Reflections with Maheen

Maheen shares the journey behind creating Season 2 of the Fake ID podcast, reflecting on personal growth, identity, cultivating vulnerability, Palestine,  and other experiences that shaped the upcoming season.

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Hi everyone, I'm Maheen Sohail and you're listening to season two of Fake ID podcast. Fake ID is accumulation of stories that help you understand your identity better. it helps you reflect on the past and things that make you who you are today, but it also helps you understand how you can be the person that you want to be in the future. If you are a listener of the first season of Fake ID, Then you know we focused a lot on immersive stories that help to reflect on your own identity as a result. And Season 2, which I've been working on for a few years now, is going to be a little bit different. Before we kind of jump into what Season 2 is, I kind of want to just share an update with you of what's been up with me, why the season took so long to create, and kind of just like do a casual check in, you know? So, when I started Fake ID a few years ago, It was pretty obvious to the listeners that I was going through something, really serious in my life. I was in a very pivotal moment where I was lost in my own identity and I found that fake ID was a project that was helping me discover my own identity and my own truth, alongside the people that were listening. And when I finished season one, I actually felt that I had, Found my identity, that I was a lot more comfortable with who I was as a person at the end of the episodes, or at the end of the first season, as opposed to when I started it. And so, you know, that's pretty awesome. Like it was a success in a very personal way for me. And then on top of that, it was very beautiful to hear that it was resonating with so many different people, and I loved hearing the stories that everybody was sharing with me on what these different episodes meant to people. And then when it came to working on season two, I started to feel a couple of things. First of all, fake ID is a very serious podcast. It's a very heavy podcast. And so it felt that when I was working on the second season, I was almost going into this headspace that I didn't necessarily want to be in, which was serious and heavy when really I had kind of like, I had gone past that journey of mine and I wanted things to be more lighthearted and, and more open and more airy, which I think some of these identity conversations didn't let me or allow me to do, and that I kind of just wanted a break from all of that, to be honest, and this is, I think, reflected in a pretty good story of a friend of mine where he shared with me that every time he listened to the first season of Fake ID, He actually had to make sure that he was mentally in a reflective and good space, that it, that he was ready to listen to something that was quite deep, and go into that introspection mode, and that's not like other podcasts out there where you might listen to it to get like a break, you know, you watch like a good TV show because like you're tired from your day or whatever, but that's not what Fake ID Season 1 was, and That's kind of how I felt when I was creating it, is that it felt heavy, and it felt serious, and I just wasn't there in my life. The second reason why I think it took me so long is because I'm a perfectionist. It takes me a long time to create these episodes, I want the audio to be perfect, I want the narrative to be perfect, I want the visuals to be perfect, and as a designer, you're never happy with your work of art, right? And so I I guess I procrastinated. I actually went on this personal journey where I was like, I'm going to become a manager in my daytime job to understand how to scale myself and how to build a team across a project and around a project so that I can do the same thing with my endeavors outside of work. So if I could build a team for Fake ID where I have editors and that way I can focus on kind of like the core piece of the narratives. And I learned, I went and became a manager in this meantime, I managed for two years, like all of that happened and I gained those skills and I didn't necessarily transfer it into fake idea until very recently and a lot of that is, you know, letting go of perfection, letting go of control, being more of an entrepreneurial mindset and kind of like building a ecosystem or, or some sort of, Routines and structure around something that you want to achieve. And, and I think if I have that I can probably consistently launch more seasons of Fake ID. So, that's kind of like a personal learning and lesson. Something that I'm still kind of struggling with and learning. And honestly I, I probably should have done this a long time ago. So that's that. Those are the two reasons why it took so long. I have no excuses, but I'm really glad that I can finally share these stories with you guys. So now let's talk a bit about what season two of Fake ID is going to be like. I actually think this season is going to be super interesting because it comes out of an experiment that I tried to run two years ago. So about two years ago, I hosted a live event in Brooklyn, New York. And the whole idea of this event was that I wanted people to come to this one space and experience what vulnerability feels like. And also, kind of, Go through a very immersive experience of what it feels like to be in a fake ID conversational state and, what it feels like to be a part of that podcast. And so the event was super interesting where we had. Kind of four to five stations set up when you first walk in you're told that you can't really talk about like surface level things like your favorite color or the weather but you can only ask each other deep questions and I gave people a list of those deep questions and the first area that you go into is kind of like a conversational circle where you meet other people, you get to ask these questions, And there was food there as well from like different cultures. Then you move on to the second space where there were stories and quotes and you can kind of like reflect on different episodes from the first season of Fake ID. And then you go into the third state of this immersive experience which was the recording rooms. And we had four recording rooms set up on four different topics that were kind of big. themes of clashing points that were coming up in the first season and what I had been hearing about identity, like gender and sexuality, race and nationality, religion, and family and relationships, stuff like that. And you pick a room, and you go into that room, and you're in that room alone, and then there is this recording experience they're waiting for you where I, a virtual version of me, is asking the participant questions and recording an interview with them. And all of these interviews that came out of those rooms are essentially what make up the season two of Fake ID. So it's super interesting. You will hear stories of people that picked these different rooms and the reflections that they left in these different rooms. And they're all anonymous. The thing that I found extremely fascinating about this live event, because it was an experiment, I really wasn't sure how it would go, is that people were quite