From left: Saudi actress and filmmaker Ahd Kamel, Journalist and Founder of Amuse Roberta Fedele, Director of Cultural and Media Affairs at the American Consulate Christy Watkins, American photojournalist Miki Turner, Senior Partner of Amuse Yasmin Gahtani, and founder of Lace Events Sarah Al Dabbagh. — Courtesy photos



Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Not satisfied with your current situation? Are you stuck in a career that you no longer feel any zeal towards? Or are you happy with what you accomplished, but feel that you are in need of a change?



Re-invent yourself.



Different women from different backgrounds, but equally interesting stories, explain what the art of re-invention means and how they have re-invented themselves.



Sofana R. Dahlan, a young Saudi woman, certified lawyer, founder of several social enterprises that foster creativity, and a life coach, faced many challenges before becoming the first practicing female lawyer in the Kingdom. She defined re-invention as an art and a science to transform your current situation into something positive.



“When you stop and reflect on your life, and assess whether where you are now is aligned with what you want to accomplish in the future, that is when you start to re-invent yourself. I decided to stop blaming my circumstances and the constraints of society, and I started to change my obstacles into opportunities for growth,” Dahlan said.



Dahlan studied law to learn the rights of women in Islam and to help women in her society. In the beginning Dahlan was not granted a license to practice in the Kingdom. She was unhappy. It pained her that she was unable to help a divorced woman get financial support from her ex-husband, which was her right.



Instead of giving up, Dahlan continued applying to governmental bodies; she persisted in working her way through the arduous paperwork, legislation, and red tape until she finally got licensed.



Today she is a certified mediator; she helps two parties at odds resolve their conflicts, reconcile when possible, and upholds the rights of women.



Toni Scott has African, Native American, and European roots. For her, re-invention is all about passion. Toni had always been mesmerized by art but she studied international relations and business, landing a high-paying job in a top company.



Although she was successful in the corporate world, she would come home every night and paint, her heart yearned for art. So she decided to re-invent herself, to follow her passion, and pursue the arts. She learned metal sculpting, marble carving, and working with wood. Today Scott is a renowned sculptor and multi-media artist. Her artwork in museums aims to inspire, educate, heal, engage, stimulate dialogue, and bring together diverse cultures.



From Saudi Arabia, Ahd Kamel’s view of re-invention is a shift in perception. Kamel is a yoga instructor; yoga taught her patience, endurance, how to trust her heart, and how to create the possibilities for things to happen. She began transferring the physical lessons in yoga to practical lessons in her life.



Ahd realized that acting and film making is what she wanted to do. She is now an actress and filmmaker; she became well known for her starring role in the Saudi feature film, Wadjda, in 2012.



“I had to make peace with myself and accept that I loved acting and film making. In college when we were making documentaries, we would work for 9, 12, and sometimes 14 hours straight. When you completely lose track of time while working, that is when you know that you love what you are doing,” said Kamel.



Miki Turner, an African American woman, was a competitive sports writer, photojournalist, and worked in television and radio.



She was at the height of her professional career when she decided to tread away from the entertainment industry.



She is re-inventing herself as an educator, university instructor, and author.



A portion of the proceeds from book sales is used to fund education for disadvantaged youth in underdeveloped countries.



Her book, "Journey to the Woman I’ve Come to Love" portrays women from all walks of life and from all cultures to empower and inspire women and bridge the cultural gaps between them.



To Sara Dabbagh, re-inventing herself means changing for the better, moving forward. In college she majored in business but was miserable, so she switched to early childhood education.



However, her passion lied in weddings: the flowers, the bride, the food, and everything about weddings. Dabbagh took the risk and embarked on becoming a wedding planner because she enjoys and loves it so much, her business turned out to be such a surprising success.



“The key to success is to love what you do; don’t treat your work only as a job to get done. As a wedding planner, it isn’t only about the event and the decorations, at times I feel like a therapist. I have to make sure that the bride is happy and that she gets the wedding she has dreamt of, and then there are the mother and the aunts and the grandmother!” said Dabbagh.



What brought these amazing women together was a unique and truly thought provoking event, organized by Roberta Fedele, an Italian journalist living in Jeddah.



“I wanted to link with people in my social network to generate creative ideas, inspire, and learn. With 3 friends who share my vision, we founded AMUSE, an organization that serves as a platform for artists, activists, writers, and others interested in creativity, motivating others, and intercultural communication,” said Fedele.



Held at Athr Gallery in Jeddah on May, the second edition of the Art of Re-Invention seminar brought together women from different walks of life to explore ways of regenerating oneself, professionally and personally. The first Art of Re-Invention seminar was held in Paris by Miki Turner, Laurel Holloman, and Isabelle van Rolleghem.



“The desire for re-invention is very human and very universal. All people can identify with this inner search, across nationalities, regions, and cultures,” said Fedele.