bazaar April 2022 issue

April 2022 | Issue #267 w w w.ba z aar.town

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Int It’s that special time of year again. Lots of long sleepless nights, lots of amazing gatherings, lots of amazing food, lots of amazing Arabic shows (well a couple of them anyway), and a very feel-good, calm, spiritual vibe in the air wherever you go, and whatever you do. Except of course for the traffic. For some reason, even after all these years, the traffic in Ramadan is simply a nightmare. Nothing is worse than traffic jams combined with angry, impatient, reckless drivers trying to get to work half asleep and late, except maybe that dude trying to get to futoor across the country in 5 min flat. We all know him, have seen him flying by, like it’s the last supper or something!

The only thing worth being in a hurry for, is breaking into this month’s issue. This special edition is one of our biggest issues yet, and is filled with lots of incredible features to navigate through Ramadan with ease. Still haven’t planned your Ramadan table, unsure of where to go for Iftar, or looking for alternative suhoor options? We’ve got it all!

The bazaar team...

Boss Ahmed El-Adly

Editor Alia Al Duaij

Operations Manager Ihab Youssef

Content Manager Yasmine El Charif

As always, we love starting with the inspirational people of Kuwait. This month for Truth or Dare we spoke to Aneshka D’Costa, the forward-thinking art director who is the fresh mind behind a lot of the cool campaigns you are seeing around Kuwait.

For Up Close and Personal we met up with met up with local artist and bazaar favorite, Hamad Al Humaidhan, who is constantly compared to Picasso. While Hamad is still in his early twenties, his innate talent can be a blessing and a burden, but he is unphased by comparisons. From art to jewelry design, we also sat down with Fazeena’s founder, Nessy Ibrahim, who shares with us her journey in establishing her jewelry label.

Mixed Media Solutions

You can’t flip through this issue without stopping to admire our incredible Porsche Boxster cover, check out the entire photoshoot, an original bazaar Studios production, and get ready for a soulful adventure in this powerful roadster. We’ve taken the Boxster where it’s never gone before!

Staff Writer/Online Media

We’ve been hyping ourselves up for Ramadan by adding a couple of new items to our wardrobe so we’re ready for all the scheduled gatherings. If you are looking for inspiration look no further than this month’s issue. The TAMANNA Ramadan collection is stunning and well thought out for the entire family. If you are thinking farther than that in the future, and Eid is on your mind, MUJI offers a timeless collection of items that are easy to wear, sustainable and can be dressed up or down depending on your style.

We’d be joking if we didn’t say we’re mostly excited for the food. From quick and convenient options like the Blaze Bundles to Novo Pizza and Poke Pick’s many options, there’s just so much to choose from. And we can’t wait for a lavish Ramadan tent experience at Jumeirah Messilah Hotel Beach & Spa Asateer Tent. The Four Seasons Hotel Burj Alshaya has also held nothing back this year when planning for Ramadan.

And for the days we’re staying in, we’ve stocked our freezer with Americana’s best and yummiest options.

Happy reading!

Jennifer Cádiz

Design Shadi Mofeed

Cover by Sunil Raju for bazaar Studios Mariam Raslan Yasmin Gamal Yasmine Dalloul

Communications Hala Y. Sharara

Syndicates & Sources Fast Company LA Times MCT International Newsweek

Printing British Industries for Printing and Packaging members of:

Ahmed El-Adly w w w. b p a w w. c o m The views expressed in bazaar magazine are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff (but sometimes they are).

tel.2571 6122 info@bazaar-magazine.com www.bazaar.town | Zahra Complex, Salmiya. 8th floor, office 35 @bazaargram bazaarmagazine @bazaar tweets

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Welcome the season with our dazzling Ramadan dinnerware collection

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INDEX APRIL 2022 40

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UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH HAMAD AL HUMAIDHAN

TRUTH OR DARE

PORSCHE 718 BOXSTER

Being compared to Picasso can be a blessing but also a burden. Hamad is still in his early twenties but has already proven that he is teeming with artistic expression and creativity. Armed with exceptional talent and the unwavering support of his father, Hamad is definitely going places.

94 TAMMANA

Got your eye on a prize from your favorite store but don’t feel like driving to a mall to get it? Get it on Tammana! We’ve rounded up some Ramadan and Eid worthy outfits, home accessories and kids’ delights from stores like Pottery Barn, the Disney Store, VaVaVoom and more.

Enter Aneskha D’costa’s world of art direction and body positive modeling in this issue. This month’s lovely Truth or Dare candidate has us feeling inspired to chase after our dreams and help the fashion industry keep evolving to more inclusivity.

Read all about her in our April issue.

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Driving down the road with the top down is living the dream. And there’s nothing like the Porsche 718 Boxster. With turbocharged powertrains, the car promises and delivers an exciting driving experience, top-down, of course! Find out why the 718 Boxster is charming, lively, beautiful and ever so powerful on the road.

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WEST ELM X DESIGNED BY HIND

Everyone’s favorite furniture store is upping their game this Ramadan. They’ve brought in a beautiful collection of porcelain pieces designed by Sheikha Hind Bint Majid Al Qasimi to adorn your Ramadan table with. Check out the coveted collection in this month’s issue.

RAMADAN AT JUMEIRAH MESSILAH BEACH HOTEL & SPA

Nothing says Ramadan like breaking your fast in a Ramadan Tent. This year, Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa are inviting us to experience the magic at the much anticipated Asateer Tent. We can’t wait for the amazing spread of traditional Ramadan dishes, live stations, live music and shisha (during Ghabqa hours).

152 RAMADAN WITH POTTERY BARN KIDS

Ramadan for the little ones is a lot easier and much more fun with Pottery Barn Kids. Let us show you how this beloved homeware brand can turn Ramadan into a fun, routine-friendly monthlong event for children to engage, teaching them something new every day. Are you excited for baby’s first Ramadan?

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SUPER SPEEDY RAMADAN MEALS WITH XCITE

Time is always precious and fleeting especially during Ramadan. Streamlining your meals can save you a ton of time during meal prep. We found the best basic template for a Ramadan Iftar that can help you create great dishes without a lot of effort.

PORSCHE 718 BOXSTER P. 70 28

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EXCLUSIVE RAMADAN EDIT

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what's trending April 2022

#1

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What: @littleminedesign Info: Baby and kid apparel Editor’s Note: You’ll have the best dressed kid this Ramadan and End

What: @canava.handmade Info: Five Palestinian siblings, five artists, five amazing visions Editor’s Note: We need these clutches

#2 What: @resin.studio_ bynesrinemagdy Info: Resin Art by Nesrine Magdy Editor’s Note: Unique home accessories that will brighten up your home

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What: @mashmoomdesigntable Info: home decor Editor’s Note: Ramadan and Eid are the perfect excuse to level up your tableware

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RED BULL PAPER WINGS GLOBAL EVENT LAUNCHING 2022

The Worldwide Collegiate Event Lands on Kuwaiti Campuses to Find Champion By bazaar staff

Red Bull Paper Wings, the biggest paper plane competition in the world, takes off on Kuwait campuses this month. The event was created to celebrate students and their creativity. This year, 490 separate qualifiers will be spread over 62 participating countries.

Red Bull Paper Wings 2022 will take place at two separate collegiate Kuwait locations on separate competition days, and combines the physical and mental skills of players, in the hopes of realizing Leonardo da Vinci’s dream of flying.

The event is open to all individuals over the age of 18 years.

The first event was held on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at Kuwait Technical College (KTech).

Other qualifiers will be held throughout the coming weeks.

Once at the in-person events at their campus of choice, participants will need to construct their winning paper plane on-premises, using the official Red Bull Paper Wings A4 paper. At home, practice flights should be on A4 paper with a weight of no more than 100 grams.

Red Bull Paper Wings gives competitors the chance to compete in three distinct categories.

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These are: distance, airtime, and aerobatics.

The distance category is judged after two flight attempts are made, with only the best distance tallied to their final score. This category needs a strong throwing arm for the long runway built for the occasion.

The airtime category will require participants to build planes that resist gravity. Paper planes that remain off the ground the longest will win here.

The aerobatics category sees the competition move entirely online. This will be the first year that aerobatics will be a completely online event.

Submissions will be viewed on the social media platform TikTok. To submit, students must upload their recorded aerobatics performance to TikTok, @RedBull, and include the relevant hashtags #redbullpaperwings, and #kuwait.

The aerobatics category will be judged on the overall construction of the paper plane, but the

main criteria for advancement to the World Final will be social engagement, performance creativity in the video, and flight performance.

The Kuwait winners will earn their tickets to compete at the World Finals, where all country winners will converge later this year. The Red Bull Paper Wings World Final takes place from May in Salzburg, Austria. It will be held at the famed Hangar-7 on May 13 and 14, 2022.

For more information and FAQs, including the entire Red Bull Paper Wings ruleset, please note that they can be found on the Kuwait official website, paperwings.redbull.com/kw-en/. To find out more about Red Bull Paper Wings and other major events of interest, follow @RedBullKuwait on Instagram and Twitter, and @RedBull on Facebook.

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DOING RAMADAN RIGHT

Make The Holy Month All The More Special By bazaar staff

It’s that time of year again. But this year, things are looking up*. After two years of spending Ramadan in tight restrictions and lockdowns, curfews and public health measures to fight Coronavirus, we’re back to a recognizable lifestyle and are looking forward to spending Ramadan just like we did B.C. (Before Corona).

Part of diving into life as we once knew it, but while implementing reasonable measures we’ve learned to stay safe, is to embrace the Ramadan traditions we used to hold close to our hearts. While Ramadan is a holy and important time of the year for Muslims worldwide, it’s also our holiday season.

This means that reconnecting with old traditions is the best way to celebrate with our families. Here are a few ways to get back into the moments you once shared with your friends and family during Ramadan.

Community Activities Kuwait has a local humanitarian movement that is quite strong with support for the less fortunate. Because Ramadan is a time to give back, taking part in donation movements to feed families with iftars is a great idea. There’s something special about taking the time to do something for others, when you put in the effort personally, the reward feels so much greater.

Our recommendation: You don’t have to be fancy about this. Grab some friends, buy some ready-made meals and drive out to your closest mosque or coop right at Iftar time to stop those still on the road to feed them. Another idea is to host a Ramadan potluck for Iftar, and gather small donations from friends and family toward sponsoring a family’s (or more) Ramadan basket or Machla.

Iftar Invitations Breaking bread (and your fast) with family and friends is a fulfilling and festive activity. It’s special to get together with people of all backgrounds and enjoy a feast together, while learning about different traditions and family values from other parts of the region and the globe. And if you’re lucky, you get to leave with leftovers!

Our recommendation: Don’t show up empty handed.

A tray of dates, a bouquet of flowers or a delicious dessert is always welcome when you’re joining somebody’s family for iftar.

Ghabqat Similar to iftar, Ghabqas are a great way for people to connect in the after hours. Everybody socializes after breaking their fast, which is extra fun during Ramadan when everything is open later. Scheduling a rotation of ghabqas to attend is always fun, and gives you opportunities to gift, share and show off your new kaftans.

Our recommendation: Don’t be stingy with the ghabqas! Support local restaurants and host one in 36

a private dining room if your budget allows for it. You won’t have to worry about the cleanup after.

Gergea’an Is there anything cuter than this age-old tradition of children going door to door and collecting candy? Over the course of three days during the middle of Ramadan, the Kuwaiti version of trick or treat brings adorable and elaborately dressed children to your doorstep with baskets asking for candy, and friends with toddlers and newborns send treats to your house. Yum! Our recommendation: During gergea’an, children tend to be high on sugar and as a result, merciless.

So tread carefully, but also use your adult powers to your advantage.

Ramadrama Viewing Parties We don’t mean actual parties, but having a couple of friends over right before iftar to watch your favorite Ramadan soaps together is always a great time. It helps speed up the final hours of fasting and adds an extra sense of community to the festive season.

Our recommendation: If your preference is to not see anyone until after Iftar, (which trust us,

we understand completely), then don’t worry!

Ramadramas are always repeated in the evening so you can group up with your buddies and watch them then when everyone has eaten and is in a good mood.

Scenic Drives Kuwait roads and traffic are not the greatest experience at the best of times, but if you are fortunate to be able to experience the roads when they are quiet, it is bliss. If you can, try to drive to work an hour earlier and leave at least an hour later than the shortened office hours for Ramadan. Also, if you don’t have to observe Iftar with friends or family, driving around during that time is great, too. On your day off get up early and drive to somewhere you normally wouldn’t go to, and enjoy Kuwait at its finest.

Our recommendation: Avoid getting on the roads just before Iftar if possible, because that will save you some of the scary driving done out of desperation to break the fast. *We assume. Things are still fine as we’re writing this article, but you never know, right? Keep staying safe!

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HOP ON A BIKE

How the 1970s oil crisis helped Copenhagen become a cycling paradise

By Adele Peters

Rush hour in Copenhagen is dominated by people on bicycles: Around two-thirds of the city’s residents now bike to school or work instead of driving. That wasn’t an inevitable reality. Bikes were popular in the city early in the 1900s, but by the 1950s, as people got richer and moved to the suburbs, cars had overtaken bikes on roads.

By the 1960s, city planners saw cars as the future and bicycles as outdated. They sketched visions to add new urban highways and take out bike lanes that some thought were a waste of space. But the global oil crisis of 1973—when oil prices quadrupled within a few days—helped push the city in a different direction.

Even before the oil embargo, when Middle Eastern suppliers stopped selling fuel to some countries because of a conflict in Israel, some Copenhageners were beginning to question the wisdom of following the American example of city planning. (At the time, Danish leaders visited American cities to see car-centric design in action; Americans now visit Copenhagen to see the opposite.) A proposed highway that would have paved over lakes in the city sparked protests. A busy street in the center of the city was pedestrianized, though the mayor at the time faced death threats for making the changes.

The oil crisis helped lead to faster changes in the 1970s. Driving was temporarily banned on Sundays because of the shortage of gas. “I remember, as a child, walking in the middle of the highway,” says Klaus Bondam, CEO of the nonprofit Danish Cyclists Federation. A growing environmental movement started talking about bikes as alternative transportation. The city eventually abandoned plans for some major new road projects, pedestrianized more streets, and banned through-traffic in other areas.

As Denmark confronted its dependence on foreign fossil fuels—when the oil crisis happened, imported oil covered 80% of its energy needs—it looked for ways to generate electricity and heat differently and to drive less. Danish Cyclists Federation proposed a plan for a citywide bike network, and the city slowly started building new bike lanes.

“Since the ’70s, the city has basically set aside money every year to expand and expand and expand the bicycle infrastructure of Copenhagen,” Bondam says. The changes accelerated further in 2005, when a new mayor was elected on a platform that championed cycling. Bondam was deputy mayor at the time.

“We started some huge investment schemes in more cycling infrastructure,” he says. “But I think more importantly, we moved cycling and cycling culture up on the political agenda.” The city also launched a marketing campaign to encourage more people to bike, with an “I CPH” logo and messaging about how cycling could cut 38

congestion and pollution and help improve quality of life.

Copenhagen now has 250 miles of bike lanes—with curbs that separate them from car traffic—17 recently built bike bridges, and cycle “superhighways” that let suburban commuters ride into the city without stopping at traffic lights.

“If you don’t make those investments, people won’t change the mode of transportation,” Bondam says. “You can paint white lines and stuff like that, it’s fine to begin with, but you should move it to the next level, where you actually build proper, segregated infrastructure.”

Even the most bike-friendly American cities don’t look like this. But it’s possible that the current spike in gas prices could help accelerate the changes that have started to happen in the U.S. over the last decade.

Copenhagen is unique in some ways. It’s compact, so biking anywhere doesn’t take long.

It’s flat—although so is Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, with much better weather, and few people commute by bike there. Denmark never had a car-manufacturing industry lobbying for car-friendly roads (neighboring Sweden, home

to Volvo and Saab, developed fairly differently.)

Denmark also taxes cars heavily, making bikes even more attractive.

Still, Bondam says, change is possible anywhere. Take the example of Paris, where an influx of new bike lanes has quickly filled the streets with cyclists and made it look a lot more like Copenhagen. The full transformation takes time, he says.

“I think it’s important to understand that there’s no quick fix in this. It is an ongoing development that really needs political attention.

It needs a public dialogue,” says Bondam. “It needs also courageous politicians sometimes that say okay, we’ll remove 100 parking spaces.

Trust me, having been a politician, I know that it’s not an easy thing to do. I mean, people hate you.

They literally hate you. But the funny thing is that, when you have done the changes, they kind of understand that it was probably the right thing to do. Because they suddenly see, it’s more quiet now. There isn’t as much air pollution. It’s actually safe for our children.”

Photo by Febiyan on Unsplash.

—

AL BOOM

IFTAR

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up close & personal

PICASSO’S PARAMETERS

Hamad Al Humaidhan and the exploration of artistic expression By bazaar staff

It must be tough for Hamad Al Humaidhan to live up to his moniker “Young Picasso”, a handle assigned to him by a BBC Reporter back when he was just a small child selling out exhibitions, and not a name he or his family ever claimed for himself. But Hamad does embrace the title and is using it in myriad ways to establish himself across various creative channels, which is how bazaar met Hamad. We’ve seen him in a national campaign for TAMANNA #BornInKuwait, we know him as an Ambassador for New Balance and even now the Dutch fashion house Scotch&Soda wants to work with this striking, artistic influencer to represent their flamboyant label.

@outtheboxkw for bazaar Studios

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Describing how his journey of discovery by the art world started in the UK, Hamad explains how his father trundled the young boy’s paintings out to gallery owners to confirm that there was genuine talent to be seen in his work, and that it wasn’t just a father’s pride in his son making him think Hamad was good. So many countries have their household-name artists, such as Italy’s Renaissance artists - Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, to France’s Impressionists and Cubists - Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Picasso, and America’s Pop Artists like Basquiat and Warhol, and this affected Hamad’s father. “Even before I was discovered in the UK my father would say to me, “You see all of these [world famous] artists, we don’t have a Kuwaiti artist.” So, he really wanted to show that Kuwaiti people have talent,” confides Hamad. His father was asking the question to gallery owners and art critics. Was this fridge art, or phenomenal art? Is Hamad truly talented?

The resounding answer was, “yes” but the agency that was first recommended to Hamad had only just taken on a similarly young artist to whom they’d assigned the label, “the young Monet” so that wasn’t going to work. You can only have one marketing “gimmick” at a time in representative agencies it seems, certainly if you believe Tyra Banks anyway. That agency in turn suggested a second agency and they curated Hamad’s works at a pre-exhibition for critics before Hamad’s full exhibition in Wales. It was here that the BBC journalist mused that he should name Hamad, “The Young Picasso” and Hamad’s life as an artist was set on the path that he has been following now for fifteen years. He’s twenty two.

The BBC reporter wasn’t entirely wrong as there are some similarities between the two painters, beyond an immediate aesthetic which an untrained eye could see as similar. Hamad, like Picasso, started training formally at seven years old and he also has an artistic father.

It’s because Hamad had access to the paints, brushes and canvases of his father that he was able to develop his talent beyond that of Crayola scraped onto newly hung wallpaper in the living room, or fingerpaints daubed on white walls in the kitchen. When asked what prevented his

father becoming “the famous Kuwaiti artist” he wanted to promote, Hamad admits that his father was interested in art and was inspirational in his knowledge but wasn’t considered an artist per se, maybe art enthusiast is the term, “He is an artist though, he’s into art more than me,” Hamad says earnestly, going on to describe his father’s art room where various media was explored including acrylics and clay. Thankfully it’s all the years of voracious reading about art history and hands-on artistic experimentation that allowed Hamad’s father to recognize artistic talent - which exists in all his children, unsurprisingly. Hamad talks proudly of his sister, a painter of flowers and more into realism, and brother, who is into film and videography.

It is undoubtable that Hamad holds huge respect for his dad. So, the question naturally

arises, does he feel any pressure to be this artist that his father wants him to be? Hamad tells a story where as a very young child he was actually the one who asked his father, as he was going up the stairs holding a blank piece of canvas, if he could use that canvas to paint on. He was about four years old, and he painted a picture of Christiano Ronaldo. “It was a very childish painting - I don’t know how he saw that I had talent from that age,” laughs Hamad, “He believed in me I guess.” Hamad’s dad didn’t even push Hamad into using paints on canvas, or pencils on paper.

“I even used crayons on canvas;” a use of mixed media being innate. It seems less like Hamad was being molded into an artist and more being supported to explore his self-expression through artistry whether it be on canvas, through brand collaborations, or, through TikTok.

It was through being on set with Hamad for online platform TAMANNA that bazaar witnessed the interactions he has with his father discussing the canvas he was working on, and how it would look, Hamad’s dad clearly exhibiting knowledge and creative exploration as they discussed the pros and cons of various methods, imagery or strokes. They both have a lot of respect for each other. Hamad humbly admits that there were many times his father may have tried to give Hamad a shortcut to knowledge but, kids being kids, he didn’t listen, however he did eventually come to the same conclusions through his own artistic explorations. So, now, he may be a little more open to what his dad has to say, but Hamad is also a confident young man excited to develop his own projects.

Being an artist in this day and age offers so many opportunities. Social media is a great way to expand his audience, he can control his image and narrative, venture into new media; nonfungible tokens are a thing for Hamad currently.

But, with a difference, because with a Young Picasso NFT you do also get a physical canvas.

Or you did at the time of interview, at the time of writing NFT’s are experiencing a bit of a hit. Maybe even better for Hamad’s patrons that he went over and above what was expected to provide more value than is typical. bazaar Studios just finished a fashion shoot with Hamad where he brought along some of his latest work as backdrops and it’s a wonder that he was able to continue to produce, let alone produce work that he’s proud of over the last two years showing distinct development and nuanced, layered, narrative storytelling. COVID has been tough on some creators, and Hamad readily confesses to having perhaps been a little “lazy” and finding it tough. The world found it tough, so he can be forgiven.

When it comes to commissions, even though Hamad paints for himself, he will collaborate with patrons, taking inspiration from their suggestions, but ultimately producing a Young Picasso piece.

“I paint for myself,” says Hamad, and he’s developing an interest more in Salvador Dali than Pablo Picasso at the moment. In this fast-paced world Hamad likes to work with acrylics because on a practical level they dry quickly, enabling the artist to build texture in a way you can’t with oils, certainly not without having to wait days for the paint to dry. Try getting a Gen Z to wait for longer than a moment…they skip forward through TikToks! You can tell Hamad has his own vision and he does consider himself an art director. You can see it in his work, in the way he dresses, his love of color and kicks, the way he mixes paint, opportunity and platforms. And, we shall continue to watch Hamad Al Humaidhan’s growth which, if not exponential, could certainly be cubed.

[Continued...]

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UP CLOSE & PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE What do you most value about your friends?

Their loyalty, support, and respect.

Which living person do you most admire?

My father.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Fulfilling a goal or a dream and resulting in pure satisfaction.

What is your greatest extravagance?

My Russian wolf fur jacket that I bought when I was only 16.

What is your most treasured possession?

My imagination and its creative process.

What is your greatest fear?

Giving up.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Artistic passion and willingness to create.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Supreme intelligence.

What is one trait you have that you are most grateful for?

My kindness.

What is the human trait you most dislike about others?

Lack of respect and honesty.

What is it that you most dislike?

Death and when people try to joke about it in an unserious matter.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Inshallah.

What are your favorite words to live by?

Art inspires lives.

Where would you most like to live?

Somewhere artistic in Italy or to live in Salvador Dali’s house.

If you could have any job, what would it be?

The boss or an owner of a billion-dollar company.

What would you consider your greatest achievement?

Selling out solo shows at a very young age.

What do you hope for the future?

To be recognized as one of the world’s greatest artists.

DM for enquiries and follow Hamad on Instagram and Tik Tok @young.picasso.hamad and visit his website youngpicasso.com.

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[...Continued]

@outtheboxkw for bazaar Studios

Elevate your Ramadan

THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION

The interview questions everyone hates are about to get a makeover thanks to AI

By Lydia Dishman

If Gen Z believes they can network effectively without ever meeting in person, and people are comfortable using robots to inform their professional development, maybe it’s finally time for hiring managers to let AI take over when it comes to asking interview questions. Particularly those questions that interviewees have historically given inauthentic responses to, like the dreaded: “What’s your biggest weakness?”

That’s what Modern Hire, a platform for video interviewing and pre-hire assessments, is betting on with the launch of Automated Interview Creator (AIC). Mike Hudy, PhD, chief science officer at Modern Hire, told Fast Company that the tool was developed by a team of Industrial-Occupational (IO) psychologists who put their heads together to create a library of questions meant to hone in on what a candidate needs to be successful in the position.

On the surface, the questions generated by the tool don’t look all that different from those in a standard behavioral interview. For example: Describe a difficult decision you had to make at work. What did you consider? How did you move forward? What was the outcome?

Describe a situation when you had a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time. How did you ensure everything got done?

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Give an example of a complex problem you have had to solve in the last six months. How did you approach it? What was difficult? What was the solution?

The difference, according to Hudy, is that AIC is meant to work in tandem with Modern Hire’s Automated Interview Scoring (AIS). This is an ondemand video interview feature in which the candidate answers questions and the AI evaluates and scores their replies.

This functionality was also developed by the company’s team of psychologists who, Hudy underscored, are trained not to be biased and to score replies based on science. Their rating system is augmented by natural language processing. The result is that the AIS is able to evaluate candidate responses both accurately and without bias. Hudy noted that only transcripts of the responses are uploaded to the tool so people’s identifying characteristics are not visible.

AIC just came out of a six-month beta test with eight companies. Hudy says it’s an add-on to an interview tech subscription and is priced as a fixed fee based on number of employees. He did admit that the timing couldn’t be better, as many companies are struggling to fill large numbers of open positions and human interviewers can’t move through the process at scale with speed. For some types of roles, he says, the time-to-hire has been reduced from weeks to days.

But he maintains that the tool is designed to get at core competencies and the behaviors it takes to perform well in a specific role. It “enables higher quality hiring decisions, essential for organizations looking to gain an edge,” he says.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.

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BACK TO THE FUTURE

2000s icon LimeWire is being reimagined as platform for NFTs

By Connie Lin

For many millennials, peer-to-peer sharing platform LimeWire was a cultural touchstone of the early 2000s, as iconic as boy bands and bell-bottom jeans. It may have suffered a tragic demise at the end of the decade, but what goes around comes back around: Bell-bottom jeans are trendy again, and LimeWire is crawling out of its grave—this time, more legally, too.

Its resurrection comes as a pair of serial entrepreneurs have bought the rights to the defunct platform, with hopes to capitalize on the next generation of cultural phenomena: the world of Web3. The buyers, two brothers from Austria, aspire to relaunch LimeWire as a cryptosphere marketplace, selling NFTs linked to music, artwork, and content.

LimeWire’s fame peaked in the mid-aughts as a go-to hub for cool kids to download music and movies, amassing vast collections of pop culture— often illegally, as the platform earned a reputation as one of the early pioneers of the internet piracy boom. It met its maker in 2010 after a federal judge ruled to shut down the business over copyright infringement; major record companies then settled out of court with LimeWire’s CEO at the time, Mark Gorton, for $105 million.

Yet the controversy didn’t seem to make 46

LimeWire any less beloved. “Even if you look on Twitter today, there’s hundreds of people still being nostalgic about the name,” Julian Zehetmayr, one half of the entrepreneur team alongside his brother Paul, told Bloomberg. “Everybody connects it with music and we’re launching initially a very musicfocused marketplace, so the brand was really the perfect fit for that with its legacy.”

And it does seem befitting. Whereas LimeWire was at the forefront of the Web2 economy in its heyday, it now has a chance to evolve into the next generation of internet culture. According to the Zehetmayrs, the new platform will debut in May, first with music-related NFTs such as exclusive songs, artwork, merchandise, and backstage content. It will have no affiliation with LimeWire’s original creators, and will also have its own cryptocurrency token.

Its advisory board includes executives behind Grammy-acclaimed music artists Wu-Tang

Clan and H.E.R., and according to the Zehetmayrs, the platform has already signed 10 “really big mainstream” artists to be part of its offering.

With that, LimeWire is the latest in a string of tech nostalgia reboots, in which dusty brands reinvent themselves to survive in today’s universe. There have been several attempts to remake Myspace, as well as the birth of NeoCities, a successor to GeoCities. However, very few of those have found staying power.

It’s also not the first to move to crypto: In 2018, rival internet pirate BitTorrent was acquired by blockchain startup Tron, which is owned by crypto millionaire Justin Sun. And in December, RadioShack revealed it would become a forum to trade cryptocurrencies.

Photo by Tezos on Unsplash.

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INCLUSION

5 virtual activities to foster inclusion in the digital world

By Heidi Scott

The need to tackle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in a virtual and hybrid work environment has created an unexpected challenge for many leaders in the HR world.

Overcoming this hurdle means shelving empty statements for real, focused solutions. Working to make real solutions is how organizations can attract the best people and talent. Oftentimes, word on the street gets around and the reality of organization comes to light, no matter what you say in public.

