Speaker

Zen Media, CEO & Best-Selling Author

“I feel so grateful that ANOKHI has chosen me as one of their 2018 recipients. I am eagerly looking forward to sharing my journey, my lessons, and insights with the attendees of the summit. A platform like ANOKHI affords me a unique opportunity to share my lessons en masse. And, of course, a red carpet walk is always a wonderful way to end any summit! ANOKHI knows just how to combine smarts and glamour!”

Shama Hyder is an Indian-American entrepreneur, author, public speaker, and online and television personality. She is the chief executive officer of Zen Media, a global marketing and new media firm she founded in 2009. She is also the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue – 4th Edition, and Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age.

Hyder was born on 25 April, 1985, in Goa, India. She moved with her family to the United States in 1994 and settled in Dallas, Texas. Following graduation from R. L. Turner High School in Carrollton, she attended the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. She received her master’s degree in Organizational Communication and Technology in 2008.

Hyder launched Zen Media in 2009 at the age of 23 and the company averaged 400 percent growth in the first year alone. Zen Media focuses on social media and digital marketing, and has made a name for itself by creating viral campaigns for companies such as Chase Business, Dippin’ Dots, and more.

She is an international keynote speaker, lecturing on marketing, leadership, millennials, entrepreneurship, technology, and related topics for NASA, Bentley University, Hubspot, Siemens, Sysco, and other Fortune 500 companies, and has been invited to share the stage with President Barack Obama and with the Dalai Lama.

Hyder has worked closely with the Young Entrepreneur Council to foster youth entrepreneurship globally. She was the only woman delegate invited by the U.S. State Department to mentor tech entrepreneurs in Cairo as part of President Obama’s initiative in the region.

Dubbed the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by FastCompany.com, Hyder has received numerous awards, including the Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO award. She was named one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 by Businessweek in 2009, one of the Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs in America by Inc. in 2014, and to the Forbes top 30 Under 30 Movers and Shakers list for 2015. LinkedIn has named Hyder one of its Top Voices in Marketing and Social two years in a row, and the White House and the United Nations have honored her as one of the leading 100 young entrepreneurs in the United States.

PHOTO CREDIT

Courtesy of Shama Hyder