Fa'al Ali, owner of the marketing company Eazy Media, recently opened his art gallery in the midst of the Covid crisis. The ILA Gallery is a place to display work by local and international artists. Fa’al wants to put money in the pockets of artists and empower them to grow and learn in a creative world. Fa'al has created a place to display local artists' work, he wants to put money in artists pockets and empower them to grow and learn in a creative world.
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ILA Gallery was opened 3 days before the stay at home order happened. Fa’al was able to pivot quickly with an e-commerce system he had set up when he opened the gallery. He also provided a by appointment only gallery showing once the stay at home was lifted and gave people a private gallery experience. Fa'al has always felt like a bootstrapper and is used to working with what's presented to him.

Fa’al grew up as a member of the Nation of Islam and credits his upbringing for his drive to give people a platform to create. On the podcast Fa’al discusses what it means to live by the doctrine “Each one teach one.”

I ask Fa’al if his idea of himself as a Black business owner has changed due to the Black Lives Matter movement and he talks about being in a position to step up, highlight black artists in his gallery, but also giving a platform to a diverse range of artists.

We discuss his first opening at ILA Gallery by Hiero Veiga, who is a Black artist. Fa’al wanted to set a precedent for the type of gallery he was going to have. The show is called "UPPITY" which is a term that has racist connotations for when black people might have been in a place they wouldn't have been expected to be.
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I ask Fa'al about his involvement in the current Black Lives Matter events Fa'al feels too old to be in the streets. He believes the new wave of civil rights is going to be economic. He is giving back by staying alive, educating the youth. Fa'al is part of Denver's Black Mural festival and created a movable mural in front of Denver's Capitol. His art piece was a piece he had created in the past when Trevon Martin was killed and was able to repurpose the work and get it out to a larger audience.

I ask if he has any struggles, he feels most of his struggles are financial and his major challenges are in the past. Fa’al feels lucky because of his network and community support, the work he is putting in has him feeling grateful.
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Outside of business Fa’al is a lover of adventures and the outdoors. He is a master scuba diver, snowboarder , and world traveler. He strives to be an ambassador for people of color to adventure in the outdoors. He's been part of several campaigns for Otterbox and Camber Outdoors, they give him a platform to share his voice.

I ask his thoughts on a solution for getting people of color in the outdoors. He mentions that it is a socio-economic issue and one quick solution is to educate people on proper equipment, and also educate companies how they can get proper gear into the communities that are in need.
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In the end Fa'al hits us with his definition of what it means to #BeAuthentic.
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Resources:

ILA Gallery - www.ilaartgallery.com
Eazy Media - www.EazyMedia.biz
Heiro Veiga - @hieroveiga
Evan Majors - @mr.evanmajors
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
#BlackLivesMatter