“I work with quite a few companies on DEI but, at this time, most are a work in progress” says Nancy Lewis, president of learning and development company, Progressive Techniques.

“Unfortunately, for some it’s just window dressing rather than putting [in] serious efforts.”

Wade McNair, who leads learning and change management efforts at his own consultancy, myKube, agrees: “What I am seeing in the DEI space is mostly talk, but there are some great initiatives working their way to the front of organization and talent strategy. One of my clients in the entertainment industry dubbed 2022 as the ‘year of people development’ at every level of [an] organization. I’ve also recently noticed promotional material on DEI with the new catch phrases ‘belonging’ and ‘well-being’ but no real detail on how, just a lot of ideation, at this point.”

To give more substance to ideas, I’ve outlined a few “how” strategies to increase your virtual team’s or company’s “belonging” and DEI. Here are several practical activities your organization can use now.

Show that you’re committed to the team Start by showing your commitment in your own efforts. Begin by turning your camera on during meetings, thereby inviting your teammates and reports to fully show up for group sessions. As we insert our own humanity with expressions, hand gestures, etc., we get as close to “eyeball to eyeball” communication as we can.

This challenge helps build a virtual culture where people have a chance to be known authentically for the unique individual they are.

Do a little bragging Start with one minute per person in your group and ask your team to consider their most valuable contribution in the last week. It doesn’t have to be a gigantic milestone, but rather something they did exceptionally well; something that they did that truly reflects the way they are wired.

Share and combine visions You’ll have better success at creating your envisioned culture and reaching your desired

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destination when a team knows what to expect.

Are you all on the same page? Are the business objectives and values of your organization and team known? Review this with them on a regular basis to help create an inclusive culture where every person is invited to contribute to making the vision reality.

Break the ice with a unexpected challenge Share it with the team the day before meeting with a focus on “who they are” in real life. Begin your next team virtual session with the invitation for folks to share. For example, “What’s your passion outside of work?” or, “What is your best memory of a holiday or birthday celebration?”

Our uniquenesses are revealed in this inquiry, often revealing aspects of the many ways we are diverse.

Try a “10 in the tank” activity Pair people in virtual breakout rooms, with the task to ask one question to each of their colleagues.

Emphasize the necessity to listen.

We all have biases and innate reactions/ impressions to people in a virtual environment.

Once you’ve tried some or all of these activities, a next step would be to invest in an implicit bias course so you can spot these in yourself and your team and learn how to shut them down.

And remember, when conducting any of these activities, improving DEI in a virtual world starts with developing a culture steeped in respect.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.

truth or dare

EXCLUSIVELY INCLUSIVE Aneshka D’costa: Art director of the future bazaar staff

“You know, a few years ago I used to pick up bazaar at Starbucks and I’d answer the Truth or Dare questions with my friends for fun. It’s almost as though I manifested this [interview] to happen!” Aneshka D’costa laughed with me during our interview. Although we were on Zoom, she still looked stunning with a light touch of effortless makeup that made her skin look dewy and fresh. I wondered if its application was courtesy of her makeup artist sister Nidhi D’costa who also appears as a model in a lot of Aneskha’s work.

“I love working with my sister and always recommend her as a model and a makeup artist for projects I’m on whenever I can.”

It’s no surprise that the D’costa sisters work so well together, seeing that they come from an empowered family of strong and creative women. With sister Nidhi in the creative fashion industr y and Aneshka’s mother behind the desser t deliver y concept Crumble, the stage has always been set for the former computer science engineer to take a more ar tistic turn in her career path.

“I studied computer engineering for four years in university, then I worked in the field for one year before discovering that ar t direction is my passion. I completely deviated from what I thought I was going to do!” To exercise this passion and learn more about it, Aneshka built experience as a model and found herself in dif ferent creative shoots for several brands and campaigns in Kuwait. She then enrolled in University of the Ar ts in London where she took a course in fashion photography and ar t direction in order to master the industr y.

“It truly is a world where you have to know how to think on your feet and solve problems.” she laughed as she told me a stor y of a par ticular moment of a shoot where one of the dancers spilled cof fee on his white pants and she ran out to find detergent though it was the middle of the night. “I had to communicate 50

with this security guard who was sitting at the gate at 1am and ask if we could borrow detergent from his living quar ters. He must have thought I was crazy!” But she saved the day with her quick-thinking and problem solving skills that were surely acquired from her days as an engineer. “You have to be able to work with people and in teams, too.”

Aneshka strives to keep the industr y growing when it comes to inclusivity. “I want to push for more recognition and inclusivity towards people of colour and body types that don’t fit the mould when it comes to “traditional” models.”

This is why in her styling and ar t direction, we see her working with models who fall into such categories: people of colour, dif ferent body types, and androgyny are common themes with Aneshka’s work. “I have noticed though, that Kuwait is catching up and they’re doing a good job with making the fashion industr y more inclusive. Kuwaiti concepts make space for dif ferent types of women in fashion.” That’s a good sign, even though there’s still a way to go. Perhaps in her ambition to become an independent ar t director with an arsenal of creatives, models, photographers, makeup ar tists et al, she will keep contributing to making the industr y a more inclusive place.

Her other dreams? “Creating a boutique of random upcycled items turned into wearable accessories and other cool things, and styling Peggy Gou!” These are just some of the ideas that keep this creative up at night, and not in a bad way. “I hate sleep. I like to stay up and think of dif ferent ideas and come up with dif ferent plans for shoots and how to style them and style the models.” We would say the switch in her career was well wor th it, then.

[Continued...]

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TRUTH OR DARE QUESTIONNAIRE How would your mother describe you in one word?

Sincere.

How would you describe your mother in one word?

Intuitive.

What is the most ridiculous question you’ve ever been asked?

“Do you want to do an interview for bazaar?”

(Because the answer was obviously yes!)

What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

I got a tattoo after a night out with friends.

What is your theme song?

I Got Ants in My Pants (And I Want to Dance) James Brown Where would you like to live?

New York

Which animal best describes your perfect partner, be it in business, or in life?

A female emperor penguin. They’re cute but super resilient and badass.

Do you miss anything from your childhood and if so, what is it?

Definitely spending time with both my siblings.

We would zone out and build our own imaginary world.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

I really like my name, it confuses people and I love that. But if I had to pick another, it would probably be Skai.

What is your dream retirement location?

Spain What is the first famous quote that comes to your mind?

“In a world that wants women to whisper, I choose to yell” -- Luvvie Ajayi.

Who is your favourite historical figure?

Probably every woman who has dedicated their life to fighting for us, even in the smallest way possible.

[...Continued]

What do you think is lacking in the world, which [if there were more of it] would make the world a better place?

Empathy. 100% more empathy.

Why do you think most people who do, like you?

I hope it’s the fact that I love to support my friends’ dreams and goals. Having those conversations and helping them actively progress in what they want to be doing in life.

Finish this sentence: “Happiness is…”

Taking a bite of my Mom’s freshly baked brownies! damn they’re fire!!

How would you describe your handshake, in one word?

Genuine What is the toughest part of your character?

I believe that I’m a very resilient person, it’s something I’m proud of building on through the years.

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What in the world do you least desire?

Not being around my amazing family.

Follow Aneshka’s art direction adventures on Instagram @aneshkadcosta, and her journey as a model on @no____saint. For her sister Nidhi’s makeup artistry, check out @peepthatglow and discover their family bakery Crumble @crumble.kw.

Your wishes. Delivered.

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ARE YOU ON #BOOKTOK?

How book lovers on TikTok are changing the publishing industry

By Yannise Jean

The book industry had a banner year in 2021 thanks, in large part, to TikTok. In a niche corner of the app, #BookTok—a community of TikTokers who review books and give recommendations—has blown up since the start of the pandemic. While users are treated to a bountiful number of new reads, authors of those books have seen an increase in sales and appearances on the New York Times Best Seller list years after release.

According to NPD Bookscan, the publishing industry sold approximately 825.7 million print books in 2021, led by fiction. This is up from 757.9 million in 2020. Kristen McLean, NPD Group’s executive director of business development, attributes the rise in sales to BookTok. “I’ve been an industry analyst since 2010, and this is the first time that I have seen organic social-media impact like this,” McLean says. “I don’t think this would have happened without COVID. People, teens especially, spent more time at home with their books.”

BookTok’s impact has affected both old and new titles, with such works as Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles going viral years after their initial releases in 2017 and 2011, respectively.

That kind of momentum led to debut author Chloe Gong putting her trust in the algorithm to reach readers.

In April 2020, Gong joined TikTok and posted about books she enjoyed, along with her own book, These Violent Delights, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai. While publicity teams in publishing houses create their own plans on how to market books and where, Gong took it upon herself to self-promote on TikTok. “When I joined, it wasn’t yet this influential market the way it is now,” she says. “It was the kind of place where people who loved books and who loved talking about them and writing about them came together and made funny videos.”

Both These Violent Delights and Gong’s followup Our Violent Ends became New York Times Best Sellers soon after their releases, which Gong largely attributes to her TikTok. Traditional publishing is taking note of the impact that BookTok has, with most publishing houses pivoting to create TikTok content in the past year.

Some publishers—in particular, Random House— are collaborating with known creators on the app to boost titles. Since November 2021, TikToker @ kimmybookss has helmed the publisher’s account, posting about her love of romance books and spotlighting Black authors.

Of course, authors taking to social media isn’t new.

Instagram has long been the social platform of choice for bibliophiles. Members of the Bookstagram community post photos of books 54

positioned neatly in the sand by a crystal blue sea or show off a freshly manicured nails gripping the spine of the latest Jasmine Guillory novel.

BookTok rejects the aesthetic that Instagram leans into, and, according to book blogger Cait Jacobs, that’s exactly why TikTok has become a more powerful promotional tool.

“TikTok as a whole feels a lot more authentic than Instagram,” Jacobs says. “The app favors that unfiltered version of you, where you can have bad lighting or makeup and still go viral.”

“On Instagram, you have to bring the ring light out, and look prepared and polished,” Jacobs continues. “Everything on Instagram is filtered and staged. While I try to have authentic engagement with my audience, you don’t get that through my photos.”

There’s also an overall deeper level of engagement within TikTok. Creators make video replies to comments, they stitch or duet content— all of which lends itself to what feels like book club 2.0.

Jacobs points out that Selene Velez, a TikToker who goes by @moongirlreads, posted a video about

the emotional weight of Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, and soon after that, the book hit the New York Times Best Seller list a decade after its debut.

TikTok’s reign over the book industry has also turned heads with booksellers. Retailers both big and small are setting up sections of their stores devoted to books seen on BookTok. Bonnie Monnier, the marketing and events manager at Curious Iguana, a bookstore in Frederick, Maryland, began posting on the store’s TikTok just a few months ago and has found many customers coming in and saying, “I want this book because I saw it on TikTok.” As the book industry attempts to ride the wave of a flush 2021, Monnier believes publishers and booksellers should double down on TikTok. “I believe that having a larger presence on TikTok and working with bookstores, booksellers, and content creators in the BookTok community would be really helpful,” Monnier says. “BookTok has just made the process of selling books more personal.”

Photo by Shayna Douglas on Unsplash.

TWEET LESS, LISTEN MORE

If you tweet often, you’re probably not there to hear other points of view

By Clint Rainey

Twitter has over 1 billion accounts, but only about a quarter are thought to be active users. Within this subset, though, you have the “lurkers”—a group the Pew Research Center defines as infrequent users who average fewer than five posts per month of any kind, whether that’s original tweets, RTs, or replies.

Pew studies Twitter usage habits all the time.

Just last November, it published data showing how the site’s top 25% of users produce the overwhelming majority of content—97%! Yet despite tweeting an average of 65 times per month, this committed crowd of users is shouting a bit into a void: In total on average, each of these users receives just 37 likes and one retweet for the whole month.

In its newest Twitter usage survey published yesterday, Pew tries to understand what qualities the lurkers share in common, essentially asking them: Why do you keep using this site?

Most of the answers aren’t really surprises: If you’re a lurker, you tend to have fewer followers

56

than normal users (15 versus 159 on average).

The bulk of your posts also aren’t original tweets, but rather replies to other users (51% of posts versus 30% for everyone else). One notable trend is everybody is equally lazy with RTs: Just 5% of posts by lurkers or by more active users are socalled quote tweets, the type where you retweet, but spend time to add your own comment above it.

But where a fascinating pattern emerges is when Pew asks lurkers why they use Twitter to begin with. They’re almost three times more likely to tell Pew that the main reason is for exposure to varying points of view. In fact, 13% cite this as their top reason.

Given the binary of whether Twitter is a place they visit to express their own opinions or to hear what other people are saying, 76% of lurkers say it’s primarily a platform to see what others are saying. Only 5% of the general Twitterverse thinks the reason to be on this website is to hear different views. Yet practically the same number from both groups say Twitter allows them to “stay informed” (24% of lurkers, versus 21% of everyone else).

Perhaps Pew’s data helps explain why engaging in Twitter debates is often utterly pointless.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.

HAPPINESS OR SUCCESS?

Which comes first?

By Stephanie Vozza

It’s a chicken-and-the egg question. Which comes first: happiness or success? Does success make you happy, or does happiness make you more likely to succeed?

That’s the question Paul Lester, associate professor of management at the Naval Postgraduate School; Martin Seligman, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center; and the late Ed Diener, an influential American psychologist, attempted to answer.

For five years, the researchers followed nearly 1 million employees of the U.S. Department of Defense across all job functions. They measured their relative happiness and optimism with questions from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Life Orientation Test (tools used by the military to gauge well-being) and compared them to the number of awards an employee earned. Their findings, “Happy Soldiers Are Highest Performers,” are published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.

“When leadership makes a decision to put you in for an award, there’s a pretty rigorous process to go through before it’s actually given to somebody,” Lester says. “Of approximately a million employees, just 12.6% received an award.

These aren’t participation awards; receiving an award is rare.”

The Happiness Impact Those with the highest positive well-being affects had almost four times the number of award recognitions as those in the group with the lowest well-being scores. The researchers also found that while negative feelings like sadness and anger predicted fewer awards, having low levels of positive emotions did also.

“We were able to focus on the impact of happiness as a predictor of performance,” Lester says. “High negative feelings interfere with good performance, and high optimism predicts a greater odds of superior work performance.”

The bottom line of the study is that you don’t have to have success to be happy and you don’t have to be happy to find success. People who could be considered unhappy compared to their peers still earned awards for performance, but they earned them at a lower rate than people who were happy overall.

“Happiness could give you a greater chance of being successful,” Lester says. “Skills, knowledge, ability—all of that matters greatly. And we’re not saying that that happiness is more important than all of those other things. We are showing that happiness is a measurable predictor of performance.”

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What This Means to You The study findings have applications in the civilian world. The Defense Department is the single largest employer in the world, with about 190 different types of jobs, from truck drivers and pilots to doctors and lawyers. The researchers were able to look across a wide swath of fields and demographics, race, genders, tenure, and job characteristics.

“That’s what made the study special, not only its depth but its breadth,” Lester says.

Since happiness can be a precursor to success, Lester and his fellow researchers encourage organizations to focus on employee well-being and optimism. “Happiness matters and should be measured,” he says. “In a sense, it’s a proxy for the health of the organization itself. There’s value in measuring and developing it.”

Instead of relying on management intuition, start by using assessment tools with current employees as well as prospective hires to gauge well-being, optimism, and overall happiness. Many organizations already use behavioral screening to evaluate job candidates. If it doesn’t include questions about happiness and optimism, it should be updated with this element.

Organizations should also pay attention to toxic leadership and employees, who can cause unhappiness in others, impacting performance

and leading to higher attrition. Training leaders to better manage employees can help, although more severe measures, such as firing, may be necessary to protect the overall mental health of the team.

Another step to take is to develop happiness in your workforce. Lester and the researchers suggest implementing simple exercises, such as encouraging employees to make testimonies of gratitude to someone who changed their life for the better. Or have employees write down three things that went well each day for a week.

Previous research by Seligman has shown that these positive interventions can increase happiness and decrease depressive symptoms.

Finally, Lester says leaders should model a focus on well-being. “If leaders want to improve employee happiness, they must model that which is taught so that it becomes integral to the organization’s lexicon and culture,” he says.

“We learn best from watching other people.

The big takeaway is that the happiness of your employees matters. Yes, objective measures of performance matter to the organization. That’s why your organization exists for whatever reason. But in the end, a gauge of how well your company is doing is assessing the overall happiness of your employees.”

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash.

A LABOR OF LOVE Fazeena’s Nessy Ibrahim on passion, support and accessories By bazaar staff

“All of my pieces are close to my heart. It brings me great joy and I can almost feel my soul dancing when I see people wearing them.” When Nessy Ibrahim told us this, we knew that this jewelry designer was extremely passionate about her job. And it is with this passion, coupled with a lot of emotional support that made the sustainable jewelry and accessories brand Fazeena become wellknown, amassing a cult following in and around the GCC. Created by Nessy, as a result of her hard-work together with support from her husband Fazeena is the brainchild of her panache for design and accessories. But Nessy stays on her toes when it comes to her jewelry design and especially the collection releases. “Collections are released whenever I feel inspired to create them. It’s art so it has to come from inspiration.”

But that doesn’t mean that they don’t release new collections to align with certain occasions.

Fazeena’s vibe is Nessy’s favorite fashion ethos, “old is gold” and the artist tends to look to the past for inspiration. While telling us this, we pressed for more details, intrigued by the amount of effort and enthusiasm she has with her brand.

Have you always had a flair for design and style?

Design has always been a passion of mine from an early age. It started as early as I can remember, back when I was a child in school. I used to design the accessories of the costumes for all school plays.

I also always loved to recycle any of my family members’ old accessories and take the beads out from old clothes and incorporate them into new designs. I was so good at it that my friends at school or sometimes their moms asked me to recycle their accessories and make something cool out of them.

What type of brands have inspired you in the past?

There have been many brands that inspire my work, but Versace and Gucci are Fazeena’s main two influences.

I’ve always been fascinated by Versace’s patterns and colors. I loved the deep-rooted creativity and uniqueness of their designs. In fact, our design, Glorious Karafetta, is inspired by one of Versace’s pieces.

Gucci has the ability to revamp their old designs, and they generally have a great vintage vibe. I always say “the future is the past”; meaning that eventually all designs will be inspired by the past.

Our art collection does exactly that. It’s inspired by vintage paintings, with a little twist. We managed to turn famous paintings and tennis necklaces into something new and creative.

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How did Fazeena start, and what obstacles did you have to overcome to get it off the ground?

When I first wanted to start Fazeena, I had to master a few skills before launching the brand so I studied hand-made jewelr y, design fundamentals and business and marketing basics.

No one could really see my vision and some even thought I was thinking too big.

But I had someone on my side watching me through the process, somebody who really felt the amount of hard work I had dedicated to chasing my dreams - my husband Dr. Faisal AlRefaei.

Faisal witnessed my struggles and understood my vision. He decided to become not only my partner in life but also my partner in business. He’s my support system, believes in my ideas with total faith and makes me feel

confident and proud of myself in so many ways.

For that, I appreciate him so much.

Does Fazeena have a big production team behind it? Walk us through the brand’s everyday goals and responsibilities.

Fazeena’s team is a compilation of some of the best people I’ve ever come across. I consider them my family, friends, and partners in crime.

My business development director Dina is responsible for our day-to-day operations. While I definitely talk too much during our meetings and usually leave her overwhelmed with details, she still surprises me after every meeting with her sharp thinking and fresh ideas.

Nora is our production director. She is the heart and soul of our team. From the initial steps of production until the pieces are packed, everything

has to be flawless, and Nora always ensures that is the case with her natural eye for detail.

And last but not least, we have the one and only Youssef, our marketing mastermind and graphic designer. He is behind the designs for Fazeena’s latest T-shirts and bucket hats collection. He’s an out-of-the-box thinker. He keeps up with today’s trends and knows what today’s world needs and desires.

Overall, we’re a unique family and my team is a force of nature. We ensure that our work environment is healthy and innovative. As a matter of fact, we have a workplace wellness program created by Dr. Samar. It aims to enhance the work productivity and performance and overall well being of our team. We strongly believe that our mental and physical health is reflected in our work and we want our work to be exceptional.

[Continued...]

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What type of materials do you like to work with in order to stay true to your sustainable brand identity?

We like to use the highest quality possible of every material we need for our designs but there’s no specific material we use. Each piece has its own story and its own customized material.

Some of the materials we use are gemstones such as opal, turquoise, zircon, and pearl. To stay connected to nature and to affirm high quality, we use farm-grown pearls because of their natural look and higher quality than artificial pearls.

And of course, we use our own secret material which we invented after months of testing in our workshops. We’ve heard many ladies complain about their accessories losing their shine even with delicate care, and this was our main motivation for inventing our material. This material is perfect for day-to-day activities as it doesn’t change its color and is very durable.

As for where our pieces are designed, they are designed here in Kuwait in our own workshops.

Any plans for the future of Fazeena?

We’re blessed that many celebrities in the Middle East and GCC wear our pieces and our products are now available in almost all big malls of Kuwait in many stores as well as online apps. But we’re aiming for international recognition as well. We want international celebrities, like Beyoncé or Lady Gaga to wear our pieces.

While I’m here, I’d like to make an announcement that all of our pieces can now be made from gold, diamonds and precious stones upon special request. The sky’s the limit and we won’t stop.

for more details.

Shop Fazeena’s collection online at www.fazeena.com. Follow them on Instagram @fazeena.q8 62

[...Continued]

GAME DOC

This startup is using video games to treat health conditions

By Chris Morris

Video games catch a lot of flack from critics who say the medium can be harmful to players. But the science on that claim is murky, at best. Now, one of the video game industry’s veteran executives is teaming with a medical device expert to make games that are specifically designed to help treat health conditions.

DeepWell Digital Therapeutics, which launched Tuesday, plans to make video games that both entertain and provide treatment for a variety of issues, including mental health, one of the fastest growing areas of concern for health professionals, especially among children and teens.

“Mental health is where we intend to focus, and one of many underserved areas of healthcare where video games can have a major impact,” cofounder Ryan Douglas tells Fast Company.

“Games both provide a level of engagement and an actual therapeutic enhancement for mental health treatment. They open people up to think and act in a different way through self-actualization, biofeedback, agency, and role play, and can accelerate learning of new skills through increased neuroplasticity.”

Deepwell is the creation of Mike Wilson, cofounder of esteemed indie game developer Devolver Digital, and Douglas, who was founder and former CEO of medical device company Nextern.

They’re backed by an array of experts in both health care and game development.

“Our medium is often harshly judged for its perceived negative impacts on the mind and body,” says Wilson. “But . . . video games can be good for you, and, thanks to global digital distribution, they’re an important tool to make treatment affordable and accessible. Moreover, with games that are legitimately fun, patients and players will seek out their positive benefits again and again.”

Wilson knows a thing or two about fun games.

He’s been the business guy for Doom creator id Software. He was a cofounder of Ion Storm and instrumental in recruiting Warren Spector to that team. He colaunched the industry’s first developerdriven publisher, Gathering of Developers. And, of course, he’s cofounder of Digital Devolver, the nowpublicly traded company behind the popular battle royale game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

“This is a crusade to change the way our whole industry and audience looks at games,” he says, “reshaping both the intention of the creators and the players.”

Researchers have been promoting the health potential of video games for years. In 2015, for example, Ubisoft and Montreal’s McGill University teamed up to create a game designed to help people with amblyopia, better known as lazy eye.

That title, Dig Rush, is only available by prescription.

It utilizes both eyes to train the brain, using different contrast levels of red and blue and a specialized pair of stereoscopic glasses.

There are many other examples. A 2015 study 64

from the University of Freiburg in Germany found that story-based games could be beneficial for people with autism, satisfying their need for socialization.

And several studies have found that incorporating video games into physical therapy can help people with Parkinson’s disease improve both their balance and gait as well as their mental faculties.

Others are exploring the gamification of healthcare as well. Companies like Sensorium are hoping interactions in the metaverse can provide relaxation and companionship to help improve the mental health of players.

The DeepWell method is a bit different, though.

It has developed a suite of processes that follow FDA guidelines and help ensure regulatory requirements are addressed during the development and deployment phases. And, beyond creating its own titles, it hopes to help developers whose games don’t begin with a specific health focus to identify in-development video games that could potentially be beneficial for treating medical conditions. Games

that are selected can leverage DeepWell’s toolkit to incorporate therapeutic technology, and the team will work to secure the approvals necessary before it can be used as a treatment option. And, as Devolver Digital did with indie titles, DeepWell will also act as the publisher for that game.

That should let the company ramp up quickly— and start to fulfill its mission of showing that games can be more than just entertainment. The first slate of games is due in 2023.

“Now that we’ve come out publicly with what we’re doing, we will be actively engaging with a wide range of publisher and developer partners,” says Wilson. “If I had to guess, I’d say we ship our first originally produced game—[and] maybe one more— next year, and then have another six to eight partner games, and more importantly [have] our platform complete to help guide players to the right games for them.”

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.

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THINK TOGETHER

What Nike taught me about collaborative design

By Kevin G. Bethune

Nike gave me my first indoctrination into design. Before entering global footwear, I had an impression that designers were the ones with the cool clothes, coming in late at 10 a.m., hitting the best parties in town, flying to exotic locations to collect inspiration, and having fun sketching all day in their designer cubicles in trendy studio spaces.

If there was a slider between fun and hard work, their lives seemed to skew toward an even blend, while the rest of us had tipped the scales to the more pragmatic end of the spectrum.

But when I actually got into global footwear in 2007 after more than a year as a financial manager there, I realized how wrong I was to hold these common misperceptions. The footwear process was so much more than watching a designer field a brief from category leadership and sketch pretty pictures.

One of my friends at Nike was Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, who at the time was the footwear design director for the Jordan brand. Upon learning my story and seeing my raw explorations, he decided to give me a chance to apply my raw creative skill to a real product. This was my one shot to execute footwear design under his mentorship.

He assigned me a brief that didn’t have a home because there weren’t enough designers to take it on. Based on the coinciding anniversaries of two iconic shoes, the Air Jordan 8 and the Air Force 1, the Jordan brand wanted me to execute a “fusion” story of the two shoes together. They couldn’t have picked two more radically different shoe designs to work from—but here was my opportunity.

For the next several months, I met D’Wayne early in the morning to soak up as much tutelage as I could, then we would go do our respective day jobs, and then I would work on his assignments into the wee hours of the evening. After a year of working together, we launched two different shoes into the market in multiple colorways. That opportunity resulted in more doors being opened to help other Nike groups with my fledgling designs skills.

As I made friends with more and more designers through our product process initiatives, I grew to realize how much they were spinning multiple plates to keep the business afloat. Designers were just as critical in the machine as the footwear engineers, factory developers, and category business leaders.

When they received a brief, they had to wrestle with product marketing and consumer insights to distill clarity of the performance benefits and emotional cues that would get a customer to understand the product opportunity. This was not an easy thing to negotiate. They had some room to forge new territory but had to be careful not to move the needle too far away from market convention and throw the customer off (e.g., most customers expect to see laces in their sneakers). Such a move might result in lost business, and with Nike’s volume and brand reputation, disrupting market convention was a serious consideration.

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Once the briefs and opportunities were clearly understood, there was the pressure to produce a lot of answers in the form of low-fidelity sketches. Lots of them. Their creative director might expect to see 30 to 50 new variations against a given brief by the end of the workday. After strategically timed design reviews, the designer would have navigated enough ideas and circular feedback to begin to turn a corner toward a more concise solution that hopefully answered the opportunities in the brief.

What I just described was one process for just one sneaker design. Remember, most sneaker brands launch different models over four seasons in a calendar year with particular emphasis on key moments like back to school or the holidays.

Therefore, a footwear designer might be juggling four different model offerings (at least) over four seasons, with each sneaker being at a different stage of its design progression.

One hour of the day might be spent cranking out divergent sketches for next spring; another hour might be spent in Photoshop fine-tuning a design for fall; and the final hours might involve doing redline revisions for the coming spring and summer.

The designer may also feel pressure to address incremental innovation opportunities on top of their in-line work, which requires even longer lead times.

Some designers had to nurture key athlete relationships, and respond to high-profile athlete needs and pivot their day on a moment’s notice if, say, Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, or Michael Jordan paid a visit.

What I really grew to appreciate was Nike’s investment in their product triad model: a product line manager (i.e., product marketer or product manager), a development engineer (who engages with factory partners with an eye toward downstream manufacturing challenges), and a footwear designer had equal standing in their collaboration as a triad unit. No footwear design moves forward without the intimate involvement of these multidisciplinary triads or pods.

Every role was critical, and one discipline could not dominate the other. I think this was subtly reinforced when employees looked up the ranks of Nike leadership. They saw themselves in every rung of the corporate ladder.

A designer could look up to a creative director to unblock things, advocate for their career, or stand up for them in the face of conflict. A designer could look up to the C-level suite and imagine themselves landing there one day because Nike had a chief design officer, and even the CEO at the time of my employment, Mark Parker, had a background in footwear design.

