Meet Nazli Donmez

We recently connected with Nazli Donmez and have shared our conversation below.

Nazli , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Thank you, I take that as a meaningful compliment. I think it has a lot to do with my inherent traits and upbringing. My parents always say that I had and adventurous and fearless spirit, even as a toddler. I’m grateful to them for encouraging my independence and allowing me the safe space to build confidence in myself and explore what the world has to offer.

So I owe my optimism, determination and composure during times of adversity largely to a strong support system. Other than that, I think it’s just having a sense of purpose and an endless commitment to self-fulfillment and knowledge. Each challenge you overcome teaches you more about yourself and what you’re really capable of and I’ve grown to find the journey more and more fascinating. It’s game-like in a way and that really keeps me moving forward.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself and what you do?

I would describe myself as someone who is is driven to make a living from storytelling and have fun everyday. I’m interested in anything and everything that allows me to do just that.

I currently work for a creative advertising agency that specializes in the production of marketing materials like teasers, trailers, key art, billboards, digital pieces and so on. I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to campaigns for many acclaimed film and TV shows like Anora, Longlegs, Immaculate, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and House of the Dragon.

I’m also producing a short film based on a book I absolutely love and developing my own projects. I’ve been leaning into my roots in art and writing a lot more lately which I’m very happy about. I have a couple collaborations in the making with artists I love and respect deeply and I’m so honored to to have their trust, support and enthusiasm flowing into a shared vision.

I’m a part of the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival this year as a jury member and look forward to giving back to the creative community and meeting talented, driven people through this experience, too!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think the three qualities/skills that were the most impactful in my personal journey are curiosity, flexibility and having a high tolerance for risk. It’s been a balancing act between always having a plan B or exit strategy and maintaining a “Leap and the net will appear” mindset. Holding on to the childlike desire to get to the bottom of things that interest me just for the sake of play is very dear and a non-negotiable to me.

My advice to younger people who are getting started to develop these skills would be to pay attention to the things that spark a need to know more in them and see if growing in that direction is something they can foresee for themselves. Stepping outside their comfort zones and taking calculated (and sometimes not so calculated!) risks can open them up to opportunities and possibilities that they might not have otherwise considered or deemed doable. It also drives innovation and resilience. So in short, I would advise them to experiment and ultimately, commit to what really moves them, whatever that might be.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

There are so many, I love reading. I think I would have been a completely different person if I hadn’t discovered the joy, companionship and refuge literature provides.

One of the first books that comes to my mind is Stendhal’s The Red and the Black. It’s a timeless masterpiece of French realism. Its protagonist, Julien Sorel, is a young man from a humble background who seeks social advancement through education and ambition. The novel delves into Julien’s inner conflicts, his love affairs, and his ultimate downfall, offering a nuanced exploration of human nature and the complexities of 19th-century French society.

I read it in early high school at the height of my teenage angst and I was just fascinated by the fact that I was able to simultaneously relate to and at times, condemn the intricate emotional lives and aspirations of these fictional characters that were designed to fit into a world that existed 300 years before mine. The permanence of the material had a profound effect on me. I felt seen and soothed by it as I was experiencing all these new and intense thoughts, feelings and ambitions, looking more deeply into what motivated me and constructing a moral compass of my own. It really moved me and made me think about the complexity of being human.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @nazlidonmez

Image Credits

Ali Gokay Sarioz