LCL • local • living a creative life

Nejoud Al-Yagout is a poet, writer, and founder of Coexist Kuwait, known for her calming presence and support in the Kuwait art scene. We sat down with her for this episode, in which she tells us about her experience self-publishing her 12 books of poetry and novels, as well as what she believes gets in artists' way when creating their best work: ourselves. She urges us to get out of our own way, listen to the voice guiding us through creating our masterpieces, and give ourselves the time and space needed to get it all out, even if it takes days upon days of creating. 

Rocker and singer-songwriter Abzy grew up trying to be Eminem, then figured out it wasn't for him. He kicked off his music career with a win at British School of Kuwait's Battle of the Bands in the early 2000s, and since then, he's been hooked, writing lyrics and music, switching up musical styles and exploring songwriting choices.  Music is his passion, and he believes that following your passion is the best way to live a life you're proud of. Tune in to hear more about Abzy's journey, and why staying real and true to who you are is the most important thing you can do for yourself.

Hashim AlNasser, known as BuKisha, is a guitarist, composer, and member of local recording studio The Juke Pro. He's collaborated with tons of artists and bands in every genre you can name, and he believes that's what given him the knowledge and knowhow he has: the practice of taking up every opportunity, no matter what kind of music. He shares his philosophy with us in this episode - it's better to be a jack of all trades, instead of a one-trick pony. Tune in to learn about how you can open doors to creative thinking in your own work by taking up studying a new skill.

Tarfa AlFarhan, co-creator of Souffle Beauty, a Singaporean-Kuwait skincare line, believes that you can't sell your work unless you trust in it. If you have no confidence in what you've made, you're going to have a hard time convincing others that it's good. Tune in to hear about Tarfa's journey in creating Souffle's skincare products, including where and how the idea first sparked, working with formulators, patience when it comes to paperwork, and sales. You'll take a peek behind the scenes of what it takes to grow an international brand, and how you can apply those strategies to your creative work.

In this episode, your faves (none other than co-hosts Salloul and Rawa) answer the questions you sent in. We chat about our motivation behind starting LCL, what a creative must do or needs to have in order to *be* a creative, and whether or not creativity means making something completely new. A special thank you to you guys, the lovely listeners who sent us questions for this episode.

Check out Done with Grace with Haider Al-Mosawi: http://www.lclpronouncedlocal.com/dwg

Show notes for this episode: http://lclpronouncedlocal.com/2019/08/13/q&a1/

Engy Ibrahim, poet and artist, is a cliché and proud of it. After going through a bout of existentialism, she realized that we're all truly going through the same experiences, just in different ways. She leaned in to this concept, and now bases her daily creative work on it. Tune in to this episode to hear Engy's story, and how you can embrace being a cliché, too.

What does it mean to connect with an audience, the specific portion of people who see, understand, love, and celebrate your work? In this episode, we chat with Haider Al-Mosawi, co-founder of Sirdab Lab, user experience designer, educator, and father. Haider tells us about "personas", a User Experience (UX) technique, that helps to niche down who you're making a specific product, or piece of work, for. We chat about making mistakes and learning from them, "getting out of the building", and how to juggle all of your passions and potentials. Tune in!

What does it mean to have a thoughtful conversation? In this episode, Sahar Deinparvar, physiotherapist, upcoming psychologist, and co-founder of Inspirational Hangouts, shares her thoughts on discussion, conversation, and how the mind and body interact. Tune in to hear about how to inject the world and people around you into your work by listening to their thoughts and stories, and what it means to uplevel your community by discussing the topics that mean the most.

In this episode, co-hosts Salloul and Rawa chat about creative procrastination and why we creatives tend to put off crafting, which makes us feel fulfilled, for Netflix and other distractions, which only feel good in the moment. We talk about our own issues with procrastination, and then give some techniques we've used to "put off" procrastinating and actually get to work on making stuff and practicing our passions. 

Sandi Ismail finds refuge in embroidery. Being alone, with only the small sounds of needle and thread through canvas, is the way she finds solace from the worries of everyday life. Tune in to learn more about finding your refuge in crafting, and how to make the jump from corporate to "finding your voice" in the mess of music out there.

This episode is the first of a series called "Deeper Dive", in which your co-hosts Salloul and Rawa discuss what we've learned from interviews so far. In this episode, we talk a little about Yara Meraki's mention of studying her passion (and how we believe it isn't the be-all-end-all of life), what it means to have "talent" (nobody is born with it, not even incredible dancer Doss), and chat a little more about Zouz's encouragement of exploring adjacent fields to your own.

Join in on the conversation happening on Instagram: www.instagram.com/lclpronouncedlocal/

Sarah Chouari, an artpreneur at Artspace who expresses herself best through doodles and paint, joins us in this episode. She has some business advice, some artist advice, and it all boils down to: stop being a victim and design your day according to your priorities. Tune in to find out more.

We talk with Ali AlHasan, co-owner of Caffeine and Business Intelligence Systems, and father to two beautiful girls. Ali talks self-victimization with us in this episodes, and how to ditch entitlement and take responsibility for your life.

Welcome to LCL, pronounced local, or Living a Creative Life! Co-hosts Salloul and Rawa chat about who they are and why they started this podcast.