Shabnam Mogharabi is an entertainment executive, producer, and New York Times bestselling author with 20 years of experience in mission-driven media. Today, she is founder of The Joy Brigade, a boutique storytelling studio. Prior to that, Shabnam co-founded the uplifting production company SoulPancake with actor Rainn Wilson, amassing 1B+ video views, producing dozens of TV series and specials, and winning many Emmy and Webby Awards, before a successful exit to Participant Media. She and Rainn still work together - she is Executive Director of the new company Soul Boom, based on Rainn's bestselling book of the same name, which creates playful, practical media to harness ancient spiritual wisdom for modern living.
Shabnam is also the New York Times bestselling co-author of Soul Boom: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living and SoulPancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions. She sits on the advisory boards of startups Seed & Spark and DEIA and on the board of directors of the nonprofits The Wayfarer Foundation and Tahirih Justice Center. She is a Henry Crown Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She also has a certification in positive psychology and is a highly sought-after keynote speaker on the subjects of joy, purpose, and storytelling.
Shabnam's Websites:: www.shabnamspeaks.com IG: @shabnamm LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnammogharabi/
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Key Topics & Highlights:
SoulPancake & Soul Boom: Shabnam shares her journey from traditional journalism to co‑founding SoulPancake, creating uplifting viral content with over 1 billion views, and her current work at Soul Boom, which applies ancient wisdom to modern life.
Women Can Have It All — In Seasons: A candid look at redefining work‑life balance, shifting from 70‑hour workweeks in her 20s/30s to prioritizing family and presence in her 40s.
Infertility, IVF & Later Motherhood: Her path through egg freezing, IUIs, IVF, miscarriages, and becoming a mother at 39. She speaks openly about holding gratitude for her two children while grieving the larger family she once imagined.
Emotional Duality (“The And”): How therapy helped her embrace conflicting emotions—joy in motherhood alongside grief, or relief and sorrow after ending an unhealthy relationship.
Joy vs Happiness: Happiness as fleeting and external; joy as a deeper state that integrates sadness, grief, and life’s challenges.
Positive Psychology: How practices like gratitude, growth mindset, and purpose can reshape neural pathways and shift brain chemistry.
Unlearning Victimhood & Scarcity: Growing up as a child of refugees, releasing the “power” of anger, and choosing vulnerability and connection instead.
Rejection as Protection: How losing six major executive roles after a sabbatical revealed that the universe was preserving her time with her young children.
Ethical Integrity in Media: Standing firm in her values by refusing to exploit grieving mothers for press attention—even after winning a major journalism award.
Teaching Virtues Over Checklists: Why children need curiosity, empathy, and patience more than rigid academic benchmarks.
Feelings Are Not Identity: A reminder that emotions like anger or sadness are temporary experiences—not who you are.
