Bhoomika Ghaghada is rallying young creatives in the UAE to the Gulf Creative Collective, a virtual network enabling creative nourishment, professional growth, and increased collaboration for its members.
Ghaghada is the Co-Founder and Lead Copywriter of STREET FZC, a Sharjah-based advertising agency. Born in the UAE, Ghaghada and her partner, Tarun Shyam, successfully transformed their start-up, targeting Millennials and Gen Z, to one of the most innovative agencies in the MENA region with an exceptional client list. Some notable names include Victoria’s Secret, Unilever, Bandai Namco, and Flash Entertainment (Coldplay, Creamfields, Kevin Hart, Dua Lipa).
Ghaghada’s passion for cross-platform community building through copywriting has driven unrivaled grassroots campaigns in the Gulf and in New York and she brings her fire and intimate understanding of the UAE market to this latest project.
“In a post-COVID-19 world, already-struggling media professionals and creatives will need to feel creatively, professionally and financially supported. We’re in for a few years of global economic uncertainty, so this is us gathering to connect creatives with other creatives, employment opportunities, and resources for growth. In the UAE, different creatives—marketers, theatre enthusiasts, painters, researchers, animators, photographers—exist in pockets, working in isolation. Honest connection, beyond superficial networking and transactional relationships, will be a game-changer for creatives in many industries.”
The Gulf Creative Collective is a cultural intervention. All creatives are welcome to join, free-of-charge. It functions through a Slack group, a newsletter and virtual workshops.
The Slack group enables meaningful relationship-building, where members can introduce themselves, find potential employment/projects, share their work, and send requests for collaborations (personal/work projects).
The newsletter fosters professional growth through curated job listings, resources for skill-building, and sourced networking opportunities around town.
The virtual workshops, soon-to-be member-led, are planned around must-have skills for evolving industries, as well as tending to creativity that lives outside “work”— in literature, in others, in trying new things. Slated workshops for the summer (during quarantine) include: Painting with an art therapist, how to have meaningful conversations, and a guided meditation for creatives.
Ghaghada’s ambitious record earned her a scholarship to the illustrious arts university, Pratt Institute, in the media capital of the world, New York City. In 2019, she earned a Master of Arts in Media Studies with honors and was awarded for academic excellence. Ghaghada’s thesis was based on the rebranding of the downtown Dubai neighborhood Karama. In 2014, she received her B.A. in Mass Communication from the American University of Sharjah. She’s currently working on several projects with clients across North America, Europe and her home in the UAE.
She has tackled creative and business challenges on both continents, and seen the amplifying effect of meaningful community on every team. She is an active member of the Online News Association, Asian American Journalism Association and several online creative communities in NYC.
“Members of communities I’ve been part of got jobs, got into Ivy league schools, met lifelong mentors, learned new skills, healed emotionally and psychologically, and felt endlessly supported. That’s important for us at any time, but especially now.”
Join to meet your chosen family and follow Gulf Creative Collective on Instagram.
