We sat down with the powerful Lamaan, host of the Cut The Crap podcast, founder of Stashbags, and life and health coach. She’s had amazing guests on her podcast, and definitely does not shy away from difficult conversations and topics. She sheds light on issues of self-love, productivity, societal expectations, and so much more. We’re here for all of it! Lamaan teaches us about the power of conversation, and we hope to learn from her extraordinary ability to cut the crap!
Your Cut The Crap podcast has gained tremendous praise, tell us about this journey…
I realized that we all go through very similar difficult times, but no one talks about it! Everyone is in their corner suffering and then we meet in the middle and we pretend like everything is fine. I started realizing that everyone needs to cut the crap with themselves, with myself, and out of my life.
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The only other place that I would find people talking about the things I’m going through was Youtube or TedTalks, and then I was introduced to the podcast realm. All I needed was to hear that there’s nothing wrong with me for feeling this way, that by feeling all these things I am living life as a human and that’s great.
I felt like there needed to be a platform that talks about this part of life, especially in Egypt, because there’s a dime a dozen in America. There’s one here, that looks like us, has the same family and Arab mentality, with the same existential and cultural pull, that talks about these things.
So what? So, cut the crap.
What are some challenges you’ve faced throughout this journey, and how have you overcome them?
There are a lot of obstacles and challenges because I have to be very vulnerable about what I go through. There’s this protection layer that you peel off. But the truth is, the judgment you expect people to pass on you that you fear, is your own judgment. Watching myself is so difficult. It’s a challenge, to truly look at yourself; naked. You start to be very real with yourself.
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And then you have the business expectations and the responsibility to your audience. It’s so phenomenal that I could be so big for someone else, it just goes over my head. But it’s also a lot of pressure because I don’t want to let them down. I have a responsibility now. You have to be willing to be vulnerable and an ongoing learner. We learn and grow together.
You often discuss “breaking the generational cycle”, how important is this healing journey, especially in Egypt?
It’s very lonely. The reason I allowed myself to feel this, and even as someone who doesn’t like to feel negative, is because I don’t want my kids to go through this.
Feel your pain, I don’t need you to feel mine.
It needs to stop somewhere. And if you start to stop it, you’ll find that your mom is going to realize it, and then if you’re lucky enough, maybe your grandmother. They’re aware and it gives them a road to go down.
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For example, my mom and I had the virginity conversation, and I told her “mom do you know that the hymen doesn’t actually break?” and she told me “wow, they used to always scare us and tell us not to do gymnastics or horseback riding or whatever”. I never thought that I could have this conversation with my mom, but she was saying that it makes sense because she probably had an idea that this was a control tactic.
Breaking the generational trauma cycle is going to hurt no matter what.
Sit in it, because you’re gonna have to anyway.
You’ve mentioned living abroad for a portion of your life, how has that experience helped you grow your community here in Cairo?
I’ve always been back and forth between here and America. Until recently, I felt like I didn’t fit here or there. I didn’t feel rooted, stable, grounded, safe, or secure. The only thing I can say that helped me was being forced to meet a lot of people and learning how to communicate with those different types of people.
We’re all more the same than different. So I would always say that we have to bridge the gap because we’re so similar, and that’s another reason why I wanted to do Cut The Crap. What they’re saying over there, relates over here. What they’re feeling over there, we’re also feeling over here. We’re all the same.
You’ve had a lot of amazing guests on your show, tell us about a few of your favorites.
I always say I give Noor El Selim a lot of props because what he did was so difficult. My first thought was not even about what trouble this could make, it was more about not wanting him to feel like he’s spoken his truth, and he’s getting anything but love.
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I had my hand on my heart, but I was so touched by the beauty of people’s reactions. I can’t imagine how he felt. It proved to me what I believed about Cut The Crap, and about us here in Egypt; we’re so diverse and smart and passionate and good. We just don’t have enough investment in us.
What was it like being able to speak at your old high school and what would you say to young women trying to make a positive change in this world?
It made me realize the importance of trusting your instinct. Podcasts didn’t exist when I was in school, now you can major in podcasting. If you can think of it, there has to be a reason. If it makes sense to you, it’ll make sense to someone else.
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Don’t shut yourself up, you know so much and you have access to so much in the world to help you. Listen to yourself, and you’re gonna have so much love and respect for yourself.
What are your goals for the future?
I don’t do that anymore. I have directions. I want to get to a place where I can say I’ve done the work, and fully without a doubt know who I am.
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For Cut The Crap, I don’t know where it’s gonna go but I know it’s going somewhere good. I refuse to cap it with a goal because every time I have a goal I kind of block out all the opportunities and blessings that were coming because it “didn’t fit my goal”. So it’s kind of like being comfortable enough to live life off-script.
What do women want?
To live. To be. Women want the freedom to figure out what they want. Because we’re always told what we want. You don’t wanna get married? Get a house? Lose weight? Help your family with cooking? Have kids? Don’t wanna come with us and get your first bra, first lipstick, first whatever?
Don’t tell me what I want. Every woman speaks for herself.