Today I have got the opportunity to interview two of the most famous digital content creators on Instagram nowadays (a virtual interview given the current quarantine). So, they are hosting "Cut the Crap" which is a conversation hosting network that works to re-define "health". And this podcast is co-hosted by Lamaan & Sherine Arafa. Cut the crap is sparking positive change through conversations. They are initiating conversations where you don't have to pretend anything else but being yourself. They want to cut the crap from our lives to be more aware of ourselves without any "if-conditions". They are encouraging us to go deep inside ourselves, instead of focusing on the outer look. They advising us to cut the crap to be more disciplined taking care of ourselves & staying healthy in every aspect of our lives.
How you do one thing is how you do everything! - Lamaan
So, with the below 11 questions, you will get to know the hosts better & be motivated to go to their podcasts tuning in to "Cut the Crap" podcast listening to their thoughts with their guests to cut the crap from our lives & follow them on IG for more digital content to keep you sane during the quarantine. They have hosted a bunch of amazing guests with nice ideas & thoughts that came out loud. Their guests for season one were:
Hala Shiha; speaking around how you have to lose yourself to find yourself again.
Omar El Shenawy; speaking around re-thinking masculinity in the Arab world.
Ahmed El Ruby; speaking around building up to fame.
Asma Sherif Mounir; speaking around making your relationships your own.
And we are waiting for season two to resume after the quarantine. Currently, enjoying their IG stories & live discussions to stay inspired to cut the crap from our lives.
1. Introduce yourselves to us.
Lamaan is 24 years old, Libyan who was born in America & grew up in Egypt. Studied broadcasting & law in the US. She is also a certified life & health coach (this all started to help herself, then she started helping her clients to become better). She has a lot of experience in different professions that she loves. She has worked in a dance studio, a law firm, Apple where she has learned everything about business, management, creativity, and innovation, an intern for Bassem Youssef, and in a health-cosmetic startup. Then she founded a start-up with her friend, which was an educational journey to Lamaan where she handled different people creating a positive working environment where she has to be mindful & forward-thinker.
Sherine is a digital content creator, who is creating videos around social issues (parenting, culture, ... etc). Her main aim is to showcase the negative impact of influencers on social media & on people. She is sending a message through laughter, which she believes is the best thing to be done. Shereen's content is so simple, relatable, in a story-telling format, and to the point. Sherine has a bunch of different interests as well that she pursued in life, such as: jewelry making, fashion designing, video creation, TV hosting, acting, parenting, and home-schooling.
2. Have you lived anywhere else than Egypt? What are the differences? What are the similarities?
Lamaan thinks that the similarities are more than the differences between the US & Cairo. Wherever we are in the world, we are looking for validation & connection with other people. So, the internet allowed people to be connected with the same circumstances. Especially the younger generations tend to be innovative, better, curious, and do better for the world.
Sherine lived a year in Istanbul besides living in Cairo for the rest of her life, this experience was new to her as she never before lived elsewhere that Egypt. So, this was a learning experience for Sherine, learning new things from a new country & dealing with new people from a different culture. She has learned a new language & studied fashion in a university there. This experience even was like a test to her marriage to learn more about each-other.
3. As a content creator, what are your key takeouts or advice to share with us?
Lamaan's advice as a life & health coach is to learn to trust yourself by following your intuition plus learning from your own mistakes. By trying you will understand the differences between your gut feeling & your fears or anxieties. You have as well to be ok with failing as failing means learning new things through this failure. Having said that, you need to know that whatever you are going through you are not the only one going through it. So, always be nice to yourself.
Sherine's advice is to act now & she never listens to the well-known bully of "you can't do it". Since her university years & she loves to act now; like she has started her jewelry line with a friend followed by her fashion line. Then, parenting instructor after giving birth to her son & home-schooling instead of regular educational regime. Till she reached the phase of being a video-creator & "It's showtime" TV host for 6 months. Everyone is creative & you need to learn how to enhance your creativity such as training any other muscle in your body.
