Shadia Sabagh

I attribute my success to my adaptive creativity and willingness to experiment across a wide range of ideas and techniques. My versatility in mediums allows me to express concepts in dynamic ways while maintaining a unified thematic focus. I approach my work with an experimental and exploratory nature, constantly pushing boundaries and refining my voice. My environmental and spatial awareness plays a key role in how my art interacts with viewers and spaces. Driven by curiosity, I continue to evolve my practice and uncover new forms of expression. I am deeply committed to bridging art and function, creating work that is both meaningful and accessible. My strength in conceptual articulation helps me communicate complex emotions and ideas through abstract forms. I value collaboration and have worked with brands like Yves Saint Laurent Beauty while also participating in art fairs across the United States and globally. Above all, my resilience in establishing my own studio practice and my ability to channel emotional experiences into my artistic process have been central to my success. I don't limit myself to the rules - since I'm a self-taught artist, I don't create from the book or follow guidelines of how things should be. I just play with materials and mediums and do what I feel, instead of how it should be or how other people have done it.

The best career advice I received wasn't traditional guidance, but rather an innate understanding of my own passion. It wasn't any guidance, to be honest - I really hated my life when I was in healthcare, and I kind of had an awakening during COVID. I had a moment where I was like, this cannot be life. I cannot live life like this. I know that I have to love what I do for a living. I can't just do things for money that I don't like. I just wanted to do what I liked, and I knew that I could find a way to monetize what I liked. I always loved painting and drawing since I was very young. That realization drove me to find ways to monetize my work and turn my passion into a sustainable career. By trusting that instinct, I built a path that aligns with both my creativity and my livelihood.

I would definitely give her the advice to be very persistent and not give up on yourself if you're having delays within your success. In every creative career, you're going to have delays, because overnight success is not overnight - that is a myth. Every artist, every singer, every actor, for you to create and master your own practice, it takes years for you to find your own voice and master your own talent, whether it's singing, dancing, writing, acting, painting, or working with your hands. It takes a minute for you to learn the practice in itself, and then to master it, and then to find your own voice. You need to find, first of all, the curiosity, second of all, the patience to learn it, and third of all, the tenacity to be able to push through. You need to be okay with the silence while you're not seeing any results, until you see the results. Be okay with not taking shortcuts, because sometimes if you take the shortcuts, you may get one big success, but it won't be a foundational, long-standing success. Instead of that, do the right thing with yourself and build a successful business that is long-standing. I personally like to build grounded support instead of flighty support - I bootstrap, I'm 100% bootstrapped, so I support myself. Nobody else has say over my work, over my creative input. I financially support everything because I don't want to lose creative control. I recommend people to not have to go through the path that I did, to just go into it directly, not have to go the hard way.

Some of the main challenges for a multidisciplinary artist and consultant include balancing multiple roles while maintaining a clear and cohesive identity. Navigating different industries can also require constantly adapting to new expectations, tools, and workflows. However, this versatility creates strong opportunities to innovate and offer unique, cross-disciplinary solutions. It also allows me to reach broader audiences, collaborate widely, and build a more dynamic and sustainable career.

The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are authenticity, passion, and compassion. I believe in adaptive creativity and experimentation, embracing complexity as an essential part of growth. Driven by curiosity, I value cross-pollination of ideas and perspectives across different disciplines. I am deeply passionate about supporting my community, especially through my involvement with The Lotus House Women's Shelter. I believe in supporting women because I think us women have a little bit of a harder time, and I have an affinity with that. I feel that it's a little bit harder with women that are left without a home and with kids, and I think they're doing a beautiful thing at the Lotus House in Miami - they're helping women get back on the ground, giving them education and food. I also value creative control and independence - I'm 100% bootstrapped because I want to maintain creative control over my business and not have anyone else have say over my work or my creative input. I value doing what I love for a living and not just doing things for money. I believe in not limiting myself to rules or guidelines, but instead playing with materials and doing what I feel.