About Beyond Cubicles
📢 #BeyondCubicles is a weekly LinkedIn series created by Carolina D’Souza, born out of her own experience transitioning from a corporate career to independent consulting. Since its launch in June 2024, the series has evolved into a platform that showcases the inspiring journeys of several founders who have redefined the traditional 9-to-5.
Through authentic narratives, #BeyondCubicles highlights themes of courage, resilience, and purpose. The stories feature individuals from diverse industries—ranging from tech and education to wellness and adventure—who share their experiences of stepping away from conventional roles to pursue passion-driven careers.Â
✨ Note: All features in this series are unpaid and shared as a way to honor and amplify real stories of transformation.
"It hit me: this was my wake-up call."
Seven years ago, Samira Alloui moved to France to start a new life with her husband. In early 2020, she gave birth to their first child, a boy. Six weeks later, COVID shut down the country’s borders.
“I was trapped in the lockdown, thousands of miles away from my family,” she says.
Due to travel bans, she remained isolated, unable to return to Algeria or find work.
Her newborn suffered from severe reflux, and sleepless nights became routine. “I was a first-time mum, completely lost, terrified of failing especially knowing his genetic risk for Type 1 diabetes,” she says.
As a pharmacist and biotech scientist, she turned to scientific research and courses. “I buried myself in anything that could help me understand what was happening to my son and how to prevent him from getting sick in the first place.”
The emotional toll was immense. “My partner struggled to support me emotionally, and parenting in a tiny apartment during endless lockdowns nearly broke me.” Postpartum depression lingered, and without support, she felt trapped.
By 2021, as borders eased, she moved to Dubai, intending to take a break but soon looked for a job to “reclaim a part of myself”. Though she returned to work, something was missing. “I was not looking for just a paycheck—I was looking for meaning.”
Eighteen months later, Samira was made redundant. “It hit me: this was my wake-up call,” she says.
Instead of despair, she found purpose. Combining her medical expertise with experience, she launched Mampedia, a science-backed motherhood and babyhood app for sleep, nutrition, and postpartum healing.
She created The Mummy Club, a support community inspired by her struggles—loneliness and the exhaustion of taking care of a newborn without the support of family, friends, or colleagues.
She also developed a personalized coaching program to help mothers heal using longevity tools. “I help mothers overcome self-doubt and depression, and live healthier, more purposeful lives.”
Now in the early stages of business growth, she is refining and expanding Mampedia with AI tools.
To mothers who feel lost, she offers a message of resilience: “No pain is permanent. Whenever something bad happens, it’s a stepping stone to something greater… pain happens for a reason, and one of those reasons is to push you to change your path.”