“A disruptive guide for curing self-sabotage, building your self-awareness and showing up as your authentic, vulnerable and powerful self.”

“A practical and inspired call for any woman who wants to rewrite the narrative of her success — and pay her efforts forward into the world.”

What Is The Glass Ledge About?

We’ve all heard of the “glass ceiling” – referencing the external oppression women still experience in the workplace. Yet even for those of us who break through the societal barriers to success, there’s a much bigger danger: internalized oppression, or self-imposed glass ceilings.

Women face judgment issues in career progression, communication, and appearance, and as a result, we often adopt strategies that hold us further back.

The Glass Ledge explores these self-imposed glass ceilings – often shaped by preconceived glass ceilings – often shaped by preconceived societal expectations and outdated gender stereotypes – in a way that doesn’t blame women or society. It focuses instead on our individual actions and provides tools to change ourselves faster than the outside world will change for us.

I will prompt you to ask yourself tough questions and uncover uncomfortable answers. And rather than asking what society needs to do differently or blaming it for what it hasn’t done for us, we will help each other hold sway over our circumstances by asking ourselves:

What can I do differently?

iman oubou

A message from the author:

I wrote this book because of my diverse set of pivots and the self-knowledge I acquired along the way. It took me years to recognize that while external barriers do exist, my biggest barrier has been my own flawed self-worth. I wore down, I burned out, I failed, I went broke, my mascara ran and ran out, but ultimately I came out the other side with a different perspective on success, one that aligns me with living my own truth rather than falling victim to expectations set by the outside world.

I stopped allowing a dysfunctional society to turn me into a dysfunctional woman.

And my hope is that this book will help you acquire the necessary self-knowledge to stop too.

order your book and...

Start exploring the ten nuanced themes that are most likely to derail you when you least expect it, including power, likability, presentation, authenticity, conflict, confidence, balance, competition expertise, and belonging.

Each of these 10 themed chapters begins with examples of sabotaging inner dialogue that will help you identify those voices within yourself. Then I offer stories from my journey to help you unpack how that theme might be showing up in your life. Each chapter also includes advice from accomplished women in my network, credible third-party research about why we act the way we do—and how to reclaim the story of our lives – as well as exercises that will help you put the content to work right away.

While societal norms around gender dynamics have shifted, there’s still a long way to go. But if we can’t free ourselves from the oppression that lies within our internal beliefs, and the self-sabotaging behaviors that stem from it, how will we achieve collective freedom?

“You don’t have to wait for the culture or society to change for You. You have the power to rewrite the scripts that will determine how you think, behave—and succeed. And this book will help you unleash that power.”

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This book not only teaches us to re-evaluate ourselves and our circumstances but it also shows us how to extract insight from our most damaging habits so we can step out of our own way and into our potential.

Evy Poumpouras
Former Secret Service Agent, Author of Becoming Bulletproof

Iman nails it! The Glass Ledge says the quiet parts out loud. This book really allows women to sit in self-reflection, self-acceptance and self-accountability at the same time. My favorite chapter addresses the buzziest business concept of the moment, “Authenticity.” Iman plainly and boldly identifies “Authenticity” as the current gold standard for leadership, and then she articulates our frustration…what does “Authenticity” really mean? And how do we lean into our “Authenticity” when we are still figuring out who we REALLY are. This book answers these questions and more with simple, transformative and empowering guidance. It’s super organized, easy to process, and an energetic read. The Glass Ledge is THE book for all women looking to live their professional dreams while being true to themselves and their personal happiness.

Eboni K. Williams
Attorney, Journalist & “Real Housewives of New York” Cast Member

As women, self-sabotage and imposter syndrome can easily creep into our mindset and, at times, even derail our trajectory to success. The Glass Ledge offers guidance on how to pave a new path on your own terms while embracing your true, authentic self along the way. A must read for women in all stages of their careers!

Cindy Eckert
CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals and The Pink Ceiling

This disruptive guide is a must buy for every woman looking to reach her full potential.

Heather Monahan
Best-Selling Author of Overcome Your Villains

The Glass Ledge is essential reading for making the shift from being your own worst enemy to becoming your own best friend.

May Busch
Executive Coach, Speaker, Author and Former COO for Morgan Stanley Europe

About The Author

Iman Oubou is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, published scientist, and a beauty pageant winner on a mission to change the women’s media landscape. She won the title of Miss New York United States and was second runner up at the 2015 Miss United States Pageant. Iman was awarded the “Women’s Advocate of the Year” Award in 2019 in Dubai and has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Inc., Fortune, Vogue Arabia, and The Huffington Post.

She is the Founder and President of SWAAY Media, a leading publishing platform aimed at championing female thought leadership. By providing access to editorial and writing support, as well as a supportive community of like-minded women, SWAAY has helped thousands of women tell their stories, share their expertise, and elevate their voices. Partnering with companies like Unilever and WSJ, Iman has led national events that feature conversations about female empowerment and thought leadership in the workforce. Her podcast, Women Who SWAAY, has reached millions of listeners, was number two on iTunes in 2015 and ranked in the top five best podcasts for women entrepreneurs by Inc. Magazine.

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The Glass Ledge provides a simple yet balanced perspective that will help women rewrite their inner dialogue, reject who they have been told to be and become who they are meant to be.

Gretchen Carlson
Acclaimed Journalist, Co-Founder Lift Our Voices, Best-selling Author, Empowerment Advocate

In The Glass Ledge, Iman explores the phenomenon of self-sabotage that women tend to wield on themselves as they’re breaking through the glass ceiling. Sharing her own personal and professional experiences and with the guidance of many iconic women around the world she lays out the rationale for why we as women allow ourselves to get in our own way. And, even more importantly, the very simple steps and homework we should all do to acknowledge and mitigate the glass ledge. It’s funny, thought-provoking, insightful, and a great resource to successfully navigate this wild world as a woman looking to create change.

Allyson Witherspoon
Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Nissan U.S.

Self-sabotage is a slippery slope and what’s the best way to catch your footing? Iman Oubou’s brilliant new book, The Glass Ledge. If you’re a woman and feel that you’re getting in your own way, this book can catch you before you fall out of balance.

Fran Hauser
Former President of Time Inc. Digital, Startup Investor, Author of The Myth of The Nice Girl

How do you prove your value in a fundamentally unequal environment? How do you navigate rooms where you are underrepresented? Author Iman Oubou tackles these common challenges with psychological insights and practical grit. At a time when more corporations are talking up diversity, Oubou confronts how external limits can be internalized — and why deeper progress means not only changing how businesses run, but also the way we think. The Glass Ledge contributes to an important conversation for everyone who cares about equality, from workplaces to across our society.

The Glass Ledge

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