Caught Red-Handed Podcast

A conversation with Khadija, our Moroccan henna artist/teacher at our Mektoub event. Without Khadija, I don’t know if there would be a Mektoub Henna or any of the trips we took to Morocco. In Khadija we found a kindred spirit, someone so passionate about Moroccan henna that it became her life’s work. She was our teacher at our first Mektoub event in Marrakesh. We met her on Instagram and loved her work, hoping that she would teach at our event.

Kenzi interviews Connie about her experience at the Mektoub eventMorocco with a focus on her personal transformation.

We talk about our journeys as fans of Moroccan henna, from geeking out over photos of Moroccan henna in the early days of the internet, to deciding to host this Moroccan henna workshop featuring Moroccan henna artists, and a whole lot more. The event will be October 8-15, 2021 in Marrakesh, and registration opens on March 28, 2021. Click here for more information. A few others things we mention in this episode: Our featured henna artists' IG accounts: Khadija @galerie_henna Nadia @marrakechhennaartcafe Fatima @tamolayt.henna Mektoub Henna: @MektoubHenna

In this episode Monique and Kenzi chatted with Jen about his several trips to Morocco and learned about his henna encounters in Marrakesh, the city of art and artists. Come join us on this virtual audio tour and fill that void that misses traveling!

I’m going to break an old taboo about talking about money with other people; I’m going to break it hard by talking to Sowmya Ranganathan about money AND broadcasting it to anyone who will listen. I personally think this rule is kind of stupid because it keeps people ignorant about money which causes us to make poor decisions about our money. This is especially problematic for small business owners who deal with money more directly than those who work for someone else.For many reasons, I have wanted to cover this issue in the podcast for a long time. One of the minor reasons is to talk here about my own issues and journey regarding money. Growing up poor-ish and always pinching pennies I learned a lot about money, but I also absorbed some bad money habits, like buying something ONLY based on price…only later realizing that when you skimp on quality you end up spending more in the long run on a replacement or repair. I also always had a hard time spending money on on intangibles whose value I couldn’t quantify, like a weekend away to recharge the batteries and come back stronger. I know from conversations online that a lot of you have questions and outright fear regarding money.I also wanted to cover this issue as part of my not-so-secret feminist agenda. Let’s face it, most henna artists are women and we exist in a world where the power and the pursestrings are not always in our command. Most of us grow up without the skills to ask for what we are worth (financially, but also physically, emotionally and intellectually). When I first started doing henna professionally I used to state my prices with a question mark at the end and a look of begging for approval on my face. I have learned to put a period at the end of my sentences, but there are days when I feel guilty for asking for what I am worth. I’m nearly 50 and I recently asked for a raise for the first time in my life! I’m embarrassed to admit this. My boss agreed I deserved a raise, but when it came time there just wasn’t the budget for it. That sucks but it’s beyond the scope of this podcast!Kenzi tries to multitask but fails. Focus.This podcast may not be able to address our issues of low self-worth (I’ll see if I can find a guest who can), but I think that we can get valuable information out there to empower us all to take our finances to a new level. My guest, Sowmya, is a henna artist (JoyofHenna on IG) but also works in accounting at an internet startup in San Francisco. As you may or may not know, I also have an alter-ego as a software trainer. We talk about accounting concepts and tools, but also the soft science of how to set prices.We are both fans of Square, Sowmya because she is an employee AND a user of Square products, and me because I am a user. We refer to Square a lot because we both use it, but what we say applies to similar products from other companies. We have also talked about doing a google hangout where we demo some of the concepts we talk about in the podcast, showing you how to work with spreadsheets and formulas, and also to give you tours of some of the products we discuss.I promised that I would list the products we discuss in the episode which I will do soon. Feel free to mention in the comments any tools that help you with your henna business.

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Caught Red-Handed Podcast which is the first ever live podcast and therefore most of the intro is about my experience at HennaCon. It was my first time, and one of my rare appearances at a conference. If you’ve never been to a henna conference and aren’t sure if you’re ready, believe me you are. The only prerequisites are a passion for henna, a desire to learn and grow, and a minimum of a few weeks of doing henna. I was surprised to see that HennaCon offers so much to newbies and seasoned old pros. I’ve been doing henna for 16 years and walked away from this experience with my brain and heart full of so much new stuff, most of which I am still digesting a month later. I met so many newbies who were all bright eyed and bushy tailed, soaking up as much information as they could , hennaing each other and getting hennaed. The week after I saw their work on Instagram and noticed leaps in quality and creativity. For me, HennaCon came at a good time for me benefit from it. If you have listened to just 1 or 2 episodes of this podcast you’ll know that I have been on a journey to improve my skills (learning to roll and use cones, and also tampering with my paste) as well as finding ways to more deeply tap into my creativity. My state of mind is very curious and receptive so HennaCon felt like a perfect match for my sponge-like state. I absorbed a lot from classes, but also from talking to other artists, watching how they work, answering their questions which really made me think about how I work, hennaing and getting hennaed.Back in Brooklyn one month after HennaCon here is what I’m thinking/doing/learning/planning. Starting with the podcast, i got a surge of ideas of different kinds of podcasts and people to interview. Watch this space for these developments. I’ve started practicing more on my own (it helps that it’s the slow season here). In my practice time I am working on things that I picked up at HennaCon like Kiran’s shading, Neeta’s fills, Rebecca’s leaves, Joey’s dots and then putting them all together. From the Moroccan henna class that I co-taught with Noam I realized that there is a huge interest in Moroccan henna. Before that I was despairing that no one cared about it and what’s the point of pushing it out there. Thanks to all your support (especially those of you who asked me to henna you with Moroccan designs) I feel a renewed passion for it. Nic and Noam and I are cooking up some projects in the realm of Moroccan henna. Again, watch this space.As for this episode of the podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kim Brennan, Jessica McQueen and Kiran Sahib on the subject of the creative process. I hope the sound issues aren’t too disruptive; it was my first time recording in a live environment. After the conversation with these three awesome women and artists I put in a few woman-on-the-street interviews with HennaCon attendees recorded on my iPhone. The sound quality on these is pretty terrible tho with all the background noise you may feel as if you were there, listening in person.Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road. Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

