The 10 women that inspire me

A week ago, my friend Karla asked me if I had a female mentor in the Bay Area, so she can feature us in her Cuyana Mother's day campaign.

My first reaction was one of disappointment: I do not have a female mentor or any mentor! 

However, this invite got me thinking of the many women who have mentored me knowingly or unknowingly without having to be my official mentor. Every single woman that was taking a risk, looking within, giving generously and following her passion.

In this post, I want to pay tribute to the 10 women that have pushed me, guided me, given me hope and taught me that anything is possible; and share with you why they inspire me. 

- Sorry Sheryl, you did not make the cut - 

1- Yolla Semaan - mother and entrepreneur

Born in a modest family of 9, birthing me at 16, my mother and her minimal school education, started her company in Lebanon, at 21. She survived bankruptcies, heartbreaks, wars, and continues to be a restless warrior. Today she runs a very successful company of 40+ employees and is a wonderful mother of two. 
And if I may say, her love for life and cigars lighten up every place she is at. If it were not for her drive and inspiration, I would not be anywhere close to where I am now.

2- Frida Kahlo - artist and revolutionary

If I had to choose the phrase to describe my muse, it would be her famous quote:

"I was born a bitch i was born a painter."

Despite the tremendous pain she endured through her existence, Kahlo lived her life with passion and courage. …

"one of history's grand divas…a tequila-slamming, dirty joke-telling smoker, bi-sexual that hobbled about her bohemian barrio in lavish indigenous dress and threw festive dinner parties for the likes of Leon Trotsky, poet Pablo Neruda, Nelson Rockefeller, and her on-again, off-again husband, muralist Diego Rivera."

3- Rumi - Poet and enlightened

Yes Rumi is a 13th-century Persian male poet and Sufi mystic, but in my eyes he represents the abundance and depth of the feminine divine.

Rumi's writing inspires me to start looking within, while his love story (or tragedy) with Shams, opened my eyes that it is impossible to know where your next inspiration may come from or who might aid furthering your growth.

4- Venetia Pristavec - creator and friend

I met Venetia the first day on the job at Airbnb. Little did I know that this lovely lady, is going to enrich my personal journey. It was such an inspiration to watch: her start her own project, and get more people into the habit of creating every day, embrace being single and find growth and peace in it. 

5- Simone De Beauvoir - Philosopher and feminist


Simone is the woman who ignited the fire of revolution and feminism in me and my high school friends. Author of the celebrated the Second Sex and an early feminist militant, Simone's life inspire me to rebel, make my own choices while keeping a big smile on my face.

6- Brené Brown - Research Professor and author 

I remember accidentally stumbling on her powerful TED talk, and falling for her. I used to secretly believe in the power of vulnerability, and thanks to Brené, the word on authenticity in the workplace is spreading. 

7- Margaret Thatcher - Prime Minister and leader

Whenever I start fearing that something is impossible, I picture the Iron Lady and her life from a grocer's shop in Grantham to the highest office in the land. There are many other reasons to admire her, but aside from her incredible leadership, Thatcher had a successful and loving partnership with her husband.

8- Marina Abramovic - Performance artist and luminary 

"Picasso pushed the limits of pictorial representation. Marina Abramovic does the same thing for comfort zones." Out of her confort zone, Marina pushes her body to extremes and creates art out of it. Watching Marina's performances inspire me to push the boundaries, and do what I do with heart and passion. Here is my favorite moment of her, in her Artist is Present act at the MOMA. Watch it..

9- Coco Chanel - Designer and genius

By thumbing her nose at the haute couture styles of the 19th century, Coco freed women from the clutches of corsets and bustles and created a fashion revolution that would influence every designer that came after her. Coco is the entrepreneur that Steve Jobs was in many ways: she worked really hard, did not follow the norms, and listened to her intuition to figure out what is the next revolution in fashion. And as an aspiring entrepreneur, Coco inspires me.

10- Elissa - Phoenician Princess and Founder

Our Phoenician ancestor, Princess Elissa was one of the female leaders who expanded Phoenicia (Lebanon) into the celebrated city Carthage, thanks to her wisdom and "mathematical intelligence". While her story remains a legend, Elissa and all the lebanese women, who on a daily basis refer to their wisdom to overcome our region's endless internal and external instabilities, remind me that whatever I am doing is not just for me, but for them too and the generations to come.

Share with me, which women inspire you? and why?

What about your start-up?

"Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion." Jack Welsh

New year's eve 2013 went by rather quietly, and i found myself the next day staring at a bunch of resolutions and a 2013 Jessica plan realizing how useless this all were. 

It felt the same as working long hours on creating a business plan for a start-up whilst having no vision or idea why you are doing the start-up. 

Or spending sleepless nights on a consulting deck that is eventually going to end up in the client's trash. 

And exactly like the deck, I threw my plans in trash, decided to lock myself down for a weekend and brainstorm the vision and mission for my start-up: me.

The 5-step process

"the discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen"

But first, the ingredients

Pens, colorful ones, highlighters, lots of them. A board, sticky notes, or anything you can write on. Somewhere quiet and alone. Your favorite beverage, a day with no plans and patience.

1- Brainstorm - who am I

Spend half an hour to 45 minutes, throwing down all words that define you, mean something to you, inspire you, or simply come to your mind when you think of you. Remember no judgement: one of my words was neon colors. 

Next, cluster these words into themes; mine were 5:

Innovation, inspiration, revolution, feminine power, hard work

Now that you have all of these themes out of your head, take a break, and change scenery.

2- the 3 questions - your purpose

Come back re-read your words, then ask yourself these three questions:

- What do I wish to be remembered for after I die?

- If money was not a problem, what would I find myself doing?

- What matters most to me and why?

3- Map your life - your happiness

Create a graph of how happy you are and what were the major events. 

I surprisingly found out that during the perceived happiest events, for example starting stanford business school, I was in fact miserable. 

The purpose of this step is to help you understand what brings you happiness.

4- Your learnings

27 years on this earth, i actually had never took a moment to write down what I have learned during this journey. Check out my previous blog entry on my learnings. It is an empowering feeling to have them all clarified.

5- The outcome

So what was the synthesis of all of your mind porn?

Just like a company, I came up with

A mission

A vision

Guiding Principles

I am excited to share mine with you.

Mission: Inspire and support a world of seekers

Vision: a world full of people choosing meaningful lives

Guiding Principles: forgiveness, creativity, change, self-love, passion, vulnerability, gratitude, giving, courage

What next

I pinned my mission and vision in my bedroom, to remind me every day why i wake up and want to be part of this world.

While I have not figured out my detailed life plan, I as the CEO of myself have a clear direction. I now have a why, and it helps me make decisions faster, more confidently and from a place of trust.

What's your why?

photo credit www.celestenoche.com