Mona Bavar is an entrepreneur, storyteller, and the founder of BlueApples.ai and DLISH. She builds businesses that merge creativity, technology, and human connection. BlueApples.ai helps entrepreneurs use AI as a strategic partner, making content creation and business growth more intuitive. DLISH transforms gifting into storytelling, curating meaningful experiences that go beyond the ordinary. Her work is about pushing boundaries while staying deeply connected to what matters—innovation, authenticity, and the power of ideas that last.
Could you elaborate on the nature of your business, highlighting its purpose and the ways it benefits people?
My work is about the balance between innovation and intuition, technology and the human touch. BlueApples.ai helps entrepreneurs use AI as a creative partner—one that enhances their ideas, sharpens their messaging, and streamlines their work without losing authenticity. It’s not about automation for the sake of efficiency, but about making AI feel like an extension of their own thinking.
DLISH turns gifting into storytelling, curating objects and experiences that bring people together. Whether through beautifully designed gifts or sensory-driven dining experiences, it’s about creating moments that matter. At the core of both businesses is a simple idea: innovation should feel human, meaningful, and built to last.
What inspired you to start your journey as a coach and entrepreneur? Were there any specific events, challenges, or people that motivated you to take this path?
I never set out to be an entrepreneur—it was something I became by following the questions that wouldn’t leave me alone. Why do some brands feel unforgettable while others disappear? How do you grow without losing what makes something special? And how can technology, especially AI, support creativity rather than strip it away?
DLISH was born from a love of storytelling, of bringing people together through objects and experiences that carry meaning. BlueApples.ai came from seeing entrepreneurs struggle—not because they lacked ideas, but because they were drowning in the demands of content, marketing, and strategy. AI seemed like the answer, but too often, it was being used in a way that felt cold and mechanical. I wanted to change that.
Selling, scaling, and standing out weren’t things I knew instinctively—I had to figure them out along the way. The process taught me that creativity and strategy only work when they support each other, that growth means knowing what to hold onto and what to let go of. Now, I help other entrepreneurs do the same, making sure they can build and expand without losing what makes their work theirs.
Looking back at the beginning of your career, what were the major challenges you faced when establishing yourself as a leader/coach? How did you overcome those obstacles?
In the beginning, I thought success was about getting things right—having the perfect strategy, the right timing, the clearest path forward. What I didn’t realize was that the real work had nothing to do with those things. It was about me—the beliefs I carried, the fears that held me back, the stories I didn’t even realize I was telling myself.
I had to unlearn the idea that working harder meant I deserved success. Selling felt uncomfortable. Putting myself out there felt unnatural. Asking for what I was worth felt impossible. I kept waiting to feel ready, until I finally understood that waiting was just another way of hiding.
Entrepreneurship is so much more than success—it’s a confrontation with everything we believe about ourselves. It’s the moments we push forward when the fear is loud, the times we stay with the discomfort instead of retreating. Growth doesn’t come from certainty; it comes from stepping into the unknown before the answers are clear.
Would you like to share any remarkable achievements?
DLISH started as a way to bring storytelling into gifting—to turn objects into something that carried meaning, something people would hold onto long after the moment had passed. BlueApples.ai grew from the same instinct—helping entrepreneurs use AI in a way that felt natural, intuitive, and aligned with their creativity instead of replacing it.
Building something original meant pushing against expectations, selling a vision before others could see it, and holding onto ideas that didn’t fit neatly into existing categories. The real achievement has been staying committed to what felt right, even when the easier option was to follow what had already been done. Every challenge—figuring out how to scale without losing meaning, learning how to sell without feeling transactional, creating without diluting the vision—became part of the process. That’s what makes the work matter.
Women are a growing force in workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. What are your thoughts about women in leadership today?
Women are leading, building, and making decisions that shift the way business is done—not by following what came before, but by creating something entirely their own. Leadership isn’t about fitting into structures that were never designed for us. It’s about reshaping them, challenging what power looks like, and proving that success doesn’t have to come at the cost of intuition, collaboration, or authenticity.
The question was never whether women are capable. The real challenge is the expectation that leadership should look a certain way—that women have to prove themselves in ways men never do, that confidence should be packaged carefully to be accepted. The more women build without waiting for permission, the more the conversation shifts from proving we belong to leading on our own terms.
What message/advice would you have for future women leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs?
You already have everything you need to start. The ideas, the instincts, the talents—they’re already there. The work is in trusting them, refining them, and bringing them forward.
Every successful entrepreneur started without knowing exactly how things would unfold. Growth happens in the doing, in showing up before the confidence fully forms. There’s no single right way to lead, no formula that guarantees success. What matters is staying connected to what drives you, learning to sell your vision, and not letting doubt dictate what’s possible. The path forward is built step by step, and the only way to see what’s ahead is by taking the first one.
