Entrepreneurship isn’t just about business—it’s personal. Hello Chaos host Jennifer "JJ" Sutton gets real with Razan Talebian and Lamia Tabassum, the powerhouse duo behind InPower. This game-changing social platform is all about fostering empathy, personal growth, and real, unfiltered connections. Razan and Lamia open up about their raw entrepreneurial journey—from overcoming self-doubt and past trauma to navigating the ever-evolving co-founder dynamic. They dive into the messy realities of startup life, the importance of mental health, and how they built a purpose-driven movement from the ground up. If you're an entrepreneur searching for meaning, resilience, and community, this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways:
🚀 The Power of Co-Founders
A strong co-founder relationship is built on trust, communication, and mutual support. Razan and Lamia share how they navigated evolving roles and responsibilities while staying aligned with their vision.
🧠 Mental Health & Entrepreneurship
Founders often face self-doubt, burnout, and emotional challenges. They discuss how prioritizing mental health and creating a supportive environment has been crucial to their success.
🔥 Bootstrapping with Passion
Growing a startup with limited resources requires resilience, creativity, and unwavering belief in the mission. The duo shares insights on overcoming financial struggles and rallying a dedicated team.
Timestamps:
01:29 Meet Razan Talebian & Lamia Tabassum, co-founders of InPower
04:18 The personal stories that shaped InPower’s mission
10:38 The co-founder dynamic: communication, trust, and evolving roles
17:26 Mental health and the challenges of balancing entrepreneurship with life
26:20 Overcoming setbacks and rebuilding after betrayal
37:21 The importance of finding the right team and community support
43:19 What’s next for InPower? Manifesting success in the coming year
47:13 One word to describe their journey—reflection & empowerment
55:01 How to connect with InPower and get involved
🔗 Learn more about Razan, Lamia and InPower:
Website: https://www.weareinpower.com/
Razan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razantalebian?originalSubdomain=ca
Lamia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabassum-lamia-8603b2237/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareinpower_/
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:01.222)
All right, welcome to Hello Chaos, a weekly podcast exploring the messy and chaotic minds and lives of founders, entrepreneurs and innovators. Each week I get the privilege to speak with founders across the spectrum, founders from different industries at various stages, from startups to mature businesses of all shapes and sizes. Our listeners hear the raw, the real, the unvarnished stories and viewpoints, getting incredible insights on what it takes to start and scale a business.
and become a better founder, a better CEO, a better business leader. Today, we have two guests, co-founder and founder of InPower. have, and I'm like, I hope I don't butcher this, but you're gonna just have to like correct me if I do it. You've coached me enough. It's Razan Talebian and Lamia Tabassum. Tabassum. Did I say that better?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (00:46.861)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (00:51.018)
Exactly.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (00:56.138)
Yes, absolutely. We're Have a so.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:00.4)
Perfect. I'm so excited. Okay, yay. Chandler's like, yay. Okay, and InPower is a revolutionary social platform dedicated to fostering empathy, personal growth, and authentic connections online. So you guys welcome, welcome to the chaos that it is. Welcome to our podcast. Well, you guys, you got, I'm, I'm.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (01:19.542)
Yes, it has been.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (01:20.044)
Thank you.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (01:24.078)
Thank you so
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:26.82)
So excited to hear your story, especially the co-founder partnership, how you found each other, how you founded InPower. So just start us and whoever wants to start. What inspired you to start InPower?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (01:44.182)
Yeah, so I remember it so vividly. I was in the forest just hanging out with one or two friends who actually liked me because when I'm in high school, I didn't get a lot of people who really wanted to be around me and I didn't really understand why. And as an adult, I'm realizing now it was my undiagnosed ADHD. I was a little rebel. Maybe I was really loud, obnoxious and I didn't...
connect with people as much as I wish I would have because I did get bullied a lot and I was an easy target I guess because of all the things I just mentioned. And I was kind of pitying myself a little bit saying why don't I have a lot of friends? If they had known what I'm going through would they have been nicer to me? Like if I had sat down and be like hey I'm going through depression my my household is toxic
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:28.187)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (02:33.002)
and I'm looking for a way to vent out. Maybe that's why you see me acting this way. I didn't know I had ADHD, but I knew there was something weird going on in my brain. I don't want to say ADHD is weird, but I knew there was something different going on in my brain. And that's when a revolution came in my mind. said, what if I created a safe space that you can join and we can talk about our stories? And the only rule is ask, show, inspire, but no judgment.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:43.598)
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (03:01.144)
That's how I was born. It started so small. No judgment. That's the only role that we had. And it just kept growing and growing and growing. And people at the time, it was just for women, actually. Some people in the community were transitioning, non-binary, transgender. So as a community, we asked and we made a poll, are we doing this? Are we reaching out to a bigger audience? And of course we are. And we opened up to more.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:01.221)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:14.147)
Okay.
