Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitra Mostofi.
Mitra, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
After resigning from my career in the medical field, I knew I wanted to help maintain a healthy society but through a proactive approach rather than a medicinal one. My mission to study, practice and teach about the importance of self-awareness started with my first book “This Was No Coincidence.” I quickly learned that selling my book isn’t lucrative. I expanded my mission to help build kinder communities through self-awareness workshops and products for a social change.
When I was asked to speak about self-awareness at the Mensa conference, I had to incorporate the subject in their Star Trek V Final Frontier theme. The title of my talk was “The Self Awareness Starship to Cross the Great Barrier.” Later that year, I was planning to get the domain mitra.com but it was already taken. Henceforth Mitraship LLC was born; the starship taking us from hardship to friendship.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Leaving a stable career to start your own business is never a smooth road, never a linear path, and a continual struggle with uncertainty. The cliche of following your dreams should never be starting your own business because you want to work less. The greater impetus is to do what you are so passionate about that if you go a few weeks without an income, you are still motivated to follow your dream. A few weeks without an income takes a few year contingency plans. Sometimes, the contingency plan doesn’t include a hurricane or other major losses. Hurricane Harvey was a major set back because we had to cancel all of our events and product launches. My contemplative practice of self-awareness has enriched my creativity rather than reactivity to life events. So, if I’m going to teach this work, then Harvey was a great opportunity for me to do the work.
Please tell us about Mitraship.
I started as an author with a message then started the business with a mission. We organize interactive classes on self-awareness, journaling, book discussions and are planning for more involved retreats. For our conscious driven products, we focus on what the message relays and where part of the proceeds go to. We have t-shirts with the message “Why not peace” designed in Farsi, Spanish, and Vietnamese. In a divisive time where we are on the opposite spectrum of being mindful of our spoken words, it’s important to represent solutions by the clothes we wear and the products we buy. We sell baseball caps made from recycled bottles. Our biggest product sell has been from our charity coffee. The proceeds from the coffee support 1 of 5 non-profit organizations at the end of the year that the consumer votes for. This has been a social experiment showing that people want to boycott, people want their money to go to causes they stand for.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Our dad would take us on a family trip every year. We visited George Washington’s house and I can even remember what it smelled like! Before our mom passed away, she requested that our dad continues to take us on family trips. My love for traveling has since grown into an infatuation for the human race. I traveled to seven countries in Europe, Iran, and Chile by myself. Traveling by myself definitely took me out of my comfort zone of being protected and guided by our dad. When I was engaged, my fiance asked me what kind of diamond ring I would like. I genuinely replied to him that I don’t need a diamond ring and that I can get one on a loan if I really needed an expensive one. What I requested from him was to take me on a trip abroad every year. He now says that I am more valuable than a diamond ring and that it has been like buying me a diamond ring every year.
Pricing:
- This Was No Coincidence book $15
- Reflections to Enlightenment book $15
- Why not peace T-shirt in Farsi “Chera keh na” $20
- Why not peace T-shirt in Spanish “Porque no paz” $20
- Why not peace T-shirt in Vietnamese “Tai Sao Khong Hoa Binh Toan Cau” $20
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mitraship.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mitramostofi
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Mitraship
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/Mitraship
- Other: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6648070.Mitra_Mostofi
Image Credit:
Eugene Drake with We Are Drake Studio
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
