Soraya Yousefi of Downtown LA on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Soraya Yousefi. Check out our conversation below.

Soraya, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I recently moved into my own little apartment and am living on my own for the first time and I’m really proud of the safe space I’ve built for myself. I’ve decorated my space exactly how I want it, I come home from a long work day and plop down on my big pink couch for as long as I’d like, I leave dishes in the sink for a day (or two). I’ve created a space where I am free to be my full self and I am proud of the work I’ve done to get here.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Soraya Hannah Yousefi, so on the internet I go by Shy, and my brand is called shy.jpeg 🙂 I make clown pottery! I focus on making clowns that are functional for everyday use, so I mainly make mugs and bowls. It’s been my goal to make the daily tasks of drinking and eating feel less mundane and more intentional and special, with a clown companion. Ceramics started as a quarantine hobby for me in late 2020, and over the years my business has steadily grown and pottery became my full-time job in 2023 and last year I transitioned into my own little pottery studio in Downtown LA. These days, I focus mainly on mugs and I do different themes for each drop, I find that doing that keeps my creativity flowing and people have enjoyed building a collection with a mug from each theme.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that is full of self-hatred has served its purpose and must now be released. I have never been gentle with myself, I have been full of shame and self-loathing and have never given myself the grace that I gave others. For a very long time, I thought shame was a good motivator; I would compare myself to others and put myself down and saw it as a productive way to strive towards bettering myself. In some ways I suppose it worked, there’s definitely been many instances where I pushed myself past my limits out of comparison and shame, but I learned the hard way that navigating life with self-hatred and embarrassment isn’t sustainable longterm, and that being hard on myself never solves anything or makes a hard situation feel any better. I’ve been actively working on releasing those parts of me and I try to live my life and handle hardships with tenderness and self-love.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
It’s short and simple, but I so badly wish that I could give my younger self a hug and say “it’s going to be okay.”

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I truly believe that everything works out the way it’s supposed to in the end. I can’t prove it, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it now, but I do strongly believe it and that truth helps get me through hard times.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing? 
Something I think I will regret longterm is not limiting my social media consumption sooner, and consuming more than I’m creating. I have a bad habit of spending hours mindlessly scrolling on Tik Tok or even just watching content of work other artists are creating, while wishing I had the motivation to create more myself or step out of my artistic comfort zone with new projects. I saw this quote (on Tik Tok lol) that said “create more than you consume,” and the creator explained the importance of using art as an outlet for our emotions and anxieties instead of getting on our phones as a form of escapism, and I know in the future I will look back and regret all the hours spent/wasted rotting on my phone instead of putting more art into the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shyjpeg.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shy.jpeg
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@coolestgirl