In the Spotlight: Aisha Lama

This edition of our In the Spotlight series brings you an inspiring and energetic voice from Tees Valley’s creative community — Aisha Lama. A passionate writer, poet, and creative practitioner, Aisha wears many hats, from running her own company to co-directing a CIC and delivering vibrant, wellbeing-focused workshops through her business Write Yourself Well.

In this warm and insightful interview, Aisha shares the journey that brought her from Reading to Teesside, the joys and challenges of freelance life, and her deep belief in the power of words to transform, heal, and empower. Whether she’s performing poetry, co-producing events, or facilitating safe spaces for creative expression, Aisha’s commitment to inclusivity, joy, and collaboration shines through.

Read on to discover how she navigates the hustle of freelance work, her proudest achievements (including a poetry residency at TEDxTeesside!), and why Teesside’s creative scene is such a special place to grow as an artist.

Hi, let’s introduce you to the network, Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

Hello! I’m Aisha (pronounced like Aisa but with a “sh”). I am currently owning the title of “Creative Practitioner”, as I wear many, many hats from founding an LTD company, co-directing a CIC, freelance producing, facilitating and more. Essentially, if there’s a paid creative opportunity going, sign me up! My primary creative practice is writing, particularly poetry. I love experimenting with words, creating art from them and sharing my experiences in a concise way in which others can relate. My areas of interest range from nature to human behaviour to art; I just enjoy writing about things that I find fascinating, and I feel blessed to have discovered that other people also find similar things fascinating.

Can you tell us more about Write Yourself Well?

Write Yourself Well is a business providing creative writing workshops, spaces, products and events that all focus on writing for wellbeing and writing for fun. We explore how words can give us power, identity and voice, all whilst having a great time. We never focus on grammar or spelling or “rights and wrongs”; it’s all about exploration, discovering creative freedom and autonomy. There’s never any pressure to create a finished project or to share your work, we focus on the creative process over completing a product. We run a monthly online workshop and open mic night, as well as the occasional social event and commissioned in-person workshop. 

You are based in Tees Valley, did you grow up here?

I moved from Reading five years ago to study English & Creative Writing at Teesside Uni. A lot of people ask why I moved up here, and it was a culmination of things, but mostly, I needed a change of scenery. I’m so glad I made the move, as not only is Teesside an absolute hive for creative inspiration, but I’ve found incredible support and friendship since living here.

What does a typical day look like for you as a freelancer? How do you manage the variety of tasks that come with the role?

Is there a typical day for me as a freelancer? Umm… no. I think, similar to all artists, every day really is totally different. I try hard to be organised and plan my weeks so I know where I am each day, but it’s not an easy task at all. I currently work as a freelancer for three organisations, alongside running Write Yourself Well and co-running Story & Studio. I attempt to assign days to each project/organisation, but oftentimes there’s an overlap and I’ll be in Stockton on a morning, Hartlepool on an afternoon and then Middlesbrough in the evening. As I’m writing this, I feel myself being incredibly avoidant towards the question because I genuinely don’t know how I manage the variety of tasks! I write a lot of lists. I make time to decompress (when I can). I reach out to my freelancer friends and we compare chaos together. I’m also very lucky to have a wonderful business mentor who I meet with once a month to unpack what bizarre tasks I have done/will be doing! So I’d say, writing lists, forcing myself to relax and reaching out to friends is how I manage.

Most rewarding part of being a freelancer in the creative and cultural sector?

For me, working with communities who are underrepresented or discouraged from the arts is the most rewarding part of my career. Whether I’m working in a school or a community centre, or a festival, being able to share art with those who wouldn’t necessarily find it themselves is just the best. When someone tells you they could never write poetry, and then spending ten minutes with them and they create the most incredible piece of writing is the best feeling in the world. I also think that because we have an incredible, thriving creative community in Teesside, just being around each other is rewarding. We know we’re not alone, we know who to ask for help, we know where we can go and what to keep an eye out for. It’s amazing to be part of a network of people who put collaboration over competition.

Are there any projects, collaborations, or accomplishments you’re most proud of in your career so far?

So I created a scrapbook of my career highlights from the conception of Write Yourself Well (I’d recommend ALL freelancers/founders/directors to do the same!), but there are a few moments that I am particularly proud of.

1.     I was Poet in Residence at TEDxTeesside 2024

2.     I was chosen as a finalist in the North East Start Up Awards 2024

3.     I joined forces with Chris Layfield to create Story & Studio CIC, and we are currently delivering a huge arts project across Middlesbrough as part of the Middlesbrough Recovery Grants

4.     Seeing projects I’ve been producing come to life- recently Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area at ARC Stockton and a Sonic Arts Preview event with Rimski & Handkerchief in Middlesbrough, and in particular seeing the audience's reactions

5.     At a recent WYW Open Mic evening, an audience member came up to me and disclosed that they used to write all the time but due to sudden life circumstances they stopped and had become blocked; but by attending that event they had been inspired to write again and felt that they could come to WYW workshops and events and feel safe, supported and encouraged. I often replay this conversation as it encapsulates the vision I had for WYW, and I’m honoured to be able to provide these spaces.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a freelancer in the creative industry?

Networking with creatives is easy. They get it, they want to work with you, they want to explore and collaborate and do things for the sake of art. Getting those outside of the creative industry to understand the benefit of creative outlets is difficult. I have no idea where or who to go to to begin to offer corporate services such as wellbeing workshops for staff, and this is something I would like to explore to strengthen my business model. I also really struggle boiling down the fun, freedom and explorative work I’ve done into numbers, statistics and costs per person. I wish we could just bottle up the buzz there is during a workshop and show that to funders and corporate businesses as evidence that we need to be able to continue providing these outlets! So I guess the biggest challenges for me are anything that revolves around reporting, budgeting, searching for opportunities and completing funding applications. (Pretty much all the stuff that is necessary to continue to be an artist is a challenge for me.)

What are your future goals as a creative working in Teesside? Any dream projects or collaborations you’d like to take on?

There are genuinely hundreds of project ideas I have written down, and I hope I can complete a small percentage of them, but to work on broadening the general public’s approach as to what it means to be creative, and understanding the power of creativity, is the underlying purpose of all that I do. I’d love to be commissioned for more poetry residencies, whether that’s at museums, parks, attractions or events. I’d love to combine my previous career of working with animals into my current artistic career as well; poetry at a petting zoo or storytelling at the stables… I’m genuinely always open to meeting and collaborating with creatives of all disciplines, so please reach out to me if you have an idea or project you think I’d be able to help with!

What do you most enjoy about Tees Valley Creates: The Freelancer Network?

The chance to come together and learn with other freelancers whom you may or may not already know. It sucks being alone in business, so knowing there are others in the same position is reassuring. I also like the provision of a variety of workshops and opportunities for co-working.