My Moonshots
My moonshots are all the different projects and passions in my life that either give me meaning or that push me.
Thought Leadership
Over the past few years I was fortunate to be invited to speak at different events, ranging from student-organized conferences to a TEDx event in Iran. I enjoy stage performances as they give me an opportunity to share my perspectives with larger audiences. I have previously talked about personal development, innovation, and leadership. Below a selection of some of my speeches.
The Art of Re/Inventing Yourself [IdeaLab]
Disrupting the Entrepreneurial Mind [Start Summit]
Things I learned in the Valley [LOGIN]
Pursuing Art on the Side [Start Talks]
Taking Chinese Companies Global [China Accelerator Podcast]
Giving Back
I would not be where I am today, if it wasn't for the incredible people who have helped me along my journey. It is therefore very important to me to give back whenever and however possible – be it with my money, my time, or my knowledge.
Charity Water Fundraiser (2x'ed by Google)
Social work in Rwanda
Involvement with Moms Against Poverty and the Omid Foundation
Stanford GSB: fundraising ~$380K across our MBA class
Afghanistan: Fundraising ~$10K through print sales and donations for a school project, as well as ~$8K for Emergency.it
Visual Storytelling
I have always had a thing for content creation. As a teen, I produced 100+ (short) movies and documentaries. But my passion for photography really started with the advent of phone cameras. Since the iPhone5c, all my pictures have been taken on iPhones.
Featured on Apple’s #ShotoniPhone campaign
Did features and collaborations with AirBnB, Apple, Caseable, Taylor Stitch, Virgin Mobile, Welcome Stranger, Thursday Finest, Google, Instagram, etc.
ARTISTIC EXPRESSION
I love the arts. I love observing them, discussing them, and creating them. From museums to exhibitions. From dinner table conversations to philosophizing.
Co-founding MOSAIC (Closed in 2020)
Blogging on The Positude and outlets like the Adidas Blog
Hosted various photo exhibitions as a solo artist (Behind the Veil) and as part of an artist collective (Iran Unveiled)
Occasional art projects (#fromwhereomidstands, passport art, etc.)
Cultural Fluency
Well, guess I'm not the only one who likes to travel (surprise, surprise). Yet for me, traveling is just a mean to the goal of building cultural fluency – the ability to quickly and deeply empathize with people of other cultures. From learning languages to immersing in far flung places like North Korea. Living an international life is a big part of what makes me, me.
Have organized group travels to Colombia (260 pax), Italy (30 pax) and Iran (10 pax & 3pax)
Currently learning Mandarin, the 6th language I hope to speak fluently one day.
Growth
Growth – personally and professionally – is always on top of mind. From learning new skills to doing things that make me uncomfortable. I prefer to say Yes over No and one of my life's measures of how fully I live is expressed in how often I do something new for the first time.
Pursuing my MBA
Took a 3-month course in UX/UI Design at the General Assembly
Got a certification in "Professional Storytelling"
