About Me

Hi, I’m Kanwal Hassan — a researcher, mentor, and artist (hobbyist, but emotionally invested). I believe in the quiet power of personal leadership, the joy of self-directed learning, and the freedom of embracing multiple interests. I just didn’t know how to bring it all together — until I stopped lying to myself that I had to either pick one thing or pursue everything at once. Turns out, there’s space in the middle.

Origins

I was born in the hot, dusty town of Southern, Pakistan, surrounded by my loving parents and three siblings. When extremist threats forced us to flee, we moved across three cities before finally landing in Lahore in 2007. With each move, Abu (a medical doctor) packed up and restarted his practice/business; Ami packed up her flower pots.

Despite the upheaval, my childhood was full of joy:

mattress fortresses
birthday parties and home-made cakes
silly hats and loud laughter

Those early years — marked by uncertainty, resilience, and quiet strength — continue to shape everything I do.

Education & Career

I was always a top position in my class and had big goals, see little 8 year old Kanwal here (the 90’s). Got this made on a trip to Iran, super cool! After my A’levels in pure sciences, I chose to study International Relations because I’d seen what happens when leadership fails — learning that fractured and polarized societies lead to lack /absence of civil liberties and so threats for religious minorities were part of that mix.

In 2014, after yet another break-in where I lost everything- gold, heirlooms, cash and trust in the local system it became clear: it was time to leave. I applied for PhD scholarship programs, and Hong Kong said yes — full funding and excellent bubble tea on campus.

At Hong Kong Baptist University, I:

served as a Teaching Assistant, mentored hundreds of Undergrad students through academic and personal hurdles
learned that mentorship, when done right, changes lives — including mine

Leadership and Role Models Matter

After graduating, I joined The Education University of Hong Kong and led my first big international research project on youth and adult perspectives on leadership. I:

mentored, trained and supervised over 30 Research Ambassadors across 11 countries
taught them interview techniques, research skills, and reflection methods
saw firsthand the quiet, life-shaping power of real-world mentors — the kind who show up, ask the right questions

I even published a paper on power of having role models it (LinkedIn has the goods).

Power of Personal Projects

My second research project was funded by the IB, it focused on the power of self-directed Personal Projects. A passion project that has clear structure, process and tangible outcome. We analyzed data from over 60,000 participants worldwide and found a clear pattern:

when passion meets structure, people grow — visibly, measurably, deeply.

Being the adventurous scientist I am, I turned the lens on myself.

The Creative Detour

I wanted to explore my creative side. So naturally going with my all-or-nothing mentality at the time I took a career break.

Also, somewhere between COVID-19 work from home, I taught myself a bunch of cool things:

digital art on the app procreate (Ipad)
graphic design (just a little bittle)
video editing (just enough to get started)But without direction and clear goals all those skills felt scattered. I chased one until another called out louder. I didn’t stick to any of it— until I returned to my research roots: strategy, structure, intention.

That’s when things started to align.

Current Project: YouTube Experiment

In 2025 I started my My YouTube channel. It became the primary site of this mixed-method experiment:

My hypothesis: If I can show people what I’m all about, the true self, I’ll build a community and eventually a business that embodies all my values and interests.

Methodology: Start making videos and don’t stop. Be yourself, and nothing but.
Scope and scale of the project: One year.
So, I started a Youtube posting sprint to collect quantitative and qualitative data.
Quantitative: Numbers, views etc.
Qualitative: Comments and conversations.
and Kapooya! It all began to fall in place.

Secret sauce? being myself, when I’m smarts and also when I’m not so smarts. Because more than anything, I’m connecting with people who care about things that I care about. People I can truly help, in my way. In taking imperfect action towards their goals. People with big ideas, who need help with small steps.

My goal: Build a community, not just a channel. Why? Connecting ideas is great. But connecting people? That’s where the magic really is.