3alsatr x sfts — The Seed of Success

For any webzine to grow, it takes determination, commitment and great effort to transform all your input of energy, focus and talent into output in the form of popularity, success and inspiration to your audience, all of which 3alsatr's team definitely acquires. You've definitely heard of 3alsatr before, however, if you haven't let me fill you in. 3alsatr is a webzine founded by Kareem El-Sayed in 2017 featuring articles of all categories; science, art, media, and interviews with inspiring individuals such as Rana Ihab, Rola Diab, and Farida Ashraf. Whatever it is you like to read, you'll definitely find it on 3alsatr.

During Writers Hub's event earlier last month -which, might I add, was phenomenal- 3alsatr's team was featured for their first-ever fireside chat and, very fortunately, I later got the chance to have a little conversation with Kareem and Layla, 3alsatr’s founder and CAO respectively, about their experience and how they felt before, during, and after the fireside chat!

Of course, being in the spotlight is never easy, having eyes focused on you and being stressed, wanting all your answers to be perfect, takes a toll on you and lessens your actual focus on the questions being asked, which is exactly what Layla went through.

"To be honest, I wasn't really nervous before getting on stage, but once I was on there it kind of hit me what was happening. Was I nervous about sharing my experience? Definitely, because it felt like 'I'm on a fireside chat, people are watching, there are people who are going to judge me' and not necessarily in a bad way, but people are going to form their perception of you based on what you say. Thinking about that, alongside forming answers to the questions being asked, are not two of the nicest things you can experience together."

However, Layla mentioned that if she were to be featured in a fireside chat again, she would definitely try to force herself ‘out of her brain;’ to speak without listening to herself in order to block out thoughts of what people could be thinking about her words.

As for Kareem, his confidence was beaming through his words, and his joy to be part of the fireside chat was apparent. He spoke with great passion about his motive to start and keep moving up the ladder with 3alsatr, and how this makes up a huge part of why he enjoyed the fireside chat.

"It felt like we were passing on our experience as young media people to other people who are aspiring, it felt like youngsters are finally having their own platform where you can hear about their experiences, what they're doing and how they're doing it."

He also added that big events -or events in general- don't really give young people the chance to share their challenges and achievements, which results in their ideas never seeing the light because they don't have a platform where they can be freely expressive, which is exactly what Kareem is trying to give them.

What Kareem and Layla both agreed on changing in their next fireside chat is to give more information about 3alsatr the next time around, tell more of the stories, share more challenges, and be more open and connected to the audience.

Every successful idea starts small and grows with great potential and a hardworking team as success never comes overnight. So did 3alsatr's team think they would make it this big when they first started?

"Not at all," Kareem stated. "But I've always looked forward to sharing my experiences with others who aspire to do great things."

Layla, however, has been on a rollercoaster of emotions, from thinking they would go viral in the beginning then, due to some downfalls, changed her mind and, once they rose out of it stronger than ever, her faith was restored once more.

Kareem brought up how mis-hiring was his biggest mistake, he tended to hire people who weren't in it for the long run and consequently led to bad decisions being made and people leaving frequently, however, mistakes always make great lessons, and that is a mistake Kareem has definitely learned from, thus implementing what he learnt has definitely contributed to making 3alsatr greater than it has been!

So what advice would the founder and CAO of a great, inspiring webzine give to people still starting out? Well, Kareem and Layla had two distinct answers that balance out the equation.

"Take your time, just jump and take the first leap then figure it out as you go," Kareem answered, providing the risk element of the strategy. "Don't worry if the numbers aren't making sense or if it isn't getting enough hits, the virality and popularity will come later, but as long as you work hard enough and put in enough effort, always setting the bar high, you'll make it."

Layla then provided her own element of planning and accuracy, "remember why you started, always keep in mind the type of content you want to put out. Every once in awhile I sit back and think 'are we putting out content that I would like to read? Does our content offend any community or group of people? Does it provide accurate information? Do we post safe content for our audience?', these are all things you need to think deeply about."

Layla continued by explaining that people tend to stray away from what they initially intended to do, and that's okay because it means you're expanding your medium and the things you can do, however, you must stay focused on why you started, and never do something that conflicts with your views and values. She ended her advice by stating that, at some points, you will have to take impulsive decisions but, on the other hand, you must always have a backup plan, something you can fall back onto when things go wrong.

Lastly, working and being a part of such a great influential project adds a lot to a person, and it was no different from Kareem and Layla, who deeply grew from the experience.

Kareem, who takes pride in his team, himself and their accomplishments, has grown in various ways, career-wise and on a personal level, his eyes opened up to a lot of knowledge in the media and marketing industries that he never knew of or imagined. He also mentioned how it opened up opportunities for them such as covering big events and being media sponsors, and how the fact that his platform allows the youth to lead and show the world what they can do adds to him as a person.

Layla agreed with Kareem, however, adding more context as to how it deeply impacted her as a person, she mentioned how it increased her self-worth and her perception of herself, it increased her self-confidence, that now she knows all her positive attributes, she now knows she's smart, she's worthy and that she's a hard-worker, it added a lot to how she perceives herself as a person and as a writer.

There's so much that I personally learned from this interview, and things that I'm sure would reflect on you, the reader. Success is never about age, success comes from hard work, challenges, consistency, and commitment. Once you have an idea, don't stop yourself, thinking you can't, but remember Kareem and Layla's equation: think it through, plan it out then dive right in.