The tables have turned and today it’s time for Alex to shine the spotlight on Mimi. Behind all that public social media presence, Who is the real Mimi…? And is that even her real name?

Originally a Caspian Sea girl from the city of Baku in the country of Azerbaijan. Mimi tells her story of how watching American movies as a child with her sister Leyla, made her want to jump in front of a camera.

After finding a painting recently, that she had once painted, depicting that very same scenario, (maybe on subconscious level) the world would have it - that’s where Mimi would end up. But it wasn’t always that obvious.

Early ideas of becoming a dancer, a model or even a pianist (If her mom would have her own way) would soon be thrown out of the window. Instead, frequently looking up to the sky and watching planes pass by, she turned to visualising herself travelling everywhere in the world.

When her family decided to immigrate to Canada, she felt as if she was walking right into her dreams as she boarded her very first airplane. But the cold shock of Winter in Canada awoke Mimi to reality that her dreams were not always going to be 100% as she imagined.

At the same time dealing with the school bullies that pushed her for a F.O.B (fresh off the boat) reaction, she quickly realised it was best to ignore them and spend some time soul searching for her real self. Albeit a new one.

“You have to protect and defend yourself, you have to observe your reactions to other peoples messages. If you learn, fine! If you learn nothing, move on, don’t attach yourself to something that isn’t your problem.” - Mimi Ikonn

While saving up for weeks at her first Job she decided it was time to change her name legally to one both her family and friends had been calling her for most of her life. A new name - a new start!

From here she tried a few jobs and bared the responsibility helping towards paying her parents mortgage, bills and even saved to buying her first car. Her story then takes us to meeting Alex, dropping out of college, working a dream job in image consulting and founding Luxy Hair.

In the second half of this story; Mimi explains how she was so used to operating in survival mode. So much so, that when she finally arrived at financial well being, she only found herself becoming severely depressed at the thought of it. Again, not all being quite as she’d imagined.

She takes us behind the mindset changes she needed to go through including visiting a 10 day meditation trip to a Vipassana Retreat. And how a specific incident with her guiding Monk changed her life forever!

“You can not run away from yourself, where are you gonna go? If there’s a problem we’ll call ambulance.” - The Real Voice of SANITY

You’ll learn:

• What keeps Mimi going

• Her passion for giving value to her audience

• Why social media is important - and it’s not about money

• Why she chooses to not post on her darker days

• How staying humble gives her energy

• How she can’t make a fake smile

• Why money isn’t a motivator

• Why she has to share everyday.

...And so much more.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s episode, you can find out more about Alex and Mimi here:

https://www.ikonns.com/

http://www.mimiikonn.com/

http://www.alexikonn.com/

Mimi’s Instagram

Alex’s Instagram

https://www.youtube.com/mimiikonn

https://www.youtube.com/alexikonn

You can find out more about Vipassana here: 10 Day Meditation Retreats

Produced by Jason Sanderson - Podcast Tech