What I Did Next

This season we've partnered with the Egypt Fashion & Design Council, which is launching the first edition of Egypt Fashion Week from May 12 to May 15. I’m joined on this bonus episode by two of the Council’s co-founders, Paul Antaki & Susan Sabet. We talk about the mission behind the EFDC and what they’re hoping to achieve with the first Egypt Fashion Week.

You can find out more on their website, and also follow Egypt Fashion Week on Instagram and on TikTok.

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Mohammed Hefzy is the award-winning film producer behind mega hits such as Clash, Sheikh Jackson, Microphone, Paranormal, and Perfect Strangers, to name but a few of the films that make up his incredible catalogue of work. Hefzy began his career as a screen writer but made the transition to producing quite quickly, realising he wanted more control of the film-making process as a whole. This led to the formation of his company, The Film Clinic, where he not only develops his own movies but produces new and emerging talent as well.

Hefzy and I go way back to his pre-film industry days when we were both London-based. Meeting in a formal interview setting gave me a license to ask all my nerdy questions about the film industry that you can't get away with at a party! We’ll also have a bonus episode next week for members where he dives deeper into the writing process, and how different it is for him to produce other people’s work versus writing his own.

This episode is brought to you by:

EFG Holding, a trailblazing financial institution with a universal bank in Egypt and the leading investment bank franchise in frontier and emerging markets.

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I'm joined on the show this week by Fares Akkad. Fares is currently Regional Director for Meta and has a long track record with the company formerly known as Facebook. Over the course of his career, Fares has had stints at KPMG, Booz Allen and media giant MBC, as well as going it alone as an entrepreneur.

As a son of a Syrian diplomat, Fares grew up in South America and Europe, before moving to the US for university. We talk about how being exposed to so many different cultures has solidified his sense of self.

We also dig into the future of technology, the metaverse, and where Meta sees itself in that equation.

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I’m joined this week by poet, author and radio host, Salma El-Wardany. Salma is the author of These Impossible Things, a best-selling novel that that breaks down barriers by looking at how a group of muslim girlfriends navigate love, friendship & sex. She also currently hosts The Breakfast Show on BBC Radio London, which reaches over half a million listeners daily.

Salma is of Irish and Egyptian descent, combined with influences from the Pakistani community of Northern England and her current home in multi-cultural London. Questions of identity are at the core of who Salma is, and this is at the heart of much of her writing, public speaking and poetry. Salma has given voice to what many modern young women from Jakarta to Jeddah talk about behind closed doors. I find Salma's story fascinating, uplifting and hopeful.

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As a multidisciplinary artist, Ghada is as comfortable working with a needle and thread as she is with a paintbrush, or forging steel for sculptures or working on one-of-a-kind garden installations. She began exhibiting her work in the 90s, and her art continues to focus on women equality and female sexuality.

Ghada’s work has been shown at the world's finest fairs and exhibition spaces, including, the Whitney Biennial and PS1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, at the Venice Biennale where she won the UNESCO Prize, at the Johannesburg Biennial, and the Istanbul Biennale among many others.

If you’ve enjoyed Ghada’s story and want to hear more, we have a bonus episode for members where she tells me about her artistic process, and what’s in her creative inbox. You can subscribe in Apple Podcasts or on our website, and you’ll also get extra content from all our previous guests where we offer a deep dive into their worlds.

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