At Pink Jinn, we love to celebrate women each and every day, but we’ve lined up something extra special this month! We’ve joined up with the amazing team at Under the Abaya, a non-profit and creative platform based in Saudi Arabia, to raise funds for women’s initiatives across the Kingdom. Together with Twisted Comics, we’re creating a series of comic books to shout about the incredible achievements of three trailblazing Saudi women who dreamed big and are forging new paths for their sisters all across the world, and reaching dizzying new heights (and depths)!
At only fourteen years old, Saudi podcaster and speaker Rateel Alshehri is a powerful role model for Gen Alphas all across the Middle East and beyond. She launched her hugely successful podcast, Rateel Alpha Talk, when she was only 12 years old. Her trademark curiosity and approachable presenting style quickly propelled the podcast and Rateel herself into the spotlight, and her burgeoning career has gone from strength to strength ever since. With over half a million followers on both her TikTok and Instagram accounts only two years on, this is a young woman who is building one impressive platform for change.
“Life is boring when we stay within the limits of what we already know.”
Rateel’s primary audience are her Gen Alpha peers, a generation with more opportunities at their fingertips than any other in history. With more access to news, media, and more purchasing power and influence on global trends than ever before, today’s teenagers occupy an unprecedented space in society. Their curiosity, energy and drive for change make them a powerful force, and one that Rateel understands inside out. Rateel’s Alpha Talk spans topics from AI to personal growth, self-confidence, and even brand strategy, guiding her peers through uncharted waters as they grow up with a level of technology, entrepreneurial opportunities, and social engagement the world has never seen before.
‘This podcast is for Generation Alpha who are curious about the world and want to make a difference’
Some might think Rateel’s age or gender might have hampered her success, but woe betide anyone who underestimates a driven young woman. Her remarkable achievements are clear proof that Gen Alpha have both the initiative and the know-how to capitalise on the opportunities afforded by social media and modern technology, even when they have to fit in planning, filming and editing around their homework!
“My age is small. My message isn’t.”
In a shrewd choice belying her years, Rateel elected to create her content in English, casting her net wide in terms of her potential audience, but also bringing the voice of a new generation of Saudis to the rest of the world. While social media has given us unprecedented access to other cultures, lifestyles, values, and worldviews, many users across the world have failed to make the most of its boundary-breaking, border-crossing potential. By publishing her content in English, Rateel transcends geographic limits, building bridges and showcasing the drive and talent of her generation of Saudi teens. This new era is all the more remarkable given that the Saudi public were only granted access to the internet in a restricted form in 1999, and shows like Rateel’s are at the very forefront of this wave of change and openness, bringing a taste of what the Kingdom’s youth have to offer to screens and headphones all over the globe.
“Curiosity brought me here. Courage keeps me going.”
Rateel’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was invited to be the youngest speaker at the MENA Women Leaders’ Summit in Riyadh last year, was appointed as the Ambassador of Future Industrialists, and regularly rubs shoulders with the great and the good in the world of tech, from Bill Gates to Steve Wozniak. A beacon of inspiration for anyone her age with an entrepreneurial spirit, Rateel is living proof of the power of curiosity, confidence and determination. It’s a whole new world out there, and this young woman is a masterclass in how to step up and seize its opportunities with both hands.
“People always say, “When you grow up, you can achieve your dreams.” But why wait?”
Rateel’s remarkable success story is now available in comic book form as part of our collaboration with Under the Abaya and Twisted Comics, and you can pre-order your very own copy here! The project is raising funds for women’s initiatives across Saudi Arabia, so get your order in soon to support this wonderful cause!
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