Starter Girlz Podcast

From Mongolia to the Cosmos: Aisha Makara on Art, Exploration, and Living Life Fully

• Jennifer Loehding • Season 6 • Episode 59

Share episode

Send us a text

Join us on an exhilarating journey with Aisha Makara, a vibrant artist and author whose life story takes us from Mongolia to over 60 countries. Aisha's art has even reached the stars, engraving her work on SpaceX plaques that traveled to outer space. Discover how her diverse background in civil engineering, a thriving hospitality business in Portugal, and strong ties within artistic and leadership communities have shaped a life filled with bold explorations and creative triumphs. Through her story, Aisha exemplifies living in technicolor, inspiring others to embrace authenticity and joy.

Takeaways

  • Empowerment begins with self-awareness and creating a vision for your future.
  • Resilience helps you overcome challenges and embrace unexpected opportunities.
  • Clear communication of needs and expectations fosters growth and stronger connections.
  • Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals and embracing diverse experiences broadens your perspective.
  • A positive mindset and focus on goals are essential for success and joyful living.

You can learn more about Aisha by visiting https://aisha.today/.

Jennifer Loehding:

Welcome to the Starter Girl podcast, your ultimate source of inspiration and empowerment. We're here to help women succeed in every area of their lives career, money, relationships, and health and well-being while celebrating the remarkable journeys of individuals from all walks of life who've achieved amazing things. Whether you're looking to supercharge your career, build financial independence, nurture meaningful relationships or enhance your overall well-being, the Starter Girls podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who dare to dream big and achieve greatness. I'm your host, jennifer Loding, and welcome to this episode. Welcome to another episode of the Starter Girls podcast. Wherever you are tuning in today, we are so thrilled to have you. I'm your host, jennifer Loading, and I'm so excited about my guest today. We've been trying to connect, I think, for a couple weeks here. Now we're finally going to make this happen today, so I'm super, super excited about that.

Jennifer Loehding:

Let me paint a picture of what this episode is going to be about. So picture a life filled with vibrant color, boundless creativity and the courage to continually evolve. Imagine someone with challenges, or someone who challenges the very notion of success, not as a simple accumulation of wealth or power, but as the opportunity to craft a world uniquely their own. This is a story of reinvention, of carving paths where none existed, and of bringing light and joy into spaces that inspire others to do the same. So I'm excited to chat with her today. She's just kind of full of energy and I know we're going to have a great conversation. But before we do that, I do need to do a quick shout out to our sponsor.

Jennifer Loehding:

This episode is brought to you by Walt Mills Productions. Need to add excitement to your YouTube videos or some expert hands for editing? Look no further. Walt Mills is the solution you've been searching for. Walt is not only your go-to guy for spicing up content. He's the force behind a thriving film production company with numerous titles in the pipeline. Always on the lookout for raw talent, walt is eager to collaborate on film and internet productions. With a background deeply rooted in entertainment and promotion, walt Mills leverages years of skills to give you the spotlight you deserve. Want to learn more about Walt and his work? Head on over to waltmillsproductionsnet and let your content shine All right.

Jennifer Loehding:

And with that I do want to make one other note. Be sure you head on over to startergirlscom if you want to stay in the loop with what's going on and in our community and receiving our monthly newsletters. Head on over there to wwwstartergirlswithazcom. All right, we're going to get this thing started. So my guest today. From humble beginnings in Mongolia to a growth trotting creative with over 60 countries on her passport, aisha Makara has dedicated her life to empowering others to live boldly and authentically. She's an artist whose work is literally reached for the stars, engraved on golden plaques sent to outer space by SpaceX, and a visionary author of the Joyful Living Guidebook, blending art and practical wisdom. With a degree in civil engineering and thriving hospitality business in Portugal and years immersed in artistic and leadership communities worldwide, aisha is a testament to the power of resilience, imagination and a life lived in technicolor. So, aisha, welcome to Starter Girls.

Aisha Makara:

I'm so excited to have you here today Thank you for having me, Jennifer. I'm so excited to share my wisdom today.

Jennifer Loehding:

So much fun. You are a beautiful soul and I you know the thing that I love about you when I met you the first time, is just your energy. I think it's infectious, and you know, I've often said this when I'm working with people myself. You know people get excited. When people are excited, right, Like when you're excited and passionate about something, people want to know what you're doing. What are you, what's going on in your world, why are you like that, Right? And so I love that you have that infectious energy and for somebody who really picks up on people's energy, it's refreshing.

Aisha Makara:

Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate it. You know this week was a little bit tough for me. I'm like it's so cold here, it's getting like very cold, and I realized that I don't have enough warm clothes and plus, like I have like no air conditioning in the house and like I get like no, like uh, anything, like no heater works. So I get to kind of like figuring out these days how to survive in this cold. But it's not so cold, you know. It's not like a like a ridiculously cold, it's just maybe like um so cold.

