Who Is Zulekha Haywood? Everything About Supermodel Iman’s Daughter

Zulekha Haywood is a business analyst and magazine editor who is also the daughter of NBA champion Spencer Haywood of the Los Angeles Lakers and his ex-wife, former supermodel Imana Abdulmayd. Zulekha is often mentioned by the general public for her devotion to her famous parents.

And although Zulekha is the child of famous celebrities, she has always remained aloof from media attention. Rather, she is immersed in the corporate world. Nevertheless, her real-life daily life in the past has been quite difficult; struggling with her body weight, especially when her parents were always in the spotlight.

Also, her weight loss journey involved much more than just dieting and body image issues. Now her openness about her weight problems has become an inspiration to many. Her story ultimately includes the triumph that comes from good parenting and sometimes self-acceptance. Read on about her; what exactly was her life like as a child of a celebrity, how she overcame an eating disorder, on the marriage front, & children, among others.

Zulekha Haywood Lives In Wichita Kansas

Although Haywood was born and raised in New York City, she now lives in Wichita, Kansas. Zulekha Haywood is the only daughter of Spenser and Iman, born on July 5, 1978.

She attended Mercy High School and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Michigan State University.

Zulekha Haywood Siblings

The siblings of Zulekha, now 44, are Alexandria Zahra Jones, Duncan Jones, Isis Haywood, Shakira Haywood, and Courtney Nikki Haywood.

Although Zulekha is the only child of Spenser and Iman, the New York-born singer has several siblings from each parent’s relationship.

Zulekha has three sisters – Nicki, Isis, and Shakira Haywood – who are from different paternal relationships other than Iman. Iman’s mother from Wichita also has children of her own from other relationships. On her mother’s side, Zulekh’s half-siblings are Alexandria Zahra-Jones and Duncan Jones.

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Haywood’s Parents Iman And Spencer Were Married For 10 Years

Zulekh’s famous parents, a 6’8″ former power forward and a former Vogue model, were together from the late 1970s to the late 1980s.

Spenser married Iman in 1977 and the couple was married until 1987. When he met Iman, Spenser was a player for the Los Angeles Lakers. On the other hand, Iman was also one of the most sought-after models.

When they were together, they had only one child, and that was Zulekha. After the couple separated, Spenser and Iman engaged in a rather lengthy custody battle that lasted more than six years.

Although the actress/hostess won out between the two. After the breakup with Zulekha’s father, Iman married David Bowie, a British singer, and actor, the lead singer of Magic Dance. She was his wife until the rock star’s death in January 2016.

Who Is Zulekha Haywood’s Husband?

The daughter of an NBA champion, Zulekha has always hidden from the fame of her parents-Esque, although she has occasionally spoken about her weight loss. Having said that, not much has come out about her personal life.

However, it is quite public that Zulekha is married to her long-time boyfriend Jason Young, who is believed to be a restaurant owner, according to information on Facebook. The business analyst was born in 1978, and Young apparently got married in November 2016.

Haywood Has A Daughter With Her Husband

Zulekha and Young, who married in late 2016, are also parents to a daughter, Lavinia Rose Young, whom they welcomed in July 2017.

Both news apparently came from Instagram posts by Zulekha’s husband, Jang. The revelation was also made by both Haywood’s parents, Iman and Spenser, via their Instagram handle.

Zulekha has also had a relationship with a guy named Eric in the past. He is apparently still friends with the supermodel’s daughter.

Zulekha Has Worked At A Senior Level For Many Businesses

Unlike her parents, Zulekha Hejvuda is neither a star athlete nor a supermodel. Although she tried to become a power forward, she gave it up halfway, thinking it was not natural for her.

The New York-born girl is now more of a business analyst. Over the years, Zulekha has worked for several multinational corporations in several countries, mostly at an executive level.

She started her career working first for her mother’s company, Iman Cosmetics. Zulekha was initially Executive Assistant to the CEO in New York, a position she took up in 2002.

In 2005, she started working as an Account Manager; Hejvuda serviced all the main customers of the parent company. In 2007, Zulekha became Head of Planning and Purchasing at Iman Cosmetics, after which she gained more important contacts. As a result, the daughter of a Somali-born model forged alliances with some other major companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, HSN, and Walgreens.

In 2014, Zulekha left her parent company and in the same year, she became a project manager and brand analyst at Jay Manuel Beauty.

She worked there for two years, after which the gold medallist’s daughter moved to another company, Porto Sunberg, where she worked as a stock analyst. In this role, Zulekha oversaw the development of various client programs. In addition to her work at the company, Zulekha has also worked as a content writer and editor in the magazine and advertising departments of several companies.

On LinkedIn, Zulekha, 44, now works for Invista in Wichita, Kansas. There, she works as a purchasing, customer relations, and demand analyst.

The True Story Of Her Struggle With Obesity; Was Over 330 Pounds

Zulekha Haywood, as an overweight child, has been more or less on a diet since the age of eight. But none of that worked out, she says, as she graduated from Mercy High School.

Zulekha blames her excess weight on her former habit of snacking late in the evenings, searching the fridge and cupboards after midnight. She was almost always at risk of overeating.

Her first attempt to lose weight was the Basta diet (in Italian it means enough), supervised by her mother Iman.

Her second diet was “Eat like a pig, run like a horse”, under the supervision of her NBA legend father. She had to eat food that matched her weight and then burns it off by grinding herself on the court for hours.

To this end, the 1980 Olympic champion tried to groom his daughter Zulekha into a power forward. But it turned out that she was not a natural.

Later, Zullekha tried tennis, which helped her lose 30 kilograms, but by Christmas of that year she had gained them back, and another 20 kilograms. The daughter of a beauty icon says she never had the discipline to follow her father’s diet plan.

Haywood Felt Insecure With Her Body

Zulekha admits that she felt insecure looking at her handsome and athletic parents compared to her own image. Hejvuda, who is 175 cm tall, often thought of herself as a standout.

Zulekha, however, decided to give up her diet plans and just go with the flow. The Kansas City-based business analyst says her life was full of love, fun, and adventure after that, but health problems soon started to reappear as her body mass index reached 46 (expected between 18 and 25).

The former account manager revealed that she had developed heel spurs and swollen knees since her 330 kg weight. All this used to cause her excruciating pain when she had to get to her feet after sleeping for eight hours.

She says she did everything she could to love her super-plus body. But doctors warned her about the prevailing obesity at the time and also warned about the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

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How Zulekha Haywood Overcame Her Weight Issue? 

After Zulekha was at risk of other diseases in addition to her excess weight, she decided she could no longer continue to suffer the pain she had endured from her twenties to her thirties. She finally decided to get rid of the excess weight.

At that time, she already had osteoarthritis and high blood pressure.

The physical pain I’d endured in my twenties could not continue into my thirties. I had to lose weight.

said the occasional advertiser. Then, at the age of 28, she decided to have gastric bypass surgery; a week later, she had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

However, she soon developed complications and had to go to intensive care, where she needed a second operation. Later, the operation was eventually successful.

Despite the obstacles and health risks, Zulekha says she has found happiness in her journey from 330 kg to 168 kg.

Zulekha Haywood Other Facts 

Although Zulekha is quite active on Facebook, mainly praising her father, husband, daughter, and mother and initiating fundraising events, the customer relations specialist rarely posts on Instagram.

Quick Facts About Zulekha Haywood