After deciding to stop acting for some time to be a full-time mom, Rania felt something was missing; not being creative was killing her. She then discovered Snapchat and started recording short humor clips with tremendous success. She was getting messages from people thanking her for putting a smile on their faces during hard times, and that made her commit even more to her mission until one day, her camera broke. She thought stopping her sketches for three days wouldn't harm her, but she broke down completely. The pain and the trauma she was avoiding and pushing away by doing comedy to help others cope with their miseries came up, and she realized she needed to take some time to heal. 

In this episode, I'm joined by Rania Kurdi; she is an Actor, Singer, Confidence Life Coach, Speaker, and Mom. Rania has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment business. After graduating from Drama School in the UK, she returned to Jordan and produced a Children's TV special for Unicef and Jordan's first-ever talk show in English for JTV. Rania co-hosted the first reality show in the Middle East, SUPERSTAR (aka Pop Idol). Rania became the first Jordanian to achieve pan-Arab success as a TV presenter after being part of the hosting team for World Idol in the UK. She did tons of voice-overs for documentaries, commercials, and radio, and she was the IVR voice for the two first telecommunication companies launched in Jordan. In 2013, she was named ambassador for the children of war foundation COWF, and she wrote and produced her own Arab TV sketch show, " The Rania Show."

We had a fantastic conversation about the intersection between comedy and healing and the role comedy had in Rania's life. We also talked about Rania's journey to become a confidence coach and her commitment to helping other women and creatives live a fuller and more daring life. Rania kindly shared her healing process after her mother's death, and how through her healing, she unveiled childhood trauma that helped her grow and encouraged her to raise the flag against grooming and child abuse. 

Tune in and enjoy this fantastic conversation with this strong, kickass Jordanian woman. 

Some Questions I Ask:

• Did you ever use your comedy as a way to heal from any adversity in your life? (3:12)
• Did you know before your mom got sick that you had all of this healing work to do? (15:06)
• Do you know where the core piece of your fear of men comes from? (20:57)
• You've started an initiative called First Time. Can you tell us a bit about this initiative and what your dream is? (31:43)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• The shadow self, what is it and its role in the healing process (5:44)
• Rania's experience in Snapchat and how she was using comedy to push her pain away (10:38)
• How Rania found closure after her mother's death (19:24)
• How we as women tend to blame ourselves after sexual abuse episodes (30:39)

Resources:

• Breaking Free podcast with Rania Kurdi
• Rania Kurdi YouTube channel
• TEDx Talk: Sheila Kelley - Let's Get Naked
• Book: Michael A. Singer - The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
• Book: Kenneth Adams, Ph.D. - Silently Seduced: When Parents Make Their Children Partners
• Book: Brian L. Weiss - Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives

Connect with Rania:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Let's Connect!

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Website
• Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.