Jennifer Loehding:

You know I get to put like a little bit extra jacket, but that I imagine when you're traveling, you've got to acclimate to the different areas, right, and you're moving around and you know and I'm going to give you grace on this anyways, because it's been kind of chilly here, I mean, I'm in, I'm in the South of the States and Texas it's not we. Generally we get cold weather but it's not a long thing and it's not like something you think of when you go to like Montana or Alaska or whatever. But I'm with you because when it gets a little bit chilly I'm just like it. And you know what? Today it's overcast, there's no sun and I got the backdrop kind of coming in and I'm like it's just kind of cool and wet feeling.

Aisha Makara:

And I'm like, can you just give me some sun please? Can you just like put some sunlight through the window for me? You know exactly that I'm the same person. I'm like, very like I love the sun. Every time when I have any sun, I'm like, yeah, my day is going to be great, you know. But when it's not sunny, I'm like, uh, it's not even easy for me to get out of the bed. I'm very like dependent sometimes on the weather, you know it's like that's why I couldn't live in Norway.

Aisha Makara:

Even so, you know, like my life in Norway was very like, successful and secured and safe in all areas, but I was very dependent on weather and the weather was not good. It was all the time cold, raining, disgusting weather. But some people love it. You know I'm not one of those people and I like, oh my gosh, I really appreciate the comfort I have in this country, like the traveling part, you know, like the, the, the flexibility and, uh, do absolutely anything I want.

Aisha Makara:

In the same time, I'm like I'm so, I'm so missing the sun and I'm just seeing the sun like two months, about like two months, maybe three months max a year, and I'm feeling like it's so little and I'm always sick. I'm feeling not, like you know, satisfied within myself. So in the beginning, of course, when I started to go, I mean, I started to think like to move somewhere else. It scares me, you know, and I started to kind of like think I'm so comfortable here, why am I going to move somewhere if I'm, like, so comfortable in this country, I'm feeling so safe, so comfortable? But you know, at the same time I was feeling like I just have a one life. I get to find that sunny place where I feel happy being me, you know, and I don't feel like this frustrated time to time, like I was feeling in Norway just because it's so cold, like all the time.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, well, and it's great that you you have that ability to do that. I'm with you. You know people, I often I joke about how I get up really early. Every day I'm up at five every day. I was up at five today. I'm up five every day, doesn't matter which I've got a bed. I get up and I'm ready to go.

Jennifer Loehding:

And you know. But it's funny because I have this whole window of time between the time I get up and when I really want to start talking to people, having clients or conversations, and people ask me sometimes like why does it take?

Aisha Makara:

you so long to do that. What are you doing?

Jennifer Loehding:

And it's because, like you, we get when we have the flexibility to do the things we want to do. We kind of set parameters on how we want to live our life Right. And I really value my mornings. I value that time to just kind of unwind, prepare my day I like to drink my green tea, you know feed my animals my cats, all the animals, you know and just kind of ease in. There was a time when I had to be up early every day to maneuver kids and there was also a time when I had to be up early every day to go to a job, you know. And now I'm in a different place in my life where I have a little bit more flexibility and freedom not as much as you to move around like you.

Jennifer Loehding:

I admire you for that. But I have the freedom to kind of dictate how I want to live my day. And that's what I think is a blessing is when you get to that place where you can sort of start deciding how you want to control your day and not your day control you.

Aisha Makara:

That's why I'm like this is what I'm saying to my friends. I'm like they've made it. My friends is jealous, like I can like kind of like envy me or like the way I live my life because I'm always creating it. I'm like like really like thinking how I can create my reality, what it matters for me, what I'm going to do next, why I want to do it next. Because, like, since I'm a child, it's I was always being free and wild and always like trying to kind of figuring out my own reality, the way I want to live it. Of course I have this responsibility with school, you know as a kid and the other thing, but out of out of that routine, like you can do whatever you. You know as a kid and the other thing, but out of that routine, like you can do whatever you want. You know Right. And I feel like many times in our life we don't have flexibility in our brain to actually realize that, how creative we can be Right, and many people are just stuck in their reality or their routine and it's not easy for them even to start something new and different, because it's a game, you know, it's a new habit, it's a new thing in their everyday life.

Aisha Makara:

For example, I had the moments when I was doing in 5 am club you know, like 5 am of Robin Sharma book, right? So I started to do all these 5 am things. I was running in the morning, my design, like my journaling, gratitude journaling. I was doing the uh designing my day. You know this meditation, I was designing my day, how I feel, my intention of the day, and I still do that and I'm just like today, for example, I just do meditation in the morning.