4. Tell us more about "Cut the Crap".
Lamaan explaining that cut the crap was her word for the year 2018 or the mantra that she kept repeating to herself to block the noise from her mind while taking decisions in her life. Then, it was the name for her first coaching program. Then after releasing that there is a common pattern among all of her clients. Lamaan has decided to turn cut the crap to become a podcast where we can have these real conversations that no one is having however everybody wants to have. Now, they are re-defining health through having conversations that matter via every platform they can leverage like podcasts or IG TV or Youtube.
Sherine explains that cut the crap started with Lamaan through their long personal conversations that are not tackled in general through any platform. So, they started arranging this right after Lamaan came back from the US to Cairo. Lamaan initiated the podcast idea. So, it all started from having normal conversations to normalize the taboos related to the culture as we usually have a fear of change. Having said that, change must be welcomed as life goes. Our aim should be being better through accepting change & listening to one another.
5. Which advices would you give to our readers who wants to become content creators or podcasters?
Lamaan's advice to anyone who wants to do anything in life is to stop thinking & start doing. So, don't wait for the perfect moment or the perfect opportunity. Don't also wait to be knowledgeable enough or networked enough. Because the perfect moment doesn't exist, it just happens with time. And cut the crap started at Lamaan's dinning-room. Whatever you are doing the first time will remain the worst time & you will keep learning as you go to become better by time. So, just start now & do whatever you want to do without waiting for validation from anyone. As people can always smell being fake, so always be authentic..
6. As an online content creator, what do you do with the screen-time?
Lamaan puts content relative to what she is doing on her life as a podcaster or a coach. She is always trying to be engaging & make videos around common issue or struggles. She is authentic in sharing honest conversations to normalize the conversations that help us all in being nice with ourselves without seeking perfection.
Sherine before being a digital content creator really hated the mobile & digital platforms. So, this all changed after working as a digital content creator which requires being online for a long time. Sherine tries her best to not be on her phone first thing in the morning or last thing before going to sleep. She also tries to limit her phone time in front of her son.
7. As a wife & a mother, how do you find work-life balance?
Sherine doesn't have a secret formula to balance between both. However, you need to agree with your partner to be supportive helping in building the family together. You both need to share the same responsibilities together. And when anyone of you is pursuing her/his dream, no need to feel down about not being always available as before. However, to build a happy family both of you need to be happy individually & supportive to each-other.
8. In the current lockdown, what are you doing to invest in this time?
During the lockdown Lamaan is giving out free meditation & coaching sessions. Now, she has more free time than ever to create more content & videos to share. She is able to go through her inbox & connect more with people. On a personal perspective, she is cutting the crap in her life & investing in herself through reading more books that she never had time to read, investing in relaxing, slowing down & recharging herself through some outdoor activities.
Sherine during the lockdown has her ups & downs, sometimes she feels bored & other times she is more innovative in creating new content. As well, she makes sure to have some time for working out, some family time playing with boardgames, walking around the house, and studying with her son as well. Sherine believes that out of this quarantine we will become more humane.
9. Share with me the top 3 accounts to follow on IG from your point of view.
Sherine is suggesting to follow Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Red Table Talk, Kevin Hart, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Shetty, and Reese Witherspoon. Generally speaking, Sherine is following anyone who is inspiring her with a sense of humor & humanity.
10. What do you do to stay inspired for ideas?
Lamaan is always inspired for new ideas through extracting them from her real-life. So, she is always checking the experiences she is going through as an inspiration to talk about it. So, she has learned to be honest bringing her reality to the table.
Sherine advises us to read more to get more inspiration. What if we can read a book per month to keep the education & inspiration flows. The right book will help you have purpose in your life. Moreover, you need to go out of your comfort zone & overcome fear to pursuit creativity.
11. What are your advice/last words to our readers?
Lamaan is advising us all to listen to other people and to understand rather than judge. And allow your mind to find different ways to think of different things without anchoring to an answer or a belief. This will allow you to be more empathetic with yourself which will help you trust yourself.
Sherine is advising us all to stop listening to our inner bullies, the bullies that keep saying that you are not creative enough or that you are not funny enough.
I personally hope that you have enjoyed this interview with the amazing inside out Lamaan & Sherine from Cut the Crap podcast as I did.