About Arsiak

Have you ever felt like you’re meant to live a greater life, but you have no idea how to make it happen? 

My mission is to empower you to turn your dreams into reality. 

Born in Chicago, I was raised in a small town in Arkansas where I never truly fit in. My dreams were too big for my surroundings. After graduating from Northeastern Illinois University, I moved back to Chicago to launch my career as a realtor. Time and time again, I met with people who told me my dream was impossible, that there was no room for me in the luxury real estate market. Do you know what I did next? I thanked them for their time and proved them wrong. I refused to take no for an answer. Ever since then, I’ve helped hundreds of clients make a home in the city I love. 

Then 2008 came along, and my life completely unraveled. At the age of 30, I found myself broke and divorced in the same year. Everything I had worked so hard to achieve crashed to the ground. It took me a while to find my footing and regain my confidence. I ended up returning to school to study broadcasting at the Illinois Center for Broadcasting. After graduating, I interned at NBC and worked on a variety of radio and TV shows, including Dr. Sandy, Fox News Chatroom, and My City’s Just Not That Into Me. I gradually got back into real estate. It took time and hard work to rebuild my life, but once I did, I felt more empowered than ever. 

After emerging from the toughest period of my life, I resolved to use the lessons I learned to help other women who are struggling. In relationships, career, and finance, I’ve made more mistakes than I can count. I don’t regret a single one of them. Each misstep taught me something important and put me on the path to a more fulfilling, more compassionate life. Today, I’m happily remarried and thriving in my career as I leverage my experiences to inspire other women to live with purpose and confidence. 

My digital video series, Smart is the New Sexy, creates a venue for dynamic female thought leaders to tell their stories and share their insights. I’m currently working with my amazing team to launch Season 2 of the series, with the goal of expanding its scope past Chicago to the rest of the country and beyond. The women we interview on Smart is the New Sexy come from all walks of life. They work in different industries. They’re experiencing their own unique challenges. But they all have at least one thing in common: They live with purpose, and their purpose drives their passion. They’re turning their dreams into reality every day. My goal in producing Smart is the Next Sexy is to empower you to do the same. 

While I devote most of my time to working with other women, I also love investing in the lives of the kids in my community. I’m proud to serve on the board of Embarc Chicago, a three-year program that provides experiential learning opportunities to low-income high school students. I’m always striving to be a role model to high school girls in particular by hosting events and helping them develop life skills. I also volunteer for The Simple Good, an arts program that helps inner-city students express themselves through art and music. 

In my spare time, I love being with family, discovering new restaurants, working out, and traveling the world. I live in Chicago’s West Bucktown neighborhood with my wonderful husband, Amir, and our two teacup Yorkies, Coco and Peanut.