Meet Laila Fakhoury | Creative Entrepreneur & Event Curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laila Fakhoury and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laila, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My heart has always been dedicated to serving others. I remember realizing how much I valued service when I read a quote as a kid that really resonated with me. It said “as you grow older you learn you have two hands: one for helping yourself, one for helping others.”

I’m originally Palestinian, and from a young age we learn that community is everything. It is our responsibility to uplift our family, friends and neighbors however we can. These lessons from my heritage and my collectivist culture made me passionate about social work and social justice. I was very committed to making meaningful change in the communities I lived in and back home in Palestine.

When I was in fifth grade, I told my parents that I was going to be an international humanitarian lawyer so that I could create meaningful change in my homeland, Palestine. My parents both looked at me and in unison said, “exactly.” From that point on, I was expected to become an attorney.

Throughout middle and high school I spent a majority of my time volunteering and participating in community service projects. When I began college at the University of Florida in Gainesville, I decided to major in social work and philosophy. Along with this double-major, I still had familial pressure to pursue international law after graduation. Throughout my time at the university, I worked in four different nonprofits (mostly at the same time cause I’m extra). The more hands-on work I began to do in community, the more my interest in going to law school shifted. I fell in love with building connections and community through social work and direct projects.

In my sophomore year of college, I had an epiphany. My goal with law school was to create genuine change in my homeland and elsewhere. But I started to consider that after going through and paying for three years of schooling, I was simply going to graduate into a system that wouldn’t allow me to change it – as that is the point of the system. I started reflecting on the power of counter-culture and the influence of creating paradigm shifts that move us away from the conventional systems that we are expected to play and act within.

It was then that I made a personal decision to kickstart my own businesses along with my two collaborators, Jahi Khalfani and Khary Khalfani. All three of us had social work hearts and wanted to make lasting change that was bigger than ourselves, but we were all a bit more creative than the typical nonprofit route. We wanted to create a platform that we could use for social good projects through art and music. So we decided to create an independent record label called Dion Dia Records. We chose a label because it’s really just a living entity that can be and do anything. Labels intersect all forms of street culture – music, fashion, art, skate, automotive and more – all the things we love. We immediately started using the label for social work by launching recording programs in the hospital and prisons. In the hospital, we recorded patients who were living with terminal illness as a way to preserve their legacy and push their music and messages into the world. We did the same in several prisons, recording the art and words of people who were incarcerated and purposefully, punitively disconnected from the rest of community.

We also started using the record label to host events throughout Gainesville. We would jump all over the city to unconventional venues to host Hip Hop & RnB shows, silent discos, creative networking events and more. We used these events to fund our social work projects and build a home recording studio for our friends and community to utilize. I got so into the events, I became an event curator for our label, our artists and other organizations around town.

The journey of choosing to start our own business, rather than going down a traditional, arguably easier path like law school has been exceptionally challenging and scary. But I am so grateful we decided to forge our own way outside of the systems we don’t agree with to really start a creative and cultural movement in Gainesville that has begun to spread throughout Florida. Since starting the record label, I have felt empowered to go all in on being a creative entrepreneur, which has lead to other businesses and freelance work.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I struggled for a long time feeling like I was not an artist. Mostly because my art is not “conventional.”

After taking time to reflect on what I’ve created over the past few years, I realized that although my work is not traditional, it is in fact, art. It is the art of creating experiences, moments, and memories. It is the art of bringing people together for connection and community. It is the art of holding space for collective wellbeing. And this art will lead to more unity and understanding among people in small and large scale ways. As I’ve heard my role models say throughout my life, celebration is part of revolution – you need experiences of joy and connection to fuel real changes.

Through our creative businesses: How Bazar – a cultural + creative hub in Downtown, Gainesville and Dion Dia – an independent record label, I’ve been able to curate a range of events and experiences that have created a sincere community around both brands. I put together events from start to finish. Each of my events are intended to include as many people as possible, to give opportunities for artists’ talents to shine and to promote economic empowerment among creatives. I regularly curate huge night markets, block parties, art galleries, enriching workshops and more through our storefront, How Bazar, and in other parts of Gainesville and beyond.

Because of the experience I earned with hosting our own events, I’m now organizing events as a freelancer for entities like the City of Gainesville, Alachua County, the University of Florida and more. No matter who I’m contracted by, I’m proud to say that each person or institution that has reached out to hire me, has given me full creative freedom to curate whatever I think would be meaningful and enjoyable. That has been a really beautiful affirmation that people believe in my vision and intentions.

This was not an easy trek, but it was so worth it and I’m actually really proud of what my team and I have created so far.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I actually love creating itineraries for my friends. If friends came to visit me in Gainesville for a week, we’d start with exploring the nature and culture of the area.

