This episode is all about how Haitian French Chilean Singer-songwriter-performer, AYIITI, tackles issues such as having different audiences, belonging to different cultures as well as musical evolution that is in tune to all the facets of her and her audience's identity. In this episode we do a deep-dive on the creative process of an international …

This episode is with PhD candidate, Intimacy and Sex Expert (and High-School friend), Tugce Balik. She talks to me about all things intimacy, pleasure, self love (and how those things look different to everybody), chemistry vs. compatibility, erotic communication and more. Listen to how Tugce tackles the taboos surrounding sexuality, how she normal…

Today's episode is with an old colleague of mine, Alex Russel. Alex is the Assistant Vice President Of Political Risk and Structured Credit at Marsh and in this episode he talks to me about what political risk insurance is, what events are could be considered as a risk to a company, what is claimable, how it is calculated and who the key players ar…

Listen to my chat with New Zealand's very own singer songwriter, Alayna. We discuss songwriting, how it works, the artist- songwriter dynamic, the business behind it, and the mechanisms that are in place to write a hit song! She also tells me about how murky the waters get when it comes to music rights and one can draw the line between inspiration …

Today's episode is all about how shopping small and shopping locally can help preserve tradition and heritage around a common love we all share: food! To help break down this phenomena is Entrepreneur, Consultant, Engineer and Co-Founder of a specialized "mouneh" épicerie fine, Feryal, in Beirut (Lebanon), Kamel Taha. We discuss the importance of r…

Smart But Dumb is back! Kicking off season 2 with my friend, Dahlia Dandashi! Dahlia is a Lebanese/Syrian-American creative content producer who was born in Houston, Texas but grew up in Dubai, UAE. Though she began her career as a writer and editor, she transitioned to freelance content production focusing on photography, creative direction, copyw…

I chat with Poonam Daswani, Director of Finance at a nonprofit, Village Health Works, to talk about how NGOs are navigating today's climate. She tells me about what nonprofits need to do to stay economically viable and socially relevant these days and how a shift in priorities and diversification of revenue streams can pave the way forward. Poonam'…

My Freshman college year suitemate, Ashley, NYU Stern grad, now a Manager of Corporate Strategy at Breakthru Beverage Group, a wine and spirit distributor gives me a "what-I-need-to-know-about-wine"- 101 talk. She’s my WINEY friend without any whining. She took her passion for wine and really took it to the next level- she tells me how to describe …

I chat with a high school friend now illustrator, Adem Kaan, who breaks down the business and BTS of illustrating. He tells me all about what his job actually entails, how he gets it done, famous illustrators that I should know about and how social media can help an illustrator's career. Adem's industry references & inspirations: Shepherd Ferry Mar…

Part II of my conversation with hospitality professional, Karim Agha, where we talk about how restaurants can play a huge role in returning-citizen employment in the United States. He tells me about the staggering unemployment in the returning citizens' community, recidivism, and how COVID 19 is making the unemployment process even more disadvantag…

In Part I of my chat with Karim Agha, we talk restaurants in a COVID/post-COVID world. Karim is a hospitality professional with highly diverse experience leading or overseeing multinational projects involving restaurant openings, operations management, training & development, and systems optimization and is committed to continuously examining and f…

Nicolas Sabet, Associate Attorney at K&L Gates in Washington D.C., where he is a member of the Sports Law and Corporate/M&A practice group, breaks down a world very much unknown to me: the world of esports. He tells me about the sudden growth of this branch of the video gaming industry and how companies are identifying interesting marketing plays t…

I chat with Licensed Associated Real Estate Broker at Compass and Harvard grad, Ravi Manglani, who tells me all about how COVID impacted one of the world's biggest and hottest real estate markets: New York City. We talk about how the recoveries will differ for the residential and commercial markets and what tech niche is now looking to be filled in…

CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE! In this episode I learn all about making arguably one of the most loved food items, with an engineer and management consultant turned chocolatier: Noor! She is NO Chocolate's Founder but also chocolatier, packer, shipper, marketing, social media, sales, ops, and everything in between! Noor tells me about how she use…

