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: o…

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 pas…

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…

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 wh…

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 w…

Yasmeen Husseini is a 17-year-old self-taught musician, the singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, editor, and producer behind Flowerbxmb (@flowerbxmbmusic). We chat with her about her practice routine, experimenting, how to find your own voice. Yasmeen believes that when we're uninspired, it shows in our work, so it's important not to force it. Tune…

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 bein…

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 y…

No, don't actually murder editors... but put the little editor in your brain on a cruise or something. Aziz Al Mutawa, the reader and runner behind @thereadingrunner, shares the reason why he throws the constantly critical little voice inside his head away so that he can actually create without doubt. We talk to him about how he built his community…

Ahmed Shahabi, co-host of ElMohim Reviews, didn't get his smarts from school. With only Grade 1 under his belt, and a ban from continuing on, he gave himself an education by reading everything he could get his hands on. We chat with him about all he's learned along the way, including what it means to be true to yourself and to your culture. 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…

Does all learning happen in the classroom? Do we learn best with a whiteboard in front of us? In this episode, Hanan Shaerzadeh shares her experience as a teacher - sometimes teaching in front of a whiteboard, and other times, guiding her students to learn by doing, learn with experiences, learn by living. Tune in to hear us discuss childhood creat…

In this episode, we chat with Faye Al Mansour aka @sketchadooodle about imposter syndrome, and what it means to share your work in a world where it feels like literally everyone is, too. We talk about comparing yourself to others and the self-comparison theory, staying positive, and how to find supporting friends who will help you see the progressi…

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 …

Sheikah Al Habshi, the mastermind behind melty @coffeeandcastoffs, began drawing in 2017 as a way to get through her upset feelings. Nowadays, she creates no matter how she feels or what is happening in her world - the pen is an extension of her hand. Tune in to find out how to ride the wave of an emotion or event and create new stuff without needi…

Ali "Bluesman" Sleeq joins us in this episode to talk about what it means to keep doing what you love to do, no matter what people say. He's the dude about the Blues, a genre of music that isn't popular here in the region (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter), but he keeps his passion for it anyway. Tune in to hear from Ali about how to …

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.…

Layla Al-Ammar, recent author of THE PACT WE MADE (Borough Press 2019) and SILENCE IS A SENSE (Borough Press / Algonquin 2021), talks to us about her writing process in this episode. Tune in to hear how she outlines plots and fleshes out characters (spoiler: she doesn't!), and the way her writing changed when she went from hobby writer to striving …

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,…

Zahra Al-Mahdi, also known as Zouz the Bird, visual artist, filmmaker, and sound enthusiast, joins us for this episode. Zouz talks to us about the boxes we're in, and how messy that can get, and how hard we try to think "outside" of them, when really - we need to clean them up and check out their corners. How can we play around in our creative fiel…

Amin Fari, aka Nine Nuggetz, aka *the* Mr. Fari of Talent Shop joins us for this episode. We chat about his time in LA, what it's like being a DJ in Kuwait, and how he finds new ideas across fields of art by looking for how he can translate patterns within them. Tune in to learn about how to experiment within different fields and get your "brain to…

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.

Join us as we chat with Yara Meraki, a Syrian graduate of fine arts. We talk about her experiences creating artwork about refugees, and she describes her strategy to get in the mood for creating: The Ritual. Listen in to find out what her ritual is, and how you can discover your own.

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.