The values of the organization spoke to the power of constructive critique, collaboration, and even competition across the disciplines to arrive at better answers. Design was a critical ingredient for problem-solving at Nike, at every level and in every area of the organization.

Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash.

YOU NEED A JINGLE

Why your brand should think less about designing a logo, and more about designing a sound

By Kevin Grady

The media landscape is evolving. That Jetsons future we were promised? It’s finally taking shape, sans maybe the flying cars.

But even they’re in development.

Digital billboards and moving online interfaces are becoming ubiquitous, as are a myriad of voice technology applications.

Animated album covers on streaming platforms are replacing traditional, static covers, while motion logo mnemonics are making 2D identity expressions seem archaic by comparison.

And it’s all for good reason: Sound is the fastest human sense, faster than smell, taste, sight, and even touch. Combine that with the fact that music elicits emotion, which is a big driver in brand loyalty, and the potential for sound in branding is crystal clear.

One of the most successful examples of this is McDonald’s long-running “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign and jingle. Created in Germany back in the mid-noughties by ad agency Heye & Partner in conjunction with music production company Mona Davis, the famous earworm was aided by the release of a full-song version sung by Justin Timberlake, released at first with little mention of McDonalds. By the time the song started to circulate, the five-note earworm of “ba-da-ba-babaaa” was stuck in our brains for good, and it’s been used to memorable effect ever since.

And take Mastercard, which has extensively utilized a holistic and DNA-based sonic identity, using sound across both its global digital platforms and its physical retail services, and earning the brand the top ranking two years in a row in Amp’s annual index of the world’s Best Audio Brands (BAB). Companies like Mastercard that have invested in developing high-quality audio assets have gained significant ground on their rivals, creating what Amp calls “a stark audio advantage gap.”

Here’s why: Statistics show that sound moves important brand metrics in significant ways, including a 26% increase in brand awareness and a 46% increase in brand favorability. What’s more, an 86% correlation has been made between reaction to sound and a desire to return to that experience. Those corny jingles many of us grew up with? We still remember them—mostly fondly.

Similarly, motion can create deeper, more memorable emotional connections between customers and brands, conveying deeper meaning, amplifying personality, and enhancing interaction, particularly in the digital-first world we live in. Recent advances in the use of motion are turning heads: An ultra-high-resolution curved video billboard in Tokyo last year showed a giant 3D cat—now famous as “Shinjuku Cat”—moving stealthily across a 1,664 square foot LED screen installed on one of the country’s busiest railway stations. Such jaw-dropping, eye-popping displays have taken off across Asia. Companies such 68

as Netflix and Vodafone have taken note, using 3D advertising on the massive Piccadilly Lights screen in London to great effect. In today’s world of hyper-exposure to brands and experiences, the bright billboards of the past boasting 2D creative only go so far. The future is 3D. Given such opportunities, you’d think that most companies would be embracing sound and motion as essential components for their brands.

Surprisingly, for many, that’s still not the case.

While the BAB index shows a distinct increase in global brands investing in music, only a third of brands are currently using sonic brand cues.

What’s stopping the rest? Inertia. Motion and sound have long been “nice to have” elements in branding–extensions rather than primary deliverables. Creative departments can often be filled with practitioners of traditional, mostly 2D, visually based design and art direction. And few strategies include sound and motion as core strategic elements. This can translate into lost opportunities to make the brands they work on truly come alive, creating memorable and lasting emotional connections.

A shift in how we work is necessary for those who’ve trailed behind brands like Mastercard and McDonald’s, which have leveraged the power of custom sound and motion to enhance the equity in their identities. To successfully make this shift, brand leaders need to prioritize a motion- and sound-based strategy, pivoting from using these components as an added layer to using them as a core idea. Currently, it’s common for motion and sonic elements to be explored only after creative direction has been established—condiments to the meal, but not the meal itself. When these components are explored at the outset of a project, a much more holistic brand expression is possible.

Simply asking how sound and motion can be used to answer a strategic brief is a great place to start.

Any brand with customers possessing ears and eyes would benefit from placing greater emphasis on motion and sonic branding. It’s time to invest in some driving goggles and a metronome because dynamic sound and motion are the future.

Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash.

BOLD

IN BLUE Sporty, adventurous trails with the Porsche 718 Boxster By bazaar staff

There’s nothing quite like an iconic convertible, and it doesn’t get any more iconic when the Porsche 718 Boxster is involved. With turbocharged powertrains, the Porsche 718 Boxster delivers on the promise of a joyous driving experience, top-down, of course! With scintillating design features, combined with its lively nature, this beautiful Boxster is charming in every way.

The 718 was made for the sport of it. The beloved mid-engined roadster unites the sporting spirit of the legendary Porsche 718 with the sports car of tomorrow – and transfers it to the roads of today.

With one goal: to take the everyday out of every day. Over twenty years after the first Boxster made its debut, winning numerous races including the legendary Targa Florio and the 24 Hour Le Mans race, the stunning two-seat convertible is now more powerful and more fuel-efficient. The newly developed four-cylinder flat engine with turbocharging means sporty driving at its finest, an adrenaline rush like never before, and clean, powerful turns around sharp corners as you boldly go where you’ve never gone before.

The deep Gentian Blue of this beautiful Porsche 718 Boxster inspires you to discover delightful desert trails, long cruises, and impromptu beachside stops for a spot of kayaking to kickstart your day. The 718 Boxster models complete intermediate sprints with superior performance and accelerate even faster from low revs. The 718 Boxster with PDK and the Sport Chrono Package sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds – 0.8 seconds faster than the previous model.

The design of the latest Porsche 718 Boxster has also been comprehensively updated. Inside, a newly designed instrument panel redefines the bespoke cockpit. The latest gear is available with the Porsche Communication Management (PCM), and the stateof-the-art touchscreen is included, with a navigation module as an available option. Stately leather accessories and finishes reiterate Porsche’s commitment to its luxurious aesthetic.

Sporty at first glance, yet mesmerizingly striking when you step inside for an unforgettable ride. This is the Porsche 718 Boxster, prepare to be blown away by its ever-so-strking design and unmistakable silhouette, low, wide, and sleek, with sporty edges which incite a sense of adventure.

Produced by bazaar Studios Photography: Sunil Raju @Sunil.Raju Styling: The byfarahforeal company @byfarahforeal Model: Aneshka D’Costa @No____saint Location: Special thanks to Bashar AlHunaidi @GulfkayakAcademy @Barmaee.q8

For more information visit Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, please call 1870 870 or head to porschekuwait.com. For the latest updates on social media, follow @PorscheCentreKuwait on Instagram and Facebook.

MORE THAN GOOGLE

This new breed of unified search apps does what Google doesn’t

By Jared Newman

Google search is failing you, and not just because of its privacy and search quality issues.

When you search the web, you won’t get any personal results from apps like Dropbox, Notion, or even Google’s own Google Docs. If you’re looking for a specific spreadsheet you made in Google Sheets, or a Slack conversation your recently had with a coworker, you’ll need to go looking into each individual app. It’s a pain and a waste of time.

Now a new breed of tools is stepping in to make search more productive. With a keyboard shortcut, you can search and execute quick commands in your apps without even having to launch them first.

The concept is starting to gain traction in the tech world. Last fall, Dropbox acquired a search bar app called Command E as part of Dropbox’s plan to build “one organized place for your content and all the workflows around it.” (Although the app is no longer available to new users.) Around the same time, a startup called Glean emerged out of stealth with a unified search tool for enterprise customers. And Raycast, a command bar app that replaces the Mac’s built-in Spotlight search bar, raised $15 million in Series A funding.

Amogh Sarda, the CEO and cofounder of another universal search tool called Eesel, says all of these startups are tapping into a widely understood issue: It’s just too hard to get things done across all of your work tools.

“The space is popular because everyone feels the pain themselves,” he says.

In my experience, none of these tools are perfect. They all have some limitations in what 80

they can search and the actions they can perform, and none of them offer seamless searching of the web alongside your personal documents. (What I’d really love is one universal search bar that handles both.) But compared to the system search tools built into Windows and MacOS, they’re still a major improvement.

Here are three that you can check out for free.

letting you use the same Cmd-Space shortcut if you want—and can quickly surface files and programs from your local storage.

Slapdash: Search apps from anywhere Slapdash is a desktop application that integrates directly with popular productivity tools such as Zoom, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Trello.

Pressing Ctrl+J (or Cmd+J on a Mac) brings up a command bar that lets you search across apps and perform actions such as launching your next video call or creating a new to-do list item.

Slapdash’s Chrome extension also lets you search through open browser tabs.

Eesel: Smarter browser history search Instead of trying to integrate directly with other apps or build a sprawling extension store, Eesel simply taps into your browser’s search history to make productivity tools more easily searchable.

Once installed, Eesel’s browser extension offers an alternative new tab page that lists recent pages from services such as Google Docs, Coda, Dropbox, and Github. You can then use the search bar to look through your document history or click on the individual app icons to filter the results. The extension also comes with a keyboard shortcut—Ctrl+Shift+E in Windows, or Cmd+Shift+E in MacOS—that opens Eesel’s search bar from any tab.

Raycast: A powerful Mac command bar Mac diehards who’ve previously used Alfred should see a lot of parallels in Raycast. Both apps aim to replace Apple’s own Spotlight search tool—even

Photo by Rajeshwar Bachu on Unsplash.

MARIO WILL SHOW US THE WAY

Thanks to AR, navigating cities and airports could soon be like playing ‘Mario Kart’

By Nate Berg

There are coins floating in the air in the new West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. A ground-up development on about 100 acres of reclaimed land, the district features a major new art museum, a performance and convention center, a large park, hotels, offices, residences, and several cafés, restaurants, and shops. It’s a massive urban development adding up to millions of square feet of real estate in the dense city. The floating coins, seen through an augmented reality app, are part of a new way of getting around the space.

Developed by the navigation company Pointr, the AR app is one element of a digital map that’s attempting to encapsulate this complex and dynamic urban environment. To walk from one part of the district to another, or even to navigate from one part of a building to an exhibition on another floor, Pointr’s AR map lays a trail of coins on a user’s phone screen. Walking along the path, they’ll be able to get from point A to point B without getting hopelessly lost.

“AR is the simplest way to show someone the way,” says Ege Akpinar, Pointr’s founder and CEO. Though digital maps are no new idea and nearly any smartphone user has opened an app like Google Maps to see where they are and where they’re going, these maps have limitations because they rely on GPS. “Especially in Hong Kong, GPS doesn’t work very well because there are lots of tall buildings, which then blocks GPS signals,” Akpinar says.

The pinpoint accuracy of a GPS-based map can disintegrate in a big city. Map tools like Google Maps may be great for navigating from one part of town to the other, he says, “but the second you start going closer to the buildings or inside them, they begin to fall short. And that’s where we we close the gap.”

Another shortcoming of GPS is that it can’t differentiate between levels. “It’s one level for the whole world,” Akpinar says. That poses navigation challenges for buildings in dense, high-rise cities like Hong Kong, London, or New York. Pointr’s technology offers a more granular solution for those types of spaces.

Pointr’s app can be used to navigate between and within buildings. The Xiqu Centre, a performance venue and exhibition hall for traditional Chinese theater, is one of the central buildings in the district. Its multiple performance spaces are scattered inside a 300,000-squarefoot building with a large atrium at its center.

Ramps and escalators connect spaces within, blurring the boundaries between its eight floors.

“When you have this fluid space, with ramps going up, it’s even difficult for us to describe which floor you’re on,” Akpinar says. Pointr’s technology uses internet-connected sensors installed throughout the building and elsewhere to provide precise location data, showing users that a performance is up two ramps and to the 82

east, for example. “It’s one of the most difficult deployments we’ve done.”

These kinds of indoor maps and AR tools are growing in demand, Akpinar says. His company has installed its technology in places as varied as an urban district in Singapore, a hospital in Colorado, and Home Depot stores across North America. The technology, he says, is ideal for “large, confusing spaces.”

A growing customer base is airlines and airports. In one deployment, Pointr replaced the coins in the AR navigation app with an image of an airplane. As users navigate their way across the terminal, the airplane image is just ahead, directing them through the complicated airport environment until they finally get to their gate.

“You’re literally catching your flight,” Akpinar says.

The maps Pointr created for the West Kowloon Cultural District show how dense and complex

urban spaces may need new kinds of navigational tools. Akpinar concedes that spaces like airports or malls have their own physical maps that can guide people around, but he argues that Pointr’s maps can be more reactive to the ways these environments change. Maps can be updated nearly in real time, showing where the latest exhibition is on display or where there’s a sale in a department store.

Akpinar isn’t trying to replace Google Maps.

Instead, his company is offering a technology that augments the way we navigate using digital maps today. “In a supermarket, in a stadium, in an airport, in a museum or a cultural institution like West Kowloon,” he says, “people will get used to it being so

Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash.

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SHOPIFY EXEC SPILLS THE TEA

The 4 secrets of successful digital-first companies

By Michael Merola

What is work, really? At its simplest, work involves exchanging time and effort for a paycheck. But is it really that balanced?

For as long as we can remember, employees also committed to living within commuting distance of their office—which meant their work dictated where they lived, socialized, and laid roots. Multiple generations have been tethered to one place simply because of a corporate office lease.

But a funny thing happened during COVID: the world realized that a centralized physical space isn’t actually a requirement to do impactful work. The concept of “office centricity” is over. Shopify (where I work as VP of employee experience) is now fully remote—a decision we made in May 2020.

Many companies went remote during COVID. To them, this meant working from home while waiting for an ever-changing “return-to-office” date. But we asked ourselves, “what if we rebuilt our company to let employees physically center their lives around what they wanted, instead of our office leases? And how can we do this while maintaining a universal employee experience?” We chose to seize the opportunity, going all in on digital-first work. We steered clear of an opt-in model where employees can choose whether to work from home or the office, which can lead to an uneven playing field when it comes to opportunities and seats at the proverbial table. Because of these decisions, we are now Digital by Design.

Here are four ingredients of a successful digitalfirst company. (Spoiler alert: it requires much more intentionality than digitizing your old office perks.)

Prioritize freedom and flexibility If your team is used to in-office perks like foosball tables and free beer, remote work can seem “blah” at first. But that’s only until they figure out that their life no longer revolves around their workplace, it revolves around them. There are still foosball tables available, but instead of in an office tower, they’re at your neighborhood pub. Amazing lunch options now come from your local deli or taqueria. Employees can choose where they live; how they schedule their time; how to design their ideal workspace—all the way down to the thermostat setting!

To help with that ideal workspace, consider creating a spending account for each employee.

We call ours the Lifestyle Spending Account, and it empowers our team to spend their budget on whatever they choose—acoustic panels for soundproofing their work area, a neighborhood gym membership, a meal delivery subscription… With this setup, your employees get to pick custom perks that work for their specific needs, rather than the one-sizefits-all office benefits.

Continue to value in-person connections Build in periodic IRL time for meaningful and intentional moments of connection, not just people 84

working next to each other at an office two days a week. We’ve invested in spaces around the world to host these moments. At least twice a year for a few days each time, we encourage teams to meet in person, to disconnect from their screens and connect with one another.

Remote work allows you to hire anyone, from anywhere Another interesting aspect of remote work is that it allows you to hire, and bring out the best in, employees who may not have thrived in a traditional office environment. Some people write amazing code quietly from their own timezone. Others jam together in a space full of buzz and noise. And some lean into communication channels like Slack or email to share trust-building updates. Digital workspaces often enable employees from a range of backgrounds to shine in a way that loud, busy offices never could.

Build culture with intentional, thoughtful design When building a remote culture, it’s important to deeply consider the tools, rituals, and growth opportunities your employees need. Showing up to virtual meetings with a good tech setup is the digital equivalent to arriving at an in-person meeting on time. Lags and glitches can reduce productivity, so we make sure all employees are on an equal playing field with their office setup. Employees now receive an Apple M1 laptop and essentials like microphones, webcams, standing desks, and ergonomic chairs.

Each company will require their own programs for success, but be sure to rethink everything you built for the office days. We need to be innovative now, not iterative. We need entirely new tools, systems, and technologies.

Photo by Roberto Cortese on Unsplash.

www.fazeena.com +965 9937 6737 @ fazeena.q8

SHARE THE JOY OF RAMADAN AS JAWAHER TENT RETURNS TO FOUR SEASONS HOTEL KUWAIT AT BURJ ALSHAYA

Kuwait’s most elegant Iftar destination is back with delectable culinary offerings and a magical ambience in which families and friends can come together to celebrate the holy month By bazaar staff

Togetherness means happiness this Ramadan at Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya, where anticipation is building for the return of the city’s best-loved Iftar venue, the Jawaher Tent. Guests are invited to gather and share special moments as they break their fast in the spectacular surroundings of the Hotel’s Al Bidaa Ballroom, which will be transformed into a beautiful Ramadan dining destination that embodies the holy month’s most cherished traditions.

The Jawaher Tent Since first welcoming guests four years ago, Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya’s Jawaher Tent has emerged as a must-visit jewel in the crown of the city’s Iftar scene. The exceptionally elegant space offers seating for up to 600 guests and has been envisioned and created by a dedicated team of interior design experts from across the globe.

This year, the stunning tent features two Majlis 86

areas housing six separate spaces, as well as three sections of elevated VIP seating. This year, Al Mulla Group have partnered with Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya for the first time to celebrate Ramadan. As Al Mulla Group’s Automotive Division is the Platinum and Sole Sponsor for the famous Jawaher Tent, four of the latest models of the exclusive brands of Mercedes-Benz, Jeep and Acura

will be in display for the entire month of Ramadan for Jawaher diners to enjoy exploring.

The Ramadan magic is brought to life with exquisite seasonal decorations and luxurious furnishings, creating a charming ambience that is complemented by authentic Arabian hospitality.

Diners can look forward to sharing the joyful custom of breaking the fast with a lavish Iftar meal or

Executive Chef Thierry Papiller

Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait

The Majlis area at the Jawaher Tent

gathering for a delightful Ghabga spread as the air fills with traditional folk melodies from local musicians, adding to the spellbinding atmosphere and providing a taste of Kuwait’s rich cultural heritage.

“The holy month is a special time of year when we gather with loved ones to celebrate and share precious moments. There is a tremendous appetite among the people of Kuwait to embrace Ramadan’s spirit of unity.,” commented Didier Jardin, General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya. “The entire team is grateful for the opportunity to serve guests on this joyous occasion and proud to bring these treasured traditions to life with elevated levels of luxury and Four Seasons signature intuitive hospitality. We look forward to welcoming diners to our beautiful Jawaher Tent to experience an unforgettable evening together and create memories to last a lifetime.”

No Iftar celebration is complete without an abundance of delicious food. The Jawaher Tent’s lavish buffet invites diners to explore a world of culinary delights and offers a feast for the senses [Continued...]

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with an array of live cooking stations, hot and cold mezze, a salad corner, and a Ramadan juice bar.

This year promises an unmissable experience as Four Seasons Executive Chef Thierry Papiller will be sharing his exceptional craftsmanship during his first Ramadan with the Hotel. A passionate culinary artisan with more than 15 years of experience, Chef Papiller was employed by five Michelin-starred restaurants in France before the age of 25 and has lined up an incredible variety of dishes from around the world to suit every taste.

Diners will have the opportunity to indulge in local favourites such as jareesh, harees, and lamb machbos, alongside a diverse selection of perfectly prepared Moroccan, Indian, Lebanese, and Egyptian dishes. A huge selection of tempting desserts, Kuwaiti and international sweets, and a free-flowing chocolate fountain invite guests to end their meals on a sweet note, together with waffle, crepe, and fresh fruit carving stations. Meanwhile, the Shisha area offers the ideal spot to relax and unwind in the company of family and friends and enjoy conversations long into the night.

Executive Chef Thierry Papiller commented: “I’m tremendously excited to spend my first Ramadan in Kuwait and would like to extend warm congratulations to the nation and its people on this blessed occasion. Food has always been one of the most wonderful ways to create memories, and I believe we are offering much more than just a delicious menu; our Jawaher Tent is all about bringing people together to share a unique experience with those who are closest to them. It is an honour and a privilege to prepare this special meal that holds a deep significance in the hearts of our guests, and I look forward to contributing to their enjoyment of beautiful Ramadan evenings in our stunning venue throughout the holy month.”

Above all, Ramadan is a time for the whole family.

With this in mind, the Hotel has prepared an exciting program of fun and engaging activities for younger guests in the special Kids Corner. The sessions will feature a different theme each day and are led by the highly trained Kids For All Seasons team, giving parents peace of mind to relax and enjoy one of the outstanding dining packages on offer.

Iftar will be served daily between sunset and 8:30 pm, while Ghabga is available from 9:30 pm until 2:00 am. Packages start from KWD 24 per person including full buffet access and hot and cold beverages. Diners who wish to entertain in their own private space can choose from special Majlis or Lounge packages for up to 5 people at a rate of KWD 150, with additional guests charged at KWD 30. Children aged 6 – 11 dine for just KWD 12 during both Iftar and Ghabga, while kids aged 5 years and under are welcomed free of charge.

Discounts are also available for group bookings, and the entire tent can be booked to cater to larger parties or corporate Ghabga events. To find out more or to make a reservation, please contact ramadanres.kuwait@fourseasons.com or call (+965) 2200 6065.

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[...Continued]

The Acura MDX

The All-New Grand Cherokee L

Mercedes-Maybach GLS

FUTURE PROOFING

3 things you’re doing wrong when you try to plan for the future

By Kaihan Krippendorff

In 1988, Kodak, the leading film company at the time, hired Faith Popcorn to tell them about the future of film. Drawing on research and over a decade (at that time) of experience with BrainReserve, her marketing consultancy, she told Kodak that the future of film would be digital. But Kodak’s vision was narrowed by success and specificity. “That’s not what we asked you,” the team told Popcorn. “We wanted to know the future of film.” They abruptly showed her the door.

Faith Popcorn is a futurist, a specialist who uses a broad array of signals, trends, forecasts, and other models to project plausible outcomes for the future.

Companies often bring in these experts to help them strategize long term and prepare for changes looming beyond the horizon. For most people, attempting to see into the future is like trying to peer around a corner: You won’t know what it looks like until you get there. However, there are practices that futurists use—and that you can develop—that will improve your accuracy in understanding what the future is likely to bring and allow you to move with agility once it arrives.

Three prominent futurists and thought leaders– Amy Webb, Faith Popcorn, and Rita McGrath–offer a three-step process to help avoid pitfalls many experience when they try to plan for the future and develop a set of strategies to take action in a variety of scenarios.

Don’t study your industry. Broaden your perspective Most future trend reports are oriented toward an industry: Top Ten Trends in Fintech, Top Ten Trends in Healthcare, etc. This is a mistake.

Amy Webb is the founder of the Future Today Institute, one of Thinkers50’s top management thinkers of 2021, and author of the newly released book on the future implications of synthetic biology, The Genesis Machine. She teaches an MBA course on strategic foresight and futures forecasting at the NYU Stern School of Business.

Her method of quantitative futurism uses data to model out possible, feasible future scenarios and develop strategies around them.

Her approach begins with plotting out a “fringe map” of developing trends that may be relevant to you. When doing so, she advises organizations to broaden their perspectives. “When people think about the future, they tend to focus on one thing,” she explains. “For example, if they’re trying to figure out the future of cars, they really need to be thinking about the future of mobility. If they only consider the future of cars, that limits us to a future where we only have cars.”

Rita McGrath is a global expert on innovation and corporate growth strategy, well known for her ability to help companies “see around corners” in order to avoid disruption. She suggests that, to help you assess which of the broad, cross-industry trends are most important, you should detail your assumptions and develop ways to test them, quickly and inexpensively: 90

Based on your insights, data, and continued questioning, you start separating the signals from noise, identifying which potential trends to pay attention to, which allows you to start formulating your plans.

Don’t talk to experts. Explore at the edges Futurism is not only about spotting trends. New technologies don’t determine the future. Rather, futurists start with trends to begin to identify emerging concepts and language around those technologies. For example, the idea of a taxi service was not new, but Uber’s concept of coordinating uncoordinated passengers and drivers revolutionized ride-sharing. Not long after, we began to hear about the “uberization” of industries.

McGrath proposes that big changes begin to show themselves at the edges of organizations and marketplaces, where you will discover emerging customer problems, ways those problems are being solved, and diverse perspectives.

To contact these edges, McGrath recommends finding your “helpful Cassandra’s,” as Andy Grove, the late CEO of Intel would say. She explains: Speaking not just to formal experts but to people on the edges, working to solve problems, will require getting out of your comfort zone and your bubble of personal network or experiences.

Organizations can facilitate this by empowering small, agile teams and incentivizing employees to bring up uncomfortable or contradictory insights.

All three women agree on scouting out trends on the edges of society and organizations. Popcorn’s BrainReserve sources from the insights of 10,000

visionaries and future thinkers across industries. A quantitative futurist, Webb’s approach uses a team to develop a “fringe map” of signals of change in technology and society.

Don’t build a timeline. Backcast instead Popcorn shared the No. 1 mistake people make when trying to predict the future in an interview: When you attempt to predict the future based on what is currently happening, you limit the scope of your imagination to the companies, thinking, and trends already at play today. That leaves little room for new standards, technologies, and ideas that are sure to develop over time. Popcorn suggests taking the opposite approach using a technique called backcasting: Look ahead 10 or 20 years, visualize an imagined future of your industry, then create a chronological roadmap of what it will take to get there.

Webb and many other futurists also use backcasting to work backward from an imagined future state. However, she warns against the temptation to set timelines. Webb argues the need to think outside of the typical one, three, or five-year strategic planning horizons, because the evolution of our industry will be impacted by multiple technologies and concepts that will evolve at differing paces. It’s not hard to predict the future one or decades from now. But the timing by which the milestones to that future will appear is hard to predict. Trying to follow a rigid linear timeline leaves organizations vulnerable to disruption.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.

THINK LIKE A DESIGNER

5 tricks to help you think like the world’s greatest designers

By Maria Brito

Designers are known to be exceptionally creative—but their success isn’t just luck and talent. Creativity is nothing more than an amalgamation of skills and habits that you must strengthen over time. This is particularly relevant now, as we navigate what’s become known as the Great Resignation. People everywhere are quitting their jobs, many of them because they were creatively stymied, leading to a surprising boom of new-business creation.

Throughout history, we’ve often seen the most innovative products come from those who consistently challenged their minds to see what others miss. As a result, they’ve designed objects that have changed the world.

In my new book, How Creativity Rules the World: The Art and Business of Turning Your Ideas into Gold, I do a deep dive into the habits, skills, and tools used by the most creative people in history.

Instead of being intimidated by what they achieved, be inspired by their creative process and think about how to replicate it.

Find the new in the old Look to the past for inspiration. Being creative means you must look for ways to improve what already has been done in novel and exciting ways.

The first camera was made in 1816 by French inventor Nicéphore Niépce. In 2006, Chinese graduate student Frank Wang designed and built a flying device carrying a light camera that could take pictures and videos from miles high. In 2014, his company, DJI, released a fully integrated camera drone. This innovative duality, an old camera and a new invention, led DJI to control about 70% of the camera-drone market, which is currently a $27 billion industry.

Deconstruct One way to apply the idea of deconstruction to a product or service is to start by looking for unique, isolated elements and then extract and combine them with something else. When Zenith and its engineers first started thinking about a remote in 1950, they considered attaching a wire to a “remote” they had deconstructed from a TV’s control panel. Later, in 1956, they figured out how to use directional light to facilitate channel changing.

Since then, the remote control has mutated millions of times and expanded into other areas, ranging from car keys and air conditioners to apps on our phones, which can control just about anything.

Aggregate The opposite of the previous concept, “more is more,” is the practice of combining different elements into one integrated whole. Think about what “concept stores” have been doing since their inception in the 1990s. They were first conceived

by European retailers, who developed the idea of tailoring a shop with a lifestyle focus, carrying a 92

curated selection of hand-picked products across such categories as fashion, art, books, and jewelry. In 1991, 10 Corso Como opened in Milan, pioneering the concept store and changing the business of retail forever. Today’s concept store blurs the line between retail and hospitality. Some offer cocktail bars, others restaurants, a few even offer spa services. That’s aggregation at its best.

Find harmony in contradictions What if you combine opposites in an unlikely way?

This is what Coco Chanel did as the first fashion designer to craft the androgynous look in 1906, with her signature style of straight dresses and pants previously reserved for men. In 1920, another mix of opposites came to life: Chanel No. 5, the iconic perfume that put her name everywhere around the world.

Mix intellectual capital Look at the power of cross-pollination between fields and industries leading to innovation in design. The wearable-technology market was valued at $116

billion in 2021, and is one of the most innovative fields that sprang out of cross-fertilization. Starting in the 1960s with rudimentary computers strapped around the waist, wearable tech didn’t advance much until Finnish company Polar launched the first wire-free heart monitor in 1982. Invented at the intersection of medical equipment, science, industrial design, and technology, Polar became the go-to brand for anyone who wanted to monitor their heart rate, speed, effort, distance, and other variables while exercising or practicing sports.

