Iman Oubou, Former Miss New York USA and Entrepreneur: Providing Support To Underrepresented Female Voices – Episode 274

Today, I can not wait to introduce you to Iman Oubou, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, published scientist, and former beauty queen (Miss New York US 2015 and 2nd Runner Up at the 2015 Miss United States pageant). Through her diverse experiences in business, pageantry, and STEM, Iman has noticed gender inequalities in the workforce and a pervasive bias in how women are portrayed in print and digital media. This inspired her to found SWAAY in 2017 as a media-tech platform that provides content creation support and editorial tools to underrepresented voices and thought leaders. Oubou recently launched her new book THE GLASS LEDGE, which offers a disruptive guide to help women explore and resolve self-sabotaging beliefs that rob them of realizing their true potential.  In This Episode: Iman discusses her new book, The Glass Ledge, and how she found the right inspiration for it. Her reflections and revelations during the writing process She opens up about her struggles with depression and what helped her breakthrough  Her passion for elevating the voices of women who are creating change through storytelling. The motivation for starting her podcast, Women Who SWAAY, and the types of women guests she interviews  The story behind the creation of SWAAY Media How women subconsciously create self-imposed obstacles to achieving their goals She talks about why she changed her mindset from practical to spiritual. The critical role of influencing your own story vs. changing the world Why beauty and brains are not mutually exclusive The importance of being grateful for what you have Iman Oubou is a Moroccan American self-made entrepreneur, former beauty queen, and published scientist on a mission to change the women’s media landscape. Through her diverse experience with business, pageantry, and STEM, Iman noticed gender disparities in the workforce and an omnipresent bias across print and digital media. She founded SWAAY, an all-in-one publishing platform for women, to champion the voices of female change-makers through the power of storytelling. Learn more at swaay.com. “The glass ledge, unlike the glass ceiling, refers to self-imposed barriers that many women impose on themselves.” ~Iman Oubou To learn more about Iman and her work you can visit her website, or connect with her on LinkedIn or Instagram. Let’s Meet Iman Oubou. Iman Oubou Show Notes