MEET THE FOUNDER, Ghaz Samandari
There are so many ways I could tell you about who I am, but the most important thing I want you to know is that I live for this work.
All my life (as an immigrant only leo daughter of two loving and crazy artists) I’ve felt like an outsider looking in.
I tried being the “smart one” the “funny one” the “profound one” the “reliable one” and everything in between, but nothing ever felt quite right. So what was I left with? My own damn self: quirky smarty-pants with a huge heart, a fast temper and a “belonging” complex.
Over the years, as I grew in my career as a researcher in women’s reproductive rights, I came to see my “flaws” (my fears, my traumas, my anger) as incredible assets for relating to people all over the world. I could connect with others because I always managed to find a piece of myself in them. It was this connection that drove everything for me, and why I decided to make it the center of my work.
As a coach and facilitator, nothing fills me with more life than being with another person and being able to say “I know just how you feel.”
It’s why I left my old job as a research scientist and why I’ve created covn. For you to feel seen, to feel loved, and to know that I’m here for it all.
PS: Lots of other shit went down between the lines (especially during the pandemic!), so check out my manifesto (below) to learn more about who I am and why I do this work.
covn values
Our values are at the heart of everything we do and help us maintain our integrity as our community evolves.
See yourself in any of these (or want to)?
Then join us.
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Here at covn we believe that there is nothing “wrong” with you or any woman. We have all arrived here through a series of life events in which we did the best we could with what we had at the time. Instead of the old way of looking for “what’s broken” so we can “fix it,” we focus on uncovering the most essential and powerful elements that already exist inside you and giving them the space, time and nurturing they need to grow.
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We believe that all women are worthy. That means you are welcome here regardless of race, sexuality, gender, age or any other category or intersections thereof. We are trans-inclusive, anti-racist and always open to learning how to be in better service to all women in our community.
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There are a million narratives out there telling women who they can and can’t be in the world, most of them aimed at keeping us from expanding into our full and powerful selves. At covn, whenever we encounter a narrative that is blocking our way, we question the source: does this story come from a place/person I trust? That has my best interest in mind? And that aligns with my values? If the answer to any of these is “no”, then we know just what to do with that story (bye-bye!).
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We have had enough with the endless hamster wheel of striving that depletes us and leaves us empty at the end of the day. Instead, we focus on creating capacities, relationships and environments that give us the agency to thrive in whichever way we choose.
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Need we say more?
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Gone are the days where everyone else gets to benefit from your radiance, dedication and love. At covn, we put you (yes, you) at the heart of everything we do, so you can feel held, seen and cared for throughout your time with us. We also focus on creating space for you to count yourself in to your own life’s equation in deeper and more meaningful ways than ever before.
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covn is made up of (extra) ordinary humans (like you!) and one of the things we know best about us humans is that we’re always growing and changing. That means we mess up sometimes. And that’s ok. We don’t shy away from the tough stuff, and nobody gets canceled here. As long as you stay open to learning with us, we can take any misstep and turn it into an opportunity for growth and connection.
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Did you hear? Rest is an essential part of our nature and it’s what allows us to have true physical, mental and emotional health. That’s why we build rest in to everything we do here at covn and are as dedicated to the nothing as we are to the everything else.
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We know it can feel bleak out there sometimes, but we believe that by staying connected, by being in authentic relationship and by not turning away from the tough stuff, we will make it. Through each day, through each challenge and into a better world.
My Manifesto
December 2020
My whole life has led me to this moment, and I know this in my heart.
I was born in 1980 in the midst of the Iranian revolution. A revolution that broke the backs of women’s liberties in a country and a culture that had, until then, held us in esteem and privilege.
This legacy of female oppression has in some way or another informed everything I have ever done. From facing down male harassment in my daily life to devoting my professional career to defending and uplifting women through the protection of their human rights. My own healing comes through my capacity to stand up.
For the last 20 years, I have worked in the field of women's reproductive rights - fighting to ensure access to health care and freedom of decision-making for women and girls in the poorest regions of the world. Bearing witness for the oppressed has bestowed me with an acute sensitivity to suffering and a battle-tested ability to show up and do what's needed to surmount this type of pain. For years, this was my vocation.
Then there came a moment when I was no longer able to bring my energy to the cause in the same ways I used to. Exhaustion and depletion replaced what were once feelings of purpose and regeneration. I had to stop and ask myself, what am I called to do now? The answer first came in the softest of whispers: I must work with women directly, one on one, to bring them into consciousness around their own power. Simple enough.
So I began a journey to train as a developmental coach. I am not, I repeat, NOT a life coach. I am not here to show, tell, cajole any woman into being anything - we've had quite enough of that already, thankyouverymuch. My goal is not to "get you that job" or "make someone love you." No. I was trained in the exquisite art of "being with" - being with everything that you already have, everything that you already are, and hanging in with you - in the pain, the beauty, the difficulty, the joy - long enough to allow your most essential nature to shine through.
For years, I have worked from the inside out, healing myself in order to heal others. And as that process unfolded itself, the initial whispers of my longing turned into a raging scream of passion. It is not enough that I work with women one on one, though that still has its place. I am here to build a community of women. A container that is spacious enough, gentle enough, vibrant enough to gather and grow the energy of groups of women, as they support one another in summoning the awesome power of their true agency.
The vision is clear:
Empowering women through a dynamic process of individual and collective transformation.
I call this covn.
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
— LILLA WATSON