Iman Mutlaq: Behind the Scenes of a Woman’s Success

In the financial markets since 1993. This Paid Story is brought to you by INGOT Coin.Our founder and our role model Ms. Iman Mutlaq is a true warrior with an unwavering soul that has probably faced more challenges, obstacles and setbacks than your average man, oh and yes she is a woman!!!

I am the furthest person from a sexist and I say it with joy and pride. Many people say “A Woman needs to cook and take care of the kids” OR “A Woman can not do a man’s job because of their physical attributes”. Ya right !! Iman Mutlaq did what men fail to do, she never gave up and followed her motto “I can” to remind herself that everything is attainable if you put your mind to it.

Willpower and the Need to Provide

Iman had quite a rough childhood where she her hero, her father, when she was just 6 years old. Growing up without a male figure she had to depend on herself, her mom and sister. Back in the day; in the 60’s & 70’s, it was even more difficult for women to advance in their careers. Women were expected to find a husband, care for them, provide for the family and let the husband handle the work. It was even more extreme in her case as she was in Saudi Arabia at the time, where the male population was in fact the dominating gender and mostly in control of the women’s duties.

At 16 years old, Iman had already obtained her first job. Her job was primarily to engrave client’s names, birthdays and any requested customized text in pens, notebook and a variety of souvenirs. She then went on to establish her own export-import business at the age of 18. A couple of years after later, she got married to her husband, Talaat, and they started their lives together. Iman had quit school to work and moved with her mother, husband and sister to Egypt to continue living there and find better opportunities. Iman was able to excel in her job in Egypt, starting in the financial industry. Unfortunately, both Iman’s marriage and her job were short lived .

Around 1999 she got divorced to her husband after conceiving 2 boys from him and moved to Jordan due to challenges at her work and with her team which at the time were all male. What you need to understand is that most of the time and especially in a business setting men are insecure and feel emasculated when a woman who works for them does better than them; the result is firing and/or forcing the women to quit.

Women are very emotionally intelligent and in most cases establish a stronger connection with their kids as they have carried them for 9 months and brought them to life. Iman Mutlaq fought and fought and fought for her boys, just like any mother of any species on the planet. She fought and took them under her wings to not only assure them food and shelter, but also the best education and lifestyle that she did not have the privilege to experience. She traveled to Jordan shortly after her divorce and started a new page and a new beginning. She barely had enough money to cover daily expenditures for herself, her children and her mom. That never stopped her though and never kept her down. She kept working and climbing up the ranks with her family in her mind. Two years later after hard work, Iman finally had a steady income and was doing a lot better.

“ Yes, I am a Woman. That never held me back, it motivated me every single day” Iman Mutlaq

The family moved together to U.A.E, where at the time the country was providing great opportunities. Iman enrolled her children in excellent schools that provided the highest education and partnered up with a strategic firm for 30% of the company shares and equity. She worked day and night and proved to everyone that just because she is a woman it does not mean she can not keep up or even get ahead of the whole team. Iman learned and flourished, she gave everything to the financial firm. Of course that is not the happy ending of this story. As I mentioned, some men tend to get really insecure when a woman surpasses them and their ego starts kicking in and gets the better of them.

The firm abandoned Iman and ignored all the money and success she brought in. When it was time to pay up, the partners fired her and told her that the company does not owe her anything. Iman decided not to fight back. I never really understood why she did not fight these horrible, greedy and ungrateful excuse of men back. She never gave up what was hers, but it got clearer and clearer as time passed. It was all for the sake of her family. Iman was not ready to sacrifice or put in danger what she considered a part of her own flesh and blood. It is that type of unconditional love and connection that makes a women much more intelligent than men at these crucial times while learning exactly and cautiously the cause and effect.

The Journey Not The Destination

Most recent picture of Iman and some of the INGOT Brokers team in China during a FX Expo

Iman believes that mistakes are one of your most valuable assets, but only if you really learn from them and pick up yourself and start again. At the time Iman was excelling in the U.A.E, she felt the tension coming from the eccentric male population in the firm. She decided to keep some money safe back in Amman, which she used to get a house and provide for the family upon moving back.

The family once again picked up their bags and migrated back to Amman, Jordan. At this point Iman saw the world differently, her kids were older; one being 14 years old and the other 10 years old. She also made sure that her mom was with her wherever she went. The picture was as clear as a summer’s day. Iman knew that she could no longer work for someone and that she had to run things with her own hands. It was time to open up shop !