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:27.044)
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (03:30.26)
we were just kind of analyzing what are the problems going on with social media because we're having a safe space but there were still problems happening. There's still conflict, there are still people being mean to each other and the admins of those groups, they were putting so much emotional labor into educating in certain topics.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:39.45)
Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:51.652)
Right. Well, I'm becoming a moderator of those. Yeah, it becomes like a whole, it's a job and a career. And these people aren't, most of it is volunteer.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (04:01.108)
Exactly, most most. So we're trying to analyze where did we go wrong? You know, we're creating a safe space, but there's still issues. And as a community, we understood it was misinformation and unhealthy communication styles. So as we went deeper, we understand where did these come from? Well, starting with the unhealthy communication styles from our childhood.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:18.309)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (04:27.34)
Because when I'm reflecting on the way I talk, I realize why was I growing up doing this and that and being aggressive, being loud when I talk, because that's the household I grew up in. So the more I started understanding about myself, the more I was able to get other people to understand where they were coming from, maybe from their childhood. And that's how InPower started getting bigger, because we realized we needed some representatives and experts to guide people to understand the impact of their childhood.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:37.349)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (04:57.334)
and how it creates us to who we are today in our experiences. And it goes so much more than that too. It's culture, it's biases, it's social media impacting. We're young kids, we're looking on social media. They're portraying, I'm Arab, Arab people as bombers. They're portraying black people as stealers. As a young kid, we're so impressionable to that stuff.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:14.416)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:18.362)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (05:19.01)
Psychologically, unconsciously, we are going to start thinking that and that's what we do on InPower. We don't want to make anyone feel like they're judged for feeling that way. We want to educate why we're feeling that way. Why do we think that? So the journey began as we realized we want to make an app. Let's get off Facebook, all the guidelines there. Let's go get some experts. Let's learn social and emotional intelligence. And instead of the admins putting so much emotional labor into educating other members.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:30.062)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (05:48.822)
We create those educational modules so the members don't ever have to do that again. The hours they put in these people, just commenting hours and days, just trying to get through to somebody, that hurts when someone's not ready to listen. So we cut that out as well. And La Mia.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (05:51.694)
Thank
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:57.85)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:04.72)
That's, yeah, I was like, well, so how does Lamia come in? where?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (06:08.398)
Okay, so I like to just talk about it. I have been hearing. So I started out at InPower as an intern. So it was a ripen project. So I was just an intern helping her out with something. So, you know, if I have to talk from my personal experience from a very young age, I had been bullied because of the certain ways I used to look because I'm from Bangladesh, by the way.
So this is not the beauty standard of Bangladesh. So I was always judged for my skin tone, for the way I look, for this creased face and whatnot, masculine and everything. So from a very young age, when all these things are piling up, so there were so many things I had to do. I had to overcompensate all my life. I had to do really best in everything. I had to be the best in singing, dancing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:01.776)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (07:07.116)
Of course academics. And then something happened in my life at a very early stage. I was being abused. So everything changed my entire, I don't want to go deeper on this because maybe I'm not ready to talk about it now. So at a very young age, I become a single mother also. So everything shifted and it's a very conservative, you know, Muslim country where you are not looked.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:08.998)
Alright.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:22.778)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (07:36.054)
really rightly when you are a single mother at a very young age and abused and whatnot. The family turned against you, the entire society and whatnot. So I was looking for validation and everything. But I, yes, I was looking for people to just tell me that I am acceptable. Acceptable. You know what this, this is, this validation was so important at that moment. I used to actually, you know, I used to hide everything about myself, my
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:39.238)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:47.783)
You were looking for a community. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:54.789)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (08:05.806)
traumatic journey that I was being abused because people had always questioned me that okay, why did you go there? That's why it happened and Then okay. Why did you have the baby? Okay, I don't have to explain everything to you There were like medical conditions applied and so many things but yeah And in this society people are very nosy about each other's life after that. I focused on my studies and I Got this internship
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:13.03)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:21.798)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (08:34.89)
and empower and I was working and in power when I joined like Rizam said that everyone she was creating something a community where everyone one can feel that they belong and they everyone can feel that they are not judged for a certain you know experience they have and whatnot yeah of course so that's where I started putting more into it
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:49.968)
Right. Stereotype, yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (08:58.89)
I started talking about, know what, Rezan, we should do this as well, that as well, just thinking out of the box. she also one is like, you know what, you should join. She actually offered me a job. She would like.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (09:10.176)
Okay, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
She created the role for herself. I didn't have to offer it. She created, she was the co-founder from the day she started. She gave all the ideas, she did all the work, she went out of the way and she would always ask me, am I overstepping? Of course, this is my baby. I'm a little nervous and I'm like, you know what? No, like this is amazing actually. She is a co-founder. She created the role for herself and she just ran with it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:18.214)
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (09:22.114)
That's very generous.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:41.029)
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (09:44.204)
there was no stopping her, she made it hers. So that's why she became the co-founder.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:47.013)
turn.
Well, it's interesting that you said that, because it's such a powerful statement that you recognize the passion. mean, we dream of that as business owners and as founders to have employees or people on the team that believe in your product, your service equally as you. We always tell people, in business coaching, you'll hear,
Nobody's gonna love what you do more than you. So don't expect anybody else on the team. So the fact that you recognize that, not only just, you were humble enough to go come and join and be in this seat. So that is amazing and incredible that, and it's a gift that you did, you know?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (10:32.108)
Not only that, yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (10:38.2)
She's the angel.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (10:38.58)
not only that, know what, she just put me in a position where we are equal. She has never seen me as an employee, co-founder means, you know what, we are raising the baby together. We always say that, you know what, we are in this professional. Yeah, we're preparing for that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:49.541)
Right.
We're co-parenting. We're co-dependent on this.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (10:53.354)
Now, the was still, we'll talk into this, the chaos. I was still holding onto being the founder. I wasn't even realizing I was, you know? And she was able to speak up near like closer after a few months and say, I need to be able to do things on my own and you don't have to check it. And that was like, okay, that's true. You know, I trust you, you work with me. I don't have to check all the work you're doing, go for it. And my gosh, the blossom that came out of her.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:58.106)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:03.791)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:13.115)
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (11:23.554)
Like from that, she was already doing such a good job, but once like the connection was gone, like without me always looking at her work. And we've worked with over 25 universities and that's when Lamia's took out more than anyone. You said nobody will love your product or business more than you. You know what? We see the excitement of every student when we have meetings, but they need a lot of support, which we'll provide of course. But.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:29.935)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:33.827)
wow.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (11:51.404)
there's a difference between an entrepreneur and an employee.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:54.618)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And essentially, you know, as you guys are diving into what inspired Empowered for you to start, you know, I always ask, is there a moment from your past that shaped who you are today and what is it? But it seems like your past is what the entire premise for why InPower is here. It's to accept your past.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (12:19.052)
Yeah. Yeah. It is.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (12:19.948)
Mm-hmm.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (12:24.898)
Yeah, that's something I work with every day. on.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (12:25.248)
Yeah, think with, yeah, no, I'm just saying that we actually discuss a lot about trauma, depression, because both of us are dealing with, even yesterday, I was breaking down, yet we had to do the four meetings and everything. So we go through that phase on and off, but we really need to get by. This is our priority. I always tell her that in power, you know, it drives me to even get by this.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:25.573)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:44.111)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (12:54.776)
day or everything. It's actually midnight here. It's 2.30 a.m. in Bangladesh. I'm not even tired. This is what I love. Thank you. Yeah, I mean...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:00.57)
I guess.
