Leila Ismailova started her career as a radio star at the age of 15 in Belarus, an Eastern European country bordering Russia with 9.3 million citizens. She said she stayed in the role for another 10 years before reaching what she considers a “career ceiling” and starting her journey to Web3.
“I remember my daring as a kid, sneaking into the building with newspapers and magazines — it was called the House of News,” Ismailova recalled in an interview with Cointelegraph. “I would write my story by hand and then Sneaking into the building – since I don’t have a pass – making up stories that I’m someone’s granddaughter, or going in when someone else is coming in. I’ll find the door that says “Editor” or “Editor in Chief” and I’ll walk out Go in and hand them my articles. People smile, and I’m sure they think I’m naive, but I think they also have a certain respect for me doing this work.”
Her rebellious journalism career found its way into television within a few years. She joined the country’s No. 1 national channel at the age of 15 and began producing a program covering news and culture for a young audience.
“My first audition was really bad,” Ismailova said. “My face turned purple. I was thinking fast, but they still wanted me in the second round.”
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Ismailova immigrated to the United States in 2016, kicking off “immigration season” for her family, including her brother Bahram and sister Esmila. Bahram is a serial tech entrepreneur whose inventions include the Peech App and Yope, and Esmira is an author whose published works include On the shores of the Bosphorus. (You can’t find it in English yet, so don’t spend too much time searching on Amazon.)
Against all odds, Ismailova and her siblings succeeded. Their father died when they were children (Bahram was only one year old) while they were fighting for Azerbaijan against Armenia for the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“It happened very suddenly,” Ismailova said. “Of course, no one planned to do that, so we quickly went from a wealthy family living in the capital, Baku, to a very scared family. We were in a country that was going through a war with Armenia, and most importantly, separation from the Soviet Union Almost alone. It’s been a very difficult time for everyone.”
Ismailova said the experience inspired her to start a charity in her broadcasting career that provides mentorship to orphaned children, an activity she hopes to continue in the future.
“The girls seemed to have no guidance from their parents, although the government provided them with a very simple basis,” recalls Ismailova. “It seems like a lot of orphan girls don’t feel safe because no one tells them they’re beautiful. Our goal is to create guidelines and boost their confidence. (…) It’s very important to me and I’m Luckily, I had the opportunity and a little leverage. Now, I miss it so much.”
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Today, she is a Web3 veteran at Artisant for three years. Artisant is the digital fashion brand she co-founded, inspired in part by her journalism career. “As a child, I didn’t have the opportunity to buy many beautiful clothes,” Ismailova said. “But I’ve always appreciated the elegant and beautiful part of fashion, and when I watch TV, I always see TV presenters and red carpets. It always looks stunning.”
Ismailova left Artisant in July to begin a new chapter in her career as a digital fashion brand consultant. “I kind of came back to reality,” Ismailova explained. “Artisant is a digital fashion brand without a physical product.”
1. You moved from Belarus to the US, where you worked as a TV reporter. What’s the story behind this?
At first, I was the only one in my family who moved. I kicked off “relocation season” for my family, and after I moved, my sister moved, and then my brother moved. Not only did he move, he also fled after the Belarusian presidential election in August 2020, when they started hunting for others. He has to run. Two of his co-founders were arrested.
My personal story is that I was a very successful TV host in my hometown, I started when I was 15 years old. I want to be a TV presenter because I want to wear nice clothes. I am very happy. This is my dream job! I started working very early and I think I was very hungry to succeed. I got all the national awards I dreamed of at an early age, hosted all the shows I wanted to host, and hit my career ceiling domestically.
2. What got you into the cryptocurrency space?
Well, my first stop in the US was California – that was before I moved to Miami. I entered USC Annenberg Graduate School for a master’s degree. (To be honest, I’m still struggling to connect with American society.) I’ve always been a nerd, and school seemed like a safe environment to connect with people. I started learning about entrepreneurship during the first wave of cryptocurrencies in 2017, then I invested in my first cryptocurrency…then “lost” it. I bought Litecoin for $250. But I didn’t start working in the crypto industry until 2020.
3. What brought you to Miami?
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, I feel very limited and isolated in Los Angeles. I can’t even walk my dog because they closed the park. So, I got into digital fashion. It made me wonder how something that doesn’t exist can feel so good. That’s when I met Artisant co-founder Regina (Turbina) in 2020. We talked and I started helping out with little things. In 2021, I will join Artisant full time.
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Things were going well, so I quit my job and took a leap of faith – which brought me to Miami. I have never met so many smart, brilliant people with open minds since I got into cryptocurrency. Everyone was very enthusiastic, even though I didn’t know as much at first as I do now. People are willing to spend hours on the phone with me, sharing knowledge. I think the welcoming environment encouraged me to stay.
4. How do you see the development of digital fashion in the next five years?
Looking back at the last bull market, I thought it was great, but it’s over. We have the romantic idea that we’re all going to go into virtual universes where our avatars will all need clothes one day. I want to see technology as a tool to empower people to be more holistic, sustainable and healthy.
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In the western world we have a vicious cycle of buying things we don’t need. Brands manipulate us into buying things. Therefore, we need to produce more goods, which creates a vicious circle of overproduction and overconsumption. We have a situation where the fashion industry, the most beautiful industry in the world, is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions.
We have a huge problem at hand and I think digital fashion and technology is a possible solution. We are moving from the concept of creating digital clothing for the virtual world to looking at how digital fashion can now work. Check out Dior and its B33 sneaker collection with an NFC chip built into the sole. This is an amazing technology that allows you to link them to digital assets. Therefore, this is a very good solution for brand owners to solve the counterfeit problem.
5. You have recently left Artisant. Where are you going next?
I started consulting and wanted to start writing more articles. For now, I want to focus on companies that are in the digital fashion business. Companies that provide digital fashion services as agents. I had a brand that wanted me to consult with their team and they made an amazing clothing line with augmented reality storytelling built in. I seem to be back to reality. Artisant is a digital fashion brand with no physical products.
Seeing Artisant grow—not just in numbers, but in real people who define Artisant as their community—means the world to me. But I’ve gotten to the point where I’m giving everything I can for this project. Technology has a huge mission to revolutionize the fashion world and I want to contribute. While I’m still thinking about my next professional venture, I know it’s going to be fun and serve humanity.
6. What is your life like outside of cryptocurrency?
I like a balanced life. I have a dog. (It’s a hobby, right?) I play chess. Chess is a very important game for me and it helps me a lot in business and analyzing situations. I also like sports. It’s very important to me to keep going. Yoga has been a part of my life for a while now. Since I live in Miami, I love paddle boarding and kite boarding. I take dance lessons. In fact, that was one of my first dreams – to be a dancer.
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