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The Four Levels of Happiness
What my business taught me about success, purpose, and what truly matters A few weeks ago, I was driving my daughter to school early in the morning. She was preparing for her theology test, holding a paper in her hands and trying to memorize everything before class. As she was reading out loud, something caught my attention. The paper was talking about the different levels of happiness. The first level was the kind of happiness you get from physical things. Food, pleasure, so

Amy Astaraee
Mar 243 min read


Brax Girl Ed 38: Sahel Akbari
A Love Story Written in Fate, Culture, and Courage Some love stories begin slowly. Others arrive in a single moment, unexpected, unforgettable, and impossible to ignore. For Sahel, it began on a night meant to celebrate her birthday. While out to dinner with her family, she noticed someone seated at the table beside them. His name was Arang. What began as a simple glance quickly turned into something more powerful. “Our eyes met and just stayed there,” Sahel remembers. When A

Team Brax
Mar 154 min read


Brax Girl Ed 37: Jessica Mosallam
Rooted in Grace: A Life of Love, Faith, and Quiet Strength In a world that celebrates constant motion, Jessica Mosallam embodies something far deeper—intentional stillness, enduring strength, and a fierce devotion to her role as a wife, mother, and woman of faith. Her days are structured with purpose, filled with the rhythm of family life: from weekday routines to weekend hikes, pool days in the summer, and shared moments that tether the hearts of her husband and children to

Team Brax
Feb 124 min read


Brax Girl Special Ed 36: Sanam Pourbabaei
She Played the Violin. They Answered With a Bullet. Sanam Pourbabaei was 26. A violin teacher. A daughter. A friend. She was shot in the head during a peaceful protest on January 8, 2026, in Lahijan, Iran. She was unarmed. She was running away. She was simply present. Her family was denied access to her body for days. Only after repeated visits, and a reported payment, was she buried, under heavy surveillance. No funeral. No music. Only silence. Source: Iran International En

Team Brax
Jan 221 min read


A Quiet Miracle on Christmas Eve
A reminder that when you follow your calling, you’re never truly alone. Every year, somewhere between Christmas and New Year’s, I find myself in a quiet space. It’s a time when the noise of the year fades and reflection naturally begins. I look back at what happened, what changed, what hurt, and what moved me forward. Almost every time, something stirs inside me, something wakes up, something asks to be seen. When I was in my early twenties, someone introduced me to a book ca

Amy Astaraee
Dec 21, 20253 min read


Brax Girl Ed 35: Samantha Cheyenne-McRae
Intimate, Intentional, Unforgettable When it came to planning her wedding, Sam Cheyenne did things differently, and beautifully. Just months after getting engaged in August, she and her partner decided to skip the long engagement and create a celebration that felt completely true to them. “Originally it was supposed to be an engagement party. But then we figured, why wait?” she says. From that moment on, their focus became clarity and connection: “The day was about our rel

Team Brax
Dec 19, 20253 min read


Brax Girl Ed 34: Candice Madanipour-Willmes
When Parallel Lives Meet Paul asked Candice out on the very day his divorce was finalized. She had been his divorce attorney. At the time, Candice was also going through her own divorce, and dating was the last thing on her mind. “Definitely not as salacious as it sounds,” she says. Encouraged by her sister to “go have fun,” Candice said yes, never expecting that she’d be saying “I do” down the line. Their connection grew slowly and steadily. “We realized we had been living

Team Brax
Nov 16, 20253 min read


The Years That Taught Me Everything
Lessons from my time at the Jewelry Mart. The mistakes, the blessings, and the timing of the universe. At this stage of my life, I truly believe in the timing of the universe. Everything happens exactly when it’s meant to. For years, I used to think my time at the Jewelry Mart was a waste, that those years didn’t move me forward fast enough. But now, looking back, I see it differently. Those years were part of the plan. They were my lessons, my preparation, and the foundation

Amy Astaraee
Nov 11, 20254 min read


The System That Set Me Free
How one book, years of trial and error, and a few “super employees” helped me build the system that finally gave me freedom, in business and in life. One of the best business books I’ve ever read is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. It was around 2013 when I came across it, and that book completely changed the way I saw my business. At the time, I was doing everything myself, selling, marketing, buying, accounting, cleaning, following up with customers… you name it. I w

Amy Astaraee
Nov 11, 20253 min read
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