A visionary leader in the field of mental health care, Fatima Zaman is dedicated to transforming lives through compassionate, holistic, and innovative approaches. As the CEO of Serenity UK Care, she has redefined mental health support by advocating for non-institutional, therapeutic models that empower individuals to lead fulfilling lives.
With a deep passion for mental well-being, Fatima has consistently challenged traditional frameworks, prioritizing engagement, resilience, and quality of life for those under her care. Her leadership is rooted in a commitment to fostering an environment where both clients and professionals thrive—ensuring that mental health support is not just a service, but a mission driven by empathy and excellence.
Beyond her professional achievements, Fatima is a firm believer in empowering teams and cultivating strong leadership. She recognizes that true success comes from collaboration and shared purpose. Her work continues to inspire those in the industry, setting a new standard for compassionate and effective mental health care.
Leader in Mental Health Care
Born into a family with a proud legacy of service, Fatima Zaman was deeply influenced by the dedication of her maternal grandfather, a Colonel in the Royal British Army before the partition of Pakistan, and her father, a retired Major in the Pakistan Army. As the second of six children, she shares a close bond with her mother, who instilled in her the values of resilience, unity, and service.
In the early 1990s, Fatima’s family relocated from Karachi to the UK, carrying these core principles with them. These values shaped her path, leading her to a career in social care. After graduating from Goldsmiths College, she began as a volunteer and has since dedicated 25 years to recovery and rehabilitation for adults with mental illness. Today, she leads a group of care homes committed to compassionate, recovery-focused care.
Fatima’s contributions to mental health care have been widely recognized. In 2018, King’s College London honored her work in recovery and rehabilitation. She was Highly Commended for the Women of the Future Awards in 2021 and named Humanitarian of the Year at the 2024 Pakistan Achievement Awards.
That same year, she was featured in the British Pakistani POWER 100 list and received the Bharat Bhagya Mahatma Gandhi Award for Entrepreneurship and Social Activism. In 2025, she was recognized as a Top 100 Influential People Winner and received the Outstanding Leaders Award at the World Leaders’ Summit International Conference at the University of Oxford in March 2025.
Beyond her professional achievements, Fatima is deeply committed to community service. She advocates for social justice and education as an Ambassador for the Pakistan Alliance for Girls Education and as a Councillor in Croydon. She is also actively involved with the Conservative Muslim Forum and Conservative Friends of Pakistan and collaborates with the British Asian Trust on mental health initiatives in Pakistan.
Fatima’s entrepreneurial journey began with a realization: conventional mental health care often fails to address the full spectrum of an individual’s needs. Driven by a belief in a more compassionate, empowering, and transformative approach, she and her family took a bold step—converting their home into a nurturing care facility that prioritized empathy, recovery, and hope.
From the outset, her mission was clear: to create spaces where care extended beyond clinical treatment, embracing the whole person—body, mind, and spirit. This vision laid the foundation for what would become a network of five care homes, all dedicated to recovery-focused, trauma-informed support.
Recognizing that many residents arrive burdened by trauma, distress, and hopelessness, Fatima challenges the traditional reliance on medication as the sole solution. Instead, she advocates for a holistic approach that prioritizes confidence-building, emotional support, and personalized recovery strategies. While initially met with skepticism, her methods gained validation from forward-thinking clinicians, including Dr. Phil Steadman from Oxleas NHS, who remarked:
“From the start, Fatima’s approach stood out. Her emphasis on confidence-building and biopsychosocial care was unlike anything I had seen before. Her passion for holistic well-being is truly inspiring.”
As demand for her services grew, Fatima expanded her impact, establishing additional facilities to ensure more individuals could benefit from her approach. Each new home represents more than just business growth—it stands as a testament to her unwavering commitment to meaningful change in mental health care. Through integrity, justice, and compassion, Fatima Zaman continues to empower individuals, challenge outdated care models, and drive lasting change in mental health and social care.