Great designers and visionaries know that they must consistently and continuously keep the wheel turning if they want to create a long-lasting impact with what they do. They see the world around them as a chance to experience evolution and growth, to connect seemingly disparate dots. This can only happen when creativity is in full swing. You can do the same.

Photo by Balázs Kétyi on Unsplash.

HOME

DELIVERY

DELIVERED. By bazaar staff

With a return to festive Iftar gatherings, glitzy Ghabqas and soulful Suhoors, this Ramadan is extra special! tamanna.com is the ultimate online shopping destination and your perfect partner to take you through the season in style. Shop online and via the TAMANNA app and experience an unparalleled shopping experience that’s convenient for the entire family, across Fashion, Beauty, and Home from brands you know and love. You can also get free nextday delivery on all orders over KWD 15!

This Ramadan, let TAMANNA be your ultimate hack to convenient shopping. Their selection is exclusively curated with Ramadan edits from the world’s most loved brands like H&M, Thoubi, River Island, American Eagle, Kurt Geiger, Foot Locker, Dr. Vranjes, VaVaVoom, Harvey Nichols, and The Disney store at TAMANNA.

Discover a tastefully casual aesthetic that complements your style with the latest collection by River Island.

Get active this Ramadan and shop for high-performance, stylish Athleisure options from Champion, Foot Locker and more.

Refresh your beauty routine and explore Beauty bests and skincare favorites from the most coveted brands at TAMANNA! Keep up appearances at all the Iftar and Ghabqa invites this season, with beauty champions like VaVaVoom, NYX Professional Makeup, and a wide variety of glamorous beauty and skincare secrets. Make this Eid an affair to remember with tamanna.com. Discover the hottest new styles with show-stopping, head-turning details, and silhouettes, wherever you may go.

Shop online at tamanna.com, and follow @shop.tamanna on Instagram for more fashion inspiration.

Download the TAMANNA app, available for iOS and Android to shop anytime, anywhere.

Produced by bazaar Studios Videography: @bumulvey Photography: @ahmaeed_89 Styling team: @aneshkadcosta

NOT TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

How to know when (and if) it is time to go back to school

By Art Markman

The nature of careers has shifted radically over the past few decades. While it was once expected that most professionals would follow a single path involving a relatively small number of employers, now it’s normal for many of us to shift our jobs and responsibilities significantly several times, and work for many different employers. This change reflects both an alteration in the relationship between employers and their employees and a recognition that rapid technology and business model shifts require people to be more nimble in the pursuit of a career.

Although people recognize the dynamic nature of careers, assumptions about additional education needed to pursue those careers have not changed as rapidly. A bachelor’s degree is still seen as a key credential for many jobs. People looking to go into business may pursue an MBA. There are also specialized degree programs for certain professions (like law school or medical school), and required continuing education to keep up licenses for others (such as accounting, pharmacy, and clinical psychology).

But these days, there are several options for going back to school that may help you advance your career. Here are a few you may not have considered:

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Degree Programs An advanced degree might make sense for you.

A master’s degree is the most common (though doctorates may be the price of entry into fields like clinical psychology or education administration).

A degree program makes the most sense when there are substantial new skills to be developed that require in-depth engagement. Some of these degree programs are run in-residence (meaning that you’ll need to be a full-time student), but there are many options that allow you to work while going to school. Some of these are held in-person, while others have a distance-learning option.

A typical master’s degree involves 30 credits, and each credit-hour comes with roughly 15 hours of time in class and an equivalent amount of time spent on assignments. So, you’re making a pretty heavy investment of your time in a degree program.

On top of that, degree programs are expensive.

That means you need to think through the return on that investment of time and money. You should focus on the recommended credentials for the jobs you aspire to. If the people in those roles typically have a degree, then that is a good direction for you.

Certificate Programs and Badges Often, a degree program is not the right first step in continuing education. Instead, there are many noncredit offerings from universities, as well as online program management companies like edX and Coursera.

Noncredit offerings typically teach specific skills that can help you in your current job or help qualify you for a new role. Often, several offerings can be bundled together into a “microcredential”—like a 100

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certificate or digital badge that you can put on your résumé or display on a LinkedIn profile.

You should get in the habit of engaging in these noncredit programs on a yearly basis. If your company offers an education credit, make sure you use it. If not, you can likely find noncredit programs that will fit your budget.

Boot Camps In between a full-on degree program and certificate/ badge programs are boot camps. These programs are often a few months long and are aimed at people trying to switch careers and need to pick up key technical skills to do that. Boot camps are most common for learning skills like computer programming, data analytics, machine learning, and cybersecurity.

The time investment in boot camps is lower than that of a degree program, though many of

them do carry a significant price tag. Boot camps also offer some assistance with job placement that many certificate and badging programs do not.

Before diving into a boot camp, though, do a little research about what employers in the field are looking for in applicants of the jobs you’re excited about. In some areas, employers are shying away from boot camp graduates in favor of people getting degrees, because of concerns that people in boot camps learn specific techniques but do not have the broad problem-solving skills that are needed to take on novel problems that arise frequently as technology and business models change. In others areas, though, there are more jobs than qualified applicants, and so boot camp graduates have an advantage—and a variety of positions to choose from.

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash.

SAVING THE CLIMATE WITH DATA

How better data can help carbon-belching buildings reduce their impact

By Nate Berg

In the fight against climate change, buildings have some weight to pull. They’re responsible for an estimated 74% of electricity consumption in the U.S. and about a third of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Bringing those figures down— whether by reducing electricity usage or improving energy efficiency—would have a measurable impact.

A year-old company called nZero has a way for buildings, and many other energy users, to do both of those things. The solution, according to the company, is all about managing the time of day energy gets used.

Carbon emissions from the electricity use in a building tie back to the production of that electricity, explains nZero CEO Adam Kramer, and electricity produced at different times of the day produces different amounts of carbon dioxide. Depending on the energy mix—coal, natural gas, a combination of solar and wind—electricity production can have wildly different carbon intensities. Times of day when coal is the main source have high intensities compared to times when renewable-fueled batteries are the power source for a utility’s customers, for example.

Using data from across the energy grid, nZero helps companies accurately track their carbon emissions by monitoring the carbon intensity of the electricity they use on an hourly basis. “Whether you flip on the light at 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., the carbon intensity is dramatically different,” Kramer says.

But most carbon emissions tracking available today relies on daily averages of carbon intensity. “The average is very much a blunt tool.”

The company began operations in April 2021, and is already tracking about 35 million square feet of real estate in 3,500 buildings across North America. Kramer says it took three years to develop the algorithm that allows nZero to so closely track the carbon intensity of energy production and use across the U.S., from federal data to regional loadbalancing information to local utility production and customer usage stats. In total, the company parses around 200 million data points.

The analysis nZero provides is increasingly demanded by the owners and users of buildings, Kramer says, even in the U.S., where carbon emissions reporting at the building level is still mostly voluntary. Building tenants want to be able to tout their environmental standards and building owners want to have emissions data to show potential tenants. Some buildings are even required by their financiers to do so. “A lot of these buildings are owned by funds, whether they’re public pension funds or private equity funds, that are now requiring them to report this emission data,” Kramer says.

“They have constituents on both sides that are requiring this.”

Companies across the U.S. are using nZero’s data to better understand when and where their emissions are coming from, and adjusting their 102

practices and building infrastructure in response.

The city of Reno, Nevada, also used nZero’s granular data to trim emissions. The hourly tracking showed that a significant amount of emissions were being caused by the overnight charging of the city’s electric vehicle fleet. By switching to daytime charging, when the local utility is able to produce more of its electricity from renewable sources, the city was able to cut down their car-charging emissions by 30%.

Kramer says it’s all just a matter of knowing more granular details about how electricity is being used. “It opens up a whole host of solutions greater than, ‘We just need more green energy,’ or ‘We just need to change our lightbulbs,’” he says. “It is allowing you to be precise on the actions you can take and should take to reduce your environmental impact based on where, when, and how you’re producing emissions.”

Carbon emissions reporting is still relatively rare in the U.S. the Environmental Protection Agency only requires it from large emitters— those producing 25,000 metric tons or more per year. California has its own law, with a threshold of

10,000 metric tons per year. These amounts tend to only apply to large industrial sites, like cement plants, oil and gas production, and transportation fuel suppliers. New York City recently passed its own emissions reporting law, which is based on the size of a building, starting at 25,000 square feet, about the size of a grocery store.

Kramer is hoping to convince lawmakers to make this more common. His company is actively engaged with both lawmakers and regulators on rethinking what responsibilities building owners and operators need to have in reducing their environmental impact.

The first step is gathering the data to better understand the problem. Daily averages of carbon intensity are no longer good enough, Kramer says.

“When the problem is something that’s being measured in inches and you have a ruler that only measures in feet, you’re going to be dramatically off in understanding where your impact is coming from and therefore being able to address it.”

Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash.

JULIEN MACDONALD

Explore our Exclusive Ramadan Collection Now available at

Grand Avenue - The Avenues | Souq Sharq | Gate Mall

Follow us @debenhamsmiddleeast

WEST ELM X DESIGNED BY HIND Pretty porcelain pieces, just in time for Ramadan By bazaar staff

West Elm is always pushing the envelope when it comes to creating modern, airy and sophisticated pieces for the home. When West Elm released their latest Ramadan collaboration with HH Sheikha Hind Bint Majid Al Qasimi featuring gorgeous porcelain pieces designed by the Emirati royal herself, we knew that we were in for a very special Ramadan.

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Hind’s luxury porcelain collection features an array of dinnerware sets that will elevate your dining experience. Using contemporary and traditional design, Hind’s pieces are a classic touch to any table and will surely turn your family iftar into an elegant affair with minimal lift.

The Emirates-born designer from Sharjah has had a love of porcelain and art since childhood. Her early sketches on porcelain quickly transformed from designs to be shared with friends and family to a leading designer porcelain brand today in the UAE market. Since the launch of her first collection ‘Tuminah’ in 2011, Designed by Hind has gained a large following in the UAE market as well as the GCC. Her pieces in the West Elm collaboration are timeless, using the best of Emirati handicraft tradition as a nod to Hind’s proud heritage. The collection features crockery, decorative items like boxes and vases, and one of the most beautiful sets of hanging lanterns in antique brass we’ve ever seen. In the collection you can also find cake stands, mugs, different types of drinking glasses and marble trays.

Designed by Hind may only be available for the Ramadan collection at West Elm, but we personally think they’re elegant enough to adorn any home, year-round. The loveliness of the Emirati cultural influence goes hand-in-hand with our own, so there’s definitely room for these porcelain pieces on any Kuwaiti table.

Check out Designed by Hind at West Elm Kuwait in Grand Avenue – The Avenues Mall. Want to skip the lines and lifting? Shop online in Kuwait at www.westelm.com/kw to have these pieces delivered to your doorstep. Follow Designed by Hind on Instagram @designedbyhind and West Elm @westelmmena for updates.

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ARE YOU VULNERABLE?

How smart devices can spy on you—and what to do about it

By Roberto Yus and Primal Pappachan

Have you ever felt a creeping sensation that someone’s watching you? Then you turn around and you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Depending on where you were, though, you might not have been completely imagining it. There are billions of things sensing you every day. They are everywhere, hidden in plain sight—inside your TV, fridge, car, and office. These things know more about you than you might imagine, and many of them communicate that information over the internet.

Internet of Things Your appliances, car, and home are designed to make your life easier and automate tasks you perform daily: switch lights on and off when you enter and exit a room, remind you that your tomatoes are about to go bad, personalize the temperature of the house depending on the weather and preferences of each person in the household.

To do their magic, they need the internet to reach out for help and correlate data. Without internet access, your smart thermostat can collect data about you, but it doesn’t know what the weather forecast is, and it isn’t powerful enough to process all of the information to decide what to do.

But it’s not just the things in your home that are communicating over the internet. Workplaces, malls, and cities are also becoming smarter, and the smart devices in those places have similar requirements.

In fact, the Internet of Things (IoT) is already widely used in transport and logistics, agriculture and farming, and industry automation. There were around 22 billion internet-connected devices in use around the world in 2018, and the number is projected to grow to over 50 billion by 2030.

What these things know about you Smart devices collect a wide range of data about their users. Smart security cameras and smart assistants are, in the end, cameras and microphones in your home that collect video and audio information about your presence and activities. On the less obvious end of the spectrum, things like smart TVs use cameras and microphones to spy on users, smart lightbulbs track your sleep and heart rate, and smart vacuum cleaners recognize objects in your home and map every inch of it.

Sometimes, this surveillance is marketed as a feature. For example, some Wi-Fi routers can collect information about users’ whereabouts in the home and even coordinate with other smart devices to sense motion.

Manufacturers typically promise that only automated decision-making systems, and not humans, see your data. But this isn’t always the case. For example, Amazon workers listen to some conversations with Alexa, transcribe them, and annotate them, before feeding them into automated decision-making systems.

But even limiting access to personal data to automated decision-making systems can have unwanted consequences. Any private data that

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is shared over the internet could be vulnerable to hackers anywhere in the world, and few consumer internet-connected devices are very secure.

Understand your vulnerabilities With some devices, like smart speakers or cameras, users can occasionally turn them off for privacy.

However, even when this is an option, disconnecting the devices from the internet can severely limit their usefulness. You also don’t have that option when you’re in workspaces, malls, or smart cities, so you could be vulnerable even if you don’t own smart devices.

Limit the privacy damage Regulations are an important step; however, their enforcement is likely to take a while to catch up with the ever-increasing population of internet-connected devices. In the meantime, there are things you can do to take advantage of some of the benefits of internet-connected without giving away an inordinate amount of personal data.

If you own a smart device, you can take steps to secure it and minimize risks to your privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission offers suggestions on how to secure your internet-connected devices.

Two key steps are updating the device’s firmware regularly and going through its settings and disabling any data collection that is not related to what you want the device to do. The Online Trust Alliance provides additional tips and a checklist for consumers to ensure safe and private use of consumer internet-connected devices.

If you are on the fence about purchasing an internet-connected device, find out what data it captures and what the manufacturer’s data management policies are from independent sources, such as Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included. By using this information, you can opt for a version of the smart device you want from a manufacturer that takes the privacy of its users seriously.

Last but not least, you can pause and reflect on whether you really need all your devices to be smart.

For example, are you willing to give away information about yourself to be able to verbally command your coffee machine to make you a coffee?

Photo by Andres Urena on Unsplash.

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DON’T SAY THAT

7 expressions that can kill employees’ trust in managers

By Judith Humphrey

Good managers are rare. If you’re a manager, you may feel this is an unfair statement, but in today’s digital work world, team members need more support and more positivity from you than ever before.

One way to improve your image and relationship with others is to change the language you use. Every word communicates an attitude and avoiding ones that trigger discontent will make you a better, more caring manager.

The following seven phrases destroy trust and should be eliminated from any manager’s vocabulary: 1. I’m sorry you feel that way.

On the surface, this may seem like a caring statement. After all, it contains the seemingly supportive words “feel” and “I’m sorry.”

But this expression is actually dismissive.

It doesn’t reference the problem that has given rise to the employee’s negative feelings.

Instead, it implicitly suggests that the employee’s feelings are the problem. The boss is sorry the employee feels that way, implying that their emotions are what’s wrong.

If someone on your staff feels badly, probe: Find the issue that’s upsetting them, discuss it, and resolve anything that has created distress.

That will lead to a more positive outcome.

2. I didn’t say that.

Someone may be calling you out for something you said. But, using this expression is divisive; it polarizes you and the employee.

These words are often used when an employee feels you promised something that you are now backing away from. Or perhaps the employee is reacting to a negative response you’ve had to them or their work.

Whether they are right or wrong, it’s best not to go head-to-head with them and discount what they remember your saying. Instead, build a bridge. Say, “Can you please elaborate?” Achieve consensus about what was said, as in, “Yes, I want you to be involved with this high-profile project. We are still waiting for that decision.”

Once you have a shared understanding, work toward a resolution: “I will let you know when it moves forward.”

3. It’s company policy.

This expression is the kiss of death for any boss.

It’s a turnoff, because it suggests you as a boss take issue with the corporation’s policies and don’t represent the leadership of the company.

Instead, own the policy. For example, don’t say, “It’s company policy that you have to come into the office on Thursdays.” Instead, use these words: “The new work-from-home procedures include one 108

day when everyone can be expected to be here for meetings. And that makes perfect sense, because it gives all of us the opportunity to hold in-person gatherings.”

4. I know we promised this to you, but . . .

This expression can be unsettling to an employee, but there are circumstances that do change, and they must be handled with more delicacy.

In those rare situations when something that’s been promised by you is no longer possible (e.g., a salary increase is not going ahead because all wages have been frozen), explain that the company had to make a tough decision, and unfortunately it affects everyone. But show you have the employee’s back. Say you will keep the employee’s pay increase “on your radar” and let them know when wages are no longer frozen.

5. Sorry, I changed my mind.

A boss who uses this expression will never earn the trust of employees. Your word should be sacred.

When you say something, you must follow through.

Suppose you’ve promised a staff member that you’ll support them in applying for a new role. But, you switch your position on this, realizing another candidate will be better. No employee will ever believe or trust a boss who switches positions on them. The simple way to earn trust is to follow through with any commitments you make. Changing your mind when the decision matters to the employee will create a fractured relationship and disengagement.

6. I need you in this role.

I need you in this role (e.g., “I’m not going to promote you”) is something a manager should never say.

I know a director who gave up a promotion into another department because her manager said “I need you in this role,” and “I don’t want to lose you.” Ten years later, she is still in that same role and can’t be very happy about the choice she was encouraged to make. Managers should see that moving their team members to higher ground not only is good for the team member, but speaks well of the manager and their leadership.

7. Copy me on everything.

A manager who asks to be copied on emails is sending a message of distrust.

If you want to be copied on the correspondence, it’s either that you don’t trust the judgment of your employee and feel you may have to step in, or, you don’t believe the employee has credibility in the chain of command (and you feel your name carries more weight!) Either situation means that you are undercutting your employee.

Instead, ask your employee to “keep me posted on how things are going” and “let me know if at any point you need my support. I am here for you.” Giving your team members the understanding that you are confident they can handle a project will instill self-confidence in them and devotion to you.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash.

EXPERIENCE THE TRUE SPIRIT OF RAMADAN WITH JUMEIRAH MESSILAH BEACH HOTEL & SPA Immerse yourself in a world of hospitality and deliciousness in the Asateer Tent By bazaar staff

We love eating out in Ramadan, but there is something extra special about a Ramadan Tent. It’s something that only happens once a year and for an entire month, we’re allowed to leave the world behind when we step into the magical and exciting world.

This year you can celebrate Ramadan with family and friends in the much anticipated and aptly-named Asateer Tent by Jumeirah.

Inspired by our cultural and culinar y legends and histor y, the tent is an elegantly designed space with Arabesque accents and refined decor, where ever y corner is a reminder of what makes this Holy month special.

The tent is located in the Garden Terrace all the way through the adult pool area and is 110

large enough to fit around 300 guests. Making it per fect for individuals, families, large groups of friends and even large corporate Iftars and Ghabqas. Jumeirah Messilah Hotel & Beach Spa have always wowed us with their special events and delicious food. The hotel is home to Kuwait’s most loved and frequented restaurants and

cafes throughout the year. The diverse cuisines and multiple locations offer us a lot of choice, but they have always excelled at welcoming us back ever y year for Ramadan. This year is definitely not going to be an exception.

“We’re excited to welcome guests to the Asateer Tent this year. A lot of thought and

effort has gone into all of the details from the menu to the decor to make sure that ever yone experiences a night to remember when they join us for an Iftar or Ghabqa,” Yasmine Ismail, Director of PR and Communications said.

Created in the most opulent of settings, the Andalusian-inspired tent will present live oriental music, lavish Iftar & Ghabka buffets, and signature live cooking stations, catering to all your cravings. The custom-designed tent is ephemeral, built specially for Ramadan and is a reminder of how special the Holy month and how precious time is. Being able to revel with our loved ones in a beautiful space and for an exquisite meal is the icing on the cake.

The menu is a rich tapestr y of traditional Ramadan classics including cold and hot mezze, salads and appetizers. Jumeirah’s iconic live stations add to the magic. It’s always fun to watch the talented chefs create the next dish right in front of our eyes. It just ups the ante and adds to the anticipation too, especially after a day of fasting.You may also order a main course.

But what we’re mostly excited for is the luscious dessert buffet, we might just break all the rules and start with that. The Asateer tent also boasts a wonder ful beverage station which offers classic Ramadan beverages, per fect for quenching our thirst after a long hot day of fasting.

A Ramadan Tent would not be complete without entertainment, and the Asateer Tent has it all. A carefully curated playlist of Ramadan music plays during Iftar, but the real magic happens later. As of Ghabqa, the live instrumental music starts. Additionally, TV screens are scattered around the tent for you to catch up on your favorite Ramadan series.

You can also enjoy a Shisha then. No smoking is allowed inside the tent during Iftar but there is a dedicated outdoor area for smokers.

After two years of being separated from our favorite Ramadan traditions, we’re excited to relive our favorite Ramadan festivities at the Asateer Tent this year at none other than the prestigious Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa.

Iftar in the Asateer Tent will start at 18:00 to 21:00 while the Ghabqa starts from 21:30 to 24:00 and is priced at KWD 24 per person inclusive of Ramadan drinks only.

Shisha will be available at Asateer Tent during Ghabka time at an additional charge of KWD 12. For more information, visit Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa’s Instagram @jumeirahmessilsahbeach.

For reservations, please call 222 69 666, or email jumeirahrestaurant@jumeirah.com.

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NAP TIME

Are naps coming back with us to the office?

By Chris Morris

While the pandemic has been harrowing and, at times, terrifying, there have been some upsides to working from home for the past two years.

Swapping a rush hour commute for a stroll down the hall was nice. Ditching corporate clothes and “career pants” for T-shirts and shorts was freeing. But, for many people, the best telecommuting perk was the ability to take a nap whenever the need arose.

As omicron fades and infection rates tumble, though, a growing number of companies are summoning employees back to the office. Does this mean the days of weekday napping are in danger?

Ultimately, it could depend on where you work.

Some big tech firms, including Meta and Google, have “nap pods” in offices around the world, areas that are converted to quiet spaces that have individual cubicles for people to sleep.

Other companies that were offering dedicated nap spaces in pre-pandemic days include Ben & Jerry’s, Cisco, Zappos, and Nike. The CEO of consulting firm Brooks Bell is also a big advocate of the nap. “I’ve found napping can become a gateway to other healthy activities,” he wrote in Fast Company in 2020.

London-based consultant group ProNappers was formed in 2020 to illustrate to businesses that a quick nap can be beneficial for the workforce—and has worked with 20 companies, including Deutsche

112

Bank. So if anyone has their pulse on the state of the catnap, it’s them.

Unfortunately, the looming return to the office hasn’t, so far, resulted in a surge of interest in additional nap spaces, the group notes.

“Sadly, we have not seen companies overtly wanting to promote naps for their employees,” says CEO and founder Cara Moore. “We often preach to the converted when we talk to the well-meaning folks in charge of wellbeing in companies … but when it comes to actually getting them to install a nap space or promote naps, we reach a brick wall.”

That could be frustrating for employees on a lot of levels. Naps have been shown to increase workers’ alertness as well as offer emotional and energy boosts. And during the pandemic, more of us have been sneaking in a quick nap during the day.

A late-April 2020 survey by career firm Zippia found 33% of workers admit to napping while working from home—and in some states, that percentage was as high as 67%.

“So many people we speak to have said that one of the best things about working from home is that they have been able to have a nap in the day and work more effective afterwards as a result,” says Moore.

If your office isn’t nap-friendly, you can begin the conversation. Perhaps the most important, is to actually acknowledge that you do nap and, if you’ve got some pull in the company, block out map times in your shared calendar.

“Many senior people within companies nap, but they do so behind metaphorical close doors, and don’t talk about their secret energy hack,” says Moore.

People whose jobs offer a hybrid model moving forward could still sneak in a few naps per week while at home, but tech firms, start-ups and even established businesses could make the shift back to the traditional 9-5 a bit less traumatic, says Moore, with what amounts to a slightly different break than most people already take each day.

“I think that bringing naps to the office could help people transition because going from telecommuting back to the traditional work environment will be exhausting for many,” she says. “And being able to shut their eyes without shame for 10 to 20 minutes in the day could make all the difference.”

Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash.

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A RAVISHING RAMADAN

WITH DEBENHAMS Shop new collections for the festive season in stores and online!

By bazaar staff

We love browsing through Debenhams’ beautifully curated collections in store, but their online store will make Ramadan shopping from your favorite brands so much easier! Stay styled to the nines this Ramadan, because Debenhams has something for everybody, including the little ones. Whether you’re looking for casual everyday wear or something a little more special for an Iftar or Ghabqa event, Debenhams has got you covered.

Fazzali

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GWD

Avenue GWD Choose from dresses galore with Debenhams’ luxe selection of GWD pieces. Light up the spring sky with the gorgeous colors in the GWD Ramadan edit, featuring arabesque style dresses and suits that would make the per fect appearance at any Iftar or Ghabqa.

And while you’re shopping for yourself, pick up a little something for the kids, too. From casual wear to teeny tiny tuxes, this brand has ever ything for your kids to have a welldressed Ramadan.

Dorothy Perkins Always professional, always chic and always per fectly tailored, Dorothy Perkins is a per fect choice for your professional meetings and corporate Iftar during the Ramadan season.

We love their blouses and comfor table breezy dresses that just scream a warm welcome to spring, summer and Ramadan.

Eclipse

Eclipse We love the modern Ramadan looks that Eclipse has. This elegant brand offers cutting edge silhouettes to diversify your Ramadan wardrobe. Some of the standout pieces we love are the chic pantsuits and the kaftan dress that looks as though it’s made from butter y fabric.

Fazzali Step into stunning at the ghabqa. Fazzali’s luxe gowns and elegant ensembles are sure show-stoppers – and who doesn’t like to look like a show-stopper at the month’s most social moments? If you’re going to a special-occasion ghabqa, the Fazzali section is your best bet.

Avenue Elegance comes in all shapes and sizes with Avenue. Their collection of Kaftans are affordable and stunning, leaving us lusting after their palm prints and tailored structures.

River Island Funky pieces in classic silhouettes, per fect for creative evening, office or daytime wear. River Island is a staple that is always chic and always fabulous, showcasing your inner fashionista.

Adorn your kids in equally fashion-for ward and adorable pieces which hold true to River Island’s reputation to never disappoint.

Coast Another always-elegant option is Coast, which offers the finest of frocks for a modern upgrade on traditional Ramadan attire. We love Coast’s signature floral prints and the way their dresses play with mixed media materials to create a masterpiece.

Julien Macdonald Give your kids a chance to dress up with lovely pieces from Julien Macdonald. Choose from a selection of dresses fit for royalty. Their [Continued...]

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John Richards

Julien Macdonald

exclusive Ramadan collection features classic frocks that are ideal for Eid, or a fancy Iftar.

Oasis and Chi Chi What’s ever y girly girl’s dream? A pretty dress that’s per fect for a special occasion and yet still comfor table enough to play in. Let your child go from princess to playdate in seconds with Oasis and Chi Chi’s collection of dresses.

John Richards Affordable jewelr y can still add glam to your outfit at a lower price point. Shop mid-luxe jewelr y from John Richard and give yourself the cherr y on top of the per fect outfit with a bit of glittering gold.

Browse collections from all of these brands in the comfort of your own home on Debenhams Kuwait’s website at www.debenhams.com.kw.

Follow @debenhamsmiddleeast on Instagram and Facebook for all the latest updates. Shop the collection at Debenhams in Grand Avenue – The Avenues, Souq Sharq and The Gate Mall.

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[...Continued]

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FINDING A SOLUTION

5 tactics that can help you negotiate with jerks

By Gwen Moran

There is a lot of conventional wisdom around negotiation. Be well-prepared. Keep emotion out of the negotiation. Look for the win/win.

But, sometimes, you’re sitting across the table from someone who isn’t dealing with you in good faith. They may see the negotiation as a zero-sum game. They may be biased against you in some way. Or maybe they’re just a jerk.

In his popular Yale University class on negotiating, Professor Barry Nalebuff helps students learn negotiation tactics to help them deal with all sorts of personalities and situations.

Nalebuff, author of Split the Pie: A Radical New Way to Negotiate, even shares first-hand experiences from his own career, including selling his company, Honest Tea, to The Coca-Cola Company. He began the course because he quips that it’s “malpractice” to have a business program without teaching negotiation skills.

The next time you are across the table from someone who’s not acting in good faith, there are some ways to shift the situation in ways that may defuse tension, align goals, and give you more of an advantage: Get curious If you find yourself dealing with someone who is being unreasonably contentious or demanding, take a moment to ask yourself why, says leadership and negotiation coach Nadia De Ala. Ask questions or invite greater input, such as, “Tell me more about that,” or ask open-ended questions that may lead to more insight about the other person.

