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In this episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with Dubai-based portrait photographer Natalya Urmanova inside her exhibition Whimsical World for a deeply personal conversation about fear, reinvention, and the art of seeing beyond the surface.

Raised around her father’s darkroom and shaped by 15 years in luxury fashion, Natalya shares how she walked away from the corporate world with “shaking legs,” only to discover photography as a portal into a parallel world — one where she could finally live, feel, and create freely.

Known for her cinematic black-and-white portraits, Natalya speaks about photographing essence rather than faces, why she builds meticulous visual worlds only to surrender to spontaneity, and how fear often signals forward motion. From her first exhibition — and the vulnerability behind it — to why she believes in never “staying in yesterday,” this episode is a powerful reflection on creativity, courage, and choosing honesty over certainty.

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Forward Moves for conversations shaping the creative economy in the Middle East and beyond.

🔗 Connect with Natalya Urmanova Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urmanova_imagery Website: https://www.urmanovaimagery.com

🔗 Follow Forward Moves YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forward_moves X / Twitter: https://x.com/forward_moovz Raja Haddad: https://www.instagram.com/octoraj

📌 PINNED COMMENT Natalya says: “The fear of staying was much bigger than the fear of leaving.”

What’s something you’ve felt called to walk away from — even without knowing what comes next? Share your thoughts below

If this conversation resonated, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share the episode with someone navigating their own creative leap.

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� In this powerful episode of Forward Moves, host Raja Haddad sits down with renowned Lebanese media personality, entrepreneur, and TAKREEM Foundation founder Ricardo Karam for an unfiltered conversation about dignity, identity, and the power of human connection.

🇱 � Taped in Beirut, Ricardo reflects on decades of interviewing world leaders, artists, and everyday people — not as a collector of names, but as a listener driven by curiosity and purpose. He speaks candidly about what he believes the Arab world has lost, why identity is rooted in values rather than geography, and how globalization and imitation have diluted authenticity.

📌This episode explores:

• Why Ricardo believes “we lost our dignity as Arabs” — and how it can be restored • The power of curiosity and treating every human encounter equally

• Resourcefulness over resilience in the Lebanese experience

• The turning point from personal success to purposeful impact

• How TAKREEM is reshaping the global narrative about Arab excellence

• What the next generation must carry forward to shape the future

At its core, this conversation is a reminder that progress isn’t always loud. And that moving forward begins with remembering who we are.

🎧 Listen, watch, and join the conversation.

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Connect with Raja Haddad | Forward_Moves

@octoraj, and @forward_moves

Connect with Ricardo Karam

@Ricardo.karam.official

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In this in-between-episodes reflection, host Raja Haddad unpacks the first
conversations of Chapter Three with Basil Yassin and Anthony Maalouf. Instead of
recapping, Raja dives into four reflections: heritage as creative fuel, innovation as
adaptation, human connection as the real metric, and the power of owning your
story before someone else writes it for you.

This episode is a breath, a reset, and a reminder that moving forward starts with
knowing where you come from.

🔥 Remember

• Heritage as Creative Fuel — your roots aren’t static; they’re raw material.
• Innovation Through Adaptation — progress rarely arrives in ideal
conditions.
• Human Connection Over Features — people remember how you made
them feel.
• Own Your Story — speak your narrative before it’s written for you.

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Download, share it, and if you like it give us a five star rating.

🤟 Until then, keep on moving forward !

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