Aisha Makara:

You know, I do like my uh intention of the day, or intention of the week, and I'm just focusing on that. You know I'm not focusing. Oh my gosh, my friends has said something to me today and I'm like I get to be all over the places because it was not like a pleasant conversation. You know, I just feeling like, um, I'm better than that. I'm saying, okay, thank you very much for sharing with me this. I really appreciate it, you know, and I give a hug and I'm like you know I will think about that, or like I just know that it doesn't matter for me, you know, and I'm just feeling like I don't need to fight or uh, to kind of like say something that would be like um, spiky, you know, but I just want to like embody it and say like okay, thank you, you know I love you and something like that, and I'm feeling like people don't realize that we're in power of our reality, the way we want to react or act.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, aisha, I'm listening to you because I think there's a lot to this. You know, we are responsible for how we behaved, our emotion right, and that's what I always tell people. You know, nobody can really make you feel bad or make you feel a way you don't want to feel, unless you allow that to happen. Right, we have to be proactive about what we take in and receive, how we process and I don't know about you. I'm gathering this by listening to you. You probably do a lot of what I do.

Jennifer Loehding:

When something goes sour, I try to look and go okay, what's this going on in this situation here? Am I overreacting? Am I being sensitive today? Is this person really kind of jerky or not? You know what I mean. Like I like to look and pull myself out and I I talk about this, you know. I don't know who it is. Is it Carl Young or what did they talk about?

Jennifer Loehding:

That whole subject object shift, where you pull yourself out so that you can look at this. What's going on. I refer to it kind of like we're playing a game, like we're controlling. We're the, we're the game piece and we're controlling it and we get to decide freak out, not freak out, hand in the well, not hand. We get to call the shots. Yeah Well, it requires introspection, and people don't always like that, because that means you have to be accountable to something, so they have to take charge. No, this is all good. Aisha, thank you for sharing all that.

Jennifer Loehding:

I think the message here is you're controlling your destiny, you're controlling how you go about your day and choosing the people that you allow to come into your life, which you should be. I think that's important. I think that gets back to us talking about your circle of influence, you know, because we are like the sum of the people we hang around, and I think it's very wise that we be selective about who we keep as company and are they aligning with our values and the direction that we're going and our desires right? And if they're not, then we just have to recognize that that's probably not somebody we're going to keep tight in the circle, you know. So I love this.

Jennifer Loehding:

I do want to talk, I do want to jump into it, because everybody's going to be like who is this? Who is Aisha? Like, what has she done? I'm like, how is she getting to even do all this Like we're talking about? I mean, we've spent now like 18 minutes talking about designing our day and choosing our life, people and all of that Right, and they're going. They know what I do. They're going to be like what is she doing? So tell me, walk us back. I want you to tell us, because you have traveled all over the place and you're designing your life and getting to do this, but obviously you've done some cool things to bring you to this point, so share a little bit about your journey and how you've gotten to this place you're at right now.

Aisha Makara:

So since I'm a kid is like I've been very like, creative because I grew up without, you know, parents and I get to kind of like every time I get to figuring out before, yeah, like what I want to do every day. First, of course, you kind of looking for the parents, you know, when you're in the environment, and after you started to kind of explore the environment and I'm lucky because I had a very safe environment, even though adults didn't care so much and they're being brutal and punish you all the time if you do something wrong, you know, like beating you up or like putting you in a corner or like doing some nasty things, but not like nasty in the sense that they're sexual, abusing you or something like that. So I feel like I grew up in a little bit brutal environment when people didn't communicate with me. They didn't have ability to communicate and have a conversation with me as a kid and I was always like a wild, free kid that I was going out in the nature and like looking for something. I'm very curious all the time, you know and like, and I've been always protected, you know, because it doesn't matter how far I go and you know I've been some others who bring me back. Sometimes I'm coming back myself with some you know some things, like some animal or like little frog or whatever you know, because I was so curious to learn the world or learn about the world, so like I was like, very, like, very, very curious and very hyper kid.

Aisha Makara:

You know, I was doing so many, many, many things in the same time I was leading the other kids. I was like every time when the kids want to go with me on adventure, like they were like crying and say I want to go back, I want to do this. And I said you know what, next time I will not take you with me because you're crying and you're doing this. And I was very like you know, kind of talking to the kids like I don't like it. You know it's better I go by myself than I go with you and cry baby and carry you on me. You know I you and crybaby and carry you on me. You know I didn't like it and I was communicating all of this like with the kids and some kids like it, some kids like kind of take it uh in. And they were like, okay, I next time I go with aisha, like I will be more uh you know like uh mature I'm not crying being more curious, being more playful, and so it's got to create more better.

Aisha Makara:

Uh, you know, like a playful ground for us to play. But but some kids like they were like fighting with me. They were like saying something nasty and saying to me like, and I'm like I don't want to be your friend, you know, like that's it, I'm just going to continue to do my things. It doesn't matter. But I'm always open to you know, to involve you with what I do. So it's up to you to decide. Are you curious about that, are you like positive about that, or is it something not for you? So since then, I was doing a lot of things. You know, I've been like leader of the class and after I've been taking the, you know, the end of the school, I've been in not good company. I end up in not good company, you know, and I was like doing many things that you know stealing and doing all these things that were not good. And as a kid, you don't understand when you don't grow up in the environment where people are explaining you. They were just beating you up, they don't explain anything.

