The Bucket Wish

Bucketwish with Ericka Nicole Malone, featuring Karima El-Hakkaoui My guest today has built a career many people only dream about. Karima El-Hakkaoui has worked with some of the world's biggest brands, including Cosmopolitan, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, IKEA and Harrods.

Then life tested her in the hardest way, when she lost her husband to cancer. Instead of letting grief define her next chapter, Karima took everything she'd learned and turned it toward her real passion: styling.

Today she runs a thriving styling business. It's how she's living her own bucket wish, and how she helps her clients find theirs.

Karima's work goes deeper than clothes. She helps people build their identity and get clear on what they're telling the world about themselves before they say a word. In a lot of ways, she's a coach. We talk about rebuilding after loss, finding purpose in what you already know, and the power of showing up as yourself.

Life is Delicious

Your closet is not just storage, it’s a daily decision factory. When it’s packed with clothes that don’t fit, items tied to guilt, and outfits that belong to a past version of you, you pay for it with energy, confidence, and decision fatigue before breakfast. That’s why this conversation with executive personal stylist Karima El Hakkaoui lands so hard: style is not vanity, it’s identity.

Karima shares her path from creative director for major global brands to helping real humans build a visual identity that matches who they are becoming. We talk about the brutal collision of job loss and a cancer diagnosis, what grief teaches you about time, and why midlife women so often feel invisible while supporting kids, careers, and aging parents. From hair and makeup “visual cues” to what your Zoom presence communicates, we get practical about how small shifts can make you look and feel current without chasing trends.

Then we go deep on the closet edit: reducing visual noise, cutting decision fatigue, and letting go of sentimental pieces and expensive mistakes that keep you stuck. Karima explains her “North Star” style brief process with lifestyle realities, stylistic words, energetic words, and mood boards so you can stop guessing and start showing up with intention, including in dating and new beginnings.

If you’re ready to feel like yourself again, hit play, share this with a friend who needs a refresh, and subscribe and leave a review so more women can find the support they deserve.