Balancing Motherhood and Entrepreneurship with Purpose
Balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood are undoubtedly challenging, yet Fatima Zaman has mastered the art of thriving in both roles. As a mother of two and a business owner, she understands the importance of effective time management, prioritization, and self-care to maintain harmony between personal and professional life.
One key pillar of her success is prioritization. Recognizing that it is impossible to do everything at once, she focuses on what truly matters each day—whether making critical business decisions, spending quality time with her children, or practicing self-care. By fully dedicating herself to these priorities, she ensures meaningful progress in all aspects of life.
Fatima also emphasizes the importance of setting clear boundaries between work and family time. Open communication with her team and husband allows for aligned expectations, creating stability for both her business and home life.
Another essential factor in her journey is building a strong support system. She firmly believes that success is never achieved alone and surrounds herself with trusted individuals, including family, close friends, and a competent business team. Delegation plays a crucial role in her strategy—whether in business or at home. By entrusting capable professionals with responsibilities and involving her children in age-appropriate tasks, she reduces her workload while fostering independence and growth.
Fatima also embraces flexibility and self-compassion, understanding that not every day will go as planned. Rather than striving for perfection, she focuses on doing what truly matters well. This mindset has allowed her to navigate challenges with resilience while maintaining a sense of fulfilment.
Above all, self-care remains a non-negotiable priority. She firmly believes that a well-rested, healthy, and happy mother and entrepreneur is far more effective than an overworked one. By maintaining physical and mental well-being, she ensures that she can show up as her best self for both her family and her business.
A Passion for Business and Innovation
Beyond balancing motherhood, Fatima’s entrepreneurial spirit is fueled by her deep passion for innovation, problem-solving, and creating meaningful impact. She thrives on identifying gaps in the market and developing solutions that add long-term value to people’s lives, particularly in health and social care.
For her, business is not merely about profit—it is about purpose, resilience, and sustainable growth. Whether it’s improving mental health care, enhancing service delivery, or leading teams toward a shared vision, she embraces both the challenges and opportunities that come with entrepreneurship.
Fatima possesses a strong appetite for risk-taking, strategic thinking, and continuous learning. She views obstacles as opportunities to innovate, constantly refining her approach to remain at the forefront of her industry. Her entrepreneurial journey has instilled in her the values of adaptability, perseverance, and a forward-thinking mindset—qualities that fuel her drive to expand, diversify, and create lasting impact.
Ultimately, her business acumen is deeply rooted in excellence, ethical leadership, and a commitment to making a difference. Always eager to explore new ventures and scale existing ones, she remains dedicated to contributing to industries that align with her passion for growth, transformation, and meaningful change.
Transforming Mental Health Care
Fatima Zaman’s passion is deeply rooted in her commitment to revolutionizing mental health care through a non-institutional and therapeutic approach. She believes that true recovery extends beyond clinical treatment—it requires an environment of compassion, empowerment, and personal connection, where individuals feel seen, heard, and valued.
Her driving force is the desire to challenge traditional mental health models that focus primarily on symptom management. Instead, she advocates for holistic, trauma-informed care, creating spaces where individuals can rebuild confidence, rediscover their strengths, and regain their sense of purpose. Witnessing the transformational impact of personalized, human-centered approaches fuels her unwavering dedication to this mission.
Fatima draws inspiration from the resilience of those facing mental health challenges and the opportunity to develop innovative solutions that help them thrive. For her, mental health care is not just about treatment—it’s about fostering hope, breaking stigmas, and redefining recovery. Every individual deserves a supportive, therapeutic environment that empowers them to heal, and she remains devoted to making this vision a reality.
Innovation in the Face of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the mental health sector, exacerbating anxiety, isolation, and uncertainty for many. However, instead of allowing these challenges to disrupt her mission, Fatima and her team adapted, reinforcing their commitment to holistic, non-institutional, and therapeutic care.