Aisha Makara:

So for me, when I was 14 or 15, some pivot moment happened in my life. I've also been suicidal for some time because of the environment, because of everything. I didn't have any friends at some point in my life. That's why I end up in this bad company, because I was. I want to feel like this as a teenager. I want to feel like this belonging and, um, nobody was supporting me. Uh, like all the my uh classmates was laughing at me every time, or like the adults or teachers was like saying, uh, me like didn't. They were not like a supportive environment, you know, like like a thrive. It was all about like pushing you down to the ground and actually like you die, or something like that.

Aisha Makara:

So when I was 14 to 15, something happened. My friends started to die. Many of my friends I was hanging out. They started to die of different like accidents or different things and different things, and they were even not like 18, you know, they were 16, 17. And I was sitting there one day at one of the funerals and I was feeling like, oh my gosh, would I survive until 18? Would I die as well? You know, because I'm very young, but I was feeling like I already lived so much and I was feeling like I really like so many challenges and such a hard, not easy time in my life was there, you know, because I had so much pain, you know, like I couldn't even explain that pain because I was in such a like strong pain within myself.

Aisha Makara:

So I was sitting there and when I decided I get to go and live my life, I get to go and travel around the world. That was like my idea when I was a 10, you know, I was telling my teachers I'm going to travel around the world, I'm going to visit all these places, that's you know, here in the geography class. But my teacher was like, yeah, of course, like you're always like somewhere, you know, not here, you know. And so I started to do that, slowly, you know, when go to the hitchhiking club, I started to kind of do my own research. I was doing like slowly, like the uh in exploring myself and I was brave enough to go and actually challenge myself, to ask questions, you know, to all these workshops and and the people. I started to meet people who's doing this, you know, hitchhiking around Russia that time I was living in Russia and so I started to do that with them, slowly, you know. And after, like, I started to travel and I said to myself if I want to travel around the world, I get to move to Moscow, to the capital, because it's going to be easy for me with, like you know, travelings and so on and so on. So eventually I moved to Moscow.

Aisha Makara:

Of course, the first time when I arrived to Moscow from the small, like, like, I grew up in a very small village and after, like, I moved to the city when I started my university and and, um, and I was feeling like, um, it was also challenging for me to go to the university, finish the school, like, passing all these challenges, because I meet the right angels in my life, you know, and I was just trusting that this angel kind of like didn't give up on me. You know, they were like continue to kind of like pushing me because I was drinking a lot and I was like living in the street that time as well, I didn't care, you know, I was like nobody cares about me, and kids were saying to you your mother doesn't love you. You know your mother doesn't want you, or something like that. Nobody wants you, or something like that. It's very not easy for the kid when other other, other kids says that and other adults right you and how you can like a chat, like how you overcome that. You know, in your everyday life, when it's like every day that that's uh pushing you, you know say nobody loves you, nobody wants you, or something like that. And of course you get to grow from that and say, no, everyone loves me and everyone wants me, you know, and everyone wants to be, wants to be with me and wants to uh be uh with me in my life, or something like that. So it took me a while, of course, to get to that point in my life where I am right now.

Aisha Makara:

At the same time, I I learned one thing that when I started to travel around russia you know, small trips here and there uh, I started to kind of like creating my life. I started to say like, okay, what I'm going to do until I'm 60. And so I was like I want to travel until I'm 30. And from 30 to 40, I want to be a businesswoman, and from 40 to 50, I want to be a mentor. From 50 to 60, I want to travel around the world with UNESCO, with UN, like just volunteering and helping other people. You know something like that. So in my mind.

Aisha Makara:

I was like thinking all of that and I was like 60 years is such a long life and after I die, you know, something like that. But now I changed completely. I said, like you know, I'm going to live until 200 years. I have so much to live, I have so much to do and you know, it's just continue. Uh, my uh work is just getting more and more that I'm doing and I'm feeling like it's just great. I'm really happy and grateful that I have energy to do what I do today and I'm feeling like every everyone can do that. Everyone can sit down, write things and say who they want to be, like you know, like kind of like writing your letter to yourself and just say, like who I want to be in 10 years, you know, and just come back to that letter time to time and see where you are right now and, in reality, like, not so many people do that. And I was doing it when I was 15, you know, because I'm a nerd. I was reading a lot of books and I'm always reading and reading, and reading, and reading. Yeah, so somehow I like I just understood that I can create whatever I want to create and it started just happen.

Aisha Makara:

Naturally, I just go and ask questions. I'm just curious and navigating myself through that question. Sometimes I'm just observing and I'm just moving. When I moved to Moscow, it was very interesting because I felt like I was transferred from my university to another university, because I was very active at that time in politics and general, very active as leader of my university class as well. But all the time they're choosing me as a leader, they're choosing me to lead and communicate and be this middle person between teachers and students. And you know, be this middle person between teachers and, you know, students. And I just feel like, because I can communicate my needs, I can communicate what I want. It helps me to and I'm clear about that. This is what I want. You know, sometimes you're asking kids like they say to you I want this and you ask why do you want that? And they don't want the answer.