Nalebuff says that bad negotiation behavior isn’t always intentional or nefarious. Sometimes, he says, his students have less-than-fair negotiation styles that arise out of fear or inexperience. “They become a caricature of a jerk because they’re afraid of being taken advantage of,” he says.

If you sense the tension is arising out of fear or mistrust, try discussing common goals to remind your counterpart that you share some of the same desired outcomes.

Call it out—or joke about it Sometimes, the best way to break the ice and begin a more earnest negotiation is to call out the unspoken fear, Nalebuff says. There are a number of ways to do this. One way is to recap what the goals of the negotiation are, defining what’s being negotiated so that everyone is on the same page.

Humor is often a valuable tool, Nalebuff says.

Making a joke about a tough negotiation ahead can get a laugh and warm up the room. (“So, we’re saying the same thing—we’re here to bluff and lie,” said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.)

Nalebuff says he made a “rookie mistake” 118

when he was beginning the negotiations to sell Honest Tea and named a too-high asking price.

His counterpart said, “Great, where do I sign?

Just kidding.” The joke elicited a laugh and the parties got down to business. Being able to laugh—especially at yourself—can make a tough negotiation better.

Don’t be afraid of silence Be aware of the silence in the conversation and use it to your advantage, says Andres Lares, managing partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute and author of Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions. When there are pauses in the discussion, don’t rush to fill them, he says. Often, we’re uncomfortable with silence and may blurt out a concession or information that can be used by the other party if we’re speaking just to fill the silence. Instead, let the silence linger. You may be surprised at what your counterpart blurts out, he says. If you struggle with discomfort in silence, Lares shares a trick: Bring along a notepad and make notes on which to focus during conversation pauses.

Fight fire with water Keeping your cool when someone is being unfair isn’t always easy. Fighting fire with fire will escalate a negative situation, Nalebuff says. Fighting fire with water—taking a break, pausing the conversation, asking to reconvene later, for example—gives

you both time to cool down. Consider it helping the other person act in a more principled way, he says. This can be particularly important if you’re in a situation where you suspect you’re dealing with bias or other unfair circumstances, De Ala adds.

Another way to refocus the negotiation on the matters at hand is to define one or two key points at the start of the negotiation, and then keep the conversation concentrated on those areas, De Ala says. That way, you have a very narrow set of points on which to focus and there’s less opportunity for the discussion to veer off-topic and get heated.

Know Your “Walk Away” Point You’ll typically have a stronger negotiating stance if you are willing to walk away from the situation, whether it’s a deal, job, or other situation, Lares says. That may not always seem possible, or you may not be willing to do so. But if you don’t have a “walk away” point, you’ve given up one of your negotiating options and can only push the terms so far without putting the situation in jeopardy.

Having a walk-away point is also insurance against being treated unfairly or having to strike a deal with a jerk, he adds.

“If you have a walk away [point], you have another alternative. And that creates more leverage, or perceived leverage, and it changes the way you negotiate,” he says.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

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A NEW SOCIAL-FIRST LINKEDIN

Here’s why your LinkedIn feed looks so different these days

By Danica Lo

Has your LinkedIn feed been looking a little different lately? Is there more… stuff in it?

The professional network has adhered to a more staid, information-driven feed governed by a careful code of professional conduct through all the ups and downs that have roiled the social media ecosystem over the past 20 years. Over the past few months, it’s increasingly become a community-driven multimedia content portal.

Last October, LinkedIn announced a $25 million investment in creators and its first Creator Accelerator Program (CAP). The 10-week incubatorstyle course which wrapped up on March 18th is designed to coach and develop an initial cohort of 100 participants, each of whom would be awarded $15,000 grants to put towards their endeavors.

This month, LinkedIn began rolling out creator tools to users on the platform at large. In addition to short-form in-feed posts, users who activate Creator Mode on their accounts can upload videos, podcasts, documents, articles, schedule events, deploy newsletters, and host and participate in video and audio livestreams. While direct monetization tools, such as programmatic or revenue-sharing campaigns, are not yet available, creators who are part of the LinkedIn Learning community are paid directly through the platform and other publishers are free to capitalize on independent brand deals.

The synergy between LinkedIn users and content creation felt natural, says LinkedIn’s global head of community and creators Andrei Santalo, and the accelerator program received thousands of applications.

“When you create content on LinkedIn, when you start relevant conversations that span the world of work, you’re increasing the odds of opportunity across the board for yourself and other people,” Santalo says. “When you pair those conversations with the types of audiences that are on LinkedIn, opportunities abound.”

CAP participants were assigned to sub-cohorts and community managers, provided with a suite of creator hardware and software tools, attended programmatic sessions—on topics ranging from content creation planning to video tips and best practices—and participated in roundtables with LinkedIn executives and product teams to help develop and hone the brand’s creator offering ahead of their release to the general public earlier this year.

For entrepreneur and CAP participant Melani Carter, founder of Made for the W, a media platform dedicated to the promotion of women in sports and sneaker culture, building a contentdriven presence on LinkedIn has helped reach new audiences and spark conversations.

“I think we look at LinkedIn as very professional—you have to be on your best game and put your accomplishments forward,” 120

Carter says. “For creators, CAP allowed us to be intentional with our content creation while focusing on key topics—for us, that was sports, branding, lifestyle, and sneaker culture.

LinkedIn’s investment in cultivating creator communities could not have come at a more opportune moment. Launched in the midst of a global pandemic, in the throes of the Great Resignation wherein an increasingly isolated remote workforce is engaged in reckoning with the meaning and value of conventional employment, CAP and the recent public roll-out of the platform’s Creator Mode feel like a newfangled iteration of networking and professional communitybuilding for the 21st-century.

“Opportunity isn’t just getting a job or applying for a job—opportunity comes from learning a skill or connecting to the right person at the right time,” Santalo says. “Creating content and starting conversations on LinkedIn—when you scale that out, you’re increasing the likelihood of opportunity not just for yourself but opportunities for other people.”

For ex-Goldman banker Tiffany Yu, CAP provided both the skills training and support she hadn’t previously found elsewhere. Paralyzed in one arm following a car accident at age 9, Yu worked in investment banking and media finance for years before venturing full-time into advocacy and education, launching Diversability as an external

employee resource group (ERG) in 2017. And while Yu had been a longtime speaker and, since 2020, a digital creator on TikTok, she found that, unlike other multimedia and content distribution platforms, such as YouTube or Substack, where algorithms and audiences tend to favor niche content and segmented reach, LinkedIn provided a more holistic representation of her professional experiences.

For LinkedIn’s owner Microsoft, this pivot to social-first original content and programming represents an new modus operandi for the parent company—which has, previously, focused its social media endeavors on enthusiast and niche audiences, such as the Xbox community and the GitHub platform.

As to whether LinkedIn will take off as the next big original content platform? Well, that remains to be seen—although it does bode well that the company reports it already has 810 million users in more than 200 countries. It’s rare, in 2022, to witness the inception and large-scale shift to a new content platform, especially one that has the potential for such broad intergenerational and global reach. LinkedIn has already announced its second Creator Accelerator Program cohort in India later this year.

Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash.

IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE

Here’s to your stylish Ramadan and Eid journey with River Island By bazaar staff

Inspired by the power of community and vibrancy of the occasion, this Ramadan River Island has designed a collection that makes you feel good, every step of the way. Celebrate the month-long journey in style with three curated trends that will make every Iftar, Suhour, and Ghabga completely unforgettable: Monochrome Twist, Hot Tropic and New Neutrals. Our tip though, save your very best outfits for the final festive days of Eid al-Fitr.

Monochrome twist We love planning out our Ramadan wardrobes, and now that Iftar gatherings, glitzy Ghabgas and soulful Suhours are back on the table, we’re going to have fun curating our style journey with River Island.

The three curated edits present a great opportunity to have fun by mixing and matching pieces to create your own unique festive look. And because family chic is a must-have vibe for special occasions, River Island also have matching mommy and me fits across womenswear and girlswear to make every Iftar a fabulously fashionable family affair.

Monochrome twist If monochrome is your thing, look no further. This timeless trend presents a classic style defined with a range of black and white pieces to suit every mood and every moment. From white long sleeve wrap tops and matching wide leg trousers to bold floral separates that can be styled together or separately, drama doesn’t even cut it. Go out in style and make your final Eid look unforgettable in a show stopping sequined dress. With a modest turtleneck layered underneath and your favorite jewels you’ll sparkle all night long.

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Monochrome twist

Hot Tropic

New neutrals Hot Tropic Make an entrance at your next social Iftar and brighten up your Ramadan wardrobe with River Island’s Hot Tropic collection. We’re calling this dopamine dressing at its finest, as you can choose from every color of the rainbow, depending on your mood. Celebrate all month long in colourful lime green and fuchsia pink, lifting moments of low energy with opulent paisley prints. Find the joy of dressing up and run with it until the final Eid festivities. Turn up the saturation on your last look to close out the Holy month in style.

Meet the New Neutrals If your color palette is exclusively blush pink, beige, white and gold, you’re going to love what’s coming from this special River Island edit. In a range of satin, jacquard and boucle finishes, these aren’t just any neutral pieces. From peachy power suits to cream blazer dresses to layer over trousers, get into neutral gear this month. Save your favorite look for last, debuting the light-colored blouse and skirt ensemble for those style-defining, final Eid festivities. Style with one of River Island’s gorgeous headscarves and gold jewelry for a celebration look that will turn heads, wherever you go.

Hot Tropic

The collection is available at River Island in 1st Avenue – The Avenues, Marina Mall and Al Fanar Mall. For more information, follow @riverislandme on Instagram and Facebook.

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LEADING WITH THE HEART

The secret to women’s leadership that can drive such a positive impact

By Jacqueline Carter

Despite the promise that we’ll soon be able to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror, the future for business leaders is looking more challenging than ever. Geopolitical unrest, inflation, and–perhaps most important–the twin issues of labor shortages and new worker demands in regards to pay, benefits, and flexibility has Axios calling 2022 the “hardest year ever to run a company.”

Just open the business section of any major newspaper and the tension felt by leaders is clear: In one column is advice to employees on how to quit their jobs and beat burnout. In another are reports that pressures from outside investors are putting human capital and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria and metrics under a microscope. So, how are leaders supposed to both build happier teams while also tending to their bottom lines?

The answer is simple: Invest in women. New data compiled by global consulting firm Potential Project, where I am a partner, found that employee disengagement translates into significant organizational expense (due to absenteeism and lower productivity). But, there is a sizable difference in how this shows up in women-led teams versus those led by men. In fact, we found that by driving more engaged employees, women leaders save their organizations $1.43 million for every 1,000 employees.

What’s the secret to women’s leadership that can drive such a positive impact for shareholders? We’ve found that women are most likely to embody what Potential Project calls “compassionate wisdom,” which is the leadership style most likely to drive engaged, happy, and productive teams, reducing the negative human capital costs companies fear today. In order to tackle the unique challenges we are facing this year, leaders of all genders should look to embody compassionate wisdom.

As I wrote in my recent book, compassionate wisdom means having the ability to do the hard things required of leadership in a way that is human. And women in leadership are frequently faced with more of these “hard things” than their male counterparts. Studies over the years have repeatedly confirmed that companies in crisis are more likely to appoint women to leadership roles, in part due to a stereotypical perception that men would refuse to take such a difficult job and that women are simply better at metaphorically “cleaning up messes.” But when given the opportunity to lead through crises, women excel, as we’ve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, where countries run by women had the quickest and most effective public health responses. In other words, women in leadership have a proven track record of tackling the hard things.

But women in general have also been found 124

to be more willing to embrace the vulnerability and compassion that help them approach difficult decision-making with a human-first approach.

This was recently visible when New York City’s newly appointed police commissioner Keechant Sewel made headlines after shedding tears at the funeral of two police officers, a moment which drew praise from her male colleagues.

Translated into a workplace setting, leaders who publicly demonstrate traits like compassion and vulnerability in turn create cultures where compassion and vulnerability are celebrated. Research tells us that when others are vulnerable with us, we are more likely to be vulnerable in turn. Similar studies have found that when we are asked to imagine a leader demonstrating vulnerability – say, sharing feelings of anxiety about a big presentation – we are more likely to perceive them as strong. Through surveys, my team confirmed that women leaders are more likely to self-report that they are highly compassionate and are also consistently ranked more highly in compassion by their employees.

While our research finds that many women in leadership already embody elements of compassionate wisdom, companies can invest in training their leaders to be prepared to make hard decisions while also honoring the humanity

of their team members. Compassionate wisdom is, in fact, teachable.

Biologically, humans are hardwired to feel empathy for others. But empathizing with your team is different from leading from a place of compassion. The mark of a compassionate leader is rooted in action; leaders should be trained to be more than a shoulder to cry on and instead to harness understanding with solutions.

So if a colleague shares that they are feeling overwhelmed balancing childcare with work commitments, a compassionate leader is able to not only understand that challenge, but take concrete action in offering perhaps a flexible schedule to help alleviate the challenge.

As companies race to offer new perks and benefits in order to avoid the cost of losing talent, they must avoid losing sight of the simple equation at the heart of employee engagement.

The old adage that people leave managers, not companies, remains true. But in 2022, it is the leaders with the ability to do hard things in a human way who are making a serious impact in building a thriving company culture.

Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash.

TRUST THE PROCESS

This is how “bad” can be the first step to “good”

By Herbert Lui

There’s a saying I’ve heard countless times, some variation of, “Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good.’” (Here’s an example.) I like it, because aiming for perfection is the surest way to a creative block and paralysis by analysis. Aiming for good is a great rallying call to actually get things done—to aim for acceptable and allow perfection to emerge naturally.

It’s a great mantra in the professional realm.

The problem still emerges when an ill-defined “good” becomes some version of the new perfect.

Sometimes, a person’s or team’s capabilities just aren’t at the place where they can make something good yet. The relationships, chemistry, and balances in talent aren’t there, and aiming for “good” at the first swing isn’t even possible yet.

“Good” ideas end up being scarce, a “good” plan is non-existent, and morale ends up really really far away from “good.”

We probably hope that our expectations of making something “good” will turn into an actuality, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s not going to happen though. For every group of people who deal with the pressure to meet this unrealistic expectation, there are dozens that struggle. People are fearful because they know they won’t make something “good” with the time and resources given.

Things may start off “bad” at the beginning The natural principle here is not to aim for “perfect” or “good,” but always to lower standards at the beginning—even aiming for “bad,” to start with. Perfect things come from good things, and good things come from bad things. I’m definitely not saying to go all in on a bad idea—however, it’s very possible that a good idea could emerge from putting forward 100 bad ideas. (Rather it’s just unlikely that anyone can make 100 bad ideas without 1 of them being accidentally good.)

Sometimes—and I daresay, a lot of times— ”good” things start out “bad.” A “good” feature emerges from a really terrible product. A “good” opportunity for skill development emerges from a really “bad” attempt at a project. A “good” book emerges from a “bad” initial draft.

Doing something “bad” frees you up to do something “good” Also, knowing when to slack off and ship “bad” work is another skill altogether, because that frees up your energy to do “good” work—or even to focus on trying to make something “perfect.” That’s a whole other topic altogether, one that startup advisor Shreyas Doshi does a great job explaining. (When he realizes a task is unimportant and will not make an impact, and he still can’t put it off, he deliberately decides to do it badly, watching TV in the background.)

Doing something “bad” can be an awful 126

experience and lead to a complete dead end.

Sure. More often than not though, I’ve found that taking it one step further—treating it like the preparation phase of a creative process—can squeeze the most out of an otherwise painful, and fruitless, experience. Thinking about it, getting feedback, looking for a next step, or deciding that you’re better off doing something else—all “good” results from a “bad” project.

“Bad” can be the first step to “good” There’s a popular—and controversial—saying in software development, “Worse is better.” This post is not a call to make something “bad” on purpose or to ship incomplete work. It is another way of phrasing Anne Lamott’s powerful writing advice, to give yourself permission to write shitty first drafts. Permission to make something “Bad” is the first step to being more creative. “Bad”

isn’t the enemy of “good,” it’s merely the first step to making something good.

If we decide to take that more forgiving approach to “Bad” work, we can start looking at every piece of work as a first draft, as DJ Dahi recommended to me in an interview.

“Good” and “bad” are not always diametrically opposed. “Bad” is often how projects start. We don’t need to pretend otherwise. “Good” is how projects appear when they are closer to complete, if we stay present when we make it. And if we’re lucky, “perfect,” takes place when we make something “good” and it matches up with timing and support. But “perfect” is not in our control.

Once we decide to let go of “perfect” and our fears of making something “bad,” our expectations fall behind and we’re free to focus what’s in front of us: the actual work itself.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.

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EID WITH MUJI

Timeless, comfortable and elegant eid outfits By bazaar staff

A month of Iftars, Suhours and Ghabqas in Ramadan usually stretch our fashion muscle and by the time Eid is around the corner we’re all out of outfit ideas. Unlike Ramadan outings, Eid is slower. It’s about welcoming that cup of coffee in the morning and spending the day surrounded with family, chasing children or younger cousins, giving out (or receiving) eideya and celebrating the end of Ramadan together.

We’re team #ClassyAndComfor table on that day, because we know we will be munching on fresh ma’moul and kahk all day while hosting extended family members. So we need to look great without being constrained by our style choices. Or maybe this Eid, you’re jet-setting off to a quick getaway and need some easy to pack and wear choices.

MUJI is one of our favorite go-tos when that’s what we’re looking for. Especially with Eid at the beginning of May and summer, we want cool breathable fabrics that can carr y us into the season to come. The Japanese lifestyle brand is a master at designing clothing items that can be layered, mixed and matched or worn as statement pieces.

We love the Cotton High Density Woven Wide Shir t. It is available in three neutral colors and can be worn on jeans or more formal slacks for a wide range of different looks. The slightly asymmetrical hem adds subtle visual interest while the collar is balanced with the wide cuffs.

Our favorite color is the white which is a fun blank canvas just waiting to be filled with colors and textures from accessories, jewelr y and even a bold hair style.

The Cotton High Density Woven Dress is just as versatile when it comes to styling. The cute collar and placket gives the dress a slightly structured look without making it look stiff. The midi-length makes it easy to wear all year round, but per fect for the rising temperatures of May. It is breathy and air y and will keep you feeling and looking cool. Speaking of MUJI dresses, we also love the French Linen 3/4 Sleeve Dress.

The silhouette is simple and clean and can be dressed down with casual sandals or dressed 128

up with a pair of pumps and some fancy jewelr y.

But the best thing about all of MUJI’s dresses is that they all have pockets!

You can never go wrong with a pair of French Linen Straight Pants. Jump into Eid feeling like you are at a 5-star beach resor t with MUJI’s best-selling soft linen pants. The pants have been pre-washed for a soft finish that highlights the unique texture of French linen.

If you are ready to follow a more unconventional path, then the Hakama Pants might be for you. This is where MUJI’s Japanese heritage and roots shine. Hakama pants were traditionally a costume worn by official ceremony par ticipants or workers in Japan. The loose and straight silhouette allows easy movement and while bringing an awe-inspiring look together with minimal effor t.

The Hemp French Sleeve Shir t is another must-have item in your Eid wardrobe. The iconic sleeves are flattering on ever yone and can be paired with the Hakama Pants or the French Linen Straight Pants for a laid back and sleek outfit. If you prefer a more classic look then tr y the French linen wide shir t. The classic button down shir t can be worn layered over a camisole for a more relaxed look too.

We love MUJI’s fashion depar tment because the clothes were designed to ser ve our lifestyle.

We also love that MUJI is committed to using more sustainable materials, like organic cotton.

The fabrics are soft, breathable and easy to wear and care for. The colors are mostly classics and neutrals so we can easily use them as building blocks to create our own looks that match our style. It is easy to build a wardrobe that looks and feels great from MUJI and can be enjoyed all year round.

Visit the MUJI stores in 2nd Avenue – The Avenues, Grand Avenue – The Avenues and Al Kout Mall or shop online at muji.com.kw. For more information, follow MUJI on Instagram @mujimiddleeast.

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CANARY IN THE TOXIC WORK MINE

To build a healthy workplace, you need a toxic culture alarm

By Ludmila N. Praslova

Toxic organizations are the key cause of employee exodus, according to an MIT report. Moreover, my research indicates that employee disillusionment with how organizations function existed long before the pandemic.

What if your workplace had an early warning system, an alarm that could signal that the environment is becoming hazardous, like carbon monoxide detectors in our homes warn us of toxic gas?

We can build a safer and stronger future of work.

Recently, I’ve been developing one organizational design principle that could help leaders prevent toxic build-up, along with the next wave of resignations, while helping engage talent, achieve diversity and inclusion goals, and sustain remarkable productivity.

To understand the idea of a “toxic culture alarm,” first you must understand the history of toxic gas detectors. The original, living, breathing carbon monoxide detector was the proverbial—and the very real—canary in the coal mine. In the UK, canary birds went underground with the miners from 1911 until 1986. Canaries’ intense breathing makes them sensitive to airborne poisons, so if the air became toxic, birds fell ill or died before miners were significantly affected. This gave the miners time to evacuate safely (and, with early enough detection, even to revive the canary).

Canary birds have retired from mines.

But members of the autistic community sometimes use canaries as a metaphor to explain their experiences and sensitivities.

Contrary to the “unfeeling autistic” stereotypes, prominent theor y and experimental research indicate that autistic people experience the world more intensely than the average person. This explains the extraordinary attention, memory, ability to detect patterns, empathy, and work performance of some autistic individuals, and the success of those who defy stereotypes and discrimination. But this intensity also explains why the toxicity of the environment is felt by us earlier and harms us more than others.

Unfortunately, in many organizations, the “solution” to this sensitivity was not the cleaner air for all. It was systematically excluding us from employment.

Autistic people have unemployment rates of 85% in the US, 78% in the UK, and 60% in Australia. In the UK, 50% of managers admit they would not hire autistic candidates. That’s despite the fact that “canaries” can be up to 140% more productive than typical employees, generate higher-quality creative and innovative thinking, and discover causes and effects others miss.

With the most sensitive excluded and the toxicity alarm disabled, psychological conditions in many workplaces continued to deteriorate, with ever-increasing workloads and repeated ethical 130

breaches. Then the pandemic served as the last straw. Stress is cumulative, and with the disruption of the pandemic, most employees fully felt the effects of toxic practices and hurried for the exits as fast as they could.

Here are six key principles of the Canary Code for building non-toxic workplaces: Participation: Don’t try to design solutions for visibly and invisibly disabled people, neurodivergent people, those from marginalized cultures, who grew up in poverty, or others who experience life differently without their participation. Inviting people to design how they work also boosts productivity by up to 32%.

Focus on outcomes: People don’t rebel against honest work. People rebel against unreasonable requirements of seat time and face time when outcomes might be best accomplished flexibly and remotely. When work is focused on outcomes, higher performance and morale follow.

Flexibility: Procrustean limiting of work by time, place, and workstyle limits availability and diversity of talent you can attract and retain. Expanding flexibility even more, to include job matching to peoples’ unique strengths, job crafting, job-sharing, providing viable part-time options, and providing benefits that work for a wide range of life circumstances help marginalized talent thrive.

Focus on organizational justice: Marginalized groups are particularly sensitive to injustice, but humans, in general, are wired to desire justice and fairness. Organizational justice boosts positive behavior and organizational productivity across cultural contexts. Ensuring justice in hiring, pay, benefits, promotion, and the entire talent cycle builds strong cultures that retain talent.

(The upcoming special issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal on disability inclusion that I guest edit provides much more detail.)

Transparency and clear communication: support the development of trust, or the rebuilding of trust damaged by prior exclusion or injustice.

While essential for autistic people, who are often excluded by corporate doublespeak and byzantine politics, transparency also supports the bottom line by facilitating trust, reducing stress, and notably improving performance. Moreover, the alarm only works if you listen to people who sound it.

Valid tools for decision-making: Subjective and outdated selection practices and basing promotions on perceived “fit” with leadership stereotypes exclude neurodivergent talent, harm all marginalized groups, and narrow organizations’ talent pools.

Maximizing organizational outcomes requires using work-related, valid, outcomes-focused approaches. Evidence-based practices are inclusive practices.

Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash.

THE FUTURE OF INTERVIEWS

How to prepare for job interviews in the metaverse

By Stephanie Lovell

If you ask 10 people to define the metaverse, you’ll likely receive 10 different answers that vary wildly from some sort of virtual haven to an Orwellian nightmare. While large swaths of big tech have already signaled their intent to help shape this digital landscape—look no further than Zuckerberg playing space poker—what exactly the metaverse turns out to be and, more importantly, how we use it, is still anyone’s guess.

While this immersive digital world may still be in its infancy in both development and understanding, it’s clear companies with footprints of every size have already turned an eye to how it could potentially impact employee engagement, retention, and attraction. The pandemic era has undoubtedly accelerated our adoption of virtual recruiting, with the simplicity, efficiency, and safety of tools such as Zoom or Slack largely replacing in-person interviews.

So, it’s natural to assume the metaverse will simply be the evolution of our virtual methods to find, gauge, and onboard talent.

As Joel Baroody, head of recruiting at fintech startup Brex, recently shared at the first-ever metaverse hiring event and career fair: Here’s what can job seekers do to best prepare themselves for this new frontier of recruiting, and how they can continue to put their best virtual foot forward during an ever-evolving hiring process.

Communication will still be king Even in a virtual environment, communicating your experience, qualifications, and skill set clearly and presenting yourself articulately will continue to be paramount. In fact, in a space where you’ll no longer be physically in front of a hiring manager and avatars aren’t advanced enough to depict complex, subtle body language, there may be even more room for ambiguity or miscommunication. You are your own biggest advocate, so if something is unclear, ask for clarification. This starts by approaching any interview (in the metaverse or not) with a pocket full of research on the business, the specific role you’re applying for, and even the representative you’re speaking with. Bring tailored questions that get to the meat of salary/compensation, work culture, direct reports, daily responsibilities, shortterm KPIs, and anything else that’ll help you make an informed decision.

Patience, please What the metaverse looks like today will be incredibly different three, five, 10 years down the road. Will it be a singular, interconnected realm à la Ready Player One, or a series of closely aligned but separate platforms? Who knows, but if the progression of the internet and social media tools have given us any sort of roadmap, it will grow into an easier, more productive, aesthetically functional space. Graphics will improve (think Wii or Sims versus today’s CGI) and services will expand that 132

will make interactions more comparative with a real human-to-human experience. For now, job seekers should recognize the functional limitations of this early version of the metaverse and understand there will be growing pains when it comes to the hiring process within it.

Reduce unconscious bias One of the greatest challenges in the larger hiring space is that of unconscious bias, which is forming a judgment of a candidate based on something other than their professional credentials. In the metaverse, there’s potential for this bias to be reduced through avatars or other digital representation where virtual characters can look like whatever you want. That said, while a job seeker interviewing in the metaverse may be able to so in their lucky Metallica T-shirt from the Summer Sanitarium tour, that’s not to say your avatar should rock it, too. Your avatar is a representation of you and should be dressed/styled appropriately for the role, sector, and business you’re applying to even if they look nothing like you.

Keep up with trends Just as any job seeker should do a tech check before any virtual interview, the same goes for

the metaverse. Before you immerse yourself in a particular platform for an interview, familiarize yourself with it. If you’re logging in from a laptop, make sure you know the keyboard controls to customize your character and navigate the virtual space appropriately. If you’re using a virtual reality (VR) headset, like Oculus, give it a trial run to understand its nuances and see if you get motion sick. Most importantly, keep up with the latest metaverse news and trends. The more comfortable you are interacting in the metaverse, the more confidence you’ll be able to project during an interview in this space.

The metaverse will continue to expand talent pools exponentially that will benefit both companies and candidates. Job seekers, once restricted to single geographic areas, can meet with any company, anytime, anywhere instantly. As more businesses embrace the demand for remote roles and greater work flexibility, the metaverse will allow candidates to still have comprehensive, immersive interview experiences for positions on the other side of the country, or world, from the comfort of their own homes.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash.

A taste of Turkey at your table!

THE LIFE JOURNEY

OF A FERRARI FROM PRODUCTION TO ACHIEVING LEGENDARY STATUS By bazaar staff

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Of the superior performance of the cars that he built, Enzo Ferrari was clear, simply stating; “They have more horsepower, and they don’t break down.” In tribute to this vision, Ferrari is committed to ensuring that every single car remains in the same pristine condition that it was delivered in, no matter whether 5,10, 15, or 20 years after its production in Maranello.

Each of the world-renowned Ferrari Aftersales programmes offer clients the utmost peace of mind, guaranteeing their much-loved Ferrari is always as good as the day it was driven off the production line. With the exception of limitededition models, the ownership experience of a Ferrari always comes with an exclusive sevenyear maintenance contract in addition to the

standard five-year contractual warranty, setting an unprecedented standard throughout the industry for customer care.