Yeah, you look amazing for 2.30 a.m. Like it is three o'clock in the afternoon here and I look like death.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (13:15.392)
No, when it comes to in power, we are all filled up and we are ready to jump for the war and everything. But I think
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (13:23.416)
But there's a back and forth too, like our mental health affects a lot. And I don't know what it is, like I guess working from home, you have more time to cry and more, you're not in an office where people are.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:27.835)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (13:28.054)
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:35.181)
Well, because nobody's there to like look easy and go into your corner like what am I doing? okay, so I'm gonna ask you what are those moments? What has made you cry? Is it just because you're going through and process things are coming out from your past and you're getting it or is it oh my god it sucks to be a business owner what the hell have I done?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (13:55.32)
We love the journey. It's just more like personal. Personal things like marriage sometimes, know, things with friends, family. we've, Lamy and I have spent a lot of our workday crying together. And happy tears, sad tears. And we're trying to cope because we're both going through depression. And it doesn't look like that, but we're a high functioning depression and anxiety, trauma. And so I was just getting started with saying,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:59.375)
Okay.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (14:09.806)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:11.963)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:16.656)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (14:21.666)
For me?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (14:23.754)
we have tried to manage it, this relationship, with both of our depression. And now we're doing check-ins. Like, before we started our workday, our culture is, let's check in, let's talk about what's going on. And again, my ADHD, I was not on a medication in the beginning. I didn't realize the impact it was, you know? And it's hard for Lamyann, we'll get into that. But I was so overwhelmed that I was not showing up as a friend first to her.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:26.245)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (14:52.48)
I was like, we have to talk about work. I'm so overwhelmed. Let's talk about what's going on after, because I was overstimulated and over focused on work. Now, like I'm on ADHD medication, I can take a step back and actually realize my tasks. Okay, I can finish those. Let's take 30 minutes and talk about things. It's not just about that. There's a lot more about my ADHD.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:02.564)
Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:11.558)
Yeah. I'm sure. So Lamia, did you come in and like help bring some structure to go, okay, this is how we're gonna organize this meeting or? Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (15:14.808)
But here is another thing. Yeah, go ahead.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (15:24.504)
Okay, so with.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (15:24.536)
She's the COO. She's the operations.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (15:27.918)
Yeah. So here are a few things, for instance, like you said, that the moments for her and for me, it's personal. Also being an entrepreneur where you, you know what? Entrepreneurship, it cannot be taught. So everything that we are doing, we are not tech experts, but we are building a platform that is related to tech, right? We need to learn everything. She's the one who has done the UI UX, the calf of it. So she has, she is really getting great with that. So I'm more with the writing stuff. I'm more with
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:44.901)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (15:56.558)
these, know, COO always comes with this strict face. I was just telling her that, you know what, I'm going to just fire everyone and do that. saying, not going to do that. But yeah. So what is that, that the challenge that I face? Usually sometimes I feel that maybe I'm not doing enough. Maybe it is she is, she is overly, you know, into it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:01.712)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:15.046)
All right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (16:20.042)
So like she said that she's overly focused and sometimes I'm like I'm delaying few of the things because I know that okay it can be done maybe a day later or something but when sometimes even when she asks a few things the way the tone and everything because we are working remotely right so of course but I mean thankfully we never had a like that kind of a thing she acknowledges and she sits and asks that you know what tell me
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:39.152)
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (16:50.136)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:50.213)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (16:50.42)
Is there anything that I need to work on? Like a marriage? Yeah. We reflect on each other's behavior. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (16:52.792)
We do an assessment like every week. I'm like, more can I work on? It's marriage.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:58.822)
Yeah, it totally is. Sometimes you're spending more time probably with your business partner and your co-founders than you would with your spouse. So you have to have that openness. You have to be able to read each other, lean on each other. And you have, yes.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (17:06.274)
Yeah.
Yeah. So we do that actually a lot.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (17:16.728)
You have to know yourself first to even identify it. And that's also something that a lot of people don't understand. Like, I am the way I am. They don't know why they are the way they are.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:26.629)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (17:26.796)
Yeah, the awareness is important. Recognizing your, need to first accept the fact that you can be flawed. Like no one is perfect. And we are evolving every day. Every experience is shaping us, reshaping us. are relearning and that's how you grow. Right. We did not act the same way where we were like twenties now. So definitely like, yeah, we do. But
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:35.995)
Right?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:45.018)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:48.55)
No, we try sometimes. I'm just kidding. Yeah. I was just telling another founder this morning, you know, they were like, what's been your biggest lessons learned, you know, over the course of a, you know, a couple of, over 10 years being in business. And I said, I've learned that I have to, and it's been my mantra, I've got to learn, I've got to unlearn a lot of stuff. I have to relearn. And then I have to,
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (18:14.52)
Mm.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (18:15.606)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:18.05)
and then continuously apply that learning, unlearning, relearning. It never ends because you're entering no matter, this is a, I'm curious of where you are in the business phase, but it's like when you start growing, you start out, you're here and you've got these set of challenges. You start growing, like you're working with five universities, now you're working with 20 universities, now you're working with, you wanna go work with 50 universities.
