10 Self Made Kurdish Women Ruling 2018

Seeing Sazan as a mother, wife and power woman reassures me that I can do all three too! She is so organic, raw, honest and she stays true to herself and her core values. The life she's created for herself was not easy, but with her consistent faith, a loving partner by her side, and her determination she was able to create a beautiful life for herself, one that is almost as beautiful as her daughter, who recently has been the subject of her many IG posts (no complaints, #teamteeny). What a beautiful family!

Helly Luv is a symbol of Kurdish beauty and Kurdish resilience. This photo says it all. But if it doesn't say it all, you should also know that Helly's love for the little, the furry, and the voiceless goes beyond affection. She not only has her own non profit organization, she helps other organizations improve the conditions of animals in Kurdistan. This woman is a lioness.

This one is an exciting one, because in an extremely distant way, I'm related to her! Her Wikipedia bio will tell you she's an "American born Mexican-Kurd reality television personality, politician, philanthropist, conference speaker, human rights activist, and author." Wow! What a mouthful! Hanna is truly the definition of doing it all, and looking good while doing it! She not only carries my mother's last name, but also my sister's first name, so we're practically sisters! She's my bestfriend and she doesn't even know it yet; we also care about the same things; refugees and immigrants, human rights and peace. Hanna Jaff for 2020?

Taffan is such an inspiring entrepreneur. Her passion for human rights lead her to give back to her birth country and adopted country; Kurdistan and Sweden respectively. She is a voice for refugees from Kurdistan currently living in Sweden through her lectures and her career as a journalist. Just watching her speak is so inspiring, if you haven't seen her One Young World Speech please look her up and get inspired!

Dashni defied social norms and standards on her road to self realization, despite and in-spite of her many struggles along the way. She shook the Kurdish nation. And as a feminist, breaking down these barriers is essential to the survival of the Kurdish identity. She's not simply an artist, she is also an activist, fighting for the environment and improvement of conditions in the refugee camps in Kurdistan. Her love and passion are her weapons which has made her break free in an often compliant social construct.

A lot of you know her as a Syrian born Kurdish refugee, but I know her through her voice. Social media has a way of making the special go viral, and I heard her voice before I knew she was Kurdish, and when I found out she was Kurdish, the little Kurdish dad in the back of my head was like "I knew it! Of course she's Kurdish." She's beautiful and so is her voice, but her history and her family's history, as most Kurds' pasts are, was a heartbreaking one, but through it all, her past has brought her to her present, which includes a feature in the Christmas song on the Daddy's Home 2 Soundtrack! Amazing!

Ruwayda has one of the most aesthticly pleasing instagram feed, but she's not simply an instagram influencer, she's an all around influencer. She's currently completing her PhD at Kingston University, but she still has time to be a mother, an author, a journalist and read endless amount of books as her feed will portray. She truly holds strong ideas that promotes gender equality, and you can read more up on it by ordering her book, A journey to Kurdistan (available on Amazon!).

Sayran is the coolest baddest chick you know and you wanna be just like her. Her jewellery designs take on an urban twist on the traditional Kurdish jewellery. Her collections sell through almost immediately, every time I go on her site to purchase her stuff, its almost always sold out! This gal is phenomenal, and so is her vision! I recently ordered two of her earrings, and she takes the time to handwrite a little note for her customers and I almost wanted to cry, she's bringing life back into humanity!

If you're Kurdish, and you don't follow KurdishProblemz on Instagram, then you've got a problem. She is hilarious and brings a comical twist to the Kurdish community. As a Kurdish woman, her posts are extremely relatable and super funny.

Up and coming artist on the rise! Dilan is a beautiful actress who hasn't failed to bring light to the Kurdish struggle through her acting. She's just wrapped up filming Red Snake, giving a voice for the voiceless, Red Snake is a movie that takes us on a young Yazidi woman's journey as a captive sex slave following the events that occurred in Singal 2014. Dilan is a reminder to everyone that you can follow your dreams and still stay true to who you are. Now, my only question is, do you take ketchup with your fries?