout, and practical career strategy designed for sustainability.

Who Defiance Academy Is For

Defiance Academy serves high-achieving women who are deeply committed to both their careers and their lives.

Our clients are doctors, lawyers, engineers, executives, founders, educators, and leaders across industries.

They're capable, driven, and done accepting burnout as the cost of ambition.

They don't want to walk away from their careers.
They want a better way to stay.

What Changes When Women Stop Coping

When women stop coping and start using strategy, everything shifts.

They stop overworking to prove their worth.
They stop carrying more than their share.
They stop shrinking to fit into environments that don't serve them.

Instead, they gain clarity, confidence, and control.
They make intentional career decisions.
They create balance that lasts.

This is what Defiance Academy is designed to support.

What Our Clients Say

"I wish I had heard this 20 years ago. It would've been a lot easier had we had this information before." - Uzma Jafri, Family Physician & Mom of 4

"I learned that you don't need permission to do what you want, you can be a leader yourself, which I found very inspiring"- Hajer, Software Engineer, Paris, France

"I immediately enrolled in Dr. Qaali's Taking UP Space Course...and let me tell you, it was the best decision I have ever made in my life." - Deqa Mohamed, Graduate student

"The ROI for this program is literally career-saving" - Zeinab Mohamed, ICU Nurse