the level of scale and operations and systems and team that you've got to deal with, you enter into new spaces all the time as you're growing your business. And so if you're stuck in, is what we did 10 years ago, you're never gonna grow, not even like your businesses, but you're not gonna develop as a person to be able to navigate the new landscape of
of new people, like new hires and new people and the generations that you've got to deal with, but also just business landscape and how do you evolve there. So it is a constant, yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (19:24.662)
Well, that actually reminds me. So I was telling Lamia, I don't want to lose my spark, you my ADHD spark. I love that I'm like bubbly and happy on the calls and whatever. There is a line that you do have to evolve in some aspects. It's not you're taking away a part of yourself. You're just putting yourself into a new version of yourself. I do notice that when I am acting bubbly,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:44.528)
Bye.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:49.413)
Right?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (19:51.604)
At masking is important.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (19:54.84)
Yeah, well, like when I'm acting on the business calls like this, stoppy go-getter and bubbly, I don't get as much respect. And we have seen the statistics, we've seen the studies through us. Lamia gets more results when she's with the students than me.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (19:55.394)
No, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:06.736)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:14.182)
Interesting. what uncovered that? you, is it, did you guys chain? Okay.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (20:20.295)
I'm more relaxed. Maybe that's why I'm more relaxed. They don't feel scared of me. I don't know. I never want to embed fear, maybe because also my social esteem, don't, I don't, uh, I don't know. I don't know if it's about a respect thing. It's just.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (20:26.753)
It's more like...
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (20:32.95)
No, let me just, you are really describing yourself in a very wrong way. I cannot take that, you know, it's more like that. So what happens when we meet students, students are doing these as school projects, right? So we want professional work from students. So at times they take it as their assignment. They try to do it using AI and stuff, like shortcut thing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:36.294)
.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (20:39.574)
Yes. I love you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:40.015)
You
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (20:59.636)
And Rezan is always letting it go and be like, okay, and all these things. But I am always like straight to the point. This is what I want. That's how it is and whatnot. But she would be really kinder. And of course, there is a difference between being professional because we are not the teachers here. They join us as we are the industry partners. So they need to work professionally with us. But they are students. They don't have the professional experience.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:00.044)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:19.6)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (21:27.886)
So we really need to teach them. Sometimes I end up doing half, like 70 % of the work. And that's how it is. We are evolving. And she always says that, you know what, I have this spark. I don't want to lose, but at the same time, I know I need to change. So I always tell her that masking is also important at times.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:27.92)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:34.16)
Okay.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (21:51.16)
I will say, another reason why I'm so kind is because of my own self-esteem and because I want to be liked and because I don't sometimes believe that I deserve all this, know, something I'm struggling with and things are starting to click for me now, know, and Lomi has been such a beautiful supporter with me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:51.248)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:02.811)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:09.35)
Well, and they say, you know, when you've got a co-founder, or even what I would call like a number two in a business, right? You're kind of your first hire, you know, the person that is helping you grow and scale, you hire for skill sets that you don't have. So, yeah, so sometimes you don't wanna, you know, you can see the power you guys have as a team, but you're not the same.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (22:25.547)
yeah, we're completely cutthroat.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:37.57)
Each brings a gift each person brings and shows up in the way that they need to show up to do what they need to do. yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (22:46.104)
And we have the universal language. have full respect, you know, and we know how to communicate to each other. And that's exactly what we're doing with InPower. Everyone's so different, but there's a foundation of how we can come together. There's always something we can connect on. We all feel pain. We all feel love. So we're all human.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (22:53.518)
Thank you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:54.414)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:58.938)
That's right. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:04.506)
Yeah. We all want to be up. We all want to feel like we belong. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (23:09.59)
Yeah. And that's literally how InPower started. I wanted to feel like I belonged.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (23:10.228)
Yeah, every day.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:14.192)
So I'm interested, you you guys have already touched on this, but what have you really discovered about yourself in this journey? Has there been a, I mean, you've kind of reflected on that, Rezan, but Lamiya, there are things that you have discovered about yourself of being a co-founder?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (23:26.968)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (23:30.254)
Yeah, of course. Yeah, professionally, personally, a lot, a lot, actually. Like she said that I had, I didn't know that I had this much of patience. Like I had to, no, not with her. Okay. She is like taking in personally now. So not with her. Uh, we always like, she would always say that, you know, why you are so patient with me and I'll, I'll listen. I have become a good listener.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (23:47.595)
for me.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (23:58.016)
and even working with students or working with different teams and everything because we are bootstrapping and we are making sure everything is done because there is like a lot to create such a big platform. I, what as a co-founder and a COO, like on the operational side, you need to learn everything. I learned about legal stuff. I learned about tech because that's the language I never knew.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:03.739)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:21.51)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (24:24.634)
and I sit with every meeting, I sit with every team, and I try to learn every day. That's my professional growth. Like, if you ask me to talk about all these things, now I can fairly talk about it. I am studying psychology and everything, and I'm just reflecting everything, maybe also connecting or resonating everything to myself. And this entire platform has given me the scope to
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:25.53)
you
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (24:54.03)
you know, just grow as a person as well. So in a personal level, I think I have become more composed. I know what I want. Sometimes, of course, like you said, that we all want to feel belonged and we get insecure a bit. Sometimes we feel bloated and whatnot. So there are days. But end of the day, I know how to recollect myself. Sorry.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:12.997)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:20.922)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (25:28.566)
Can you hear me?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:36.848)
Lamia, you're cutting up.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (25:40.952)
Do you think it will do that at the cutout? Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:45.326)
I don't know. We'll see. We're always surprised. You never know. So you touched on this. I'm going to ask it. So when you guys thought about starting the business, you know, here you are and scaling it. Were there myths or misperceptions of what it's like to be a founder or to to start something like this that you got into it you were like, what have I gotten myself into? This is not what I thought it was going to be.
