Meet Farhanah Ali

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Farhanah Ali a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Farhanah, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Creativity is a funny thing, because it comes it so many different forms. I used to think I wasn’t a creative person because I wasn’t a “traditional artist”. I am terrible with paints, and drawing, or anything of that nature.

But I picked up photography because it was a fun way to capture my favorite moments in life. My photos were ok at first, but as I continued my practice they got better and better. I became obsessed with composition, lighting, how to edit photos to evoke drama, intrigue, inspiration, or whatever I felt like that day.

I developed my own style, and from there I knew I wanted to tell stories with my photos.

Eventually though, as with all things, I did get burned out. How do I find inspiration in the same nooks and crannies of home? How do I get back that creativity that I originally had?

So I went back to the basics. The fundamental thing for me is to do what sparks joy.

Apart from photography, I love cooking, and I love acroyoga, and I love swimming. So I took a step back from photos and engaged with the other loves in my life. I tried new recipes, practiced new moves, and swam as often as possible. When I’m in the zone, in flow state, I find myself coming up with so many new ideas for photography.

It’s incredible how one unrelated thing can spark inspiration in another.

From there I’ve learned that to keep creativity alive, you have to creating. Maybe not in the original medium you started, but create in other creative avenues. Create movement in your body, create food in your kitchen, create stories in your journal, create melodies with your guitar.

Whatever brings you joy, whatever sparks your interest, pursue that. Creativity will flow when you give it a chance to breathe.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
So I started my creative journey several years ago with the creation of my first podcast. I wanted to inform the world about all the things happening with our climate and I thought for sure I would be the one to do what countless others could not, and fix climate change.

As I continued however, I realized telling people facts is not the answer. The truth is, many of us know the facts. The facts just don’t… resonate with us on a human level.

So I started to craft stories of people. I crafted stories on podcasts, through my photography, and now I am launching a YouTube channel to tell the stories of the different cultures and people I meet in my travels. I’m very blessed to be able to call this my life and do such fun and amazing things.

I currently work as a webflow designer, and podcast producer. My dream is to create a top to bottom podcast creation experience for businesses and organizations that have social causes as part of their mission statement. I believe my role in this life is to be the distributor of their great work and stories.

I’m very excited about the path ahead. I’m extremely excited about my YouTube channel which will be launching in a month that will start by telling the stories and amazing things I see in Puerto Rico, Colombia, and wherever else I find myself in this world.

If you want to know what I’m up to and more about my YouTube channel, follow me on Instagram! @farhanahali_

I’m pretty active on there and I’m always sharing new updates and collaboration opportunities.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There are so many things you can do to level up your quality of life, whatever that means to you. For me, these 3 things made the most impact in my life.

1. Learning a new language. I already speak several languages, but over the last 3 years I have been learning Spanish. I think learning a new language is so important because it’s a first hand look at how people from another culture experience the world. It opens so many more doors for you, and you get to be more immersed in this life experience. Additionally, it’s great for your physical mental health. What I mean by that is, you’re training your brain daily with a new skill. This is invaluable and makes it easier to learn new things down the line. If there’s anything you do to level up, I highly suggest learning a new language.

2. Do something you enjoy, but you’re bad at. I SUCK and I mean SUCK at dancing. Like I’m worse than a magikarp out of it’s pokeball. But I do it anyway and with gusto because it’s damn fun. And it’s also a reminder to me, that I don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it. It takes a lot of pressure off of me, because we live in a world with cut throat competition which requires us to be exceptional. But taking time out of my day to do something fun, just for the fact that it’s fun, is an extremely freeing notion.

3. Pick one skill that you can monetize, that you enjoy, and build on it. For me it was photography. That led to podcasts which eventually led to websites and marketing. I found one skill that I really loved, and took it seriously, built on it, and continued to build and build until it became something magical. Yes my life is a little different now, but if I didn’t take that first step to seriously learn one skill that I could monetize, I wouldn’t have built a business that allows me to work form anywhere and live a life of location independence.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents are old school Malaysian immigrants that did not understand why I didn’t want to follow the DELL path of becoming a doctor, engineer, or lawyer. But they didn’t have to understand it. They supported me regardless. They empowered me to take steps that are unconventional from our culture. They empowered me to be my own person and to live a life of my own terms.

When I doubt myself, my parents give me practical and sound advice. They never tell me to quit, but that I can always come back home and they will support me in the next thing and the next thing.

I think it’s so important to have a community that trusts in you even if they don’t understand what it is you’re doing.

Because that community is what makes or breaks success.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
The image of my was taken by my incredibly talented freind, LA based photographer Rhianna Israin (https://www.instagram.com/rhiisrani/) The rest of the photos are shots I’ve taken and are part of my portfolio.

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