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From Kidnapping Survivor to C-Level Leader | Loubna Imenchal, MD at Axis Communication
She was kidnapped as a child. When she returned, everything had changed. The world she came back to no longer felt familiar, and she struggled with a deep sense of not belonging, even among her own family. That feeling stayed with her, shaping her independence, her mindset, and her drive to carve out her own place through her career.
In this episode of Above C-Level, Axis Communications Executive Leader and Judge of The Final Pitch Loubna Imenchal shares a raw and deeply personal conversation about how those early experiences became the foundation of her mindset. She reflects on how feeling rejected and out of place pushed her to build certainty, structure, and purpose through her work, long before leadership titles followed.
Loubna opens up about how these experiences shaped the way she approaches life, career, and responsibility today. What once made her feel like an outsider became the foundation of a mindset built on resilience, solutions, and self-belief.
She talks about:
↳ Being kidnapped and the emotional reality of returning to a life that felt changed.
↳ Feeling like she did not belong, and how that shaped her independence and work ethic.
↳ The mindset that fuelled her career progression and leadership journey.
↳ Operating at C-level in male-dominated industries where trust and credibility must be earned.
↳ Why she hires for mindset over experience and looks beyond perfect CVs.
↳ How personal adversity shapes the way she builds trust, teams, and leaders.
This is not a story about moving on. It is about surviving adversity without letting it close you off. If you have ever felt like you had something to prove, this episode offers a powerful perspective on how lived experience can shape exceptional leadership.
(00:00:00) Opening: Kidnapped at Six Months - The Childhood That Shaped a C-Level Leader(00:05:22) The Labeling Years: From Street Kid to French-Speaking Family(00:09:43) Stop Being the Victim: The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything(00:12:15) Breaking Into FedEx: When Mindset Beats Experience Every Time(00:13:04) The French Company Warning: Predicting Nokia's Fall Before Apple Arrived(00:15:08) People Buy From People: The Iraq War Pitch That Won Honeywell(00:19:33) The Honeywell Gamble: When Everyone Voted No Except One Leader(00:28:22) Logitech and COVID: Doubling Growth When Offices Were Closing(00:32:10) The Female Leadership Reality: 0% to 7% in Two Decades(00:37:49) The Education Gap: Why Men Think They're Perfect and Women Never Feel Enough(00:40:27) Connect to Elevate: Building a Free Platform for Women in Tech(00:45:20) Hiring for Leadership: Why Technical Skills Don't Matter in Her Interviews(00:48:08) The Authenticity Test: Reading Between the Lines in Leadership Hiring(00:52:05) Gen Z Won't Adapt: Why Companies Must Change or Die(00:56:47) The Lost Generation: Teaching Gen Z What They're Missing
Listen on:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/5ymcb8ARSKU
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-kidnapping-survivor-to-c-level-leader-loubna-imenchal/id1781880969?i=1000748862198
Connect with Loubna:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loubnaimenchal/
Follow Our Host:
Mohammad Osama: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-osama-8395b88/
View all episodes
By chatGRGShe was kidnapped as a child. When she returned, everything had changed. The world she came back to no longer felt familiar, and she struggled with a deep sense of not belonging, even among her own family. That feeling stayed with her, shaping her independence, her mindset, and her drive to carve out her own place through her career.
In this episode of Above C-Level, Axis Communications Executive Leader and Judge of The Final Pitch Loubna Imenchal shares a raw and deeply personal conversation about how those early experiences became the foundation of her mindset. She reflects on how feeling rejected and out of place pushed her to build certainty, structure, and purpose through her work, long before leadership titles followed.
Loubna opens up about how these experiences shaped the way she approaches life, career, and responsibility today. What once made her feel like an outsider became the foundation of a mindset built on resilience, solutions, and self-belief.
She talks about:
↳ Being kidnapped and the emotional reality of returning to a life that felt changed.
↳ Feeling like she did not belong, and how that shaped her independence and work ethic.
↳ The mindset that fuelled her career progression and leadership journey.
↳ Operating at C-level in male-dominated industries where trust and credibility must be earned.
↳ Why she hires for mindset over experience and looks beyond perfect CVs.
↳ How personal adversity shapes the way she builds trust, teams, and leaders.
This is not a story about moving on. It is about surviving adversity without letting it close you off. If you have ever felt like you had something to prove, this episode offers a powerful perspective on how lived experience can shape exceptional leadership.
(00:00:00) Opening: Kidnapped at Six Months - The Childhood That Shaped a C-Level Leader(00:05:22) The Labeling Years: From Street Kid to French-Speaking Family(00:09:43) Stop Being the Victim: The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything(00:12:15) Breaking Into FedEx: When Mindset Beats Experience Every Time(00:13:04) The French Company Warning: Predicting Nokia's Fall Before Apple Arrived(00:15:08) People Buy From People: The Iraq War Pitch That Won Honeywell(00:19:33) The Honeywell Gamble: When Everyone Voted No Except One Leader(00:28:22) Logitech and COVID: Doubling Growth When Offices Were Closing(00:32:10) The Female Leadership Reality: 0% to 7% in Two Decades(00:37:49) The Education Gap: Why Men Think They're Perfect and Women Never Feel Enough(00:40:27) Connect to Elevate: Building a Free Platform for Women in Tech(00:45:20) Hiring for Leadership: Why Technical Skills Don't Matter in Her Interviews(00:48:08) The Authenticity Test: Reading Between the Lines in Leadership Hiring(00:52:05) Gen Z Won't Adapt: Why Companies Must Change or Die(00:56:47) The Lost Generation: Teaching Gen Z What They're Missing
Listen on:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/5ymcb8ARSKU
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-kidnapping-survivor-to-c-level-leader-loubna-imenchal/id1781880969?i=1000748862198
Connect with Loubna:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loubnaimenchal/
Follow Our Host:
Mohammad Osama: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-osama-8395b88/