How would you debunk those myths that you heard? Or did you hear any myths like that?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (26:20.478)
No, actually, it was such a beautiful ride and someone with ADHD, you don't want to be stuck in a office job doing the same thing every day. It's like you want to be creative. You want to make new. So for me, I've never felt that at all.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:31.588)
You want to feed that? Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:36.632)
is there, here comes, here she comes, and she's back in. We're like, we're good.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (26:38.409)
I'm so sorry my internet is acting really weird. I'm so sorry. Yeah, I was actually saying that. Yes. Okay, so you know what? Now I know how to recollect myself. Like every day I know even if I am broken into different pieces, I know how to recollect myself and regroup all the thoughts and everything because I have a big dream.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (26:41.944)
No worries. Lamia, do you want to finish the last part of your sentence?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:47.215)
No.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (26:47.424)
along the front of finish the last four years.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (27:08.041)
to make happen. So I'm working for the Dream Project. This is like pushing me towards that reality that I'm going to make one day. Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:16.76)
Yeah, your higher purpose, right?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (27:17.664)
I love you. You could not have that better, Lamia. You could have not said that better. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:21.732)
No, that's fantastic. What's been the most challenging part? have you guys hit any kind of, crap, what have we done? Those big, what we call the shit moments, that big challenge. Have you guys faced any of those?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (27:23.134)
Thank
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (27:31.903)
Thank
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (27:37.346)
I know I faced something really big actually. I had an old partner and I was undiagnosed Lyme disease for five years and I was very sick. Some days I could not get out of bed. I was losing jobs left, right and center and it was undiagnosed. So I'm going through the medical system and everyone's saying it's depression, it's anxiety and know, years to get to specialists and nobody's...
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (27:59.155)
you
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:59.387)
Right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (28:06.366)
having answers. More than that, like I got suicidal at one point. said if I don't figure out what's going on with me, I will commit suicide. And I sat my family down and I told them that and I was at peace with that because I could not live with the debilitating pain anymore.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:07.504)
Right, which is frustrating, very.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:24.784)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (28:25.802)
And at that point, that week, my business partner then, I gave them more permissions to take over the project because we were actually pretty far in our beta launch and the app was pretty much getting there. Yeah, this was years ago. And he actually stole that beta fund money, first opportunity that he had to steal it for his own projects. And because I was debilitated, I could not
oversee much I and there was trust best friends that's my partner
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:59.012)
Yeah. See, that's the story we hear most of the time of partners. It's become, the nightmare.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (29:06.476)
And you know what contracts mean anything sometimes. Most of the time, unless you have money to like fight contracts, it's nothing. Even with our students, just get them to sign an NDA and it's like, how are we ever going to track them? They're all around the world, you know?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:22.67)
Yeah, yeah. So how did you overcome the, I mean, you just let it go and said, you know what, I can start over. How did you deal with that?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (29:29.612)
well, I was very lucky. I cried to my dad and I thought I would get shamed and, and, and, but he just was there for me through it because that was money my dad gave us for the business. He not once blinked an eye. It was just come here. love you, my love. And let's work it out.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:40.432)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (29:50.38)
best part about this story is I had to bootstrap everything. I had money before learning to be an entrepreneur. my gosh, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so resourceful, it? Yes, Lamia. Exactly, we have the same story, similar. Go on.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:55.131)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (30:00.839)
Yeah, and I also happened.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:04.507)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (30:06.365)
Yeah, I also happened. I told her that in a way, something happened. Everything happens for a reason or as we maybe we would have never met. So now I think the challenge that I personally feel like I had already already said it that sometimes I feel that I'm not worthy enough for this.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:06.982)
Yeah, go, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:14.64)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:28.656)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (30:29.583)
Maybe it's too big or maybe I won't be able to you know what it's more like that. Okay. I need to make her feel proud I need to make everyone feel proud of me because I am still overcompensating for everything This is what I do. That's how my like Personality has developed over the years. I think another challenge is Now to actually convince myself is that you know what I deserve every bit of it and
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:58.468)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (30:58.543)
I am doing great, but she makes sure that I feel secure, I feel safe, I feel valued, I feel respected. So she's the one who is making it all comfortable and safe for me. So I don't really need to see that challenging part. we both like, like we said that we are co-parenting this product together. So any problem comes up, we are there.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:14.714)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:21.786)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (31:25.507)
I, you know, the tech team that we have, we have it from Bangladesh, by the way.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (31:31.35)
new tech team, not the one that we ready for the beta. No, no, because we were ready for launch and that completely project went to the garbage. had to restart completely. And I had no idea where I was going to start. I know I actually stopped working on the project for a year. I was dealing with my disease and sexual assault and everything else going on in depression. That
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:34.788)
Not the bad tech team.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (31:59.776)
was my aha moment, which I know you're actually gonna ask us soon, was I'm in bed and I'm like, there's no more answers left. And the one thing that could actually provide me solace and support was the one thing that I stopped working on. It was just a full circle moment. That was my aha moment. I'm like.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:02.437)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:19.557)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (32:24.136)
I need this. I'm rock bottom. I need this. Other people need this. I got to get up and I got to make it. And that's when I started looking for the interns and then Lamia came in and then Lamia found us the new tech team and she is not even in tech.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:28.388)
That's right. That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:40.28)
And that, see, that is an Ahav, like you've, the passion that fueled it to go, you know what, I've got this problem. I'm solving the problem and I'm not alone in this problem. Yeah. That's amazing. And like you said, it's, that's how things happen for a reason. You would have never met Lamia if you hadn't gone through that. Timing is, it's funny how the universe works out that way, right?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (32:54.039)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (33:01.493)
No, no.
Beautiful. And our tech team is actually working bootstrapped with us. So Lamia was able to be so resourceful and find a whole tech team that were passionate about our journey and our project. And we're just, once we get the funds, they'll be compensated, but amazing.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (33:05.225)
Well, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:22.468)
Yeah, but they believe in it just the same which is...