This episode is all about how airline travel, one of the first industries to be hit the fastest since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Professional airline pilot (and another super international guest), Cailean, shares his insights as to how he thinks people (and whom) will go about airline travel, how his job as a pilot will shift, how airlines w…

This episode is all about sex ed for adults, i.e. what we really need to know, no middle school stuff here. I chat with Sara, Georgetown University International Politics & Premed and American University of Beirut med school grad, with research stints in Switzerland and in the U.S., who is now currently in her second year at Baylor College of Medic…

In this episode, I chat with my childhood friend and my real life Dr. Ross Geller , Columbia University and University of Cambridge PHD grad, Dr. Karim Mukaddem about solar energy. He tells me about what our current energy consumption looks like and its sometimes problematic implications- and breaks down solar energy: where it’s at, where it’s head…

Laura Ayoub, also referred to as "Loly" or "Loly Pole" reminds me of what JLO famously said: life’s a party make it hot! Laura left a 10+year career in the hospitality industry after falling in love with pole dancing on a bachelorette trip in the south of France. Listen to how she has since not only taken up the sport but has become a pole ambassad…

Today, Jai Shah, NYU Stern grad & co-founder at Nu Hotels based in Dubai, an owner-operator hotel company with projects in East and West Africa, talks to me about what he thinks the world of hotels will look like as travel is slowly but surely starting back up again. He tells me about what hotels have to their advantage over home rentals, and how c…

This episode tackles two of my favorite topics: pop culture & NBC's "The Office". To help me break down why the American remake of the British cringe-worthy comedy TV show is so good and is key to American pop culture as we know it, is my friend, Pierre. He tackles the different aspects of the show that are not easy to replicate and are just so god…

Today, I chat with Krishna, Brand Marketing Manager at Uber, with previous stints at Cadillac and American Express (and fellow NYU grad), to discuss the present and futures of the auto and ride share industries, specifically through a branding and marketing lens. He tells me the products and services offered in those industries will need to be mark…

Italo-French Giulia, in fashion by day, hostess with the mostest by night, tells us why everybody should take up cooking and how you don't need a bunch of fancy appliances to do so - just a good ol' pot & pan! And don't fret, just ignore the 25 ingredient-long recipes, have a mise en place, put on some good tunes and you'll be surprised! She gives …

Meet Yahya Wahbeh, Head of UX at Unibuddy and previously at Microsoft and Tesla, to name a few! Yahya tells me all about UX, I.e. the experience of a person using a product - and why UX matters (and makes sure that I'll never be caught saying the acronym without knowing what it really means, again). We dive into the structure of his industry, its p…

“Agriculture has always been, in any age, at the forefront of technological development" - Mohamad I know nothing about Ag-Tech so I decided to go to my childhood friend, Mohamad, for an explanation as to what this intersection of agriculture and technology actually is and the effect it has on our lives and planet (did you know that 10 dairy cows c…

Listen to Giorgia, a.k.a Gio, President of Massimo Bonini New York, share her tips for how fashion brands can be built then survive during and after this crisis. Gio tells me how new brands can compete with established heritage institutions by using their agility to their advantage as well as why she’s optimistic about the future- on condition that…

Sit down with your headphones in, with me and Malini, Senior Director on the Influencer & Social Media marketing team within a global leading media/entertainment company, as she tells me about influencers and influencing. She explains what an influencer actually is, the inner workings of the business of influence (she's got a 10 year+ career in the…

Listen to Sanj, Telecom & Media/Entertainment Product Strategist, break down the world of streaming video content! With more time spent at home these days, it feels like there are more options (and marketing pressure) than ever to subscribe, watch and binge! Sanj tells me why that is, how it can feel like an episode of "The Bachelor" with all of th…

Tune in to the first episode of Smart But Dumb where I discuss the underrated benefits of exercise with modern athlete, Aussie legend, and co-founder of the badass gals running club @thedemonclub, Madeline, otherwise known as Madbod! Listen to how an attitude change got her into long-distance running and how she now helps other girls around her to …

Check out Smart But Dumb, a podcast hosted by me, Rayya, where every Wednesday and Friday, my friends from all walks of life teach me a thing or two to make me (sound) smarter- and hopefully you too!