This peace of mind is provided through the Genuine Maintenance programme which offers a tailored service for every car and is extended to any subsequent owner during the car’s first seven-year period. Checks are scheduled annually, or every 20,000km, and are performed by highly qualified technicians who have been extensively trained at the Ferrari Training Centre in Maranello using factory-approved dedicated diagnostic equipment. Nobody knows the unique characteristics of the various Prancing Horse models better than them. The costs of labour, original replacement parts, lubricants, engine oil and brake fluid are all covered under this unrivalled programme.

Following the expiration of the first fiveyear warranty, Ferrari presents the option of

subscribing to the NewPower15 extended warranty programme. This makes Ferrari the first marque to offer warranty cover of up to 15 years or 90,000km after the car is registered.

The NewPower15 programme is offered on a yearly basis and can be renewed for an extra five years after the NewPower15 contract has expired. The NewPower15 warranty programmes cover the vehicle’s main mechanical components, including the engine, gearbox, PTU, suspension and steering.

Ferrari cars are a manifestation of Enzo Ferrari’s vision of innovation, and that innovation isn’t only limited to the cars, but also extends to class-leading aftersales services. Ferrari offers an all-new extended warranty and service programme called MainPower.

MainPower is a service offered to customers who, at the end of the seven-year Genuine Maintenance programme, wish to extend their [Continued...]

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service and warranty contracts. In essence, MainPower is a combination of Ferrari’s industryleading NewPower15 and Ordinary Maintenance programmes.

The warranty coverage of the programme is identical to that of NewPower15 with the addition of the tried-and-tested seven-year Genuine Maintenance service programme. For a few selected Ferrari models like the Ferrari California, 458 Italia, 458 Spider and FF, MainPower completely replaces the NewPower15 programmes.

Ferrari Genuine also includes an accessories division, which is solely aimed at making the experience of owning a Ferrari extremely personalised and unique. Ferrari Genuine accessories offer a wide variety of Ferrari products and kits specifically designed to make each Ferrari special and unique to its owner. These products include interior carbon fibre trims and inserts, infotainment systems, battery conditioners, AFS headlights, and many more.

Last but not least is the new Ferrari Premium programme. The maintenance programme, called “Ferrari Premium”, is a new programme exclusively developed to safeguard the efficiency, reliability and market value of Ferrari cars. The 136

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programme enables the customer to replace components that wear out with time. Using only original Ferrari components, highly specialised technicians from the official Ferrari Service Network service the car over the course of the years during which the customer is a member of the programme. Members of the programme are provided with a Ferrari Premium Certificate, and the right to facilitated access to Ferrari Classiche certification.

The programme is extended to owners of the 360 Modena, 599 GTB Fiorano, F430, 612 Scaglietti, 612 Scaglietti Sessanta, 612 One to One, 456 GT/GTA, 456M GT/GTA, 550 Maranello, 550 Barchetta, 575 Maranello, 575 Superamerica, 599 GTO, 599 SA Aperta and Enzo. Ferrari Premium completes the wide range of official services that Ferrari offers after a customer purchases a car, guaranteeing continuity over the first 20 years of the car’s life and providing facilitated access to Ferrari Classiche certification, thus offering Ferrari car owners a comprehensive and fully-exclusive service.

The Classiche certification maintains a classic Ferrari and makes it more than simply a collectors’ car. It is a testimony to Ferrari’s heritage, and each model represents the pinnacle of road-car

engineering of its era. When you own a Ferrari, the most important aspect is originality. Since 2003, Ferrari has provided factory support for the collector car world, introducing a programme that testifies to the authenticity of cars over 20 years of age and supplying a comprehensive range of services dedicated to the preservation of these historically significant motor vehicles.

All restoration work carried out by Ferrari Classiche is underpinned by in-depth research using Ferrari’s production archive, a treasure trove of invaluable technical information on every car built at the factory. This extensive archive allows us to offer our classic car clients a Certificate of Authenticity or an Attestation for vehicles of historic interest, and to supply all major mechanical components manufactured to the original specifications.

For the service options and requirements specific to your Ferrari model, contact your local authorised Ferrari dealership.

For more information, please visit the official Ferrari Showroom in Kuwait- Kuwait Automobile & Trading Co located in Al-Rai, on the 4th Ring Road, visit safat.ferraridealers.com or follow them on Instagram @ferrarialzayanikuwait.

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‫‪Ramadan Kareem‬‬

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‫‪Let Us Be A Part Of Your Futoor & Suhoor.‬‬

RECLAIM THE DESKTOP

Clear your Mac desktop clutter with this handy app

By Jared Newman

If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed by an excess of open windows on your Mac, a new tool called Later can help. By clicking a button on the Mac menu bar, you can hide all open windows from your desktop, then bring them back at a later time.

I’ve been using a review copy of Later provided by the developer and have found it useful for clearing out desktop clutter when it’s time to focus.

It can also be helpful for hiding apps and browser tabs during a Zoom presentation.

To hide your apps, just hit Later’s big blue “Save windows for later” button, or press Cmd+Shift+L. You can then restore your session through the menu bar or by hitting Cmd+Shift+R. Later also has a few other useful options for clearing out Mac window clutter: You can choose to quit all applications instead of hiding them, automatically restore your windows after a certain amount of time, and leave system windows such as

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Finder untouched. (Unfortunately, there’s no way to exempt non-system apps from being hidden.)

Other options With its $20 price tag, Later may not be for everyone, and there is another way to achieve window-clearing clarity if you’d rather not buy another app: Just open Mission Control on your Mac, then hit the + button on the right to create a new “Space.”

This doesn’t work as well with multiple monitors, since you can’t hide both screens’ windows with one click, and you won’t get Later’s auto-resume and quit-all capabilities. Still, it’s good enough for opening a fresh desktop in a pinch.

Windows users also have a couple of different options: Press Win+D or click the bottom-right corner of your screen to minimize and restore all of your apps, or create a new desktop space through Task View (pictured above), which you can open by hitting Win+Tab or clicking the box-like icon next to the Start menu. Hitting the + creates a new space that even spans multiple monitors.

Meanwhile, a Windows app called CloseAll allows you to quit all of your Windows apps at once. Like Later, it costs $20, though the free trial version has no apparent limits on usage.

Photo by Howard Bouchevereau on Unsplash.

YOUR PERSONALITY, YOUR CHOICE Introducing the CHOICE Fragrance Collection by The Body Shop – five new Scents with Character By bazaar staff

You are free to make your own choices. Choice is your own power. Your power to choose who you want to be. Glowing.

Blissful. Wild. Vibrant. Rebel. There’s a lot of characters in all of us! Introducing the latest fragrance collection from The Body Shop. Dive nose first into five Eau de Toilettes that let you express your personality in your own unique way. The Body Shop’s new Choice fragrance collection reintroduces iconic scents from best-selling Voyage and Scents of Life ranges. The new and improved collection comes with a fresh look, extended ranges and more sustainable packaging.

WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT IT? 5 SCENTS WITH CHARACTER: Glowing. Blissful.

Wild. Vibrant. Rebel. There’s a lot of characters in all of us. Embrace the diversity of your personality with five fragrance choices. Mix & layer to express your unique personality.

VEGAN CERTIFIED: Each product formulation is certified by The Vegan Society, the Gold standard in vegan certification.

EASIER TO RECYCLE DESIGN: Now made using recycled glass and topped with an aluminium lid.

Recycle both to show your planet some love.

WHAT CHOICE WILL YOU MAKE? GLOWING CHERRY BLOSSOM Express your joyful side with Glowing Cherry Blossom. The Body Shop’s best-selling Japanese Cherry Blossom has a fresh new look, with the same delicate fragrance. Made with 92% ingredients of natural origin, this vegan fragrance lets your personality sing with joyful, floral notes

of Japanese cherry blossom, osmanthus flower and sandalwood.

BLISSFUL STRAWBERRY Bring some zen to the party and express your serene side with The Body Shop’s Blissful Strawberry Eau de Toilette 50m. Vegan certified, this calming fragrance lets your personality shine with soothingly sweet, fruity, juicy notes of strawberry, peony and musk.

WILD JASMINE Liberate the fearlessly adventurous side of your spirit with The Body Shop’s Wild Jasmine Eau de Toilette 50ml; its best-selling Indian Night Jasmine with a fresh, new look and same great scent. Made with 91% ingredients of natural origin, this vegan fragrance lets your personality run wild and free with floral, sensual and creamy notes of Indian jasmine, violet leaf and white iris.

VIBRANT BERGAMO Let your personality shine bold and bright with a

few spritzes of The Body Shop’s Vibrant Bergamot Eau de Toilette 50ml, part of the Choice fragrance collection. Made with 87% ingredients of natural origin, this light, vegan fragrance lifts your spirit with bright, fruity and citrusy notes of bergamot, magnolia and lily of the valley.

REBEL ROSEBUD Express and embrace the defiant side of your personality with The Body Shop’s Rebel Rosebud Eau de Toilette 50m. A fresh take on best- selling Red Fixation scent. And don’t worry, it’s still the same great fragrance, now with three new formats. The range lets your inner rebel speak out with warm, heady, velvety notes of rose absolute, saffron and amber.

The new CHOICE collection is now available at all The Body Shop stores across Kuwait and GCC. For more information about The Body Shop, visit www.thebodyshop.com.kw or keep up to date with the brand’s latest news on Instagram and Facebook: @TheBodyShopKuwait

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BRAIN WORKOUT?

Why brain-training games don’t work, according to a behavioral scientist

By Art Markman

Success is often driven by your ability to solve problems and generate creative ideas. So, it is no wonder that people are looking for ways to increase mental capacity. And lots of companies have stepped into the void to help people improve their mental fitness.

The analogy behind many of these brain-training activities is athletic training. If you want to improve your physical performance, there are exercises you can do that improve your overall fitness. Longdistance running, for example, can benefit your ability to do other activities that requires endurance, like cycling. Lifting weights can enhance your strength, making you better at many other sports that require strength.

Unfortunately, the brain doesn’t seem to work the same way. There simply aren’t ways in which to train general mental capacities that will improve your performance at a variety of other tasks. Braintraining games often give you logic puzzles, lists of things to remember, or tasks that force you to pay attention. If you play those games, you will get better at them. But, the improvements you get from those games end up being specific. That is, you get better at the game and at things that are like the game.

But, you don’t get better at thinking in general.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t things you can do to improve your mental abilities, though. It just means that brain games aren’t the route to getting there.

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To see why, it is important to recognize that psychologists distinguish between two kinds of intelligence: fluid and crystallized. (I hate these terms, but those are the names the field settled on, so we’re stuck with them.) Fluid intelligence reflects basic psychological mechanisms that influence your performance. For example, working memory is the amount of information you can hold in mind at once. People with a high workingmemory capacity are typically better at solving complex problems than people with low workingmemory capacity.

These basic mechanisms are important aspects of the cognitive architecture that support good thinking. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any exercises you can do that improve them. So, brain games that aim to improve working-memory capacity do not actually affect working-memory capacity, generally. Instead, people develop good strategies to play the game itself in ways that don’t benefit thinking more broadly.

Crystallized intelligence reflects the results of your life experience. After reading this article, for example, you will know about the concept of

working memory. That knowledge becomes part of your crystallized intelligence. Similarly, problemsolving skills you learned in school or on the job become part of your cognitive repertoire.

Your crystallized intelligence continues to grow throughout your life. The knowledge and skills you have make you better able to address new situations. Creative people tend to have a broad base of knowledge that enables them to find analogies between things they have encountered before and new situations that enable them to find new solutions to hard problems.

So, you can make yourself smarter, but not by playing games that purport to increase your fluid intelligence. Instead, you want to build that crystallized intelligence. Read books on a variety of topics, find podcasts in areas you don’t know much about, and go to lectures, or take classes that expand your knowledge and skills. The more you know and the more you can do, the better able you will be to address challenges deftly.

Photo by ALAN DE LA CRUZ on Unsplash.

HYBRID TIME

7 ways companies can ease the transition from remote to hybrid work

By Paul Statham

With the COVID-19 pandemic appearing to wind down–at least in the U.S.–more people are craving a return to normal in all walks of life.

But there’s one major exception to this reset: going back to the office every day. The universal daily commute is now a thing of the past (which is a good thing), and it is being replaced in most areas by some combination of remote and onpremises work.

Make no mistake: the office is still important, it’s just no longer for routine daily tasks. It’s instead ideal for things like creative collaboration, team building, and career advancement.

So, for the good of both your business and your workers, you need to find ways to evolve your office so that it becomes a destination of choice that your employees want to be a part of and will make the occasional trip for.

Here are seven things you need to address to get your employees coming back.

Make sure your office technology works When your employees step back into the office for the first time, odds are they will not recognize it.

Personal desks, docking stations, large computer screens, and other workplace tools people were accustomed to may be misplaced. Even worse, connecting to the Wi-Fi or VPN can be a headache. Make sure this doesn’t happen. No one wants to commute to the office just to spend the bulk of the day talking to IT. Make sure your office technology is accessible, up-to-date and is easy to connect to.

Make commuting less of a burden Not only does commuting cost money— skyrocketing gas prices and expensive public transit—it also eats up time. When evaluating your company’s benefits program, consider offering certain forms of subsidies or other initiatives to help defray these costs. For employees based in the same region, would it be possible to offer a shuttle service to bring them to and from the office?

Have a plan for COVID Almost everyone is tired of the pandemic, and everything associated with it. Regardless, even as Omicron appears to be fading, many of your workers are going to feel apprehensive about coming back to public spaces. (For that matter, no one can guarantee that there will be no more COVID waves.) Your workers need to know that you take their safety seriously. Consider documenting a COVID prevention program, mandating virtual health screenings before office visits, or using

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QR codes (or similar technologies) to grant office access so employees can get to desks without touching anything.

Don’t let work/life balance get out of whack Even remote employees can feel overworked, as the pandemic blurred the lines between personal and professional time. While commuting into the office on select days may help make that distinction clearer, it’s important that this pattern doesn’t increase employee stress level. Consider altering your business hours on office days or dedicating office days for informal gatherings that promote collaboration or culture-building activities. You don’t want your employees to feel like going to the office is adding to their total workload.

Don’t let the office be a drag The last two years have shown that people can be highly productive working at home, and subsequently many fear returning to the office will actually slow them down. It’s a legitimate concern, but we need to remind ourselves and our employees that physical collaboration with our colleagues is a critical part of making a company successful. While virtual sessions have undoubtedly been helpful, there’s no substitute for the in-person. The more people use the office to collaborate, the higher the energy in the office.

When employees start to witness this new cycle,

others will want to go in and be a part of the magic.

Reevaluate your office layout and reshape it for interaction If your company has grown or had turnover over the last two years, it’s likely much of your space does not serve the initial purpose it once had. Rework your space so that it becomes a destination for relationship building. Then, act on that remodel by encouraging activities that make interactions effortless and enjoyable.

Consider training days Training and development efforts have seen a significant drop due to the barriers of fully remote work. Establish opportunities where employees can benefit from learning from their colleagues. Internal networking fosters durable team dynamics and builds the kind of long-term relationships that help employees feel like a valued member of their team and in turn, further their careers with your company.

In short, think about how your employees’ pain points have changed during the pandemic. Find solutions for those, and you’ll see more of your workers coming back to the office—and even feel good about doing so.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash.

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44 REASONS TO BE #XCITED Store number 44 opens at AlRai’s Rozzanah Complex By bazaar staff

We’re glad we live in the modern age. Machines do a lot of the hard work for us, and for that we will be forever grateful. Which makes choosing the right gadgets that help us work smarter, not harder, more important than ever before. Which is why we were happy to learn that there was a new destination for us to head to when we need a helping hand.

X-cite has been our trusted source of all things electronics for years now. It’s the first and only place we think of when we need to replace our old phone or washing machine. The new store is located in Alrai Rozzanah complex, on the 4th Ring Road, near Lulu Al Rai and is open from 9 AM to 11 PM. It also has excellent parking which makes our life even easier. The new store is designed with an elevated fresh & cozy customer experience in mind.

The Alrai Rozzanah Complex location stocks everything you need for an easier and smarter life. The store offers a wide range of devices in a variety of categories which includes mobiles; smartwatches; tablets; laptops; IT peripherals; smart home; gaming; TV; haircare; kitchen

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appliances and seasonal products. X-cite provides the latest store experience in terms of demonstration and lifestyle branding for the smoothest shopping experience.

The store is also home to Techforce, professional technicians in-store who can help you out with technical support issues. The skilled experts offer aid in issues like software installation, digital products, hardware issues, formatting disks and so much more. We want to plug our new devices and hit the ground running, but we all know that sometimes it needs some tweaking. Techforce is perfect for those of us who don’t have the technical skills or time to deal with the issues that arise. They can help you fix it all in-store without having to leave X-cite.

We can now get most of our work done from a phone or iPad but we still depend on our laptops for a big chunk of our office hours and getting the perfect one is super easy at Xcite. The knowledgeable and helpful staff will help you find the perfect fit as well as add all the extras like a keyboard, mouse or even printer to make your workday run smoother.

From business to leisure, X-cite’s got your back.

We’re serious about our down time, which is why we trust the pros at X-cite to provide us with the latest and fastest PCs and consoles for our gaming.

There’s a wide selection of games too so we’re never bored. If you’re more of a Netflix and chill kind of person, you will find the newest smart TVs and streaming devices that will delight your movie and show loving heart.

The pandemic years may have pushed us to watch more TV but they have also opened our eyes to new activities too like baking our own bread and rediscovering our culinary talents. If you still haven’t purchased an Air fryer, this is your sign. The nifty device is life changing. You will be eating healthier without having to slave away in the kitchen. We’ve discovered many other smart gadgets and kitchen devices at X-cite. From bread makers to coffee grinders, we really have upped our food game.

We may have also gotten better at personal grooming. Months of giving ourselves haircuts and blow drying our own hair, have taught us that having the right tools is not a luxury. X-cite has everything from beard trimmers to the cult favorite Dyson Air Wrap.

X-cite has established itself as a leading brand in providing the latest electronic products to its customers due to its strong ties with international brands in the electronics sector.

Continuously seeking to satisfy the needs of its customers, X-cite provides diverse services enabling customers to experience products and interact with them through both physical stores and the complete comfort of online shopping.

Shoppers know that they’re also getting a wide range of supporting services including a stateof-the-art maintenance center and aftersales services at its large stores across Kuwait. X-cite’s range of services includes free delivery, payment with installments, X-care warranty and In-store pick up. And with the dedicated easy credit

facility and office at the Alrai Rozzanah Complex you won’t even have to worry about financing your new and exciting life. The store also offers a new kind of store experience, it’s all about showing you how these things can fit into your lifestyle and fulfill your aspirations.

X-cite Alrai Rozzanah is open from 9 AM to 11 PM every day. Stay updated on the latest events, monthly promotions and offers by subscribing to the monthly newsletter on xcite.com, follow X-cite’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat, @xcitealghanim or Facebook at XcitebyAlghanim and win prizes with contests, or visit the online store at www.xcite.com.

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YOUR FIRST JOB MATTERS

4 signs of a worthy entry-level job

By Jason Lee

There has never been a better time to look for a job. Across all industries, employers are eagerly looking for talent. Here’s a number to wrap your head around: According to Statista Research Department, by the last business day of December 2021, there were about 10.93 million job openings in the United States.

If you’re looking for your first or even second job, and the future is something of an abstract concept, consider this: The average 18–24 year old will have 5.7 career changes between the time they enter and exit the workforce. In short, your next move is likely not your last trip to the plate, so you can be selective.

Newfound flexibility around work caused by COVID, paired with a historically tight labor market, has led to the Great Resignation. This means that companies are looking to aggressively compete for your talent. As you look to enter, re-enter or reposition yourself in the workforce, you may find yourself with the luxury of choice between multiple employers. COVID has drastically changed the rubric by which we measure a workplace’s value— (i.e., hybrid work environments, generous benefits packages, historically high funding)—so use the following tips to decide the best fit for your next career move.

Integrity You deserve to be proud of where you work. You deserve to be accepted and heard at work. You deserve to work at a company that goes beyond the fluff about being a force for good. Find a company that walks the walk on sustainability, social responsibility, diversity hiring, and inclusive communication. Do research before the job interview and feel encouraged to ask questions.

Do they have a handle on emissions-releasing activities?

How does their product positively affect the average American worker?

While you’re asking your interviewer questions, observe their responses and ask yourself, “Do the people you’re interviewing with listen and seem genuinely interested in what you have to say?” Novelist Milan Kundera once wrote, “All relationships are essentially formed at the beginning.” That means the job interview is a leading indicator of integrity. Wise words in today’s job market.

Culture There are a lot of definitions of culture, but the most serviceable is: “the way things get done around here.” Attempt to draw back the curtain and find out how culture dictates peoples’ actions within the company. Are prospective colleagues given the tools and support to exceed expectations? Is feedback delivered consistently and fairly? Culture should be articulated easily, so if folks interviewing 148

you have trouble defining it, then that could be a red flag.

Business model If the business model at the company you’re considering seems to be unsustainable or wouldn’t survive the stress of competition, follow your instincts. Here’s an example: Suppose one of the companies you interview with is marketing and selling the exact same product as another more established player in the space. Unless their business model has a unique value proposition, it likely won’t make it. Sometimes companies are working with an outdated or unsustainable business model in the hopes that they will get funding or get acquired, but it’s far more likely they will be disrupted by new innovations or interrupted by stagnant revenue.

How do you see the company evolving in the next six months, year, or five years?

What obstacles will impact the business’s success and longevity?

How does this company compete with its main competitors?

These questions should provide you with a better understanding of the company’s business model and position in the marketplace.

Growth opportunity Every company will promise growth. Focus on

the opportunities to grow your skill set and be exposed to new disciplines. As time management guru Steven Covey espoused, “Begin with the end in mind.” Have a sense of where you’d like to be in your career in one, three, and five years. A good company will support a career trajectory, not just a short-term gig. Some questions you may want to ask are: What benefits do you offer to support the individual growth of employees outside of the workplace?

Does the company offer internal networking opportunities?

LinkedIn learning, tuition assistantship, and learning stipends are examples of ways employers can encourage employees to upskill outside of day-to-day work. Other opportunities for growth happen within companies, i.e., networking with peers across departments to develop a deeper understanding of how the business operates cross-functionally.

All this is not to say you shouldn’t hone your resume and work on your personal presentation skills. Those are the basics. The company you seek will go beyond the basics and your career will be the better for it.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash.

‫ وجبة مثالية‬،‫اطلب وجبة اإلفطار العائلية واستمتع مع العائلة واألصدقاء بسخاء الشهر الفضيل‬ .‫لمائدة رمضانية عامرة‬ Order the Family Iftar Meal and enjoy the generosity of the holy month of Ramadan with family & friends, a complete meal for a perfect Ramadan feast.

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ARE YOU A SOURCE OF NEGATIVITY?

3 actions leaders can take to ensure they’re not spreading negative energy

By Jackie Insinger

When I think about emotional contagion, I think about yawning. There–you just yawned, didn’t you? Much to the delight of kids throughout the ages, the act of yawning is probably the most universally recognized as wickedly contagious for seemingly no good reason. You look at someone yawning, you yawn. You think of someone yawning, you yawn. You can’t help it. And if you try not to yawn, the impulse just gets worse.

It turns out that emotions function in almost exactly the same way, and are just as contagious.

Emotional contagion is the spontaneous transfer of emotions from one person to another or through a group. It was first written about back in 1897 by American psychologist James Baldwin, who called the phenomenon “contagion of feeling.”

Throughout the past century, it was studied in countless ways, and in 1993, psychologists Elaine Hatfield, John Cacioppo, and Richard Rapson pinned down the concept as it as “the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person’s and, consequently, to converge emotionally.”

Picking up the bad vibes So, to put it simply, when someone in a bad mood enters your sphere, you suddenly find yourself in a bad mood, too. The reverse can happen just as easily: An upbeat and positive mood can quickly create a room filled with good moods.

High-level leaders full of optimism inspire the same from their mid-level reports, who then pass it along to the people below them. Before long, the sense of possibility cascades through an organization, activating a high-performing, highly fulfilled, motivated, and energetic culture.

The effect of leadership—both good and bad—is observable and quantifiable. A Gallup study found that the vast majority of an individual’s engagement at work is driven by their manager. Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, coined a phrase that describes the relationship between employee and leader: a “vertical couple.”

When the bond between the vertical couple is strong, the employee’s productivity rises. They’re more engaged; they’re less likely to look for another role elsewhere.

Your job as a leader is to craft authentic connections with the people you lead. After all, leadership is connection. Done right, connection is one of the most powerful tools in your leadership toolkit. Done wrong, though, it only serves to reinforce the walls people build around themselves that make communication and collaboration more challenging. The key differentiator between approaching connection the right way and wrong way is authenticity.

So, where does authenticity begin? I recommend taking three actions.

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Create magic in moments, not meetings The interstitial space between meetings is where so much personal connection magic in the workplace happens. As I write this, many of us are back at work in person, and that personal connection piece becomes a little simpler, but still just as intentional.

Get to meetings early so you can soak up the chitchat. Offer your next one-on-one to take a quick stretch-your-legs walk in lieu of sitting down in the conference room. Find ways to build space for the little magic moments that happen in between the work getting done.

Be present Connection can’t happen without your giving your full attention to each present moment. In each meeting, you have an opportunity to show team members they have your full attention. Put down the phone—in fact, don’t even bring it in the room!

Create and maintain eye contact. Find a way to capture notes that doesn’t have you glued to your

computer screen. Connect with the person in the present, rather than looking to the future after the meeting.

Remember: Connection is not a noun. It’s a verb. It requires action.

Ask questions Connection is built through curiosity. Ask people questions about themselves; seek to discover what’s going on inside, how they’re perceiving things, what they most deeply want and need. You don’t need to read minds—just ask. Most important, when they do respond, be present in the response.

Connect through making them feel seen and heard.

As a leader, your job is to be aware of how your emotional output impacts the people around you.

Building authentic connections with the team you support will create positive emotional contagions that benefit everyone.

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash.

RAMADAN IS LOVELIER WITH THE LITTLE ONES! There’s more fun to be had this Ramadan with these must-haves from Pottery Barn Kids By bazaar staff

Children crave routine and balance, and with Ramadan upon us, we completely understand how the festive month can be a fun, but sometimes tough transition for our little ones’ daily schedule. But, before you go ahead and cancel all of your fun Iftar plans to make sure your kid goes to bed at 7:30 pm on the dot every evening. Do indulge us, and allow us to show you how you can make Ramadan for the little ones a lot easier and much more fun (we promise!) with Pottery Barn Kids.

Here’s the thing about toddlers. Ever y frustration expressed at a change of routine or system stems from their desire to be a par t of your day, and of course, coupled with their inability to communicate like us grown-ups. At the end of the day, all they are seeking during these transformative years is to find their place in your home.

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You’re a family unit, so while mama can’t come over to the playroom and play tea par ty while she’s busy prepping a spectacular Iftar feast in the kitchen, we suggest a location change for the same activity mom is doing using Potter y Barn Kids Play Kitchens! Not only will your little tot have tons of fun with endless pretend-play scenarios, but they will

also feel involved! A double win if you ask us!

Some options we absolutely adore include the Chelsea All-In-1 Kitchen, The Sloan Kitchen for mid-centur y design vibes, and the stunning Retro Kitchen Sink. You can go all out or scale down, depending on the size of your kitchen space, but having a play Kitchen will have your little ones cooking up an Iftar feast in no time!

Other fun play kitchen items include all the amazing accessories to help your toddler’s imaginations run wild! Choose the Mini Cooking Set that comes with a deep pot, a shallow fr ying pan, measuring spoons (per fect for measuring out ingredients for Lgaimat, a Ramadan fave!), and oven mitts. The Soft Pasta Set will also make them feel like they are par t of the cooking fun during the Holy Month (make them help you plan an Italian themed Iftar for the whole family!), and that post-Iftar Karak-tea is all the more fun by choosing a special tea-set from Potter y Barn Kids. There’s also a wide array of wooden toys in different food shapes, so they can be prepping a fruit salad for desser t, or making delicious pizza for suhoor, too!

Setting the dining table for Iftar? Let your little ones learn the basics of crafting the per fect Iftar table all by themselves, and at their own level, with one of Potter y Barn Kids Play Tables and Chairs. We actually believe that these Play Tables are an essential investment, as this would be their designated space to play, learn and explore. Choose from the classic lines of the Carolina Craft Play Table (which has two drawers, and you can purchase additional [Continued...]

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storage crates underneath), the Mid Centur y stylings of the West Elm x PBK Play Table, or the timeless look of the My First Table & Chairs Set. The Carolina Play Table range offers great utility, as there is an expandable GrowWith-Me option, and other sizes to suit your specific space. Help your little ones car ve out their space to create with Ramadan in mind!

Designate activity time to color and decorate cute little lanterns, moons, and stars.

Don’t forget about those all-impor tant playroom accessories that will definitely add a touch of magic to your little one’s Ramadan.

We love the idea of having an Anywhere Chair placed in the living room so that your little one

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is included in those big family gatherings! The best par t is that it is super light, that your toddler can physically move it wherever they may please in the home. Choose from different coverings to personalize their ver y first Anywhere Chair at Potter y Barn Kids. Bean Bags are also a fun addition to the home, and we’re sure that your child will love bouncing on this comfy piece too!