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (33:26.943)
You know what it was not difficult for me to bring this people in the team because I don't know I earned these much of respect and love from these people because who are like really believing because they Believed in me then because they didn't know resend or they didn't know the product because they are more into the tech
not into the emotion because I was dealing with depression, I'm still dealing with it and everything. So for me, it's a dream project. For me, it's more like, you know what, I'll have to, I got the opportunity to bring something that I have been looking for. Now this is my moment for, you know, just making it come true. they were believing, they were just completely having this blind faith on me that, know what, we know once you get the fund.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:57.605)
Right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (34:19.847)
we will be given like a respectful amount or whatever it is, share of it. So yeah, so they are believing in us that we will not like cheat on them or something that once we get the fun, we don't know you or something like that. But and at the same time, they are making sure to work. it's okay. Something happened to me as well.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:26.586)
Like we believe it, we know it's gonna work. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (34:29.399)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:43.945)
hit the core.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (34:46.136)
Don't worry.
They'll cut it. We're doing so good.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (34:55.315)
I don't know what I've been saying, but you know what? I'm just saying whatever.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (34:57.036)
No, we're doing really good. But one thing is we've repeated a lot, I need this, blah, blah. Let's not repeat that too much. I'm doing it too. Let's talk about the questions she's asking.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (35:05.951)
Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:11.228)
I'm back!
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (35:12.575)
Hi.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:14.566)
yeah. can't hear them. No, not this again.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (35:17.011)
I'll
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (35:21.228)
Well, I think we did it last time.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:26.994)
Do your magic thing. Did that work?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (35:28.408)
Hello, hello, hello?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:31.024)
Uh-uh. What did you do the last time?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (35:35.958)
I think they unplugged it and then came back.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:37.128)
Hello? Can you hear me? I can't hear them though. You can hear me. Alright. But you can hear them.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (35:40.684)
Yes. Okay, I'm going to use the watch. We have a minute here.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (35:40.689)
Yes, we can.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:52.584)
Do we need to leave the studio again? Don't ins-
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:26.838)
I can hear everybody now. I can hear you. I'm sorry, I touched my mic cord. I should have known better. It's like right when I did it, I was like, no. I did not use a nice word. I'm not. All right. right. Let me you were talking about.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (36:28.216)
Yay!
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (36:29.055)
Hi.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (36:35.128)
HA!
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (36:38.936)
Thank
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (36:45.329)
and my internet always works.
The challenges or the...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:51.376)
Are we on recording? Okay. You were talking about the finding the tech team and that they have full trust. They know they're going to get compensated. You guys have found somebody. I mean, not just you guys found each other that are equally passionate for building this company and this platform, but you've also found an extended team that also believes in what you're doing, which is so rare.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (37:00.532)
Yum.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:21.858)
I applaud you guys. is one of the hardest things a founder can do is finding those people, that community that is walking alongside you, making your mission happen.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (37:24.002)
videos.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (37:32.371)
and the right people.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (37:38.242)
And what I love about this is we created InPower when there was a need. wasn't like we thought of an idea and then we're looking for the market. The market was already there and the interest in the...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:46.288)
Right. You're just entering it and going, how do we bring this community? You're just creating the platform to bring everybody together. I would say, you're the connective tissue in that commi... That's what we say about OrangeWIP. We're the connective tissue within a local market, within founders and entrepreneurs. The market's there. You just gotta feed it and serve it in a way that benefits them.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (38:13.096)
And it's Slumia and I, and we have a bunch of people working under us, but it's like, that is a struggle that we're facing right now is Instagram has over a hundred developers. Facebook has over a hundred developers. We have six.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:15.824)
Alright.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:26.01)
Yeah. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (38:28.244)
And so things are slow and now we're managing our experts, know, these prestige people that we're working with psychologists and all over the world. And we need to find the time to, you know, meet them. have to find the time to run our social media, also create contracts ourselves.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:29.999)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:42.48)
Right, how many hats are you wearing? We're now general counsel, we're attorney hat, then now we're social media. Now we're tech, now we're, you know, I'm a coder.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (38:46.968)
you
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (38:52.398)
and then now I'm here for my counselor.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (38:57.494)
Yeah, so there's not enough time in the day and especially having a child too and Lami has as well.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:02.84)
Yeah. How young are your kids?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (39:05.599)
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (39:09.319)
Mine is 10, so yeah, he is more mature than me.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (39:10.302)
yeah, so mine is...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:10.596)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:15.512)
Yeah, mommy said that. Mommy, your your son's 10.
Did I hear that right? 10 years old and how old is your?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (39:21.9)
Yeah, 10 years old.
Malik in 16 months. And he's a baby. that's actually I met Lamia when I was still pregnant. And two days later, I was working full time on Empowered.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:27.546)
my goodness, baby.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (39:31.368)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:32.856)
Hahaha
Yeah, I don't even tell you I have four kids. They're now 13 to 24. But I I literally I was with my third child. All my labors were like 30 plus hours, 36 hours. They were long forever. And it's a joke among kind of the business community. It's known when I was in labor at the hospital, the hospital system was one of my clients and I'm negotiating contracts for them from
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (39:41.516)
Wow.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:06.276)
from my bed and the chief marketing officer and the chief public affairs officer were in, we're down like having a status meeting in my labor room. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (40:19.032)
Okay, everyone gets it. They get it. I just had deviated septum surgery and the anesthesia, when I was coming to, I was giving an empowered presentation. I didn't realize, I up, was speaking out loud and they're all sitting around me. I'm like, oh, but are you interested in me?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:29.584)
We've all.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:36.324)
Yeah, was that for real? Yeah. Say, we've all been there, unfortunately, but that's okay.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (40:41.183)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (40:41.825)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (40:45.215)
we wear it like proudly? Like this is this is something that we're really proud of. So whenever we are in a like a public gathering with our friends or anything, if you like ask anyone, they will just tell you that she only talks about it. That okay, that's how we're doing it. Now we're at the stage and everything. So I'm so proud that we're making it happen. So yeah, it's more like talking about your baby.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (40:46.038)
Ha!