The pandemic also strengthened her team’s unity and resilience. Staff displayed exceptional dedication, and by prioritizing well-being and open communication, Fatima ensured that motivation and morale remained high. This, in turn, had a direct impact on the quality of care provided to residents.
Rather than seeing the crisis as a setback, Fatima viewed it as an opportunity—a moment to reinforce core values of compassion, innovation, and adaptability. By maintaining a therapeutic, person-centered approach and fostering a strong team spirit, she and her organization emerged stronger than ever from the pandemic with a renewed understanding of the importance of holistic mental health care in times of global uncertainty.
A Visionary Leader in Mental Health Care
One of Fatima Zaman’s greatest strengths is her visionary approach to mental health care. She has consistently challenged traditional institutional models, advocating instead for holistic, therapeutic, and person-centred care. This perspective has allowed her to create transformative environments that genuinely support recovery and well-being.
Her resilience and adaptability have also been instrumental in her success. The mental health sector, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, demanded quick thinking and innovative solutions. Rather than being discouraged by challenges, Fatima embraced change, implementing creative initiatives such as exercise bikes for physical well-being, a piano for therapeutic engagement, and outdoor walks to maintain emotional balance.
In addition, team leadership and emotional intelligence have played a crucial role in her impact. She values her team, fostering a culture of support, open communication, and shared purpose. This strong foundation ensured that, even during the most challenging times, her organization remained united and committed to delivering the highest standard of care.
Challenges and Growth
One challenge Fatima has faced is the tendency to take on too much personally. Her passion for mental health care often leads her to immerse herself deeply in every aspect of her work, sometimes making it difficult to delegate. However, she has learned that empowering her team and trusting them with responsibilities not only benefits her but also helps her staff grow and contribute more effectively.
Another challenge has been the emotional weight of her work. Caring deeply about the well-being of others can make it difficult to separate personal emotions from professional responsibilities. Over time, she has recognized the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, and ensuring she receives support when needed. This realization has strengthened her belief that mental health care providers must also prioritize their own well-being to sustainably help others.
By embracing her strengths and learning from challenges, Fatima has continued to grow as a leader and advocate for transformative mental health care. Her journey inspires others, demonstrating the power of blending passion with practicality, resilience with self-care, and innovation with compassion.
Lessons in Leadership
For Fatima, leadership is not just about holding a position of authority—it is about vision, resilience, and the ability to inspire and uplift others. Based on her experience, she shares key lessons for those aspiring to lead in their respective fields:
True leadership stems from a deep commitment to a cause. Fatima has always challenged traditional mental health care models, advocating for holistic, therapeutic, and non-institutional approaches. She believes that in any industry, identifying a core mission and allowing it to guide every decision is essential.
A leader is only as strong as the team they build. Surrounding oneself with passionate, skilled individuals and trusting them to excel in their roles is crucial. Leadership is not about controlling every detail but about delegating, mentoring, and fostering collaboration.
Adaptability defines leadership. Obstacles are inevitable, but the ability to pivot and find solutions is what sets great leaders apart. During the pandemic, Fatima reimagined mental health care delivery, introducing exercise bikes, therapeutic music, and outdoor activities to maintain residents’ well-being. She views every challenge as an opportunity for innovation and growth.
Empathy and emotional intelligence are key. Whether working with service users, staff, or stakeholders, listening, understanding, and being compassionate help build trust and create a positive, supportive environment.
Leadership is a continuous journey. Fatima believes in staying open to new ideas, seeking mentorship, and investing in personal growth. The best leaders are those who can learn from failures, evolve, and adapt to changing landscapes.
Self-care is essential. Leading can be demanding, but burnout benefits no one. Fatima emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries, practicing self-care, and recognizing that strong leadership requires personal well-being.
Ultimately, Fatima Zaman’s leadership philosophy centers on creating impact, inspiring change, and leaving things better than she found them. She believes that by leading with integrity, vision, and heart, success will naturally follow.
