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Shabnam Mogharabi      

Co-Founder of SoulPancake; Entrepreneur, Entertainment Executive & Author

Shabnam Mogharabi is an entertainment entrepreneur, author, and journalist with more than 15 years of leadership experience in media and storytelling. She is a lifelong student of positive psychology, a freelance documentary film producer, and an expert on how to create socially impactful and entertaining content. With actor Rainn Wilson, Mogharabi co-founded SoulPancake, the inspiring entertainment company behind beloved video series such as Kid President and My Last Days. Under her tenure, SoulPancake amassed 10M social media fans and nearly 1B video views on its daily positive videos about human connection.

The company eventually had a successful exit to social impact film studio Participant. It was in espousing the values of SoulPancake that she personally believes in - the importance of joy, hope, purpose, and gratitude - that Mogharabi found a calling as a public speaker. Today, she shares her uplifting, vulnerable message on how to harness the power of joy at dozens of conferences and events a year. Prior to SoulPancake, Mogharabi was an award-winning journalist and editor and one of the youngest winners of the Jesse H. Neal Aard (the Pulitzer Prize of B2B journalism). She has worked as a contributing writer, editor, and stringer for a number of publications, including People, Pool & Spa News, Sunset, and HuffPost. She is a New York Times bestselling author with SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions. Mogharabi is a Henry Crown Fellow and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is on the advisory board of Seed & Spark; an industry advisor for USC’s Digital Media program, and on the board of directors for of the national nonprofit Tahirih Justice Center.

Mogharabi received her B.A. in journalism and business administration from the University of Southern California and her Master’s in media from Northwestern University. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Speech Topics

How to Harness the Power of Joy

We are more distracted, lonelier, and anxious than ever in history. And the past few years has only exacerbated this mental health crisis. In today’s world, embracing the power of joy is an act of rebellion. In this insightful, interactive session, entertainment entrepreneur and storyteller Shabnam Mogharabi will share practical tips and easy-to-implement learnings from her work creating uplifting and inspiring video content about what it takes to truly bring more joy into your life both personally and professionally. Shabnam believes that joy is more than an emotion; it’s a propelling and powerful force for good. And in this keynote, she will show attendees how to harness the power of positive psychology to shift their perspective away from toxic positivity to a meaningful mindset change.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand why joy is a state of mind, not an emotion
  • Discover a matrix of tools to help you create a more psychologically positive response to events in your life
  • Learn methods for practicing gratitude and vulnerability in your day-to-day interactions and relationships
  • Gain specific insights and inspiration to overcome the hardwired “anxious” voice in our brains

Know Your Why, Know Yourself

Every day we are bombarded with messages that a life without purpose is a life without direction and meaning. Companies are being urged to stand for something in order to survive. The pressure is on - personally and professionally. It seems that knowing your purpose unlocks your superpower. But what if you don’t know what that purpose is… or how best to find it? In this personal development session, entrepreneur Shabnam Mogharabi pulls back the curtain on the purpose myth to reframe what it means to know yourself. By pulling lessons from her own experience and her time leading a purpose-driven entertainment studio, SoulPancake, Shabnam will help audience members figure out their personal “why” and develop a personal plan to fulfillment by investing in our basic human need to be of use.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Discover how the world’s best leaders think about their personal purpose
  • Learn how to unlink your “why” from the “what” that you do every day
  • Understand and engage in a helpful framework for defining your own personal purpose
  • Engage in a strategy around being more “useful” as a path to fulfilling your purpose

Storytelling for Good

A society is influenced by and reflected in its stories. As the world becomes more “woke,” individuals and companies are struggling to have their work lineup with their social purpose. This keynote helps illuminate why storytelling has a more important role to play in your company, meetings, culture, and personal life. Entertainment entrepreneur and producer Shabnam Mogharabi will offer insights into why and how to use the art of storytelling for good - to create community, meaning, and social change. Citing real-world examples and case studies, showcasing videos, and engaging in interactive exercises, she will give attendees the tools they need to change how they communicate and connect with their audiences.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Discover storytelling tips and tricks that will help you become a better communicator
  • Understand how to work with the right artists and partners to get the outcomes you want
  • Learn when and where storytelling is most effective at creating change and impact
  • Gain the inspiration you need to start becoming a storyteller for good

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