Project Passion

Season finale time! So sorry to see you guys go, but looking forward to coming back strong in less than a month. This week's episode features Eugenie and Claire all the way from Hong Kong. They run a fascinating instagram page called WriterThreads that offers advice to all writers young and new. An absolutely delightful conversation, we cover everything their origins, their advice for up and comers, and of course their favourite books. Book recommendations: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell,

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari,

Letters to a Young Writer by Colum McCann, Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice.

You can sign up for the Mental Health Project here: https://forms.gle/BEWj16jKxau9zc1u6

You can find Writer Threads here: https://www.instagram.com/writerthreads/

The show is here: https://www.instagram.com/proj_passion/

You can email me at [email protected]

Happy listening!

We're back from hiatus! And so many new things to talk about. I am collaborating with a dear friend for a short project - a series on metal health, and we need you to volunteer to be a part of it! You can find more information about this here: https://forms.gle/okqAtGeNp8hmN2V98

This week's episode features Lily - a yoga teacher based out of Dubai. We talk about the right approach to following passions, what different kinds of yoga means, whether there is a right yoga for people or just the right teacher, oh so many things. It's a fun conversation. You can find her here: https://www.instagram.com/lillianzahra/

You can find the show here: https://www.instagram.com/proj_passion/

As always email me with any ideas/suggestions/or just to say hi at [email protected].

Hello world! What a fun interview this turned out to be. This week we have answers to all the questions you ever had about Fashion Stylist and Personal Shopping from a Stylist herself. Not only is she super fashionable, she's a veteran of the industry, so she was able to impart so much knowledge about fashion and the industry in general. I was so surprised at how much personal styling has elements of psychology mixed into it. On top of everything she is such a fun person to talk to, always ready with a joke or two. We talk about the industry, about why men's fashion is so boring, how fashion styling and personal shopping really works, and when you really should leave it to the professionals. You can find her here: https://www.instagram.com/olesyaschuler/

Follow the show here: https://www.instagram.com/proj_passion/

And send in an email to me at [email protected]

Hello there! First off apologies, for any one who noticed: I did not manage to put out an episode last week. I just was not feeling it. This week's episode is a bit unusual. I do not have an interview, it's just me. Hopefully you find something that you can relate to in here.  If you come from an Asian background, you'll know very well what I mean when I say the Unbearable Weight of Expectations. It is a crippling resentment we feel for our forefathers, the guilt we have to live with for all our lives. How is this relevant to passion? How does one continue to be creative under these conditions?

This episode is a bit of a rant, but hopefully you get something out of it. I know I understand the world better just speaking it all out. Let me know if this format did something for you and if I should continue making content of this format. As always, you can send in your voice notes to [email protected] or find the podcast on Instagram :  https://www.instagram.com/proj_passion/

Here are the books I mention: 

- Between the World and Me (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25489625-between-the-world-and-me)

- Annihilation of Caste (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8521879-annihilation-of-caste)

If you do end up on Good reads find me here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4056626-shreerag-plakazhi

There's so much I love about this episode. The Six is one of my favourite new places in Dubai. It is a boardgame cafe that strives not just for sharing a love for boardgames, but also for a vibe. Speaking to its founder Ahmad its clear that he is a big reason for that vibe. He's an absolute delight to speak to and answers all of my burning questions about coming up with the idea, staffing, following passions, and we even talk our favourite boardgames. Spoiler: we love Catan. I think there's tons of inspiration here for anyone starting out their own business so definitely don't miss this one!

Find The Six Cafe on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thesixcafe/

Find the podcast on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/proj_passion/

Send in those voice notes people! You can email them to me at [email protected]

Episode 4! What is this feeling? We hit 100 listens. I thought this would take years but it has happened in a month. Incredible. This week we have a true enigma: Sabila is a poet, she’s a medicine student, she’s a digital content creator, and she finds time to organize her community’s youth wing. How? That’s a big chunk of our conversation in fact! We also talk about desi parents, expectations, the creative process, importance of having a platform, and so many other things. She even performs some beautiful poetry! Make sure you don’t miss this one. Find her at https://instagram.com/sabila.siddiqui. Here’s an article about the India Pakistan conflict: https://www.bbc.com/news/10537286. As always please send me your voice notes through this link: https://anchor.fm/project-passion/message. Much love.

This week on Project Passion we meet Alex: a woman of many names and a singular purpose - to understand all that is and ever will be about muscles! She is a chiropractor by trade and through our short conversation leaves me with so much information about chiropractors I am stunned. Did you know they have chiropractors for babies? For dogs? I did not! You can find her at https://instagram.com/the_ninja_dr and me at https://Instagram.com/shreerag.plakazhi. Reach and tell me who I should have on next and send me a voice note with your story so I can share it with world. I love all of you ❤️

I don’t know about you but I seek direction all the time. Today we have a guest who is all about helping others find their direction. With a tiny bit of nepotism in play I invite on my colleague and dear friend Weffaq who has been using quarantine to explore her greatest passion in life: Life coaching. We discuss what brought her to coaching, how she does what she does, and what she has to say to those looking for some help during this quarantine. Find her on: https://instagram.com/inspowercoaching and find me at: https://www.instagram.com/shreerag.plakazhi/ to send me voice notes to be featured in the show as well as to come on as a guest. I am always looking for more guests and stories to share with everyone!

Hey there world! I’m so happy you are here and I hope you will stick till the end of this one. I found this conversation absolutely illuminating. Zeashan is a portraitist who specializes in capturing people in concerts but recently concerts have come to a full stop. So he pivoted into capturing people in the natural habitats: at home on Zoom. Zeashan joins us to talk us through his love for photography, the prep work that goes into it, and how he uses it to meet the most interesting people. You might also learn something about rejection! I know I learned a lot. Find Zeashan here: https://instagram.com/zeashanashraf. If you would like to talk to me or tell me about someone I should talk to, please reach out: https://www.instagram.com/shreerag.plakazhi/