Monday:
We’d use this day to visit the springs. Alachua County is filled with beautiful, natural springs. It is a unique way to show off the loveliest parts of the area. We’d make it a whole day. We would wake up early to go to a Rainbow Springs. We would kayak, swim, float and then end with a picnic. Afterwards, we’d take the scenic route home and rest for a bit. Near sunset, we’d bike around the park on one of the many beautiful trails we have. Then we’d go home and make dinner – because nothing is open on Mondays in Gainesville lol.

Tuesday:
We’d use this day to experience the culture of our small city. We’d go to a local breakfast spot that’s nestled between several local businesses like a plant shop, mini skate park, record store, bike garage and more. Then in the evening we’d do the Downtown Tuesday circuit. Free billiards, an indie film at the local theatre, free jazz at a wine bar and a discounted meal at one of the many great restaurants that host Tuesday dinner specials.

Wednesday:
We would make it a self-care day. We’d go to one of my favorite massage spots, nail salons, etc. It would be a spa day. We may stop by some local thrift shops to see if there are any new outfits waiting for us. Then we would go out to whatever event is happening in town that night or bounce around to a few staple venues. Since we look good.

Thursday:
It would be a mix of nature and culture type of day. At sunset, we’d drive to Payne’s Prairie, a beautiful state park right off of 441. We would stop at the overlook to watch the sunset. Then we’d keep driving to a hidden, little Italian restaurant in a very small, quaint neighboring town. On the way back from our cute dinner, we’d stop at the same overwatch to look at the stars. This day sounds more like a date actually haha.

Friday – Sunday:
Maybe we’d travel! Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville. We’d see what kind of events are happening in nearby cities and experience those. I love going to other people’s events – even though I can’t stop myself from overthinking what I would do if it was my own event.

Of course, this is all given that we don’t have any responsibilities or work to do for some reason.

Man, now I really want to spend a week like this!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many individuals that have inspired my journey and growth.

Let’s start from the beginning: My parents. My mother and father are Palestinian and Lebanese immigrants. They are the most dedicated, passionate, hard-working people I have ever met. Despite all their responsibilities to their careers and communities, they raised five children to be dedicated, passionate, hard-working people. I am forever grateful for the lessons I learned through observing my parents’ values and ethics. They taught me what it means to work collectively and meaningfully. They are truly shinning stars that have guided my journey. And of course, I would be remiss if I did not show gratitude to my grandparents, the ones who molded my parents into the wonderful people that they are. And to my four-older siblings who in their own ways have all added to my path and my character.

Inspired by my immigrant parents’ entrepreneurship, I started my own creative businesses while I was in college at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I would not have been able to succeed on this path without the guidance of my mentor: Jose Peruyero.

I met Jose during my sophomore year of college. Jose was already an embedded artist who contributed a lot of creativity to the Gainesville scene and culture. My friends and I were just getting started with our record label, Dion Dia – and I had the idea to start hosting silent discos in town. Why silent discos? In my opinion, silent discos are some of the most autonomous events in the world. When you arrive to the event, you’re given bluetooth headphones that have multiple DJs transmitting music to them. At a silent disco, you’re able to choose between different genres of music, change the volume and take your headphones off to actually have dialogue with your friends and strangers. I believed that mixing a silent disco into a dance party would genuinely bring diverse community together. These events would give attendees space to express themselves however they choose as they bounce between silent disco and live music comfortably. I knew that this style of curation would bring even people who do not usually feel comfortable in the traditional nightlife spaces out of their houses to connect with others. A diverse community is the most beautiful community and I wanted to see that kind of unity in Gainesville.

When we pitched the idea of silent discos to Jose and shared the goals of community-building at these unique events, he supported us full-heartedly. Jose was the first person to ever invest in our record label and our creative journey. Out of pure belief in our intentions and vision, he bought us our first 150 pairs of silent disco headphones to kickstart Dion Dia Records.

Since then, Jose has been my confidant, mentor, business partner and friend. If I wouldn’t have met him, I’m not sure where I’d be today. His generosity and understanding truly changed my life. And the journey he enabled me to take, has impacted so many people.

And I can’t skip the opportunity to shoutout my business partners, Jahi and Khary Khalfani. We created a movement together, alongside wonderful friends, out of pure love for humans and community.

I am forever grateful for the people in my life who have believed in and supported me. Thank you, I love you.

Website: diondia.com | thehowbazar.com

Instagram: @the.how.bazar | @diondiarecs | @bigcaaf

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laila-fakhoury-b9903554

Other: My TEDx Talk (I was 18 years old, don’t roast my outfit pls lol):

An article that follows me as I create my art and curate an event:
https://atriummag.org/a-spark-in-the-night/

Image Credits
Khary Khalfani
Josh Carbone
Kinnara Bosworth
Rüts