Aisha Makara:

You know, and I had the answer, know I, like, I know why I want it and I was communicating that and I understood that many people don't know what they want in life and I said, maybe I don't know either. I have idea what I want and I move towards that, you know, and it's okay to get lost time to time as well in life, because it's life. Life is everything you know, and I'm feeling like many people forgetting to create the reality that they want to live.

Aisha Makara:

They're not forgetting, they just don't even think about that, right well they're, yeah they're a kid because as a you can create so many things and you like as an adult, you're just going in the patterns or like on this I call it like routine things, like you know you're going to work, home, go, maybe like on weekends, to hang out with your friends. You know it's all the same things every week. That people don't just go in circles and cycles and cycles and they every week. That people don't just go in circles and cycles and cycles and they don't want to change it Right, because they're getting too comfortable and don't want to get discomfortable because it takes time to get comfortable again in a new you know, you expand your comfort.

Jennifer Loehding:

And I believe.

Aisha Makara:

When you travel around the world and you've been in many, many different places, you understand the thing I believe. When you travel around the world and you've been in many, many different places, you understand at least I understood the whole world is my family. It doesn't matter where I'm in the world, it doesn't matter in which country I am Speaking a language. I don't speak language. I know it's my family here that I haven't met yet and they're here for me, to help me, to support me, to love me, to give as much as they can from their side and I'm doing the same. I'm sharing whatever I can share in the moment my wisdom, you know, my attitude, my like way of being, you know and many other things.

Aisha Makara:

And some people, many people, actually appreciate my way of thinking and it's opened up for them more space to think for themselves. That's my book about. It's more about opening up that space that people can think for themselves. They can start to think, because people are forgetting even to think. That's interesting for me because I love to think. You're feeling life, you know.

Jennifer Loehding:

That's interesting for me because I love to think yeah, well, and you're feeling life, so I think, yeah, I mean, we're kind of. Our theme keeps coming back on this idea of designing your life and removing yourself out of the autopilot, so you started traveling early.

Jennifer Loehding:

I love that you talked about you made this choice when you were young, and it's funny because I've had other guests on the show that had those pivotal moments at a very young age. I don't think a lot of people get that. They usually have them later in life, but I meet these rare, you know, young people that will have that moment where they decide. I had a guy on my show a few weeks ago that has a cleaning company here where I live and he's 20. He's like my middle child's age he's 24. He started his first company, I think, when he was like 17. And he said he just he was getting in trouble or something didn't like what was happening and he started reading. I think he started watching some YouTube videos on entrepreneurship and he opened up like two companies before he opened up this cleaning company and now he's doing really well. He's won several awards for his company. I think he's got like entrepreneur of year and in his in his community, and so it's kind of neat when you hear these kinds of stories.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I do want to ask you because I love that you have you started when you start traveling, you put yourself out there, because I think this speaks some truth into manifestation. When you start deciding what you want, you start doing the things you need to do to make that happen, and it's natural. That's why I always say you know to my I always say whatever you focus on, you're going to create more of, because if you're hyper-focused on something in a situation that's not favorable, you're going to continue to have an unfavorable situation. You're going to make it happen because we have a self-fulfilling prophecy or you're going to keep looking for things to be that way yeah, if you focus on what you're trying to create, you're going to be looking for the things you're trying to create.

Jennifer Loehding:

You know, I want to know about your work too, because I I've looked over your bio and I've done again done so many things. You've got this. You've been in my hospitality, am I correct? And then you're creative, so you've done something with spacex. Tell us a little bit about this work you've done and what you're doing.

Aisha Makara:

So when I was a teenager, you know, I was very good. School is always easy for me, very easy, and when I didn't so much pay attention to that, I'm like it's very easy. It doesn't matter if I'm like preparing for the exam two days before the exam. I always like passing the exam, even like a day before the exam exam, so it's like it was very easy to study and doing the things. Uh, from my perspective and one I um, you know it was a very also like painful moment in my life when I finished the school and the teachers was telling me like, oh, you get to do this region exams and like you know like to um, to rate. I asked the school, our school, to the next level or something like that. So I, I went to the region exams, you know like, or like this country level uh exams, because it was like a program, a new program just was uh created and um, so the teachers was getting like a bonuses if they like more students wanted to take this program. So, like, a school will get more bonuses. And my, my, um dream was that time I wouldn't be a journalist, you know, and I was working toward that. I was be a journalist, you know, and I was working toward that. I was in a local newspaper, I was publishing my things there. I was doing my own school newspaper, you know. I was doing all the drawing and writing the articles about something. So, like I was doing, you know, my work to get where I want to be, and when the time came I got very bad scores, anyway. So I didn't go to the school but I didn't give up. I said, like, okay, who we need? We need engineers and doctors. And I'm like I don't want to be a doctor because doctor I was trying a little bit to go to the medical but it was not my thing. So, okay, I'm going to be an engineer. It was very easy to get to engineer school, you know, and I started to study engineering and eventually I moved to Moscow and after, like you know, I moved to Norway.

