Some brands sell candles. Dastaangoi ignites memories.
In this episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with Amad Mian—co-founder of Dastaangoi, the Dubai-based luxury home fragrance brand turning cultural heritage into scent. What started as free Zoom storytelling events during lockdown has become something far more personal: a fragrance house where jasmine is your grandmother's morning ritual, orange blossoms are Damascus afternoons, and daffodils transport you to Kashmir valleys you've never seen.

Amad didn't start this to sell products. He started it to answer a painful question: how do I make sure my daughter is proud of being Pakistani when I spent years ashamed of it myself? The answer came through scent—the most visceral carrier of memory we have. No added notes to jasmine. No dilution for Western markets. Just stories specific enough to transport you, open enough for you to write yourself into them.

This is about a founder who learned perfumery by researching spice markets as ancient medicine, not just cooking ingredients. Who makes candles with custom wax blends because Gulf homes are bigger and hotter. Who does pop-ups himself because he wants to see people close their eyes and smile—or cry—when they smell home. It's about building something from the region, for the region, without asking permission from global luxury's playbook.

This episode explores:
● Reclaiming identity through scent: Why fragrance became the vehicle for teaching his daughter what he had to learn as an adult 
● Research over formula: Starting with landscape, poetry, and lived experience—then building the fragrance 
● Authentic vs. appropriated: What it means to create for your community instead of performing it for outsiders 
● The open story: Making scents specific enough to transport, loose enough for anyone to project their own memory 
● Artist residencies as core: Why bringing creatives together isn't marketing—it's who they are 
● Scaling with soul: How to grow globally without losing the pop-up conversations that make people cry
● Amad's story is proof that the most powerful brands aren't polished—they're honest. Dastaangoi shows us that cultural storytelling doesn't need validation from international markets. It just needs courage to say: this is us. 

Tune in, subscribe, and join us as we chart the creative journeys shaping the Middle East. Until then—keep moving forward.

Send us a text

Support the show

Some radio stations broadcast content. Radio Alhara creates neighborhoods.

In this episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with Yousef
Anastas and Saeed Abu Jaber—two of the five founders behind Radio Alhara, the
Palestinian online radio station that turned quarantine isolation into global
connection. What started in March 2020 as friends dropping audio files into a
shared drive has become something far more radical: a sonic public square where
sound becomes resistance, gathering, and everyday life all at once.

Yousef and Saeed didn't set out to build a platform. They built a neighborhood—
one without borders, curators, or institutional funding. No agenda. No plan. Just
an open calendar and a simple invitation: play what you love, not what the club
demands. Sunday morning sets over Saturday night bangers. Cooking shows
alongside protest takeovers. 11,000 shows that exist but aren't archived—because
sometimes the most radical act is to let something be ephemeral.

This episode explores:
● Openness as curation: Why they ask DJs for "Sunday morning, not
Saturday night"—unlocking personal music collections nobody hears at
clubs
● The anti-institutional move: Rejecting funding to stay DIY, messy, and
honest—avoiding agendas and the flattening of culture
● Radio as political gesture: How lending someone a sound card in another
city becomes resistance—local networks going global
● The archive question: Why 11,000 shows remain inaccessible by design
—"you either listen or you miss it"
● Radio from anywhere: How a station rooted in Bethlehem became a
blueprint for any place that struggles for something

Yousef and Saeed's story is a reminder that the most powerful projects aren't
designed—they're lived. Radio Alhara is proof that cultural resistance doesn't
need permission, funding, or a five-year plan. It just needs people willing to press
play.

Tune in, subscribe, and join us as we chart the creative journeys shaping the
Middle East. Until then—keep moving forward.

Send us a text

Support the show

Every chapter needs space to breathe — and this one earned it. 

In this paused episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad steps back from the past 2 episodes to reflect on four truths from his exchanges with Ricardo Karam and Natalya Urmanova. 

This isn’t a recap. 

It’s a reckoning. 

Raja explores the tension many leaders quietly live with: the gap between who you are and who you’ve become in the pursuit of success. He reflects on leaving comfort behind, on careers that look right on paper but feel wrong inside, and on why real growth rarely announces itself loudly. 

Across corporate leadership and entrepreneurship, four reflections cut through the noise: 

• Identity is not a title — it’s defined by values, not positions. 

