I've built campaigns for the biggest studios in the world. The hardest story to tell was my own.

I've built campaigns for the biggest studios in the world. The hardest story to tell was my own.

For twenty years, I worked inside Paramount, Marvel Studios, Disney, CBS Entertainment, and Tribune Media, where getting the story right wasn't a creative exercise. It could determine whether an idea got funded, a campaign broke through, a partnership sold, or millions of dollars moved.

I executed more than 1,000 campaigns, and built strategy around some of the most recognizable franchises and cultural moments in entertainment.

Along the way I kept noticing the same pattern, which was that the best idea didn't always win. The difference, again and again, was our ability to make other people understand why something mattered.

Now I help founders, executives, and creators do that for their own work.

Your story is the most valuable IP you'll ever own.

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Inside the studios:

I learned it at scale.

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Years
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Global Campaigns
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in Revenue

On my own:

Then I proved it from zero.

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Followers, Built From Zero
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Video Views in 90 Days
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Substack Readers

Most marketers have one side of this. I've lived all three.

  • I've done it at scale.

    Twenty years inside major media and entertainment companies, where the narrative had to launch, sell, and perform.

  • I've done it from zero.

    In one year I built an audience of more than 131,000 and tens of millions of views, without a studio, a marketing budget, or a team behind me.

  • I know what the story costs.

    As a first-generation Iranian immigrant, a mother of two, and an executive who left the studio system to build something of my own, I know what it's like to be underestimated, to start over, and to walk into a room that hasn't caught up with who you are yet. It's how I learned that the right story is the strategy.

Where My Work Lives

Everything I build comes from the same belief:

Narratives shape what people believe, what they value and what they do.

Speaking:

Keynotes that help your people tell a story as strong as the work they do, including my TEDxArlington Heights talk, "Why the Best Stories Are Polarizing."

Consulting

1:1 consults and 8-week engagements that bridge the gap between what you're building and the story the world sees.

This Is Not A Memo

My Substack, a bestseller within 24 hours of launch, where 8,600+ readers come for essays on reinvention, courageous leadership, and the future of work.

Things That Make Me, Me

  • Mom of two toddlers

  • Everyone in my career has called me MM

  • I started my first business at six (ask me about this next time we chat!)

  • Born in Iran, raised in Canada, adulting in Los Angeles

  • 6am workouts, matcha, and prioritizing health

Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected Let's Stay Connected

Whether you want to book a talk, work together, or just follow along...

I'm glad you're here.

Maryam Mehrtash

Speaker, writer, and narrative strategist. Twenty years shaping stories for Hollywood's biggest names, now helping you tell yours.

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