Choose from Swivel chairs, bookcases and Toy Storage options (we are enamored by the West Elm x PBK Mid Centur y Toy Chest) to spruce up your child’s space this Ramadan. After all, they will be expecting tons of toys for Eid, so their space should be well equipped for all the fun that is to be had with the entire family.

Maybe a Ramadan schedule is exactly what your little one needs to shake things up, learn new skills, and discover new family traditions!

As long as you are including them in your Ramadan programs with these special pieces from Potter y Barn Kids, they will love ever y activity you will have planned for them.

Shop Pottery Barn Kids at 1st AvenueThe Avenues, and shop online over at PotteryBarnKids.com.kw. Follow @PotteryBarnKidsMena for the latest updates!

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Try this surprising tool to level up your career

By Herbert Lui

It was only yesterday when I needed to make a minor decision I had been stuck on for a week. The situation didn’t require a friend or advisor’s advice, precious time I’d prefer to save for something of greater gravity. Instead, I consulted a set of notes I’d taken on making decisions, which took me only a few seconds to find. It wasn’t buried in some notebook somewhere—it was in my Zettelkasten.

I was consoled by some quotes I’d written down over two years ago: to consider what I’d do with the opportunity cost, to keep as many options open as possible, and to know that I’d probably be happy either way. It became a lot easier to know what to do next: an email to ask for more information, a predecision on which option to go with, and leverage for negotiating.

In the past few weeks, I’ve turned to my notes for marketing ideas and examples, for writing up and release these pieces on faking it till you make it, unrealistic expectations, and on self-fulfilling prophecies. I didn’t have to find a book, or search for a lost link—both tasks costing great frustration and time. On the contrary, the experience felt smooth, seamless, and fun. I could wrote faster than ever. It was like night and day from writing just a few years ago, when each new piece required a constant heavy lift of research, and felt like I was starting from scratch all over again. My notes have become one of my most valuable assets in my writing and marketing careers.

A conscious way to internalize lessons “If you need to take notes to write a book, don’t write the book,” tweets author Nassim Nicholas Taleb. After a moment of consideration, I found the proposition difficult to take seriously. It’s not just that notes make most people’s research and writing better; it’s simply impossible to manage information without it. Author Robert Greene takes notes as he pores through his research. Collaborator Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has said Greene taught him the value of information and deliberately keeping the information visible to internalize the lessons that he was learning. Jackson uses the example of writing down lessons in an app on his phone to review them.

I see notes simply as a more deliberate, conscious, approach to processing information.

I won’t be relying only on the subconscious, luck, and events outside of my control to elicit my brain.

I’m still happy when those events take place of course, and I’m open to observing. I just see notes as another way of guiding the mind.

Sounds exciting, looks boring While taking notes has helped me remember a lot more important information, and improved my ability to connect ideas together, I write this with the caveat that I experience a great disdain for the 156

fetishization of organization information and taking notes. I would happily accept criticism for being something of an information caveman.

You won’t see me use the words “second brain,” nor will I be advocating taking a course on taking notes. In fact, my own note system started with no more than a couple of hours skimming How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens. I’m slightly ashamed to admit I still haven’t read the whole book. I simply don’t see the need. I started taking notes and organizing it the way the book describes, it worked, and I haven’t looked back since. You might not use this method—it might be flash cards, or something else—though having any system is probably better than no method.

The originator of the Zettelkasten note system that Ahrens advocates, German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. It has famously enabled his prolific output of 70 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles, all before the internet. Yet, it’s a particularly plain and boring system. As blogger MK recalled and translated, “People come [to look at the Zettelkasten]. They get to see everything, and no more than that-just as in a pornographic movie. And they are equally disappointed.”

people working in freelance or full-time jobs, brain overload is becoming a serious issue. With so many people sharing techniques, tactics, and best practices, it’s hard to keep track of it all—our brains are drinking from the equivalent of a firehose of information facilitated through feeds and screens.

That’s where the notes come in. This is a metaphor I’m lifting from Ahrens’s book: Organizing notes is similar to putting objects into boxes. Surely, a person can move each object one at a time; they’d just need to go to their destination, and return back for each object. Similarly, a person can choose to bring a box, put a bunch of objects in it, and go to their destination once and start unpacking. A box is simple, and it saves a lot of time.

It took me years trying to figure out how to take notes in a way that worked for me. The only solution was to try a bunch of stuff. I use the Zettelkasten now, and I wrote about why it works for me and what I’d learned from writing hundreds of note cards.

Whether it’s an insight from a conference, a stat you need to reference, or a meta-career lesson you want to remember—your notes can be a reliable way of keeping track of the information you work so hard to acquire.

Soothe brain overload On top of that though, I do believe that for most

Photo by Chor Tsang on Unsplash.

Your Ramadan Pick 22091190 pokepickw

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

3 reasons not to bring your authentic self to work

By Mike Rucker

There has been a lot of talk lately about bringing your authentic self to the workplace. This trend is rooted in good intentions.

It requires energy when, for whatever reason, we have to be mindful about regulating some facet of our identity. Accordingly, easing this burden makes sense. And although the idea of allowing everyone to express themselves freely is grounded in good intention, often in the workplace, this practice can lead to unintended consequences. To be clear, this is exclusive of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts that are long overdue. DEI initiatives, when done well, create and help maintain work environments that are safe and inclusive for all. Here we’re talking about something a bit different.

Our well-being is supported when we feel a positive sense of autonomy, competence, and a feeling of connection that aligns with our identity.

Since most of us spend a significant portion of our waking hours on work-related tasks, these core needs are either met or not met at work. Given that living in alignment without identity is important, what are some important things to consider to be as authentic as possible at work?

Floodlighting It’s natural to want to develop a relationship with our colleagues, but the workplace is not always a well-suited environment for intimate rapport.

Research professor Brené Brown introduced the idea of “floodlighting,” the act of oversharing personal details with individuals who aren’t ready for it.

Unfortunately, this type of authenticity and vulnerability often has consequences. When our colleagues aren’t ready to hear intimate details of our life, they can shut down to protect themselves from the dissonance of not feeling empathy or a lack of connection to what has been thrust upon them. Ultimately this puts strain on working relationships and ends up being harmful to both you and your coworkers.

To support a safe work environment, a good practice is to avoid oversharing at work. This isn’t to imply you cannot develop friendships at work, but at a minimum, check in with your colleagues that they feel comfortable and have the mental space to discuss personal topics that are not workrelated.

Emotional labor Another important consideration about authenticity at work is the power dynamic of the majority. It is important to celebrate our differences, and numerous studies support that a diverse workforce sets up an organization to be successful. However, minority groups—whether that’s gender, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity—face the burden of potentially having to conform to the social norms of the majority. Or, conversely, minority groups are often “voluntold” to openly share their perspective for company-led diversity events, feeling obligated to share painful memories and relive the trauma.

Without perspective, the majority feels like they’re 158

helping people be “seen,” but in reality, they’re doing harm. Worse, these “opportunities” to share are usually in the form of extra, unpaid work.

We should all strive to be inclusive and support diversity, but for employees’ mental health, understand that there is a difference between who a person is at work versus outside of work. Everyone should feel safe at work, but unfortunately, many workplaces have yet to achieve this ideal.

Authentically happy outside of work So if authenticity at work is problematic, what’s a better alternative? Rather than using the workplace as a forum for self-expression, a helpful strategy is shifting that energy to helping employees end the workday on time. This empowers employees to feel energized in accomplishing their common work goals and frees up time to be their authentic selves outside of work.

Perhaps autonomy, not authenticity, is a better attitude to support at work. When we have greater control over our work, we’re healthier; we’re more motivated and less likely to be drained of

energy and inspiration. Instead of using energy toward outward expression, tailor how work can specifically support your identity. Start by asking yourself a couple of questions: Do I feel a sense of autonomy and control over my workday?

Am I aptly applying my authentic skills and talents?

Why or why not?

Autonomy, boundaries, and psychological safety support a safe work environment. Authenticity is important, but a tempered approach that supports inclusiveness and emotional safety for all is warranted in the workplace. So instead of overly worrying about being authentic, a better approach is being intentional about how we can support one another at work, based on our common goals. This approach supports the energy and freedom needed outside of work to explore our self-awareness on fertile ground and live our best authentic lives on our own terms.

Photo by John Noonan on Unsplash.

HELLO FABULOUS EID HAIR WITH TONI&GUY Transform your hair routine with the hottest new hair tools to celebrate in style Your outfit is spot on, your makeup is so fabulous but if your hair doesn’t look healthy and happy, it can kill your whole look in an instant. You might think that visiting a salon might be the easiest way to get it all fixed, but now you can easily and safely do it yourself at home with the right tools from Toni&Guy.

This Eid, give yourself the gift of amazing hair. Toni&Guy have just dropped three new hair tools that will make getting ready in the morning a breeze. The timing could not have been better. With the weather getting warmer, showers becoming more frequent, doubly so if you are working out or are more active in general. Being able to wash and style quickly is a true godsend.

There are many products on the market that claim to help you style your hair, but many end up causing more damage, are too difficult to use or just don’t work at all. The British 160

international chain of hairdressing salons, Toni&Guy has been around since 1963 and are exper ts in all things hair.

The tools and gadgets they have created are designed and engineered to be easy to use no matter your skill level, safe for your hair and guaranteed to give you stunning results ever y time.

Hello Day ! 2 In 1 Curling Waver If you like being able to style your hair in beachy waves one day and then loose tousled curls then next, you need the Toni&Guy HELLO

DAY! 2 in 1 curling waver! It easily creates both styles by using a unique 2-in-1 barrel. The inner barrel can be used like a traditional waver to create beachy waves. When barrels are closed and locked together, the outer barrel can be used as a curling wand to create loose, tousled curls. A heat protective glove is included for your comfor t while styling. The ceramic and tourmaline plates help protect your hair from damage, reduce frizz and add shine. However, its most interesting feature is the three adjustable heat settings based on when you last washed your hair. It comes in a beautiful bright

Hello Day! Slick Straightener A good hair straightener is a necessar y tool in your arsenal. It can help you create beautiful shiny and sleek hair and loose waves too. The Hello Day! Slick Straigtener has the same three heat settings as the Curling Waver. Select just

the right amount of heat you need, based on the last time you washed your hair. If you washed your hair today, select Wash Day (210°C). If you washed your hair yesterday, select Second Day (180°C). If you washed your hair two days ago, use the Third Day Setting (150°C). The Ceramic

and Tourmaline plates also help reduce damage and frizz. The plates are 25MM Deep and 90MM long making them the per fect size for most hair length. And the rounded edges help you create a wide range of different hair styles. You also get heat protective gloves to keep your hands safe.

Ionic Extreme AC Power Dryer We love the Hello Day! tools but we wouldn’t give up our classic hair dr yer. If you haven’t mastered the ar t of the home blow out yet, then this is your sign to commit to learning the skill.

There are so many different hair styles that you can create with the Ionic Extreme Power Dr yer. It is a professional 2200 watts AC MOTOR dr yer.

There are three heat settings, two speeds and a cool shot for setting your final style. The ionic generator creates smooth, shiny and flawless results. The ultra slim concentrator nozzle is per fect for precise dr ying and the removable end cap makes it really easy to clean. One of our favorite features on it is the 3 meter salon cord, so you won’t have to worr y about finding an extension cord or moving to a different plug.

Get your hands on the new tools by Toni&Guy today by visiting roomserviceq8.com and following @beauty_appliances_kuwait on Instagram for great tips and more fabulous beauty tools.

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GOING SOLO

Why so many people are freelancing

By Kathleen Davis

Over the past year, we’ve covered the changing landscape of the traditional workplace and the factors behind the Great Resignation. But what about those who left full-time, salaried positions? Or those who have long approached work differently?

Freelancing is on the rise. According to the freelance marketplace Upwork, the number of full-time freelancers grew from 28% in 2019 to 36% in 2020. And while the pandemic may have accelerated the the trend, it’s not showing signs of slowing. In fact, it’s projected that in five years, by 2027, 86.5 million people will be freelancing in the United States. That’s half of the total U.S. workforce.

To understand why more people are freelancing, I spoke to Hayden Brown, the president and CEO of freelancing platform Upwork, on this week’s episode of The New Way We Work.

Brown noted that, while the overall number of freelancers is increasing, it’s an approach to work that’s especially popular with Gen Z workers–48% of which she notes, are already freelancing. “As younger generations of workers have seen those experiences of older workers, they have also seen that traditional full-time employment is not all it’s cracked up to be. And that working for a single company is not actually a low-risk proposition necessarily.” she says. “They’re finding that they 162

are actually feeling more comfortable by having a career that is freelance. Whereas I think older and other generations of workers had an opposite view where they felt that the entrepreneurial career path might have been more risky.”

That shift in seeing life as a freelancer as more stable than a traditional full-time roles is a big one.

Brown says that the most successful freelancers are ones that “don’t put all their eggs in one basket.” There may not be many, if any, recessionproof jobs, but she points out that freelancers who have several long-term clients fair much better than full-time employees who are vulnerable to layoffs.

While freelancing may have once been thought of as something mostly for creative fields, Brown notes that it’s expanding to other industries.

“It’s also across every business type. We serve 30% of the Fortune 100. They’re using freelance talent in more new ways, as well as mom-and-pop shops. Small companies are realizing that this is a workforce that they can be tapping into as well.

It’s cutting across all sectors of the economy, [and] all types of skills,” says Brown. “Freelancers are

in high demand in pretty much every skill area that can be done in front of a computer.”

Her advice for those considering moving into working independently is similar to those seeking full-time work: Just as you’re unlikely to be successful blasting your résumé out to 100 companies, freelancers should also take their time and create tailored pitches to companies.

Employers, meanwhile, should consider how to integrate freelancers into the company culture and create a thoughtful on-boarding process. “It is ultimately relationship-based,” Brown says. “This is not about outsourcing to some gig worker. This is about long-term, enduring relationships that serve these professionals with their incredible skills. And that serve our business in a way that is truly a winwin. But it takes thoughtful design and thoughtful investment to make that outcome happen.”

For more on what freelancers are looking for, as well as insights on the future of the freelance economy, listen to the full episode. Photo by Per Lööv on Unsplash.

TRYING TO SOUND ERUDITE?

Using big words can make you look smart, but only if you do this

By Stephanie Vozza

Why say “that’s odd,” when you can say, “that’s an anomaly”? Maybe it’s because you’re trying to look more intelligent.

A study by the education platform Preply, found that nearly three in five people have used complex vocabulary to appear smarter.

Often, it’s to make an impression. The survey found that seven in 10 said they had used complex vocabulary to impress someone in a professional setting, most often their boss and colleagues.

It seems to be working. More than three quarters respondents believed that using big words or a complex vocabular y makes someone seem smarter. The top five words most likely to make someone sound smarter are “articulate,” “accolade,” “brevity,” “adulation,” and “anomaly.”

But 58% of the people in the sur vey admitted they’d used a word to sound smarter, even though they didn’t know what it meant.

“Big words only work if you know how to use them,” says innovation and leadership consultant Val Wright, author of Words That Work, Communicate Your Purpose, Your Profit, and Your Per formance. “If 58% of people are using words they don’t understand, how many of those on the receiving end are getting confusing messages? Is anyone pointing out that they used a word in the wrong context? That truth telling is essential in any setting and pointing it out with the best of intentions requires finesse.”

But there are downsides. Forty-three percent of people assumed someone using a complex vocabular y was tr ying to sound smarter than they really were. And more than half of the people in the sur vey said they’d tried to end a conversation because of it. Complex language tests the other person’s patience if they don’t know what you mean.

“Corporate buzz word bingo has been a long running game in meeting rooms around the world, because the precise words you use can either cause your colleagues to agree with you or eye roll when you aren’t looking,” says Wright.

Getting It Right In the board room, during career promotion decisions, at investment rounds—that is when your vocabular y matters most at work, and you see the results of the language you use.

Wright shares a few ways you can expand your vocabular y to get the right reaction from those around you: “Match your vocabular y style to that of your company and the customers that you ser ve,” she says. For example, a retail fashion company targeting teenagers may have a different communication style to an airline manufacturer.

When you come across a new word, be curious about it. Learn the definition and challenge yourself to use it three times within a week. Wright says Vocabular y.com has great 164

resources for exploring words that will work and gives usage examples from different sources.

Finally, edit your written work and challenge yourself to move away from common words and use words that captivate without losing your meaning. “When preparing executives for their on-stage speaking events, I encourage them to prepare specific phrases they will use that will cause their audience to pause and think,” says Wright.

Words don’t even need a lot of letters to be considered big or complex. “Wordle has millions divided, not least because of the obscure words that many are complaining they have never heard of,” says Wright. “The simple daily word game . . . per fectly demonstrates that your vocabular y is a hot topic of debate.”

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash.

GET RAMADAN READY

WITH X-CITE

An easy menu, tips, tricks and tools that will save you precious time to enjoy the special season!

By bazaar staff

We’re always excited for Ramadan because we know we will be indulging in the most delicious dishes when we eat out or are invited to an Iftar or Suhoor. However, when it comes to cooking at home we’re often short on time and energy to whip up a proper spread for ourselves. Which is why this year we are better prepared and have planned ahead bypurchasing time and effort-saving tools from X-cite to help us along the way.

We’ve come up with a basic menu that can be tweaked based on your preferences but the structure is always the same. We start with a delicious appetizer followed by a hearty bowl of soup to ease into the meal. And we end with a dessert smoothie instead of a traditional dessert so we can load up on vitamins and fiber while also hydrating and satisfying our sweet tooth. YUM! Appetizer: Sambousa Kitchen Helper: Phillips Air Fryer We’re air fr yer converts. They have added so much convenience into our lives while also removing all the fat because we never deep fr y anything anymore.

Normally we make a large batch of sambousa before Ramadan begins and freeze them in individual portions so we can have them ready quickly. Alternatively, you can buy them pre-made in all supermarkets now.

The classic trio of fillings has always been cheese, veggies and meat, but you can also tr y shredded chicken or lentils for new and exciting flavors. You don’t have to wait for them to thaw out and can put them in the air fr yer frozen.

Soup: Lentil Soup Kitchen Helper: Nutricook and Philips ProMix Hand blender with Chopper and Whisk After a long day of fasting, a bowl of soup is filling and usually hot enough to slow you down from wolfing down food and shocking your digestive system. We also appreciate how versatile soup can be, but our favorite is the classic lentil soup and making it using a Nutricook has helped us level up our soup game.

You start by sauteing the onions and garlic which you can chop using the Phillips ProMix Chopper and then adding your spices, tomatoes and lentils, topping off with water then letting the Nutricook do its magic. Once it is done you can blend it all in the same pot using the Philips ProMix with the Immersion Blender attachment.

You can even get creative by sneaking in different veggies into your lentil soup like carrots or courgettes. Both gadgets are easy to clean, which means less work for us!

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Main Course: Machboos Diyay Kitchen Helper: Sage Rice Cooker and Nutricook Oven We love our Machboos Diyay, but the way that mom makes it takes too much effort and time.

We love using the Sage Rice Cooker to quickly whip up a delicious pot of steaming hot rice.

The Nutricook Oven with the Rotisserie option is our new BFF. This gadget combo makes for endless chicken and rice dishes, not just Machboos Diyay. You can even use your chicken for salads, taco filling, chicken, and mayo sandwiches and so much more. Both tools are fool-proof, you just set them up, press a button and go take a nap or watch your favorite Ramadan drama.

Dessert: Date Smoothie Kitchen Helper: Nutribullet Yes, we know this is not your conventional Ramadan dessert, and we do love kanafeh, qatayef and all the wonder ful goodies that are associated with the Holy month, but we are now older and wiser and want to make sure we’re getting as many nutrients as we can in the short feeding window that we have. Enter the Date Smoothie, it is sweet, filling and can be whipped up in minutes. Chop dates and bananas in the Nutri Bullet. Fill up with milk and add a teaspoon of peanut butter and give it a blend until it is smooth, and you’re done. You can sweeten with honey or add cinnamon for an extra kick. Once you have jumped on the bandwagon you will realize that the options are limitless. You can also have a smoothie for suhoor too!

For a comprehensive list of X-cite’s store locations and to shop online for the latest deals visit www.xcite.com. Download the X-cite app for Android on Google Play or iPhone on the App Store. Follow X-cite social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, @xcitealghanim and Facebook XcitebyAlghanim. Call 180 3535 for further Inquiries.

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TICK TOCK DITCH THE CLOCK

Why the new productivity model is no longer about watching the clock

By Aytekin Tank

“I’m logging about 70 hours per week,” my newly-formed acquaintance, Craig, proudly confessed upon meeting at a business conference. He wore a smart suit and had an intense, confident quality about him I wanted to replicate. This was years ago, when I was still in the midst of building my startup.

While I was impressed by his dedication, his words also unnerved me. On the one hand, I still equated clocking in more hours with productivity— but on the other hand, I felt downhearted thinking if this was what my life would become now?

One without balance: little time for family, for downtime, for pursuing other passions. I thought to myself: Is working this hard really the only way to succeed?

Fast-forward to 2022 and going into year three of a worldwide pandemic, we see a new trend emerge: the clamor for a shorter workweek.

In their story for BBC, authors Bryan Lufkin and Jessica Mudditt write that “more than ever, workers want to work fewer hours, saying they can be just as effective in less time—and happier, too.”

This is what I’ve discovered in the past 15 years of building my business: they are right.

More balance leads to greater efficiency and a culture focused on wellbeing is what leads to successful outcomes.

Measure productivity not hours Companies around the world are adopting different models that advocate for less working hours with emphasis on the 32-hour week. This year, companies like New York-based crowdfunding platform Kickstarter are piloting a 32-hour workweek. Relatedly, Uncharted, a “social impact accelerator” is taking a similar approach in testing out this same kind of model.

What the above companies have in common is a shared vision: moving away from traditional ways of working and creating a happier and healthier environment. But this doesn’t necessarily mean a four-day model will work for every business. For example at my company, we haven’t established shorter days. But we do have a policy of flexible hours.

This means we measure productivity over hours clocked. To me, this what that looks like: Being super productive for five hours on a Tuesday morning and then calling it quits at noon to take my kids out for ice cream or to our local park.

Scrap hard deadlines I’ve long considered deadlines as a way of undermining team efficiency, creativity, and morale. Instead, I advocate for granting people more autonomy. It decreases pressure and helps them produce their top work.

Hard deadlines—or extreme time pressure— 168

can be detrimental to one’s mental health, especially when you’re sacrificing other important aspects of your life in the name of finishing a project on time.

Moreover, deadline anxiety can also lead to sloppy work and mediocre results. These days, my company can over 200 employees. And since launching in 2006, I’ve never asked how much time a team member has spent at the office. I care more about results and what they bring to the table.

Emphasize your team’s goals and progress Just because we scrap hard deadlines doesn’t mean we institute a hands-off approach either.

We make sure to establish systems to ensure employees can maximize their productivity, by having them coordinate with team members and emphasizing clear, internal communication among your team.

Ban “clock watching” from your company culture While this pandemic has forced us to imagine

new ways of working, one thing has remained the same: a fixation with “busyness.”

In today’s workplace, we often judge each other based on how many hours we clock in at the office. This belief system is NOT the kind of culture I want to foster in my company.

Everyone knows that monitoring and recording hours is a headache.

I’d like to say this: managers and leaders who clock-watch don’t achieve increased productivity.

If anything, they give employees the impression that they can’t be trusted. And since they’re trying to meet an arbitrary number of hours, you may even get the opposite result—lower performance and a decrease in quality.

At the end of the day, whether you opt for a shorter workweek or adopt a more flexible work model as we’ve done, this is what we’ve ultimately come to value most: engagement, our team’s overall wellbeing, and focusing on more important measures of success that doesn’t involve grinding people to the bone.

Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Unsplash.

bazaar music

April MUSIC Earth day falls on April 22nd and what better way to remind everyone about the seriousness of climate change and the urgency of finding ways to stop and reverse the damage right now than by using muic?

Title: Truth to Power Artist: One Republic Release date: 2017

Title: Earth Song Artist: Michael Jackson Release date: 1995

Title: Eyes Wide Open Artist: Gotye Release date: 2010

The song was written from the perspective of Earth, as a call to action on climate change.

If you can’t get it from the lyrics alone the haunting music video makes it very clear.

Warning: it might make you cry unless you are completely heartless.

Written by Jackson,, “Earth Song” was accompanied by a lavish music video which was shot in four geographical regions, centered on the destruction and rebirth of Earth, and went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1997.

A music video to accompany the release of “Eyes Wide Open” was first released onto YouTube on 25 October 2010 at a total length of three minutes and seventeen seconds. It features stop-motion animation of creatures riding on spider-legged boats over several barren terrains, searching for water.

Title: Radioactive Artist: Imagine Dragons Release date: 2011

Title: Fall on Me Artist: R.E.M. Release date: 1986

Title: Time Is Ticking Out Artist: The Cranberries Release date: 2001

A nuclear war might be on our mind right now, so this song feels timely. The song’s lyrics speak of apocalyptic and revolutionary themes: ‘I’m waking up to ash and dust’ and ‘This is it, the apocalypse’. Though the band has publicly maintained its secularity, NPR music critic Ann Powers has opined that the song features strong “religious or spiritual imagery”, the likes of which have been common throughout the history of rock music.

If you grew up in the 80s, you should remember how big Acid Rain was, and it almost feels that that problem has all but disappeared. Though R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe once described the song as “pretty much a song about oppression,” the subject of the song was initially about acid rain and its effects on the environment, hence the first line of the chorus, “Don’t fall on me.”

Most of us know The Cranberries for denouncing war in Zombiee. “Time Is Ticking Out” is a song recorded by the Irish band. It was the second single from their fifth studio album, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, released in 2001.

Dolores O’Riordan wrote the song after she had seen the children of Chernobyl born with many illnesses.

Sources: wikipedia.com 170

bazaar techno

SAMSUNG ODYSSEY ARK

LOGITECH LITRA GLOW

ASTELL&KERN ACRO CA1000

LINE LINESTAND

SKYDIO 2+

TAG HEUER CONNECTED CALIBRE E4

Ostensibly built for gaming, many users have found that curved monitors can also help them with multitasking. Samsung is taking this idea to the extreme with the Odyssey Ark. Measuring 55” with a 1000R curvature, the Quantum Dot Mini LED display has a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio and offers plenty of immersion in horizontal orientation. Spin it 90 degrees upward on the height-adjustable stand, however, and it nearly towers over the user’s head, providing room for three stacked 16:9 images at once, or any other number of work-focused configurations. Pricing has yet to be announced, but Samsung has slated a retail release for the second half of 2022.

The Linestand is a neat take on the traditional multi-device wireless charger. It’s a 3-in-1 wireless charger — designed to simultaneously charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch — but it also has an integrated VESA mount on its back, meaning you can hang it on a monitor arm or even your wall (VESA mounts are commonly used for TVs).

Purpose-built for streaming, Litra Glow is the fastest way to bring a premium lighting experience to any desktop or laptop. Featuring Logitech’s TrueSoft technology and innovative edgeless diffuser, Litra Glow wraps your subject in soft, flattering light for a professional look in any setting. Whether you’re shooting a YouTube video, streaming on Twitch or just working from home, Litra Glow ensures you always look your best.

Designed to be your personal film crew, Skydio 2+ comes with unmatched autonomous subject tracking and 360 obstacle avoidance, all while capturing stunning 4K60 HDR content. Launch, fly, land, and export all with the Skydio app and get up to 27 minutes of flight time with the improved Skydio 2+ Battery. Add an accessory upgrade and connect a Skydio 2+ Beacon to fly handsfree, extending your range up to 3km or add a Controller to fly with precision for up to 6km.

Source: bestproducts.com 172

Introducing the Astell&Kern CA1000 Carriable Headphone Amp. The ACRO CA1000 is a headphone amplifier that combines the functions and portability of a high-performance amplifier and DAP based on Astell&Kern’s fundamental philosophy of delivering original sound. The ACRO CA1000 sets a new standard for headphone amplifiers, providing powerful and clear sound with the features never available on any other headphone amplifiers.

A new dimension in watchmaking, this cutting edge TAG Heuer Connected Watch pushes the boundaries of technology. Combining futuristic design features with nods to our watchmaking heritage, this smartwatch blends high-end materials with high-tech functions. Designed as an extension of yourself, this elegant connected watch Calibre E4 shows a cutting edge endless screen effect thanks to the sapphire glass box with integrated silver & grey timer.

IT’S TIME TO BUNDLE UP! Friends who Blaze Pizza together, enjoy Ramadan together By bazaar staff

“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie” the iconic Frank Sinatra lyric evokes two of our favorite things - Ramadan and pizza. What other combination could be as cozy and satisfying?

Blaze Pizza agrees, and by bundling up on some of their all-star offerings, they’re firing up feasts, delivered straight to your door, and totally worthy of sharing with your family and friends at any time this month. So instead of day dreaming about Blaze Pizza’s renowned artisanal pizza crust and their delectable toppings while fasting, you can enjoy their fresh, tasty options at home this month with their amazing Ramadan Bundles.