Aisha Makara:

But then in reality I was also like a hustle, you know. I mean I was doing real estate on the side, I was doing like a property management in Russia, like, just like, because I want to travel, you know, every time I was creating different ideas what I can do, how I can make money. So I knew if I want to travel for like a one, two weeks or one month or three months. So I knew that how much money I need to make and how much money I get to spend, how much money when I come back for two months I get to recover kind of myself. So I started to kind of create my own budget, you know of living budget for the year and um, and slowly it started to kind of like evolve. Of course, when I started to work in norway, I got like very good salary and I had very, very comfortable life. So I didn't, I didn't need to, like I was already saving money. You know, I was traveling and I was started to save and save and save and um.

Aisha Makara:

But when I moved to know to portugal, you know, when I discovered portugal and I moved to portugal, I I wanted to work as engineer again, you know, like looking for the engineering job. But the salary was very, very low and I was like I'm not going to work for this salary, like I don't want to do this, I will create something different. And because I knew I have a savings enough to live like next two years in Portugal, and I said to myself, you know what I'm kind of retired right now, but like I will, it's not really retired. I'm just figuring out what I'm going to do next, you know. And that's what happened.

Aisha Makara:

And because first I moved to Spain and it was very more expensive and I get to learn Spanish, because Spanish people don't speak like English and Portuguese people speak English, you know, and I'm like, okay, so I can kind of like adapt myself here. I still can learn Portuguese in my own speed, you know, in my own kind of way, and I don't need to put so much attention towards language. You know, I can just go with the English. And what happened is I discovered like a property management, oh, I discovered real estate. I was like I'm going to do a lecture on real estate. So I went to do like my license, you know. I started to do all the real estate things and it was not easy. Real estate is not easy things at all. It was for commission and the way you get to like do all of that and it was very pain in the ass to do that.

Aisha Makara:

But then after that, I moved to the property management you know, I said to myself you know, property management is way more easy and it's like I like it, I like hospitality and I like to travel and it's kind of like connected to what I'm doing. So I started to do property management and after like two years or something was doing that, I started to get down, you know, like feeling more like burnout. And after three years of burnout because I learned I was doing it not because I wanted or like I wanted to, because it's something I was passionate about. I was doing it because it was easy to make money and it was easy to like, kind of like, you know, create that amount of the money and like a lot of money to kind of like do whatever I want, you know.

Jennifer Loehding:

And it was great.

Aisha Makara:

Yeah, and but in that time, when I was in my twenties, it was completely different, you know, like a different kind of like way I was thinking I was being way more emotional, way more like um, kind of like dramatic and some things, you know. And uh, so I decided, didn't my relationship work out at that moment as well? I had like too much in my plate, you know. So I couldn't deal with that. So what I do, I just went to travel again. You know, it was my kind of like escape traveling again. I went to travel again and eventually I moved to Miami. I was traveling a lot in the united states for like every year. I went there for like a month or something like that and I'm like, okay, now I'm moving full-time. So I moved to miami and I I called myself okay, I'm retired again for six months. You know, get a figure out in the six months what I'm going to do, like the way I want to do my art career, because I decided to be an artist full-time.

Aisha Makara:

So I started to interview hundreds of artists, asking questions like what impact do you want to create? What's inspiring you to be an artist, what's like? You know, like questions that I was listening to them, I was recording them, and all of them have this idea, saying like, oh, you know, until I get successful, it took me seven to eight years, like many, many, many of them said to me that. So it took me seven to eight years, like many, many, many of them said to me that and I said like, okay, but like I'm already, you know, working towards something. So I'm not starting from scratch, I'm starting somewhere. I don't know where I'm starting somewhere and I just decided to switch my career and I just want to focus on my art this time, because I was doing art, but more like a hobby, you know.

Aisha Makara:

And I started to kind of like push myself towards that career more and more and I started to do art classes. You know, I started to go to the different I was living. I moved to the design history because I was thinking, when I moved to Miami I was first living in the North Miami, north Beach and next to the beach, like, just like a rambling little room, you know, and I was thinking, okay, I want to move somewhere rich, I want to be in a rich neighborhood, but I didn't know which is a rich neighborhood. So I started to ask people. They said to me oh, you get to move to the design district. So I started to look for the property that is under my budget, you know, like something, that studio where I can create art, but living by myself, I don't want to have any roommates, anything like that. So it took me about four months, you know, like four months or three months, to manifest it Everything. The design district. You know, next to all the things, I was doing art classes in a restaurant and I was doing art classes in this like a timeout, but it was not timeout, it's like many small restaurants together and I was talking to the management and they gave me the opportunity to create it. You know, bring my canvases and just talk to the people. They were paying me like uh being there twice a week and uh, you know, it was like a kind of like um enough, and plus, I was starting to work for the um meditation center, like a event and like a welcoming host or something like that, for like uh, many events. You know, like they have the events and they, yeah, like about uh 16 hours or 15 hours a day because they're open like until like 2 am, I don't remember. But covid hit, you know, so I didn't know how to uh organize myself or like, and you know when the switch is happening. I was very scared and, like many things happened. But I reinvent myself, you know, and I feel like by reinventing myself, I ended up doing more art classes for the kids. I started connecting more like a teacher. I became more like a teacher for the art classes. Many organizations pay you good money to do these classes for the elderly, for the disabilities, for the kids.