• Courage is not fearlessness — it’s clarity about which fear matters more. 

• Structure serves freedom — discipline creates space for spontaneity, not rigidity. • Don’t stay in yesterday — forward movement requires honesty, not certainty.

 From boardrooms to startups, this episode speaks to anyone questioning alignment, success, and what it truly means to move forward. 

If you’re feeling restless, that’s not a flaw. 

It’s a signal. 

🎧 Listen, reflect, and keep moving forward 

Send us a text

Support the show

 In this episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with Dubai-based portrait photographer Natalya Urmanova inside her exhibition Whimsical World for a deeply personal conversation about fear, reinvention, and the art of seeing beyond the surface. 

Raised around her father’s darkroom and shaped by 15 years in luxury fashion, Natalya shares how she walked away from the corporate world with “shaking legs,” only to discover photography as a portal into a parallel world — one where she could finally live, feel, and create freely.

 Known for her cinematic black-and-white portraits, Natalya speaks about photographing essence rather than faces, why she builds meticulous visual worlds only to surrender to spontaneity, and how fear often signals forward motion. From her first exhibition — and the vulnerability behind it — to why she believes in never “staying in yesterday,” this episode is a powerful reflection on creativity, courage, and choosing honesty over certainty. 

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Forward Moves for conversations shaping the creative economy in the Middle East and beyond. 

🔗 Connect with Natalya Urmanova Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urmanova_imagery Website: https://www.urmanovaimagery.com 

🔗 Follow Forward Moves YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forward_moves X / Twitter: https://x.com/forward_moovz Raja Haddad: https://www.instagram.com/octoraj 

📌 PINNED COMMENT Natalya says: “The fear of staying was much bigger than the fear of leaving.” 

What’s something you’ve felt called to walk away from — even without knowing what comes next? Share your thoughts below 

If this conversation resonated, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share the episode with someone navigating their own creative leap. 

Send us a text

Support the show

 � In this powerful episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with renowned Lebanese media personality, entrepreneur, and TAKREEM Foundation founder Ricardo Karam for an unfiltered conversation about dignity, identity, and the power of human connection. 

 🇱 �  Taped in Beirut, Ricardo reflects on decades of interviewing world leaders, artists, and everyday people — not as a collector of names, but as a listener driven by curiosity and purpose. He speaks candidly about what he believes the Arab world has lost, why identity is rooted in values rather than geography, and how globalization and imitation have diluted authenticity. 

📌This episode explores: 

• Why Ricardo believes “we lost our dignity as Arabs” — and how it can be restored • The power of curiosity and treating every human encounter equally 

• Resourcefulness over resilience in the Lebanese experience 

• The turning point from personal success to purposeful impact 

• How TAKREEM is reshaping the global narrative about Arab excellence

• What the next generation must carry forward to shape the future 

At its core, this conversation is a reminder that progress isn’t always loud. And that moving forward begins with remembering who we are. 

🎧 Listen, watch, and join the conversation. 

📩 Subscribe for more stories shaping the Middle East .

Connect with Raja Haddad | Forward_Moves

@octoraj, and @forward_moves

Connect with Ricardo Karam

@Ricardo.karam.official

Send us a text

Support the show

In this in-between-episodes reflection, host Raja Haddad unpacks the first
conversations of Chapter Three with Basil Yassin and Anthony Maalouf. Instead of
recapping, Raja dives into four reflections: heritage as creative fuel, innovation as
adaptation, human connection as the real metric, and the power of owning your
story before someone else writes it for you.

This episode is a breath, a reset, and a reminder that moving forward starts with
knowing where you come from.

🔥 Remember

• Heritage as Creative Fuel — your roots aren’t static; they’re raw material.
• Innovation Through Adaptation — progress rarely arrives in ideal
conditions.
• Human Connection Over Features — people remember how you made
them feel.
• Own Your Story — speak your narrative before it’s written for you.

🎧 Subscribe on your favorite audio platforms so that you don’t miss any episode.
Download, share it, and if you like it give us a five star rating.

🤟 Until then, keep on moving forward !

Send us a text

Support the show

What does it mean to preserve culture through cuisine? In this candid conversation, host Raja Haddad sits down with Basil Yassin — the culinary creator behind Yava and Tonton Bakes, two of Dubai’s most talked-about dining concepts.

