Meet Nora Tofigh

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nora Tofigh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nora, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

I’ve been exposed to risk over the years, being self-employed for most of my adult life, never quite knowing where the next chapter will lead. I now operate in the art world, and embrace the perspective of the modern Bohemian, who pursues self-expression, often at the expense of self-preservation. It really emboldens my worldview, realizing how creative and liberated a person can feel when letting go the traditional metrics of success. I think very few true impactful changes can be made from a place of safety. I am also aware that it is an incredible privilege to be able to take certain risks, and am incredibly grateful for the context, community and opportunity I have had to live my life my way, and I almost feel it is my duty to push the boundaries of my own liberation. So while I don’t begrudge the person who is risk-averse, I find that for myself, if I can handle the risk, and have been conditioned to endure it, then it’s become my responsibility to take on that risk, on behalf of those who can’t.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

The Trops is a cross-genre organization that curates cultural activity, facilitates patronage of the arts, supports local & international artists, and engages community spirit. Through community platforms such as pop-up gallery exhibitions, experiential art events, social media and Navigation Tools for exploring culture, we encourage people to find and engage with art in the real world. Current projects include the Trops Magazine, an online Culture Calendar (tropsculture.com), and Mobile Application (“Trops”), as a curated treasure hunt for art in NYC and beyond.

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?

Navigating across genres and platforms has often demanded a flexibility of approach, so I think the best skills are adaptability to change. I would say that being resourceful, discerning, and resilient in times of change have become increasingly important in the modern world. There is so much information available with telecommunications, and so the integrity of a person’s actions has to come from an internal foundation, as we often have to react intuitively. I would tell people, as I would also tell myself, to be intentional while maintaining a sense of impulse, to be cautious of the context of decisions, and to understand that is life sometimes brings chaos, so we should focus on passing through that chaos, however long it takes, without being too hard on ourselves about it.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

I always recommend “Seven Brief Lessons in Physics” by Carlo Rovelli. This book is a concise and comprehensive summary of the modern (and western) academic understanding of the universe. While it isn’t formally philosophical, it presents the cosmos in straightforward terms, clarifying complex laws of nature and sharing the quest for human knowledge as a journey of ideas, each generation of science building upon the work of predecessors. I consider this the most important book I’ve read, because it explains the nature of reality in super straightforward terms and reminds me that we are an evolution of ideas and collective thoughts, and that the world is more vast, mysterious, and interconnected than we may individually perceive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thetrops.com
• Instagram: thetrops

Image Credits

First Photo byAdrian Crispin, 2023