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (41:03.155)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (41:07.224)
And when we wear all the time, when we wear all the hats, sometimes when everyone has doubt in their mind, as confident as we are, something could happen, the world could explode, you know? That's what scares me sometimes is if this didn't work out, what expertise do I have? I know a little bit of a lot. You know what I mean?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:09.114)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:12.577)
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:20.72)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:30.818)
Yeah, it's the grit. call it we you've got the grit and gumption to do whatever you put your mind to. That's a skill set that you can't teach, but it is so valuable and can apply to so many other things.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (41:44.948)
Yeah, would, yeah, you would have to find it would always stay in in business and entrepreneurship, but it's like starting something again from scratch. You will find different hats that you'd wear that you didn't find the first time.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:50.319)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:54.896)
That's right. You go in more fearless. So, if you, if, go ahead.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (41:59.318)
Yeah, totally.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (41:59.465)
Yeah. And I feel sometimes...
Now, I was just saying that I feel sometimes your work... Hello, can you hear me?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:06.074)
Go ahead Lami.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:11.075)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (42:12.575)
Okay, so sometimes I feel that your work and your destiny actually, it finds you. So when she was saying that, I know, she didn't know if it didn't work out what would happen or even for me, like without in power, now that I think that, okay, what I would have been doing, maybe working in a multinational company or going for my masters. Actually, I got admission somewhere with 85 % of scholarship. I was about to leave for my masters that I dropped completely.
because I wanted to do PhD and and just like go and Yeah, so I just dropped it and I was like, you know what this is what I want to do end of the day after Yeah, course, so there is no need for it eventually my experience will be a book itself. So
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (42:46.688)
No, because you want it to be within power.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:48.197)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:55.386)
You're getting a PhD on your own business. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (42:58.562)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:08.048)
That's right. That's right. So, okay, if we met a year from now, I'm coming to visit you next January. What would we be celebrating?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (43:19.178)
and power to the public. It's launching this year, but yeah, next year it'll already be like in Canada or maybe US by then.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:21.76)
All right, the launch of InPower.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:29.718)
fantastic. Okay, so we're gonna manifest that. We're putting that out in the universe. It's gonna happen. Okay, so here's one of my questions that I talked to you guys about. Now I'm really interested in your answers. For each of you, if you wanna answer, if you had to sum up your journey of becoming an entrepreneur and founding in power, co-founding in power.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (43:44.297)
doing that work.
Thank
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:59.384)
What would be that word and
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (44:04.243)
sure. I'm going between two words, I guess reflection.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:10.83)
Reflection, okay, and why that word?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (44:16.107)
Every single learning curve and every single day, I have to reflect on why is this the way it is and why am I acting this way? Just like Lamy was explaining, like showing up to work every day and being whole and complete. And I'm understanding that I can only put out as much as I feel in.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:30.064)
Hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:40.752)
Hmm.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (44:41.482)
If I'm not complete feeling inside, then I can't produce as much. So this whole journey has been a lot of reflection, you know, also like not feeling like I deserve in power all the time, reflecting why I feel like that too. So I'm growing with the reflection of as well.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:47.183)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:55.748)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:00.282)
with a reflection, so important, I love that word. Lamia, what's your word?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (45:06.002)
It's empowerment.
It's empowerment for me because like she said, we have self doubts, we have everything. But when I think about in power, finding it and working for it, it's so empowering itself that you know what, this platform is going to change lives. This platform is going to bring back peace, it's going to change mindset, it's going to bring people together. That feeling itself is so empowering.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:15.76)
Mm-hmm.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (45:37.405)
So without it, maybe I would not feel this the same way. Every day I feel, you know what? I just look myself into the mirror. just say that I'm a co-founder and I'm the CEO. I'm creating in power. So it's very empowering. Even when someone asked me, what do you do? When you tell them, they look for you, they Google you and they find you somewhere. And that moment, that feeling itself is so empowering that yes, I am doing something notable.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:43.14)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:49.326)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:59.706)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (46:07.134)
So yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (46:08.588)
Well, I love that answer. Ours are kind of like opposite because hers is the empowerment I should be feeling. Mine is the reflection why I'm not feeling that way. And it's both.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:08.922)
How?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:17.39)
Right, well I think those are both two amazing words. We have asked hundreds, hundreds, a little over thousand founders over the last couple of years the same question. We get a different answer. We have not had overlap words at all. And it just goes to, we might have similar themes that we all face kind an imposter syndrome or we've all kind of.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (46:34.52)
I love you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:44.698)
you know, hit those walls, those shit moments, those aha moments. There's, you know, we all kind of have these different similar themes, but we all get there. We all have our different journeys and they're very individual. So, I love the words. Okay, so now if we look fast forward, the next chapter that you're in in your journey, what's the next chapter's word and why?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (47:13.506)
For me, it's complete because I need empower for social development, for community empowerment. So for me, that's the destination I need to be complete.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:14.35)
Yeah.
complete.
Yeah, to become more whole. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:27.568)
what a great word. What about you Lamia?
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (47:32.731)
For me, I think it's peace For me peace is very important. I mean wherever you are if you are not in peace with that Then there is no way you are growing So even if you are not peace with your chaos, you are not peace with your happiness content with it that contentment and peace is so important and That's what I see fast forward in in a few years in power will bring that peace back
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (47:36.02)
Aww.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:46.159)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:51.152)
That's right.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (48:02.399)
to everyone's life.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:03.28)
Yeah, I love it. love it. Is there advice that you would give that either you've been given by another founder, an entrepreneur, a business leader that you guys really took to heart that impacted your decision making? Is there anything that you want to share with the listeners?