If you are hosting a modern ghabqa, suhoor or any other type of post-iftar hang that’s laden with food, friends and fun times, break the mould and give your kitchen a break with the Family Iftar Pack: Two 14” Signature Pizzas, one 11” Simple Pie, 12 Chicken Wings, 1 Cheesy Bread, 1 Potato Wedges and 6 Drinks. Your friends will thank you, and they surely won’t leave hungry. (In fact, this is when all resolutions to lose weight this Ramadan will fly out the window.)

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If you’re looking for something a little bit lower key and just want to satisfy a craving before you start up another day of fasting, you can scale it back a bit with Blaze’s other generous offer, Single Iftar Pack: any large signature pizza on the menu, an order of potato wedges and 1 soda. Grab your favorite members of the family and share this delicious treat with them. Or, pop in a movie or your Ramadan series of choice on Shahid and enjoy your pizza all by yourself - we don’t judge! (And honestly, we’d do the same in a heartbeat.)

Speaking of no judgments, Blaze Pizza’s Ramadan bundles also ser ve as the per fect stand-in for a satisfying Iftar. Cooking for 30 days straight and creating intricate meals can be tiring, so give ever yone a break, and treat yourself and your kids to a pizza night sometime.

Go on, do it! We won’t tell on you!

So, what are your Blaze Pizza favorites?

Will you be digging into Red Vine, with Ovalini mozzarella, cherr y tomatoes, parmesan, basil, classic red sauce, extra virgin olive oil drizzle?

Are you the type to Veg Out? We love this option when we’re missing our veggies while fasting.

Or perhaps, you prefer the Meat Eater, with Pepperoni, italian style meatballs, red onion, mozzarella, classic red sauce? Or will you be making your own pies? Either way, there’s a Blaze Pizza for you to enjoy as part of a bundle offer this Ramadan. And of course, don’t forget their delectable and addictive sides!

We love the potato wedges: Golden brown on the outside with a dusting of spices and soft and fluffy on the inside, and paired with a creamy pool of Ranch sauce. What could be better? The only thing we can think of that might be is their Cheesy Bread - with oregano-flecked mozzarella oozing off the loaf’s doughy and butter y crust.

And how about their chicken wings? These battered birds easily stand in a class of their own as some of the best chicken wings we’ve ever had alongside satisfying pizzas. After all, pizza and wings are a classic combination, like Elvis and Priscilla or Bonnie and Clyde. You can have one alone, sure, but it’s so much better when they’re paired. Last but not least, don’t forget about Blaze Pizza’s delicious salads! Choose from fresh, crunchy Chicken Caesar, Tomato Mozzarella and even Greek Salad to accompany your Blaze Pizza feast.

So, get excited! Because Blaze Pizza has you covered this Ramadan. Stock up on your per fect

pies and enjoy them to your heart’s content. And if you ever need more or this becomes a trusty habit? Don’t forget to bundle up with Blaze!

Order your Blaze Pizza Ramadan Bundle via Talabat or Deliveroo today! You can also order directly via the dedicated websites: order.blazepizzame.com, blazepizzame.com.

Follow @BlazePizzaMiddleEast on Facebook and Instagram @Blazepizzame for the latest updates.

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bazaar books

HELLO MOLLY!

SEA OF TRANQUILITY

by Molly Shannon, Memoir

By Emily St John Mandel, Science Fiction

At age four, Molly Shannon’s world was shattered when she lost her mother, baby sister, and cousin in a car accident with her father at the wheel.

Held together by her tender and complicated relationship with her grieving father, Molly was raised in a permissive household where her gift for improvising and role-playing blossomed alongside the fearlessness that would lead her to become a celebrated actress. From there, Molly ventured into the wider world of New York and Los Angeles show business, where she created her own opportunities and developed her daring and empathetic comedy.

Filled with behind-the-scenes stories involving everyone from Whitney Houston to Adam Sandler to Monica Lewinsky, many told for the first time here, Hello, Molly! spans Molly’s time on Saturday Night Live—where she starred alongside Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Cheri Oteri, Tracy Morgan, and Jimmy Fallon, among many others.

IN A GARDEN BURNING GOLD

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour.

She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

THE YOUNGER WIFE

By Rory Power, Fantasy

By Sally Hepworth, Thriller

THE HUSBAND: A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS: Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE: With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE: Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses in all of them?

Rhea and Lexos were born into a family unlike any other. Together with their siblings, they control the seasons, the tides, and the stars, and help their father rule their kingdom. Thanks to their magic, the family has ruled for an eternity, and plan to rule for an eternity more. But Rhea and Lexos are special: They are twins, bonded down to the bone, and for the past hundred years, that bond has protected them as their father becomes an unpredictable tyrant—and his worsening temper threatens the family’s grip on power. Now, with rival nations ready to attack, and a rebel movement within their own borders, Rhea and Lexos must fight to keep the kingdom—and the family— together, even as treachery, deceit, and drama threaten to strand the twins on opposite sides of the battlefield. In a Garden Burning Gold is a vividly written, atmospheric saga that explores the limits of power and the bonds of family—and how far both can be bent before they break.

THE SIGN FOR HOME

HOTEL MAGNIFIQUE

By Blair Fell, Fiction

by Emily J. Taylor, Young Adult

Arlo Dilly is young, handsome and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none. And yet, it happened once before: many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever. Or so Arlo thought. After years trying to heal his broken heart, Arlo is assigned a college writing assignment which unlocks buried memories of his past. Soon he wonders if the hearing people he was supposed to trust have been lying to him all along, and if his lost love might be found again.

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Source: Goodreads.com

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town. The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets. With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel.

GET CREATIVE

5 simple exercises to kick-start your creativity

By Arianna O’Dell

The pandemic has prompted us to reevaluate our approaches and philosophies toward work—not just our work-life balance, but our working lives as a whole. When the world could so suddenly change, what is that we value most?

In August 2021, 4.3 million workers quit their jobs, another dramatic step during the socalled “Great Resignation.” I have explored a variety of creative outlets over the last few years, from creating music to an online design store to dabbling NFTs. When I tell others about my various creative endeavors, many people respond that they “wish they could do something like that” and tell me they don’t believe they are a creative person. Creativity is a skill that can be developed over time, and it can lead you down paths and into careers you never considered.

Create for yourself first One of the biggest obstacles to creativity is fear, and worrying about what other people think of 178

your work. When I used to create music, I would ask my friends what they thought. I would cling to every piece of feedback and would be hurt when someone didn’t like the piece of art I had worked so hard on. It would paralyze me from releasing songs and the music would change into something that didn’t feel authentic. I quickly learned that when creating art, don’t ask for feedback, make what feels authentic and true to you.

Octavia Goredema, author of Prep, Push, Pivot: Essential Career Strategies forUnderrepresented Women, echoes the sentiment saying, “Don’t get attached to validation. Often, people won’t get what you’re doing while you’re creating something, or even after you’ve created something. That’s okay. Validation often comes long after the hard

work is done. Not all opinions are equal.” Value your own opinion and you will feel assured about whatever you create.

Try new skills you believe you’re bad at We tell ourselves we can’t do things before we even consider them a possibility. Then it becomes a habit, involuntary: “I’m not musical,” “I can’t paint,” “I don’t understand poetry,” etc. We believe these things because we may have tried these things once when we were schoolchildren and did not immediately excel or show talent with.

I can vouch for this idea of charging ahead. I began making music with zero experience, purely because I love music and now my songs are considered for placement in television shows and movies.

Practice visualization. Mehta Mehta, a creative director at an international agency, suggests, “Visualize in your mind, the moment, the position or the feeling you want to achieve. See it in detail, move around it, make it real in your mind and explore the many possibilities.”

Build a community of fellow creatives Although people often view creativity as an individual effort, that creatives may start for themselves, many creative people I’ve talked to have a community of creative colleagues they engage with on some level or another. These circles are composed of cohorts they trust to bounce ideas off of.

Justin Gignac, a founder, and CEO of Working Not Working, a community for creatives, says, “My most successful personal projects were ideas I sat on for months, even years. The ones that kept popping back up and I couldn’t shake them.

I’d tell my friends about the ideas so much that they’d finally ask, ‘That’s great, man, but when are you going to do it?’”

Inspiration can spring from those moments when your friends push you to try something new.

Collaboration can also move this process along.

“Learn from the best,” says Meng Kuok, Founder of Bandlab, an app that helps those with no musical experience to create their own songs.

“Listen, watch, consume whatever you can find online. Imitate, copy from your favorite artists note for note, stroke by stroke—the more colors you add to your palette by learning from the best, the more ideas and options you’ll have at your disposal when you try to paint your own picture.”

Make the time for yourself Creativity requires daily practice, and it’s important to put in the work. Dedicating some time each day is ideal, but that’s not always conducive to every individual’s creative process. Whether it’s a small daily practice or carving out full days for yourself, it’s important to make the time.

“Every day, I challenge myself to come up with a list of 10 new ideas to grow my business,” says Ajay Yadav, founder of Simplified, an

application that allows non-creatives and creatives alike to create their own graphics. You don’t have to be lifting heavy weights every day, even a little quick exercise can help keep your creativity fresh.

Build up to greatness gradually You’ll find that even the smallest steps can lead to big strides in progress. Chase Jarvis, CEO of CreativeLive and the author of Creative Calling, underscores the importance of patient effort: “Don’t underestimate the power of creating something small every day, whether that’s a photograph, doing something interesting in the kitchen, or picking up that dusty guitar in the corner. Even for just a moment.”

No matter what your schedule is or what you have going on, it’s possible to bring your dream projects to life. When you dive in and face new challenges, you lead yourself down a path of a more purposeful career and life.

Photo by Dragos Gontariu on Unsplash.

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bazaar movie night April Movies

THE CONTRACTOR

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

AMBULANCE

ALL THE OLD KNIVES

AGENT GAME

THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE MOVIE

Release Date: 1 April Genre: Action Adventure Cast: Chris Pine, Tarik Saleh, Eddie Marsan, Gillian Jacobs, Amira Casar, Erica Lee, Ben Foster, Fares Fares Synopsis: After being involuntarily discharged from the U.S. Special Forces, James Harper (Chris Pine) decides to support his family by joining a private contracting organization alongside his best friend (Ben Foster) and under the command of a fellow veteran (Kiefer Sutherland). Overseas on a covert mission, Harper must evade those trying to kill him while making his way back home.

Release Date: 8 April Genre: Thriller Cast: Chris Pine, Laurence Fishburne, Olen Steinhauer, Michelle Williams, Janus Metz, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, Mark Gordon Synopsis: When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is assigned to root out the mole from among his former officemates at the agency’s Vienna station. His investigation takes him from Austria to England to California, where he is reunited with his one-time colleague and ex-lover Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton).

Release Date: 8 April Genre: Animation Cast: Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, Tika Sumpter, Jeff Fowler, James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally Synopsis: The world’s favorite blue hedgehog is back for a next-level adventure in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2. After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik returns, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations.

Release Date: 8 April Genre: Action Cast: Katie Cassidy, Dermot Mulroney, Mel Gibson, Jason Isaacs, Grant S. Johnson, Adan Canto, Barkhad Abdi Synopsis: A CIA officer finds himself the target of a rendition operation after being scapegoated for the death of an interrogation subject. As the team tasked to bring the officer in begins to question their orders — and each other — Olsen, a senior intelligence officer, and his subordinate raise the stakes.

Source: cinescape.com.kw 180

Release Date: 8 April Genre: Thriller Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, James Vanderbilt, Michael Bay, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Keir O’Donnell, Moses Ingram, Wale Folarin Synopsis: Two desperate brothers attempt a robbery in order to pay for their dying mother’s health care. The job goes south and during their escape, they steal an ambulance. But things only get worse when they discover it’s occupied by a dying heart patient.

Release Date: 15 April Genre: Action, Adventure Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Eddie Redmayne, David Yates, Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling, David Heyman, Alison Sudol, Jessica William Synopsis: Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers.

bazaar Apps

EXPENSE BUD

MORNING BIRD

STRIDE

COOKS PARTY

FLOODY

MUSIC ETUTOR

Expense Bud is a fully featured, free and opensource expense tracking application. With its elegant user interface and experience, Expense tracking becomes fun Fully offline and adding entries is easy and done in a few clicks. Get detailed insights on your entries for different periods such as last 3 days, last week, last month etc

Stride is a new game for runners and walkers.

The objective is simple: own the most tiles in your neighborhood. To capture tiles just hit start and the app tracks your physical movement in the background.

Floody is an addictive puzzle game. Challenge your brain with flooding colors, control them and be the master! Don’t hesitate to think outside the box to win! You will be amazed by the simplicity and complexity at the same time.

Android only

Along with the beautiful interface of the Morning Bird app, waiting for meaningful moments to happen will be even more interesting for you and those involved in the event.

Cooks Party enables you to virtually bring your friends together, cook together and spend memorable time together. At the end of the party, you got your delicious meal prepared and video memories to share with your friends.

eLearning platform specially created for music enthusiasts made up of three apps. Real Music Dictation - Music dictation app. Real Ear Training app for improving your listening and score reading skills. Real Piano Keyboard - best sounding piano app out there.

Android only

play.google.com itunes.apple.com 182

PIZZA AND POKE FOR IFTAR - OH, MY! A Novo way to enjoy Ramadan eats By bazaar staff

Samboosa, kubbah, lentil soup, yereesh, qatayef, repeat. Samboosa, kubba, lentil soup, machboos diyyay, lugaymat, repeat.

Spring roll, beef and broccoli? Pizza? Poke? Is this a new twist to Iftar that we can enjoy in the comfort of our own homes? Then yes, please repeat!

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There’s nothing wrong with switching up your palate during Ramadan. While we all have foods we crave and we’re excited to enjoy for the first few days, after a week or so I never want to look at another cheese samboosa again. (But only for a week. I’m not an animal.)

And what about the ghabqat? I love a makeyour-own saj station as much as the next person, but how about we give Ammo a break and venture outside of classic regional goodies during our Ramadan grazing pleasures?

Stay with us because your Ramadan rotation is getting an upgrade with Novo Pizza and Poke Pick! Whether your appetite is for American-style pizza, or you have a hankering for Hawaiian poke bowls, we promise you won’t be disappointed.

Novo Pizza: A Ramadan crowd pleaser!

Pizza is a clear crowd pleaser when it comes to a post-Iftar nosh. Novo Pizza delivers delicious handmade pizzas right to your door in a variety of flavors, so there truly is something for everyone.

The Verdura Supreme is always such a hit at gatherings and you can never go wrong with classics like the Pepperoni or Margerita Pizza!

Want to keep things on theme for Ramadan? Novo Pizza also offer a great selection of fatayer from their all-day breakfast items. Their fatayer combines the best of both worlds, being pizza and the beloved [Continued...]

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bazaar tries

regional anytime feast. Order za’atar, spinach (The Mama Afaf Fatayer are unmissable!), feta and kashkaval, four cheeses, halloumi and za’atar, scrambled eggs; the list goes on with so many options to choose from! We love the fatayer as easy accompaniments for your Iftar or Suhour table.

Novo Pizza also has some great deals for grouping up their pizzas, sides, fatayers and delicious desserts, and will be announcing even more throughout the month of Ramadan. So, look forward to saving some dinars while ensuring you’ll have the ideal amount of food for your ghabqa. (Or, for yourself!)

Poke fun for your Ramadan If you want to take a walk on the lighter side, refreshing poke bowls might be your answer. Poke Pick has a colorful array of bases, toppings and proteins to choose from, which are really perfect for those casual ghabqa gatherings!

What we like about poke bowls is that they’re reminiscent of salads, which is a great, healthier option for those trying to watch their calories and fat intake while looking for sustenance during feeding hours. They’re also just delicious, and don’t wreak havoc on the gut as much as naughtier food options would.

For gatherings, we highly recommend getting their Good Time Rolls, which consist of 40 pieces of rice paper rolls filled with fresh veg. Pair that with some Dynamite Shrimp, a few poke bowls, a Mongolian Beef bowl or two and you have yourself a Ramadan party. You can also opt to make your orders even healthier by swapping white rice with brown rice or lettuce, and choosing lighter proteins like chicken or salmon. What could be better?

Order Poke Pick through Talabat, Deliveroo, or by calling 22091190. Follow @pokepickw on Instagram for updates. Order Novo Pizza from novopizzakw.com, or find them on Talabat, Deliveroo, or through their call center at 22091190.

Follow @Novo.pizza on Instagram to get their latest updates and deals. These tasty options are available for delivery and pick-up only, making it that much easier for you to satisfy your cravings and your entertaining needs during the entire month of Ramadan.

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[...Continued]

bazaar around town AUK COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES RENEWS AALE ACCREDITATION The Board of Trustees of the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) voted to renew the international program accreditation for the American University of Kuwait (AUK) College of Arts and Sciences for a full term of five years, ending on February 28, 2027. The accreditation affirms the high standards and quality of education offered by the College that stands with the best universities globally.

The process was led by the University’s AALE Steering Committee with the support of administrative units. The renewal complements the University’s mission of offering modern and comprehensive curricula that put its students at the top of their chosen fields. AUK president, Dr. Rawda Awwad praised the campus community’s dedication to this mission, “Our external and independent review processes are consistent with standards of excellence. Accreditation for AUK is operationally critical and, therefore, strategically important. We continue to take pride in our faculty and staff in striving for excellence in education and in accomplishing yet another institutional milestone,” she said. The American University of Kuwait (AUK) currently offers 16 distinct degree programs in various academic disciplines. AUK is accredited institutionally by the Private Universities Council (PUC) in Kuwait.

For more information on the American University of Kuwait please visit auk.edu.kw and follow their latest on Instagram and social media @AUK_Official.

KENZO RELEASES THIRD LIMITED-EDITION DROP FOR SPRING-SUMMER 2022 UNDER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR NIGO Under the artistic direction of Nigo, KENZO releases the third drop in a series of limited-edition capsule collections for Spring-Summer 2022. Available in flagship stores worldwide in April 2022, it is the most comprehensive capsule wardrobe to hit stores since the appointment of Nigo as Artistic Director of KENZO in September 2021. A key element in Nigo’s own design tradition, Japanese denim is exercised across a selection of reinterpreted wardrobe tropes and married with the KENZO boke flower created by the Artistic Director upon his arrival at the Maison. Denim defines a collection comprised of eight pieces for women and seven pieces for men, all genderless in nature. The backs of denim blousons are embroidered with the boke logo, which likewise appears on the pockets of elongated denim jackets, and those of denim trousers and a knee-length skirt. True to the staple spirit of the capsule, patch pocket overshirts ap-pear alongside oversized t-shirts and relaxed t-shirts with pocket detailing. The collection is retained in the authentic blues of denim, with nuances of grey and white.

Limited-edition capsule available on April 2nd 2022 in selected stores and KENZO.COM

THE ENTENTE SPORTIVE ET CULTURELLE ESC LAUNCHED ITS FIRST FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT TO PROMOTE THE FRANCOPHONIE IN KUWAIT In light of the 60th Anniversary of the friendship between France and the State of Kuwait and the month of the Francophonie, the ESC association founded by Mr Nasser Loutoufi organized the first edition of its football tournament at the PAAET Stadium. Besides promoting France and the French language, the ESC aims to unite the youth of Kuwait around the values of friendship, solidarity and selflessness conveyed by football. “As a former professional football player, I have to transmit my values to Kuwait’s youth,” signaled Mr Loutoufi. For its first edition of the ESC Cup, the association partnered with the French Institute, and its recently joined director Mr Benoît Cathala. “Supporting Mr Loutoufi in his initiate means also supporting the Francophonie and promoting it within Kuwait”, he added. “The ESC is thrilled to count on the support of these companies. They understood what we are trying to achieve through this tournament, and their values are aligned with ours,” said Mr Loutoufi. The tournament, which lasted the entire day and hosted 12 teams representing ten countries, culminated with the victory of the French team with a final score of 3-0 against the Armenian team, one of the favorites before the tournament.

SEARA BRINGS THE JOY OF COOKING TO KUWAIT Seara, a food brand that is completely committed to high quality products, is bringing the joy of cooking to homes and kitchens across Kuwait with the launch of its high-quality range of frozen foods.

The brand with presence in over 150 countries is part of JBS the global leader in protein-based food and is presenting an extensive complete halal portfolio of Seara frozen whole chickens, chicken parts, breaded chicken, chicken burgers and beef burgers, minced meats, sausages, meat balls, frozen vegetables, frozen seafood, and frozen fruits, among others. As part of this launch, Seara also announces its collaboration with Kuwaiti chef and influencer “Chef Daddy” Yousef Rashid as Seara brand ambassador. Taking his inspiration from Seara’s wide offerings, Yousef will celebrate the joy of cooking by creating Kuwaiti-inspired signature dishes which highlight the country’s rich culture and heritage while also intriguing the palate with exceptional flavors that heighten the taste and thrill the senses. In this launch, Seara brand will present to Kuwaitis a new portfolio of over 120 products produced with the highest quality, considering the importance of Middle Eastern culture and cuisine.

All the new products are now available across leading modern trade outlets, hyper markets and major coops across Kuwait. For information please visit searafoodsme.com or find Seara on social media #Searamiddleeast.

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RAMADAN TASTES LIKE AMERICANA

We’re living for those mouth-watering meals that take us back in time By bazaar staff

What makes home home? For us, it’s the familiarity of food and family.

AMERICANA has been playing an important role in our kitchens since 1964, and nearly 60 years later they continue to do so by serving us some wholesome food that’s easy to make, decently priced to stock up on and ready to adorn appetites all throughout Ramadan.

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Here are our favorite foods that AMERICANA brought to us over the years, without whom we would enjoy the Iftar table a little less today. If you’re ever stumped for Iftar, Suhoor, Ghabqa or even just grazing ideas, this list will bring you back some familiar flavors, great memories and tasty treats ahead.

AMERICANA Cheese Samosa This platter of staples can grace any of our futoor tables any day. People are usually team Cheese when it comes to their samosa choices, and

AMERICANA’s are usually a hit. We love frying up these triangles to a crispy golden brown and munching on them all throughout iftar. Want a healthier option while keeping all the flavour? Try air-frying them!

Lebanese Beef Kebbeh, meatballs, and Arayes These early products have graced many local households over the decades. Nothing completes a mezze plate like kebbeh, meatballs and arayes, and AMERICANA’s are as good as your grandmother’s. The per fect accoutrement to

the iftar table, these Middle Eastern delicacies have been cheekily feeding people after insisting they’re full for a long time. No wonder they’re still around - they’re just that good!

Arayes sandwiches are a great accompaniment to hummus and easy kebab platters. They also make for a delightful suhoor if you want something nice, easy and light. If you’re looking for the arayes vibe without the meat, AMERICANA has Ready in Minutes Cheese Arayes and Cheese Arayes with Zaatar which make a per fect late night suhoor to share with the family.

AMERICANA Sayyad Make room for traditional regional food during Ramadan by using AMERICANA as a shortcut to achieve delicious taste. Murabayn is a wellknown Kuwaiti dish composed of rice and shrimp that graces many tables during and past the Ramadan season. With AMERICANA’s tail- on shrimps that you may grill, sautee or bake any way you like, your murabyan does not need as much prep and pressure as it would without the readymade life hack.

Another great pop-it-in-the-oven snack or appetizer is the Zingz breaded shrimp from AMERICANA. With sweet chilli sauce, you’ll keep going back for more. Why do they call them zings?

Because they’re sweet, crunchy and entirely addictive.

Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Strips These indulgent chicken-based appetizers are ideal to have on the futoor table as a snack or side to enjoy with your meal. We also think they’re suited for a casual Ghabqa or suhoor.

Both chicken nuggets and chicken strips are an AMERICANA classic and gen pop fave. If you grew up in Kuwait and ate AMERICANA chicken nuggets, whether they were in their traditional form or star-shaped, you’ll know what we’re talking about. Pair with a plate of homemade French fries (or AMERICANA French fries!) for the ultimate childhood experience.

Chicken strips can be enjoyed similarly.

AMERICANA’s chicken strips deliver the per fect crunch and pair quite well with honey mustard or spicy sauce. We recommend air-frying these too, but the oven makes them taste just as good.

AMERICANA Heroz If you have kids and want to treat them to their own breaded delights, opt for the HEROZ line.

Featuring chicken nuggets in several shapes including Donuts, popcorn chicken and nuggets, the HEROZ line has the same great AMERICANA taste but is fortified with iron for your children’s growth. Delicious and nutritious.

AMERICANA CRAVES Make Ramadan barbecues extra easy and extra special with AMERICANA’s latest offering, their line of CRAVES foods. AMERICANA’s burgers have

always been out of this world, but with quality angus beef, CRAVES takes it to another level.

Enjoy their angus beef burgers and hot dogs as well as their 100% chicken burgers and hot dogs with glorious grill lines. The CRAVES chicken burger patty also makes for an excellent healthy meal as grilled chicken served with a salad. For a gourmet experience at the comfort of your own kitchen or backyard, all you need to do is have

AMERICANA CRAVES in your freezer. Nothing could be better!

Shop AMERICANA’s range of products today all across Kuwait coops and supermarkets for the perfect Ramadan menu!

Follow them on Instagram for their latest updates @americanafoods and check out their website at www.americana-group.com.

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bazaar scopes

LIBRA SEP 23 – OCT 22 What have you been through the past two months? Intense for sure, and maybe the most fun you’ve had in a long time. We’re also pretty sure there are some Libras who got knocked upside their butts, however, the developments involved are likely to have come with several important revelations and corrections in the course of your existence.

SCORPIO OCT 23 – NOV 22 Relationships are nothing if they are not functional. That is the test.

Functional means the experience of loving and relating fits in your life, and your life fits into it. You can look at the current era as a time of experimentation or obser vation. You are under some of the best astrology in quite some time, supporting harmonious coexistence and sharing of deep emotions.

ARIES MAR 20 – APR 19

According to your monthly horoscope, to keep your momentum this month, you’ll need to move in the direction that seems the most difficult or challenging. Certain factors may seem to slow you down, but they’re the ones that you’re using to summon your deeper strength and your unquestionable sense of purpose. You may have noticed that the prevailing meaningless quality of life on Earth is starting to wear a little thin, and it’s being replaced by a deep sense of longing and searching.

TAURUS APR 20 – MAY 20 No fire burns without a purpose, and the fire at your core is the prime example in the world. Tend both the flame and its meaning. Both have what you might call life cycles, which is to say, they change, and when you monitor those changes and when you act in ways that are appropriate for the particular stage of your life, nature can act on your behalf.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 21 The past two months have come and gone with a surge of energy in the fire sign Aries, which has with any luck felt like hitching your wagon to a locomotive.But the unusual advantages offered by the planets are hardly over, and if anything, the current shift of energy into Taurus is leaving you with a lot less on your mind and feeling stable enough to make one particular decision or commitment that is bound to renew your sense of purpose.

CAPRICORN DEC 22 – JAN 19 It is true that for a while you will be learning the same lessons over and over, but in vastly different ways. Had someone not pointed out the connection, you might not have noticed that there is a continuity of theme from what you experienced over the winter to what you are about to experience over the summer, and for the remainder of the year.

AQUARIUS JAN 20 – FEB 18

Life is more about who you are than what you do. This is particularly true now, when there is so much to do, and so much to be. You’ll need a basis upon which to make decisions and plan your actions. The primar y reference points must be within you rather than in the world.

Recent events seem to have liberated you from some kind of professional commitment, even if they only helped you change your perspective, open up some possibilities, or sense how you actually feel without any guilt about it. What you now have access to are some experiences of living and working where you start off feeling secure and confident, rather than having to convince yourself of anything.

CANCER JUN 22 – JUL 22

PISCES FEB 19 – MAR 19

The beacons that you’re seeing and the callings that you are hearing may be from faraway lands, distant times and places, or represent goals that extend through the course of your lifetime. You may surprise yourself with what you decide is possible or even likely; you may determine that nothing is out of reach if you really want it — and that is the true spirit of this time in your life.

You’re likely to see changes in your financial picture, and by all indications, changes means improvements. It’s essential that you consider your economic and creative potential as something tangible and real, which is more a feeling than it is a thought. If what you learned last month has taken root, then space should be open inside you.

GEMINI MAY 21 – JUN 21

LEO JUL 23 – AUG 22 You’re now in the weeks before a genuine initiation into the world. That is right around the corner, and it’s a corner you’re about to turn. This is a time in life when certain commitments you have developed will deepen.

Others will fall away like they never existed. Others will emerge as if from nowhere. But there is really only one commitment that truly matters — that which you offer to yourself.

VIRGO AUG 23 – SEP 22 There is little you will attempt this month or anytime soon that is not magnificently well supported by the positions of the planets and the stor y they tell. There is little you will not achieve if you truly set out to do it. Yet at the same time you may be noticing a strange sense of apprehension approaching. It may be the sense that something has run out.

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Source: wisehoroscope.org

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