Shabnam Mogharabi on Meaning, Connection, the Soul, and Why Rejection Is Protection
In this deeply resonant episode of The Connection Code, Jeana Anderson Cohen and Rachel Gilman Rischall sit down with Shabnam Mogharabi, entrepreneur, author, journalist, and co-founder of SoulPancake alongside Rainn Wilson.
Shabnam shares her journey from traditional journalism to building one of the internet’s most uplifting corners, creating beloved series like Kid President, The Science of Happiness, and My Last Days. Together, the trio explore big questions about faith, purpose, rejection, and meaning. They dig into why the messiest moments of our lives often matter most.
They discuss spirituality without dogma, the science behind awe and connection, parenting as soul-work, and Shabnam’s latest chapter: Soul Boom, a movement and upcoming workbook offering spiritual tools for modern living. From “rejection is God’s protection” to building community through service, this conversation is equal parts grounding, hopeful, and practical.
If you’ve been craving more meaning, deeper connection, or permission to believe there’s something bigger at work, this episode is for you.
More to love in this episode:
- Shabnam Mogharabi
- Soul Boom
- The Soul Boom Workbook
- Relive Kid President
- Revisit The Science of Happiness
- Revisit My Last Days
Books & Thinkers Referenced:
- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
- Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
- Martin Seligman & Positive Psychology (PERMA framework)
- Dacher Keltner Awe