What’s the story behind your creative journey? Tell us how you got started, and what moment made you realize this was your calling?

The creative journey is a lifelong co creation with the Divine, and mine continues to unfold.

I’ve always been drawn to art, movement, and expression. As a kid, painting, dance, and expression felt instinctive and exciting. As I grew older, that same pull led me toward travel and lived experiences. Moving through different lands, cultures, and people opened me to a deeper understanding of our connection to creation and our role as creators. Art and creation live in how we see, how we gather, and how we move through life.

Each of us is both the canvas and the painter, shaping our lives in conversation with Allah.

Life itself becomes the art.

My creative work flows through corporate, content, storytelling, travel, fashion, community gathering, and relationship building. To me, it is all one creative language. I remain in awe of creation and creating as this journey continues, following where the next brushstroke leads.

How does your cultural or faith background influence your work? We’d love to hear about the unique perspective you bring to your art.

Growing up Muslim gave me a rhythm rooted in awareness, intention and remembrance. Islam teaches us to honor beauty as something meaningful and a reflection of the One. My Pakistani heritage carries a deep love for color, storytelling, hospitality, and lineage. We share stories to keep our ancestors present, to bring memory and meaning into the room.

As a traveler, I love weaving multiple identities together. Creativity is a bridge between cultures and worlds. Through my work with Indigenous communities and personal experiences around the world, I approach culture with reverence and responsibility to share and evolve.

Creating is a way of carrying heritage forward, building connection, and inviting others into a shared sense of beauty that makes us feel seen and welcome.

What’s a project you’re especially proud of, and what made it meaningful to you? Walk us through the creative process and why it holds a special place in your heart.

I’m proud of the launch of my new YouTube channel, Zoya the Explorer.

This project marks my growing relationship with the camera and my intention to build a global community rooted in shared humanity and experience. My dream for Zoya the Explorer is for it to become a place where stories, conversations, and cultures meet, reminding us how connected we truly are and gently weaving us back to the One.

The creative process is collaborative and alive. The creative team in Pakistan supports the editing and storytelling, and creating together across cultures, time zones, and experiences has already been such a fun learning journey. I know we’re just getting started.

I launched the channel in May of 2025, and since then I’ve grown it slowly and intentionally, gathering subscribers one by one (and I’d love for you to subscribe!). It’s very much in its infancy, and I’m excited to see how the inspiration continues to unfold. Thank you for being part of the journey.

If you could collaborate with any artist (living or historical) from the Muslim or ethnic diaspora, who would it be and why?

Someone I would love to dream, create, and learn from is Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi.

I’m in awe of how Rumi remains one of the most widely read poets in the world, centuries later. His words speak of the greatest love there is, love of the Beloved, while somehow belonging to everyone. You don’t need to share a faith or background to feel yourself inside his poetry. Each time I return to his work, it opens me differently. That ability to hold divine depth and human tenderness at the same time feels like the highest form of art.

And then, for the Bollywood dreamer girl in me, there’s Shah Rukh Khan. His love stories sweep you into another world entirely, where romance, devotion, and emotion are larger than life. Or as he famously says, “Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost.” The story isn’t over yet, My Friend.

Together, they remind us that love and creation can be mystical and joyful, eternal and cinematic, all at once.

What’s one misconception about your art form or your community that you’d like to challenge? What do you wish more people understood?

Creativity doesn’t look one way, and faith doesn’t shrink it, faith expands it.

As a Muslim woman, I’m encouraged to grow, to experience the world, to reflect deeply, and to create with intention. Creativity is not separate from belief, it’s nourished by it. Sometimes there are misconceptions shaped by how we’ve been misrepresented, and part of what drives my work is gently offering a fuller, more human picture.

We are not one-dimensional. We are travelers, dreamers, culture shapers, and bridge builders. Our voices carry many influences, histories, and possibilities, and I’m proud to create from that richness.

I have a corporate career, and yet art lives in everything I do. It shows up in how I build relationships, design experiences, work with fashion and storytelling, and move through spaces with care. Creation isn’t limited to a medium. It’s a way of seeing and engaging with the world.

When we approach our work, our communities, and each other with intention, imagination, and curiosity, art becomes something we live, not something we make.

⁠How can our community support your work and stay connected with you?

First, thank you for taking the time to read my story and for spotlighting me. I’m truly honored to be part of the Kufi community.

The best way to support me right now is by subscribing to my YouTube channel, Zoya the Explorer, which I’m actively growing and nurturing.

I’d also love to stay connected across all platforms. You can find me on Instagram at @Zoya_theexplorer
LinkedIn and Facebook as Zoya Rukh Awan.

If you feel called to collaborate whether through one-of-a-kind fashion pieces, creative styling, or brand expression I’m always open to thoughtful conversations and excited to co-create and lean into how fashion, identity, and storytelling come together in bold and meaningful ways.

My website is currently very much on my to-do list, so gentle accountability is always welcome. 🙂 Looking ahead, I’m in the early stages of building Zoya House, where I pray to weave more of my fashion and design work into the world.

Thank you for being part of the journey. The story and all the creations are still unfolding. May they flow through us in alignment with the most High. 💚🌹

Assalamu Alaikum and Khuda Hafiz,
Much love,
Zoya 🤍