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (48:23.212)
You know what? People told me even that partner I had who stole the money from us even told me, don't trust anyone in business. And I will always say to him, I trust you and look what happened. That's an advice I wouldn't take though. I think a lot of mutual respect and trust is built on the connection, but
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:37.487)
Hey
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:41.264)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:47.16)
Yeah. Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (48:48.098)
have everything in writing. I know I said before, like the contracts don't mean much, but if you do get bigger with your business, you'll have that and you'll have the money to. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:57.348)
That's right. Document everything. That's right. Lami, what about you? Did anybody give you advice that you were like,
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (49:01.577)
Yeah, that's very important.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (49:06.495)
I think you need to first of all believe in yourself and you need to push yourself every day and keep working because if you stop then you're not getting there. If you feel that one day something is not working out so I should just stop everything that's not how you become successful that's not how you actually make something happen so you need to keep believing you need to keep working even if you fail thousand times
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:18.935)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (49:35.869)
you need to know how to restart because if you have done it once, you can do it like every hundred times. So I think we should keep on just going on and just keep going with this and just keep believing in that vision.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:39.685)
right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:43.994)
Press right.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (49:52.514)
I like that you mentioned that Lamia because our baseline, we always go back to our habits. If people are stressed and they drink or they scream at people, whatever, your habits will define how you come back and show up. If you start learning healthier habits, you will be better for your business because...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:57.498)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:05.946)
Hmm.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (50:13.02)
So many things have happened to me. I used to party. I was a party girl. And then when things will get stressful, I would go drink and it'd take three days to recover. You know what I mean? So that's the gym, but.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:17.2)
All
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:22.215)
Yeah, yeah. That's that's right. But no, those healthier habits. I mean, they always say, you know, make sure you get up, drink lots of water. mean, I've been on a health kick journey and a mental wellness journey, and it's completely transformed kind of my mindset, my focus. I fell back in love with my business, and I think we all kind of do that. We all kind of go through the roller coasters. You have the highs and you have the lows.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (50:49.784)
You
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:50.042)
Someone told me they're like, there's two emotions of being a founder and that is euphoria and depression. They're like, we always strive, like there's never that like middle, but we all want that and we're gonna get there. But like you go, it's the ups and then the downs.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (50:57.515)
Ha ha ha!
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (50:58.759)
That's true. That's true.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (51:03.647)
Yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (51:10.072)
One advice that I will give is, sorry, one advice that I would give is they say excitement and anxiety give you the same experience, the same thing. Yeah, so when you're excited, it's the same feeling that you feel when you're anxious. So I had been anxious a lot through InPower.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (51:10.559)
Thank you, see you next time.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:21.424)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:26.958)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:31.656)
yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (51:32.566)
But then I'm now channeling excitement. And now you can see like our calls, like before I was overwhelmed, maybe it's my ADHD medication, but I was overwhelmed. Like, we have to do this and this. Now, instead of saying I have to, I am saying I get to.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:45.872)
I get to it's total a mindset change. You're right. But I didn't even think about that. That like the feeling is the same. It's just how do you channel that? That's a that's a great. That's an aha right there.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (51:53.789)
Yeah, the kick, yeah.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (51:55.682)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (51:58.451)
I think another.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (52:06.143)
Another thing that I guess being a mom, everyone feels that guilt that we are not balancing life and profession together. We are putting so much time on work and everything. think being guilty is not okay, and especially when you are a woman. So everyone puts that guilt way too much on you that, you are neglecting something and you are focusing on something or being selfish and whatnot. But I think val-
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (52:24.378)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (52:34.033)
eventually you will know how to balance it. Sometimes we need to prioritize work more. Sometimes we need to prioritize our child more. I'm not saying that okay you should not be prioritizing but there will be you know what even a relationship cannot be 50-50. I don't believe in that it's 70-30 always. So I think balancing it out is very important but to even balance it out you will have to get there. Sometimes you will fail.
but don't let that guilt actually drown you down there because it actually stops that process.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:04.473)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:08.6)
Yeah, that's right. And we face that as moms, I think. Yeah, and we just got, I've had to learn to go, can't, you just can't go there. You have a higher purpose and you're serving your kids in just a different way. That's not necessarily, sometimes not societal norms. And as women, we need to stop judging each other and empowering each other and holding each other up.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (53:13.885)
Yeah. A lot.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (53:25.527)
Yeah.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (53:35.081)
very important.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (53:35.5)
have a lot of guilt. I was working two days after I gave birth or I had Malik. And I was working 10 hour days. I was not, I didn't feel like I was present. So I do have a lot of guilt. So thank you, Lamia, for saying that. I need to really release that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:50.83)
Yeah, that's right. That's right. Because you're serving the universe with your gifts.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (54:00.632)
I was saying I'm doing this for him, you know? Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (54:02.69)
Yeah, that's right. That's right. my goodness, I'm amazed at how fast these things go. I could go on. We could talk forever and go way deeper. But before we go, where do you want people to connect, find out more? Like how can they support? How can they get involved? Give us the info.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (54:13.441)
Yes!
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (54:23.904)
Yeah. We're always looking for interns and volunteers. We've always made a promise that everyone we hire will be from being an intern or volunteer. There's no one we're hiring through InPower outside because we just started off as two young girls with a dream and we learned and that's what we're doing with InPower. You can go to our website, weareempower.com and you can sign up if you want to intern and volunteer. We have an Instagram, weareempower.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (54:34.095)
Okay.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (54:53.514)
underscore. And yeah, we reach out if you're interested and we can sign up for the beta as well on our website. We're very close to launching.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (55:01.712)
Perfect. And you need people's feedback. yeah. So everyone, we'll make sure to tag all that and promote that in this episode. Thank you guys. I appreciate, I love meeting you both. And I'm excited to see your journey play out. It'll be great. Go in power. And for everyone listening and watching, thank you for hanging out with us today.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (55:08.233)
Yes.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (55:14.633)
Thank you. Thank you.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (55:18.38)
Thank you.
Lamia Tabassum (she/her) (55:23.219)
Thank you so much.
Razan Talebian, Founder & CEO (55:23.32)
Thank you so much.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (55:31.584)
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