| Episode | 9 |
| Season | 1 |
| Category | People |
| Listen | Full Episode #9 ↗ |
Episode: 9 — "Be Different by Using Your Strengths" · Full Episode #9
Date: 10 December 2019
Language: Libyan Arabic (predominantly), English code-switching
Eslam Gazelle (اسلام غزالة) was 23 at the time of recording. Libyan, based in Newcastle — not London, which she corrected repeatedly. She studies Fashion Communication at university (a mix of journalism, business, and marketing) while working part-time in retail. She is a fashion and lifestyle content creator with roughly 70,000 Instagram followers, described as the first blogger in her community to use fashion and social media as a source of income.
This is the episode's centrepiece. Eslam drew a fashion design and posted it on Instagram, tagging a well-known Egyptian public figure — a former Miss Egypt with a TV show. The woman commented that she would wear it if the opportunity arose. Eslam's immediate instinct: strike while the iron is hot. She had never sewn anything. She found a teacher — Phil Bolan, a lecturer in Fashion Retail Enterprise — who told her to make the kaftan. She worked with a sewing workshop for a week during Ramadan. From the Instagram comment to the garment being worn on live TV took nine months.
She was clear: this did not make her a fashion designer. But it gave her the confidence to continue building her platform.
See: The Kaftan
As a child, while other girls played "school" or "mother," she played "businesswoman" — though she didn't know the word yet and told her mother she wanted to be a "business man." Her mother corrected her: "Why a man? You're a girl." The idea lodged and never left. A high school business teacher later confirmed it: "You have a business mindset."
She arrived from Libya and was essentially alone. Building friendships took years. "Nine years later, alhamdulillah, I have a friend group." She doesn't rush or glorify it.
Eslam is disturbed by conformity — people who dress in uniform, think in uniform, follow trends out of fear of social judgement. Her message: everyone has something that distinguishes them, but people focus on what distinguishes those around them and try to become the same thing.
"الأغلبية متشابهين... كل واحد عنده شي يتميز به، بس الناس يركزوا على شنو يميز اللي حواليهم ويبدوا يبيوا نفس الشي."
"The majority are alike... everyone has something that distinguishes them — but people focus on what distinguishes those around them and try to become the same thing." (EP 9)