Meet Shabnam
Media Executive. Entrepreneur. Storyteller. Bestselling Author. Purveyor of Joy.
Shabnam Mogharabi is an accomplished entertainment executive and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience leading media companies in strategy, growth, culture, and content. She is also a lifelong student of positive psychology.
With actor Rainn Wilson, Shabnam co-founded the inspiring, mission-driven studio SoulPancake, which she ran as CEO for nearly a decade before a successful exit to film studio Participant. Under her leadership, SoulPancake amassed 1B+ video views, claimed 12M+ social media fans, and produced 50+ hours of award-winning television.
It was in espousing the values of SoulPancake - the importance of joy, hope, purpose, and gratitude - that Shabnam found a calling as a public speaker. Today, while she professionally advises early-stage media and entertainment companies on their strategy, she finds personal fulfillment by sharing her uplifting, vulnerable message on how to harness the power of joy at dozens of conferences and events a year.
Prior to SoulPancake, Shabnam was an award-winning journalist and editor and one of the youngest winners of the Jesse H. Neal Award (the Pulitzer Prize of B2B journalism).
Prior to SoulPancake, Shabnam was an award-winning journalist and editor and one of the youngest winners of the Jesse H. Neal Award (the Pulitzer Prize of B2B journalism). She has worked as a contributing writer, editor, and stringer for a number of national publications and is a New York Times bestselling author with SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions.
Shabnam is a Henry Crown Fellow and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is on the advisory boards of children's media company Tiny Souls, the film crowdfunding startup Seed&Spark, and inclusive swimwear brand Sunset Vibes; an industry advisor for USC’s Digital Media program; and on the board of directors for the national nonprofits Tahirih Justice Center and Girl Rising.
Shabnam 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 their two precocious little ones.