We were lucky to catch up with Mahnoor (Maha) Yousaf recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mahnoor (Maha), thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Growing up I was always a creative child, ‘the artsy kid in school’- but I was always in the pre-medicine route. I pursued this for multiple reasons, one being I wanted to help people, that was/is my driving force, and two I grew up in a culture that held “STEM” to such a high regard- it almost felt foolish to consider anything else. My pre-med background was also validated by the fact I was a high achieving student growing up, I was in honor courses, and AP courses, and I was able to complete high school in my sophomore year. This led to me traveling to go study pre-med in Pakistan. I always knew I wanted to be in a field that helped people and brought a positive change in the world. Medicine was just a more ‘direct’ path for it. However as I continued studying it, and realized how emotionally taxing the role can be- I knew I couldn’t bear it. I am someone who wears their emotions on their sleeves, I am very empathetic and that’s where my drive to help people comes from- but I also cry seeing others cry, and feel for others at times of distress- medicine was really not the route for me. After completing the PreMed Certification in Pakistan, knowing I couldn’t move forward in medicine, I moved to the states to pursue a career in the creative field. I knew I had this creative talent/drive and I always wanted to pursue it at some point in my life. Even in my plans in medicine, I always imagined myself owning a studio on the side and keeping my creative drive going. When I left medicine, I knew I owed it to myself to pursue that route. I was lucky that my family was super supportive of this change, as it is not a common one in the South Asian community. Seeing my luck, I knew that I could still have a role in helping people, just in a different way. As I started my creative path at ringling, and seeing the lack of South Asian creatives, I knew there was a story that needed to be discovered there, and I made it my goal to share it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Mahnoor Shakila Yousaf, I go by Maha. I am a multidisciplinary designer, artist and creative leader. I am a Pakistani-American, with a B.A in Visual Studies from Ringling College of Art and Design. I specialize in Graphic Design, Film, Photography, and Illustration. I provide marketing and branding assistance to companies and clients, from creating their brand guides, to designing merchandise.

My personal/passion projects explore identity within the arts; specifically being a South Asian creative. I highlight the relationship of being South Asian Creative in a community where being an artist/creative is looked down on. I am very proud of a project I recently started called SACH (South Asian Creative Hub), it is still in its first stages but I am so excited to see where its journey goes. It was made as a means to connect, network, and showcase South Asian Creatives globally, regardless of specialty, or level of learning- if you’re still in school, college or already in the creative industry, there is room for you in SACH. Sach means truth, and that’s the goal- we intend on sharing our truths to the world. This project was an offshoot of my senior thesis at Ringling, called “Standards: The South Asian Dream”. It was an exhibition of my work that I had curated through multiple mediums- from a short film, that allowed me to be interviewed by multiple film festivals as an up-incoming director, producer and writer, to being featured in Toronto lift off global festival, and getting honorable mention at the Athens International Monthly Film Festival. Along side the film, I had a photography series which aimed to highlight South Asian creatives at Ringling, from different majors. This resulted in a photo essay featuring a research paper I wrote on the South Asian Community and the arts, along with being featured in multiple art magazines, and being on the cover of Quadro’s magazine for their October issue. Finally in the exhibition I also showcased a mock website I designed, which truly echoed what birth SACH- a hub for first generation South Asian- Americans to connect with their culture, and learn more about their history.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Being a South Asian creative is not the easiest of tasks, from societal believes and cultural norms, we were always told being in STEM was what defines being successful. While it is not to invalidate those who work hard to be in STEM, it is one that should be celebrated- but so should being a creative. Creativity, and being a creative translates into each of the fields that are deemed as “successful”. With advances in VR, and, other technology, being a creative is as important. However this mentality of STEM > Arts is a result of years and years of westernization- and the almost fetishizing of the western world. When the civil rights laws were passed in the US, the asian migration laws were passed along to allow people from Asia to be able to apply for visas, and move to US. However, who got a visa really varied, as you noticed more and more STEM majors getting visas, as they contributed more to the western society/economy. So a culture that has a rich and colorful history within the arts suddenly felt itself get desaturated of color as more and more opted for STEM, as it allowed them to move out of the South Asian subcontinent. Here we also see how people believing moving to the west means you’re going to live a successful life, but then when only STEM majors are getting that access at that time- it sowed the seeds for generations to push a narrative of STEM>ARTS. My goal is to unlearn that belief and help the community grow from that mentality. Along with that we have this consistent saying that has plagued every South Asian child, student, and “rebel” which would be Log Kya Kahn ge (What would people say?) which is a wall preventing many people from living their lives to their full capacity, whether its something as little as dying your hair pink (which I have done and don’t recommend haha I was trying to get it purple once) to stuff that alter your life course- like careers. This is a constant saying in most South Asian households, which truly need to be unlearned- because we cannot let others opinions dictate our expression and lives. If it is not causing anyone harm, or is negative to ourselves and our health- why would we not discover who we are for ourselves. why would we let someones brothers-wives-cousins-uncle’s-wife who doesn’t know who we are as a person dictate our life choices.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I feel like I lean on this perspective a lot, but its only because it is that important- but being able to follow a non-traditional career, and be able to break traditional barriers in the process is very rewarding. I owe it to being a creative, but also to having the most supportive parents, and finding a support system within my family (namely my cousins, and my immediate aunts and uncles), and then later within the friends I made. I was able to say that I was one of the first few girls in my family that left home for college- left the country and lived on my own, which in our culture is unheard of, and unseen for many, many cases. Yet I was able to say that, also saying that it was for a creative career. This in itself was a fact unheard of, and being able to say that is rewarding in itself especially when we look back at my drive to help people, and empower South Asian voices. I hope that I can help pave the way for more South Asian creatives to be able to take that leap of faith.

This reminds me of a very touching moment from around my final year at Ringling. I remember when I was announcing my thesis, and started posting tidbits- I had a dedication in my film- which stated: ‘The Maha who didn’t have the courage to follow her dream, and all the other South Asian Students who struggle following their passion due to “Log Kya Kahein ge’ (What would people say), but also to all the South Asian Students who had the courage to fight against it and pursue their passion paving the path for all of us!’ Along with this dedication I had posted my journey from medicine to Arts- and how unsure that path was because realistically something we are never told is how a life in the creative fields will look like- we know how a life as a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a businessperson can look like- but there is little view of what success can look like in the creative field in the South Asian eyes. I spoke about how scary that risk was, and how there are moments that fear comes back in the form of imposter syndrome- but its how you persevere through that fear, that’s how you can make it, that’s how you can work hard enough to be the image of success. When I shared this- there is a student (who I believe is in UCLA) who was about to start studying design that year- she reached out to me and told me how she struggled convincing her parents to let her follow her passion because she was also a victim of standards that held very high, and expectations from society. How reading my story helped her have a little bit more faith, and things will be okay! Moments like that, where I see the direct effect how even just sharing my story can have- is very rewarding, and shows how representation matters SO MUCH! For moments like these, I am driven to help empower more South Asian creatives, and their voices.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mahayousaf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mahayousaf.art/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahnoor-maha-yousaf/