Do you know him? We first met on TikTok...

A few weeks ago, my friend Kashif posted the video below on TikTok. He was letting his audience know that his short film was going to be showing at a film festival.

@kashifpasta

MY SOUTH ASIAN SCI FI SHORT PREMIERES IN LA TOMORROW (Saturday May 13!!!) tickets in bio!! #muslimfilm #shortfilm #aapi #aapiheritagemonth

It just so happened this event was taking place at an AMC in downtown LA. So I pulled up on him!

A few weeks later, I asked him to join me on my podcast. Kashif is amazing! He’s one of those people that acts normal but is insanely smart. I wanted to share the highlights from our convo with you:

Firstly, who the heck is he...

In his younger years, Kashif would make stop-motion shorts featuring all of his toys and be in awe of the impact that tv and media had on his point of view. That same intrigue in creating films and telling stories only grew as he got older.

Desi Standard Time Travel

His short film! The film tells the story of a young Indian father who just lost his dad, and gets the chance to travel back in time and fix their last conversation. Through twists, and turns the main character learns to understand his parents with more grace in this hilarious, therapeutic, sci-fi short film.

A Perspective on Time

First thing first, realize that good things take time. Like a student becoming a master, give yourself time without the expectation of something perfect to come from it.

Giving yourself permission and the patience to find the balance between slowing down and speeding up will get you further, without burnout. Some of the responsibilities and pressures that come with growing a brand or company are helpful in prioritizing what projects to say yes or no to, and how to accurately value($) your time. Take note of how the big companies and ad agencies are doing regarding partnership, and get creative in how to scale that down for personal projects.

This may mean trades in the form of in-kind donations, saving a little room in the schedule for content promotional shots or snippets. And most importantly, value the personal relationships through your network and use them to your advantage (don’t let your ego get in the way). Don’t be the person who always “asks”, be someone who looks to show up for others as a resource too! And remember, while we may possess the same skills, one creator cannot do it all.

The whole convo was a vibe!

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🎙️ Drake was on Bobbi Althof’s podcast this week, it’s kinda crazy to think that most A-list celebrities are using podcasting as their primary form of media runs.

@bobbialthoff

I will be posting the rest of my interview with Drake to YouTube soon…