interested in that format. In fact, I found it really surprising that people were in those rooms like 40 minutes at a time, even though I had just asked four questions. And so, it shows you that people have a lot of stories to share about these topics. And what happens when you bring together multiple people around the same question in the same room interviewing and answering the same questions is you start to see how similar or different people are and what are the different choices that we've made in life that have led to our different identities. And that's really a theme that you'll see throughout this Fake ID Season 2 is our choices and decisions, our different cards that were dealt to us in our childhood, how that's led to To the people that we are today and the thoughts that we hold and things like that. So, super fascinating. I am really appreciative of the people that came to this space and were vulnerable and shared their stories. Now that being said, They recorded their stories two years ago. Two years ago, okay? Just put that into context when you're listening to these episodes. Because that means that these identities have evolved probably from that time onwards. I personally know some of these people that recorded these episodes, and I know that they've had major changes in their lives. For example, people had their first kid, or maybe their second child, maybe they went through a divorce, maybe they got married, maybe they went through a breakup, maybe they lost a loved one, maybe they switched jobs, maybe they discovered new hobbies. And those are all the changes that I've seen most of these participants go through. And so, if they're listening to these episodes, I think what's interesting for them is to reflect on how they have evolved from that time. Do they still resonate with the stories that they shared two years ago? And if not, what has changed? And I actually would love to invite them to have that conversation with me as a follow up. So, please keep that in mind. huge apology to the people that have been waiting for their stories to come out for two years, but I'm really glad that we can finally share them with the world. And I think it makes this experiment a little more interesting in that sense. So Pick a room that you want to listen to, and I hope that you walk away with some reflections. I would love, love, love to hear from you, kind of what you took away from that room, and did you resonate with it? Did it feel different? What is your take on some of the topics that were being discussed in that room? And now, apart from all of that, there are two to three, special episodes that I'm also launching in this first season. And Those are topics that are very near and dear to my heart and have only become more important over the last two years. The first one is, I really want to take the opportunity of what's happening in the world right now to discuss Palestine and talk about the identity. that we really need to help preserve. So our first episode is actually going to go into a live stream that was recorded with one of my friends a few years ago. And I'm also working on a second version of that episode with more recent stories of, both Palestinians and some of my Jewish friends on kind of what is, how are they feeling about their identity amidst everything that's happening. as a result of this, I've also started caring a lot about representation in our industry. And how big of a difference sharing narratives that are of diverse backgrounds. The difference and the responsibility that that holds is something that's really near and dear to my heart and I'm actually working on a syndicate to help people kind of like pool money together to further narratives like these. And you'll hear one episode, on representation in the industry, in Season 2. So, hopefully, you will also enjoy that. Now, that's a lot about, kind of like, what you'll get in Season 2. And then maybe I should also give an update on kind of what's happened with my identity over the last two years. I know many of the listeners of the first season really appreciated when I was vulnerable and kind of like shared a bit more about myself, so I'm happy to do that. My identity has evolved. Quite a lot, I would say, in the last two years, but the way I would describe it is that when you guys first got to know me in season one, I was kind of lost and at the peak of confusion and it kind of resolved, and now I'm just kind of comfortable with my identity. I think there's still a lot of pieces I'm figuring out, but I am more okay with not knowing, and I'm more okay with understanding that identity is complex and it's going to transform and continue to evolve over time. And I don't need all the answers figured out. Work wise, you know, I became a manager, and now I'm back to not being a manager, and kind of, I'm comfortable going back and forth between those identities. Personally, my relationship with Pakistan has evolved tremendously over the time, and I've learned that, I care and respect that culture a lot, but I have to define myself beyond that and outside of that, and be comfortable. Letting go of that a little bit. Religiously, I've learned that that is a very personal journey and something that I can only strengthen with my own relationship with religion and God. So that's been pretty fascinating. and yeah, I think one of the other big ones is that I have kind of taken on this identity of being a surfer., back when I made season one I was getting into surfing and since then it's become a lifestyle for me where those are the only reasons for which I travel, it's taught me a lot about life, it's taught me a lot about who I am, it's the type of,, I think surfing brings the type of values that I really admire,, it teaches me patience, it teaches me how to be a more resilient person and to also just be more active and, and more mellow. And, and to kind of live in the moment, and also to take, take any sort of bad days with kind of an optimist outlook. And so I actually think becoming a surfer has really evolved my identity as a person and I think that's a really good example of when you take up new hobbies or you kind of. Open parts of yourself to different situations, it tends to evolve you and kind of change you forever, right? Like, now I will always be able to reflect on sort of the experiences that I've had as a result of surfing. And if people are interested in learning more about that, I'm definitely happy to make an episode about that. Anyway, I feel like I've talked a lot and you're probably eager to get into the second season and I'm eager for you to listen to those stories. So I'll wrap it up here. I would just like to say I'm really grateful to all the listeners. Thank you so much for kind of checking up on me for the last two years and asking when we can launch more episodes. I'm really glad we can finally do this and I'm really excited for you to listen to the episodes. If you like this season, please consider subscribing to us on wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Please share the episodes with your friends and family and. More than that, I would love to hear from you on how you felt about these episodes. Any feedback is welcome, any thoughts are welcome, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you all. Bye!