Aisha Makara:

Of course, I've been in galleries. I was working in the galleries and doing a lot of things connected to art. You know, and I feel like everything in life when you're successful in your mindset and you're positive, you have positive attitude and you're always showing up when you're saying I'm going to show up, it helps a lot. And you're always showing up when you're saying I'm going to show up, it helps a lot. And you're always on time. You know it's always helping. You know, like of your professionalism on like level of the professionalist you would like to be, doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter if you're artist or you're like a engineer or whoever you are. You know, like when you're on time and you're showing up that what matters. And this is what I started to kind of like continue to build up.

Aisha Makara:

I end up in the Arbazil, you know I building my network and you know, and I feel like every time I get my like I started to sell my art. You know I was like living in the van. I bought a van. I decided to kind of like create my own budget. So I knew that I needed like about thousand euro, thousand dollars or something like 1300, depends in the months. You know, to pay all my bills and you know if having time out, if I want to, with my friends. So, like I knew how to create it, I knew how to make it. You know it was.

Aisha Makara:

I was selling my prints on the beach.

Aisha Makara:

You know, it was so easy.

Aisha Makara:

It was so easy to sell my prints take 50 bucks, you know.

Aisha Makara:

But the thing is is like people don't understand how easy.

Aisha Makara:

It was so easy, uh, to sell my prints take 50 bucks, you know. But the thing is is like people don't understand how easy it can be when you open and you're understanding, like, okay, how much time I want to work, how much time I want to do this by living in a van and open that the space, for example, for me, uh, that I don't need to work so much. If I decided to work two days a week and I make, for example, 500 bucks, I'm good, you know, and I knew that if I'm like, if I decided to work two days a week and I make, for example, 500 bucks, I'm good, you know, and I knew that if I'm like, if I want to make like a thousand bucks for next month, so I want to go and be National Park and just do my art, oh, two weeks, I can do that too. I just go to that National Park, I will stay there and I will do my art and I will come back again. Or even in the National Park, I sometimes I'm meeting people.

Jennifer Loehding:

They're buying. You're still doing your art then. Are you sure you're still doing your art now?

Aisha Makara:

that's what you're saying. Okay, actually I just covered it, I don't know why, but no, that's good, that's good.

Jennifer Loehding:

So where did the? When did your? How did you collide with the spacex? How did that come about?

Aisha Makara:

well, you know, I um, in end of the 2020, I created a video you can find it on YouTube, Okay, On my website as well, I think I have it when I send my artwork to Elon Musk Awesome, I send my artwork to the space. I send my artwork to Jeff Bezos asking him to send me as a first artist astronaut to do art in the space. And Richard Branson that I can paint his rocket, you know, Virgin Galactic. So I sent all of them to the offices and so like, eventually I was talking to my friends about that I was like, oh, you know, I've shown my video. That I did because I was like kind of like I didn't care. You know, like this is my video. So I'm like, oh, you're so egocentric. I'm like all artists are egocentric, you know, it's normal, Whatever you call it, it's fine.

Aisha Makara:

You know like, oh, you're selfish. I said, okay, whatever, I don't care. You know your dream, it's connected to your gym. Look, this is like opportunity, like somebody is like doing this project sending uh, artworks to the space. So I've got the project. You know I've been selected and you know I went for the interview and they selected all my artworks engraving golden plates and send it to the space with the SpaceX and my friends. I was sending to many of my friends apply. Nobody applied and I asked them why. And they asked me how did you send your art to the space? They were asking me. I was like I just applied and and then it was connected to my dream because that was my dream.

Aisha Makara:

I wanted to be there and I was thinking, if this opportunity arrived, I get to take this opportunity because it's connected to my dream. That's what I want to do. You know, that's my one of my dreams in my life. I don't, I didn't know how it's going to be. I didn't know when it's going to be. I just knew that I this is what I want to do. And, um, when they were like, I said probably it's not your dream, that was not your dream. That's why I didn't apply and that's why I'm always looking for the opportunity that connected to my dream, to my dream life, that's connected to what I want to create in my manifest, in my life. So I'm just so patient and at the same time, I don't have any expectations. I just know that it's going to happen at some point in my life and I'm not like really looking for that. Oh, when it's going to happen. When it's going to happen, I'm not like anymore putting that energy and time to like I want to do this now. You know I get to look for all the opportunities now. No, it's going to happen. Naturally, you know, that's what I trust. Every single life has a time and a right moment. Everything like. I'm just trusting to the process.