 From Musakhan Pretzel to caramel-dipped mini croissant pops, Basil blends Palestinian heritage, creative experimentation and bold entrepreneurship to build food experiences that are anything but traditional. 

🤟 Basil opens up about:

 • Leaving a corporate career to pursue hospitality 

• Using Palestinian ingredients to tell a different kind of story 

• Why team culture is the true “ingredient” behind great dining 

• The struggle to prove identity in a city that moves fast

 • Riding the wave of social media — but not letting it define him 

• The future of his brands — and the dream of a beachfront boutique hotel 🎧 Whether you love food, culture, business or just a good story about taking risks and staying rooted, this episode will inspire you to create — and keep moving forward. 

📍 Visit Yava & Tonton in Wasl 51, Jumeirah — and taste the story for yourself. 

📺 Subscribe for more episodes featuring the creative forces shaping the Middle East. 

#BasilYassin #YavaDubai #TontonBakes #ForwardMovesPodcast #DubaiRestaurants #PalestinianCuisine #CreativeEntrepreneurs #CulinaryInnovation #MiddleEastCreatives #FoodIdentity #Gastronomy #Entrepreneurship #HospitalityIndustry #FoodCulture #DubaiFNB #FounderStories #PodcastShow 

Send us a text

Support the show

Chapter 3 is finally here, and with it the deep personal conversations with thought leaders of the creative community in the Middle East continue to share lived experiences and life hacks to move forward.

In this episode host Raja Haddad sits with architect Anthony Maalouf—the mind behind iconic Lebanese spaces like Dar Zefta and Salon Beyrouth—for a heartfelt conversation about design, heritage, and the stories that architecture carries.

 Anthony reflects on his early influences, the responsibility of building in a country of many histories, and why tact, curiosity, and humility lie at the heart of timeless design. From Lebanon’s layered architectural identity to the role of mentorship and adaptation, this episode is a compelling look into how spaces can honor the past while shaping the future.

What’s inside this episode:

How the Dabkeh dance was created.(can you insert a dancing emoji here)
🖼️ The many design influences on Lebanese architecture
🏛️Challenges facing architecture and particularly Lebanese architecture 
⚖️ Striking a balance between innovation and heritage to forge an identity .

🎧 Listen on YouTube, Spotify,Amazon, Anghami, and Apple Podcasts.

🔔 Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share!

#Forward_Moves #AntoineMaaloufArchitects #LebaneseArchitecture #Architecture#HeritageDesign #CulturalPreservation #DarZefta #SalonBeyrouth #ArchitectureStories #MiddleEastCreatives #DesignWithSoul

Follow us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forward_moves/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forward.moves

X: https://x.com/forward_moovz 

Raja’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/octoraj/ 

Follow Anthony: https://www.instagram.com/antoinemaaloufarchitects/

Send us a text

Support the show

The journey toward the 3rd chapter of Forward_Moves has been a thoughtful one, in true fashion of any movement… forward.

In this transition episode, Raja Haddad distills the key themes from the past 25 episodes, sharing his insights on:

• Identity as action, transmission, and habitat
• Creativity as storytelling, and balancing the flow with the chase
• The common misunderstandings of resilience

Tune in, reflect, and join Raja as he paves the way for what’s next. Don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite platform, and as always, keep moving forward.

Send us a text

Support the show

What role does art and creativity play in advocacy and forging an identity? How to valance passion and entrepreneurship , and how important are communities in transmitting stories within cultures? 🙌🏽

🎙️ The season 2 final episode wraps up the diverse themes shared by the 12 wonderful guests over the past 3 months, with Lina Nahhas and Raja Haddad picking up cards and reflecting on these different topics: 

• Identity & Cultural Reclamation 

• Creativity as Advocacy

• Mentorship & Community 

• Spirituality & Sacred Practice

• Passion vs Profession 

• Legacy & the Future 

• Emotional Resilience and Inner Work 

🎧Whether you downloaded all episodes and want to revisit them, or simply catch up on episodes past and join the conversation, this season finale promises to connect all the dots and bring you up to date with what’s on the minds of the creative community though leaders. 📍

Follow us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forward_moves/ 

X: https://x.com/forward_moovz 

Lina’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lina_movements/ 

Raja’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/octoraj/ 

Send us a text

Support the show