nabil laoudji

poetry, prose, design thinking & entrepreneurship

  • HOME
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Poetry
    • Prose
  • CONTACT

Practical Advice on Creative Success

May 15, 2010 by Nabil Leave a Comment

On Tuesday I had an inspirational call with Derrick Ashong (aka DNA), a West-African born musician, social entrepreneur, and host of The Derrick Ashong Experience on Oprah Radio.

Derrick inspires me for two reasons: First: he has guts. With the prospect of a lucrative career on Wall Street, Derrick (at the time a senior at Harvard) had the courage to strike a risky path for himself and co-founded Soulfège, a West African band with beats as catchy as their message is positive. Second: he pays the rent. Through speeches, performances, consulting gigs, and his radio show, he has designed a career that enables him to express himself artistically yet also supports him financially.

Derrick had the following words of wisdom regarding my storytelling project:
– On growing my network: It’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows what you know. Tell people what I’m working on.
– On finding a mentor: A mentor will want to work with me because they care about me deeply, or they respect my work. The most efficient way for me to find a mentor is to go out to venues and perform (a.k.a Just Do It).
– On the art scene in LA: Some of the most talented folks in LA’s art scene are artists who most people have never heard of. Seek them out.
– On where to perform: Start with Zanzibar in Santa Monica.

I’m excited to track Derrick’s pragmatic approach to building a career of self-expression, and I hope that I can channel his courage and discipline as I build my own.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: africa, inspiration, music, oprah, wisdom

Welcome

Nabil Laoudji Twitter LinkedIn Instagram More Info

Recent Tweets

  • What’s cool about history is that it keeps repeating itself with better technology 🥲 about 6 months ago
  • .@LUMAInstitute Think-Aloud Testing hits TikTok #designthinking https://t.co/OI9PTlvwaY about 6 months ago
  • RT @usopen: That final feeling 🙌 Ons Jabeur and Iga Swiatek will battle for the women's singles title! @Cadillac Iconic Moments | #USOpen… about 6 months ago
  • RT @WTA: 😘 Two worthy #USOpen finalists 🙌 @iga_swiatek | @Ons_Jabeur https://t.co/WrO5W4now7 about 6 months ago
@laoudji

Recent Snaps

[instagram-feed]

Recent Comments

  • Don on How meditation helped me get a handle on compulsive thoughts
  • Shehab on Amazon & Wikileaks: Sorting Out the Controversy
  • Mike on On Purpose
  • Katherine Molina on On Purpose
  • Anne on On Purpose

Archives

Tags

AI arab spring boston buffalo business career comedy community democracy design thinking Entrepreneurship ethnography family film improv india interview landscape launch learnings lessons los angeles massmouth MBA meditation mental health MIT music NYC occupy oprah passion performance ethnography public speaking revolution risk rust belt sales standup storytelling story tips tunis tunisia ucb values

Thanks

Thanks for visiting!

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in