We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Malikah Shabazz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Malikah below.
Malikah, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
I keep my creativity alive by immersing myself in creation; whether it’s the creation known as nature or creations from other artists or other creatives. It’s important to step outside of your own bubble once in awhile and experience life because that’s how you get inspiration. From living. Life inspires you. People inspire you. Children inspire you. Animals inspire you. Everything and anything can inspire you. So for me opening myself up to experiences helps to keep my creativity and my creative juices flowing.
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?
I am a content and event producer and photographer based in Detroit Michigan. I am also a filmmaker and sometimes a social media strategist. What I love most about being a producer and a photographer is seeing the end goal and product. Especially as a photographer. I primarily photograph live events. So to catch an artist in their element and to freeze that moment in time and then to get to see that frozen moment in time is just the most amazing feeling. I also like working with organizations to help them produce the best events possible. For me, doing the leg work ahead of time gives you a chance to actually enjoy your event instead of having to put out all these fires that could have been prevented in the first place. Although event producing has been taking up a lot of my time I am pushing myself back into the content production side of life. I recently started an Instagram page called MalikahAbeo which focuses on Home, Garden and Lifestyle and it’s really a chance for me to sharpen and strengthen my creative pin if you will. I also recently started a podcast called The Creative Snug. The purpose of the podcast is to serve as an outlet for me to really just vent and figure things out. As creatives, we sometimes get lost in our own minds and it can lead to feeling anxious about creating the things that we want to create. So this podcast is not only a way for me to just figure things out but also as a platform for other creatives to feel safe enough to say ‘I don’t know and I need help figuring it out’. Next year, Insha Allah, I will be filming my next short filmAmethyst and I also hope to have my non- profit, which will be teaching youth about media creation and literacy, up and running.
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?
Three important qualities, skills or areas of knowledge in my opinion, would be discipline, curiosity and confidence. Being creative can be stressful sometimes, especially when you have people around you who don’t understand that this is what you want to do as a career. When you explain to people that you don’t want to go make someone else money, you want to make yourself money, they project their fears onto you and we as creatives we tend to absorb that and it affects our own work. However, having confidence in your skills and the discipline to keep creating and not only improve those skills but to find ways to use those skills to make you money, that’s the key. Curiosity opens you up to constantly being able to learn. You will never know everything there is to know about anything. There’s always space to learn and having that mindset makes it possible for you to perfect your craft because you’re always in the state of learning and growing. So my advice to people early in their journeys would be 1. you’re not crazy, 2. you’re going to have bumps in the road but stick it out, 4. believe in yourself and 5. find your tribe of like minded people so you all can be reflections of success and support for one another.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Well for one, being able to admit that you’re overwhelmed is important. We live in a society that pushes this idea of constantly going and never stopping. Grind culture. What’s the saying ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead?’ Well if you don’t sleep you WILL die. So being able to admit you’re overwhelmed and that you need a break is huge because some people still can’t do that. Ironically I just had this happen a couple of weeks ago where I had been working with a client all summer in addition to other clients and my own work, and I was tired and overwhelmed. So I decided to take a break. I took a week off where I didn’t do any work for any client and I just focused on myself. Even within that week I had planned to do certain things for my own brand but when I woke up Monday and I said ‘you know what? I’m just feel like laying here and relaxing’, that’s what I did. Sometimes we need to listen to our bodies. Our bodies have rights over us and if we don’t sit our bodies down to rest, it will sit itself down or it will shut itself down. So when you’re overwhelmed you really have to stop and take a break because being overwhelmed, I think, is a result of exhaustion and doing too much. Furthermore, when you’re overwhelmed you have to be able to say ‘I need help’. One person can’t do everything. I know as creatives, especially independent creatives, we have to figure everything out, however you need help. You need a team. You need friends. You cannot do everything by yourself. Asking for help helps.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.malikahashabazz.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/malikahcreates
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/malikahcreates
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malikahashabazz/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/malikahcreates
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/malikahcreates
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/thecreativesnug
- Other: www.instagram.com/malikahabeo
Image Credits
Picture of Malikah A. Shabazz: Charivari Festival