Aisha Makara:

I'm here to enjoy my life and I'm here to create a joyful life for myself. I'm not here to stress or worry or like whatever. I'm here to enjoy each day of my life. It doesn't matter what people say to me. I decided to be joyful, I decided to be happy, I decided to be positive. It's my choice every day. You know, it doesn't matter which conversation I will have with someone and I will always move towards a solution or a positive thinking or positive action.

Aisha Makara:

You know I don't want people to look at life or poor me. No, not victimize your life. It's so much you have. You're really privileged, and this is what I used to say to my friends. You're already privileged by living in Europe. You're already privileged by living in the United States, by being American. You're already so privileged. Just learn your privilege, you know. Learn how to stay in that privilege and appreciate that privilege, because not so many people privileged like you, you know, right now have opportunities to travel around the world doing so many things. You know being creative. Do whatever you want and not so many things. You know being creative.

Aisha Makara:

Do whatever you want and not so many people no, no, when you're looking at the all the world actually maybe just two percent, maybe like a one percent of the whole population of the world have this opportunity, but people don't think about that. They just victimize themselves. They victimizeized their life and I didn't. I said like you know what, if I would stay there where I am and continue to cry about what I don't have instead to focus what I have and I used to say, all the time I have me, you know, I can do absolutely anything I want in this lifetime because I have me, and it's enough, it's more than enough. The rest is just coming like naturally, you know, and I'm focusing what I have now. You know, I'm always focusing what I have now, what I can do with what I have now. You know, and people they don't even understand, they don't even like, they're always looking for what they don't have.

Jennifer Loehding:

How do these people get in touch with you? Cause your story is great and I want to tell you thank you so much. I think it's wonderful. I think you've done a lot of cool things and thank you for sharing your heart and your passion, because I think you're very passionate about what you're creating and manifesting and I love it. I think that's awesome. You are that small percent that's been able to manifest what you want. I think it's beautiful. But somebody listening to this may want to get in touch with you. They might want to pick up your book. They might want to follow you on social media. I don't know. Keep up with what you're doing. Where do you want us to send them so they can? They can get in touch with you.

Aisha Makara:

I have a website I issued that today's A-I-S-H-I dot today where people can book a time with me and where they also can look at my mentorship program I'm also mentoring people about. I have different programs about dream life, about joyful living, and I also have my book that you can find on Amazon Joyful Living Guidebook. You can just go to Amazon and just like write Joyful Living Guidebook by Isha Makara and you can. You know it's like it's there and it's in hardcover. It's with my art in it, you know, and some different ideas the way you can improve your life and live more joyful. And I have also right now I'm going to do my exhibition next year in March or April here in Lisbon. If somebody is in Lisbon, I'm based in Lisbon, I know in here in Lisbon, if somebody is in Lisbon, I'm based in Lisbon. I'm always happy to you know, meet people and you know them around.

Jennifer Loehding:

You can always connect me through there, my website, it's more easy, you know, and Okay, perfect, we'll make sure that your links get in on the show notes so they know how to catch up with you. And you said what you were going to do because I was like what's going to be coming up next? And you got your expo coming up in March and April, so good luck with getting that all pulled together. I'm sure you're going to do magnificent. I love that you're a planner and you kind of you sort of kind of manage, like decide what you want to make happen and then you just kind of float in there and start making it happen.

Jennifer Loehding:

And we know, as leaders and entrepreneurs and creators whatever we want to call ourselves we know that not everything is easy. It's really about decisions in the mind and bringing into action what you think you want. And so thank you for reiterating this over and over in the message. It's like we can put a title on it. We need to put something about do not run on autopilot. You're bringing your destiny Because Aisha says do not run on autopilot. Your destiny because Aisha says do not run on autopilot. I love it. Well, I want to thank you. I know we're coming up on here. We've been on here for a while, so I know we're coming up on right. You and I could probably chat forever, but I know you got things to do and I got things to do, and I know our audience does too. So, thank you, we get to create our own podcast.

Aisha Makara:

You know our podcast. We were talking about dates what are you talking about?

Jennifer Loehding:

don't live on autopilot. Do not live on autopilot. Create your destiny. No, I love it.

Jennifer Loehding:

Aisha, thank you for your time, thank you for your wisdom, and keep doing your thing. I mean, it's working for you, you're happy, and I think that's what life is really about. It's about creating those joyful moments so that you're not always waiting for the end. You're living life in the fullest, in the moment, all the time, and it's not always perfect, but if you can, overall, live like that, you're going to be much happier than waiting for those destinations in the end. So, thank you, thank you for saying that, of course, to our audience. If you found this episode, we hope, both inspiring and informative, go, do all the things you got to hit the like, the subscribe, comment, share, do all the things so we can continue sharing all this fabulous content. And, as I always say when we end this show, in order to live the extraordinary, you must start, and every start begins with a decision. You guys, take care, be safe, be kind to one another and we will see you next time. Bye for now.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Jennifer Loehding

Host