In 2003 Iman founded her financial advisory firm, Sigma Investments. Iman hired a young and dedicated team to help her establish and run her firm. The sun started shining in a whole different way, and doors started opening up. Around 2005, Iman founded her brokerage firm, INGOT Brokers, and hired more young and qualified employees ranging from sales, IT and customer service to accountants, managers and marketing departments. With every year passing, Iman expanded her business and reach more and more to finally acquire the ASIC license from the Australian regulatory body.

In every story there is some sort of turn of events due to persistence and discipline and in this story, it is that time period . During this whole time she provided the best lives for her children and her mom including the best available schools, food, housing and luxurious lifestyle. She was never really able to spend quality time with her family and had sacrificed that to provide a better future for all of them. Mutlaq was known between all her friends as well as her children’s friends as the busy bee that was always on the move. One time she traveled over 48 hours, landed for 6 hours in Jordan and continued her travels for over a 2 months period.

As Mutlaq’s work was beginning to translate into results and income she went on to establish a new start-up, Dreamtechs, a web and app development firm in Jordan. She also started attending to Art of Living courses and eventually became the first AOL teacher in Jordan, Amman. The achievements after that just grew exponentially, from being nominated in Forbes multiple times as one of the top 50 strongest women in the Middle East, to obtaining the title of ambassador of goodwill and peace in Jordan. Iman never got comfortable and kept expanding further and further until she was leading the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) markets and provided new innovative services that did not exist beforehand, such as the MENA region equity shares and indices instruments which is INGOT Brokers’ exclusive product.

Iman with one of her mentors, Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Her latest initiative and established company is an ICO, INGOT Coin . Iman strongly believes in Blockchain and the technology behind it. The moment she heard about Blockchain, Iman and her team began solving current challenges available in the traditional markets. The aim of INGOT Coin is to connect the Crypto markets to the traditional markets but even before that INGOT Coin aims to first connect the Crypto markets together to make that transition actually beneficial and possible.

If You Take; You Give

Iman and a team from Jordan scaled Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and raised $1.3 million for cancer research.

If something good happens to you do not ignore it and forget it. If someone brings you a present for no reason and it is something you have wanted or really appreciate, then the right thing is to do is thank that person and repay their kindness with a present of your own. Life is the same, you have a responsibility to do good in the world and give back just as you are given. If something unpleasant happens to you, guess what??? Again do something good and be grateful it was not worse, be grateful because there is a reason behind it and be grateful because it might have taught you something that just might be one of the most valuable lessons.

Giving back does not always have to do with money. There are so many ways you can give back that will not necessarily make you spend a lot of money. You can volunteer to help refugees, build homes, donate blood, compliment someone or even do a friend a favor without asking anything in return.

Mutlaq strongly believes in social responsibility and giving back to the community in anyway you are capable of no matter how small, it might be huge for someone else. Mutlaq also believes in the law of attraction and that by doing good you attract more good to yourself and your life.

At INGOT Group, we have values that we always abide by and follow:

1. Integrity
2. Honesty
3. Open Communication
4. Customer Satisfaction
5. Continuous Learning
6. Social Responsibility

Looking Back At It

Empowering women to have the courage to say “ I can”“ I did not let anyone or anything stop me because my determination was far more than anyone could handle. I lost everything more than 3 times, but I stood up, looked at where I fell to learn my lessons and never looked back again”. Iman Mutlaq

Do not feel sorry for yourself and blame the world for your misfortunes, thank it because just like that, it is teaching you valuable lessons and making you stronger. Gender, religion, ethnicity or even age plays a very little part in your success. Know how to use it to your advantage and always know that the only one that is stopping you is YOU. Fall down 100 times, and as long as you are back on your feet 101 times, with a lesson learned and looking ahead, then you will be wiser, stronger and more successful. No one said it was going to be easy, but no one said it was impossible either. It all depends on your willpower and how bad you want the life you are aiming for.

How Do I Know So Much About The Founder, Iman Mutlaq?

Starting with me, furthest to the left. My brother, Hossam furthest to the right.

All these years she was working hard, I was there. All the years she fell, picked up herself and started over again, I was there. All the times she succeeded I was there. I watched and absorbed everything she taught me and will always be grateful for her love to me and her willpower to provide what she was not given. Why did she provide for me all these years and care so much? I am the youngest son in the family that was moving along with her every step of the way. She now stands tall and proud as she sees her older son (Hossam), married and accomplished. As for me, newly engaged and soon to be married, I feel an undying and unwavering fire to payback a long due debt to the woman who sacrificed everything for my sake. You know what makes her truly a role model to thousands and thousands of people including myself? Her smile. The gratitude in her smile is always there, no matter where the world takes her.

Thank you for never giving up and always giving us the best the world had to offer. This is our founder, this is our role model, who is yours?

Iman Mutlaq: Behind the Scenes of a Woman’s Success was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.