Subscribe to this podcast via iTunesSarah Mixing - Jared M. Burns PhotographyThis episode of the mixtape mixology series is a classic East Coast-West Coast battle with Middle America officiating. We have Sarah Walter in the West, representing Seattle (pictured above). Deborah Brommer takes up the middle position, representing the flyover states from her home in Ohio. She's the perfect person to middle because she is very tolerant of all types of henna, mixes, essential oils and even tools. She can roll with whatever is at hand which I found impressive. Representing my East Coast peeps is Rebecca Freedner, based in Vermont. No she does NOT mix her henna with maple syrup. Don't listen to the haters!The more I listen to all these mixes the more confused I am about what is best for me. I'm making small changes in how I mix henna, nothing too drastic because I need to be sure I have a good and consistent batch for working on clients. I think this winter I will have time to do some experimenting outside my comfort zone. What have you changed since you started listening to this mixtape series? Share in the comments. After this episode, there is one more in the series in which I am interviewed by our very own Nev.I mention this in the podcast, but just a reminder to register for HennaCon if you haven't already. I'll be there teaching an Advanced Moroccan workshop with Noam Sienna, and also doing a live podcast with a bunch of awesomely creative people. Go to HennaCon.com to register and see you there in October!Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road. Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

Listen to this episode" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out;">Listen to this EpisodeSubscribe to this podcast via iTunesPhoto by Wardah HalimPhoto by Manpreet SokhiPhoto by Sowmya RanganathanHenna recipes are like snowflakes...no two are the same. Or maybe a better metaphor is that henna artists are grannies with their own special recipe, made with love and no measurements, or maybe carefully measured but always with a little pinch of something you never thought of.I floated this episode idea of a collection of interviews about henna recipes with a bunch of seasoned pro henna artists in my inner circle. I thought maybe there would be a few interested in talking to me and maybe I'd get 5 minutes of tape from each. It turned out to be way more than that. One of my pro buddies wondered aloud how many recipes there could possibly and how would that make an interesting episode. I hope she's listening!My cattle call got so many takers and each call was a full conversation so I had to split them up into several episodes. Here is the first batch ready for your hungry ear holes. My guests were Sowmya from San Francisco, Wardah of San Diego, Victoria in Minneapolis and beyond, and Nev way up in Portland, ME.Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road. Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

Subscribe to this podcast via iTunesPerhaps you remember Darcy from the inaugural episode of this podcast, or maybe you have seen her work online...either way, she is hard to forget. A bridal panel just wouldn't be complete without talking to Darcy. In my years of friendship with her, Darcy has shared with me so much of her bridal henna knowledge. Her advice---based on personal experience---was very important to the growth of my own bridal henna business. I hope that you listeners will benefit from her advice as much as I did.Upon listening back to the three (so far!) bridal panel episodes I am amazed at how many ways there are to run a henna business, not to mention all the different ways to do henna, from making paste to wrapping up a bride. I was able to glean such a variety by choosing artists with different backgrounds, located in different areas of the US (working on some interviews with overseas artists so stay tuned), unique approaches to their art and even different art. As you listen to this series of episodes I think you will see some common themes like the need to change up your marketing regularly, and keep trying different things until you find that sweet spot, and the need for a high level of professionalism both in your business activities as well as your art. What were the biggest takeaways from these interviews that influenced your career in henna?Darcy can be found at hennaguru.com as well as hennalounge.com; she has a huge presence on all the social media that you have heard of, and even some you haven't!Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road. Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

Subscribe to this podcast via iTunesMy interview with Fatima was so fun. After we hung up I was exhausted and energized and kinda teary. It was such a joy to talk to someone who is so passionate about her art and especially about Moroccan henna. I often feel like I'm the tree in the forest which no one is there to hear when I talk about Moroccan henna. The henna world is all Indian, all the time and there doesn't seem to be space for Moroccan henna in that world which makes me very sad. That's why talking with Fatima, whose passion for Moroccan henna far surpasses mine, was such a treat.Collecting images of her work for this blog post was another pleasure. You can see from the photos above that she seriously rocks the Moroccan Fessi style in a way that I rarely see outside of Morocco. I get misty-eyed looking at these designs of hers...nostalgic for Morocco but blown away by someone who conveys the best of Moroccan henna through her work. What is also incredible are her non-Moroccan designs which are also executed with a syringe. Having tried to do henna with a syringe I can barely imagine doing Moroccan designs with them let alone the floral and viney work that Fatima creates. I really love the pieces where she fuses the Moroccan with the Indian in a way that few artists can do. In this sense she is a true Moroccan artist, personifying the crossroads nature of Morocco, picking up influences from all over the world and expertly melding them into a creation that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I'm in a rush to get this out so I'll just post Bridgette's bio here and add to this post later, if time permits.I am native to Vermont, growing up surrounded by mountains and forrest. I have always been artistic, mostly a photographer before discovering henna in 2011. The soothing flow of henna quickly became the focus of my artistic energy. Instead of trying to capture a moment in time, henna allows me to be present. A quiet creation to celebrate and adorn in any culture or country. I feel blessed to bring this art form to people all over the world.

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My interview of Hiral Shah, a Bay Area henna artist who studied mehndi in India and lived to tell the tale, here on my podcast.