“At Concordia, you had a balanced life as a student within a bigger community. This has served me really well by learning to always think about different stakeholders.”
Over the past 20 years, Ashkan Karbasfrooshan has helped build two immensely successful brands: first at the hit website AskMen, and now as founder of WatchMojo, one of the 25 all-time largest YouTube channels.
“Five years ago, we made investments in a lot of different areas. After a lot of hard work, we are reaping the fruits of that labour, so to speak,” says the chief executive officer and editor-in-chief who has authored more than 1,000 articles and interviewed hundreds of newsmakers and celebrities.
Although WatchMojo continues to innovate as it expands its audiences to new platforms and different languages, Karbasfrooshan says he is also taking more time to focus on internal growth.
Focusing on gratitude
“The past year has been yet another reminder of the importance of perspective and the privilege that we have. I really want to focus more on gratitude over expectations.
“I also challenged my team be very grateful for the position that we have because we have a fun job where we cover pop culture. It’s a dynamic industry, and we have the luxury of having front-row seats to this YouTube revolution.”
Definition of success
“Ultimately, success is really about striving for balance, even though it’s really hard to attain. It’s like a journey to a destination you never arrive at.”
On career motivation
“I’ve always been very service-oriented. I’ve always had an inner drive and had great opportunities.
“Once I realized I have it quite good because of hard work and sacrifice, I’ve wanted to keep giving back in different ways to have an impact. Since I have that kind of servant-leadership mindset, I find myself spending more time helping the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Concordia’s contribution
“By the time I came out of Concordia, I was extremely confident and ready to go into the business world. Part of it was the education. At Concordia, you had a balanced life as a student within a bigger community. This has served me really well by learning to always think about different stakeholders.”