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Amir Nadimi, Founder
BODAZEY or BUST:
An E-Zine Unlike Any OtherHow do you portray strength, culture, and artistry when mass media has marked you unequivocally otherwise? Barraged by negative stereotypes of Iranians and Iranian culture, Amir Nadimi, 29, founded BODAZEY.COM as a vehicle to draw attention to the abundance of burgeoning artists, performers, models, musicians, designers, and actors of his culture. When he launched operations in 2003, his e-magazine wasn't quite garnering the full attention it receives today. His website and talent matured over the last few years, however, and Amir now sees the fruits of his labor evident through a 148-country circulation craving more of this inspiring and thought-provoking cultural publication. With successes abounding, Amir still contends with censorship restrictions in his homeland; despite this, he knows that the essence BODAZEY.COM will ultimately outweigh any attempt to curtail artistic expression. Read on in this week's The MidEastConnect to find out more on this Montreal-based young professional and how to tap into his registry of phenomenal talent.
Company
BODAZEY.COM: fashioning the gap between East & West
Founded
January 2003
Website
www.bodazey.com
Name, Title
Amir Nadimi
Editor
Founder
Publisher
Age
29
Hometown
Tehran, Iran
Current residence
Montreal, Canada
Education
Concordia University, Bachelor's, Political Science, 2003
Work Experience
Telus Corporation, Client Business Analyst (present)
Ethnicity
Persian (Iranian)
About the company
BODAZEY.COM is the culmination of a university graduate who was frustrated with the portrayal (or lack thereof) of Middle Eastern and specifically Iranians in most mainstream media outlets. In light of major global events since September 11, 2001 and the lack of a voice available to shed light on positive and modern characteristics of Iranians, I felt compelled to create an alternative outlet for self-expression as well as presentation of fashion, style and beauty in order to bridge the gap for many young people in the North American Iranian Diaspora who are disconnected from their Iranian culture while growing up in the West.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities?
Besides my regular 9-to-5 employment, I network with different Iranian internet media outlets and search for unique stories and talented individuals within the global Iranian community that have broken barriers in mainstream and alternative arts, as well as fashion and beauty. It is not an everyday occurrence that we hear about these kind of individuals and or businesses, so a large amount of my day-to-day chores consist of a lot of searching via the net and word of mouth. Our readers have also been a great source of leads for feature stories about many of the people you may see profiled on BODAZEY.COM.
Most notable milestones
In 2004, we inaugurated the models section where we feature some of the most exotic and beautiful Iranian people in the field of fashion. The site's traffic multiplied by tenfold in 2 days. It was then that I knew I had an incentive to build on our concept as a fashion and beauty cultural e-mag and then things really took off from there.
What's the niche?
The site gained its notoriety and is unique in the way that we are the world's 'Official Home of Persian Models' on the internet. With the largest pictorial collection of models to be found, this highly popular exclusive is understandably the most visited section on BODAZEY.COM.
What's the biggest challenge?
In our effort to reach out to all Iranians, our present challenge is getting around internet censors that do not allow our fellow country men and women to access our site from Iran proper. Naturally due to Islamic restrictions to some of our pictorial content, BODAZEY.COM is not accessible to the wider audience that it could reach if it were not for Islamic government censors in place which have thus far failed in their attempt to divide or control the tremendous amount of daily traffic that takes place amongst defiant student bloggers amongst other things.
What's in store for the future?
We plan to keep presenting unique content about unique individuals as much as possible. I've always taken pride about BODAZEY's alternative presence which has also helped to bring closer some of our readers who may also have alternative lifestyles and orientation. We have been visited and viewed in over 148 countries to date including Iceland and the occupied Palestinian Territories. BODAZEY is for non-Iranians as much as it is for Iranians. In fact, our goal is to now try to reach out to other cultures.
Who would you like to be contacted by?
Artists, models, designers, advertisers and of course contributors to our content base. If you study journalism and or enjoy writing anything related to Iranian culture, feel free to contact me.
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Amir with MP George Galloway
Best way to keep a competitive edge
Persistence and consistency. Many people may aspire to many things, but it is the persistent and consistent ones that persevere in the end.
Guiding principle in life
Fight mediocrity!
What motivated you to get started?
To be a voice for myself and others out there that feel underrepresented.
Like best about what you do?
Being able to touch base with prominent Iranian celebrities on one-on-one basis and learning more about my own culture as well.
Like least about what you do?
BODAZEY.COM is pretty much a one man operation and it's not always easy to make time for the meticulous task of designing the site as well as writing, editing and publishing it. Therefore, a lack of time is always an issue.
At age 10, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A military leader.
What was your first job?
Working in a video store.
Biggest pastime outside of work
Wining and dining with friends.
Person most interested in meeting
Fidel Castro, for his undying perseverance and self-belief and the fact that he is the longest reigning statesmen on the face of the Earth. The closest I've gotten so far is 40 feet away.
Leader in business most interested in meeting
Oprah Winfrey. I'd like to ask her how she can stay silent and apolitical in a time when America's soul and moral fiber is corroding right under its people's feet, how can prominent media icons such as herself not take a public stance on the issues at hand?
Three interesting facts about yourself
1. I was a former nightclub promoter.
2. I've worked security detail for a high ranking international diplomat.
3. When I scratch my upper lip, I feel it under my eye socket due to nerve damage in my face from a bar brawl.
Three characteristics that describe you
1. Charismatic
2. Eccentric
3. Gregarious
Three greatest passions
1. Music
2. World Politics
3. Comedy & Humor
Favorite book
"Reminiscence of the Cuban Revolutionary War" by Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Favorite cause
Struggles for social justice wherever they may be.
Is there anything else you!d like to add?
The internet has forever changed traditional forms of communication. It has empowered the voiceless and voiced the powerless. TIME Magazine's 2006 "Person of the Year" was "You," meaning everybody as creators of content and media. This is evidence of "big media's" submission to us, the people. This did not happen overnight and it is in major part thanks to the hundreds of thousands of bloggers out there and others who have taken initiative to express themselves and share it on the web. In that respect I am also delighted to be amongst individuals who has been empowered to be able to share my content with the world at large.
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