Fitnat Sasal, Istanbul
Hello everyone,
Dear readers of ARTTMODERNMIAMI NEWSPAPER,
I’m here with a new post. Thank you for your interest in the previous post.
I am at the beginning of a new beginning in my life. I love reinventing myself, that’s exactly what it is now! To briefly talk about myself;
I have worked in important institutions in Turkey for many years. I worked as a manager in the field of domestic and international Sales and Marketing. Then, while continuing my activities in my own company, where I am providing consultancy in corporate and the same fields; I came together with visionary, creative, and inspiring people. I follow their work with great interest and pride in order to move towards different horizons; With the encouragement of my dear Tugba Yazıcı, I wanted to express myself in the field of literature, which I studied at the university, in parallel with my commercial work.
For many years in Turkey’s important institutions; Dear Tugba Yazıcı, whose work I follow with great interest and pride to reach different horizons by meeting with visionary, creative, and inspiring people while I continue my activities in my own company, where I am also providing consultancy in corporate and same fields, after working as a manager in the field of Sales and Marketing at home and abroad. With his encouragement, I wanted to express myself in the field of literature, which I studied at the university in parallel with my commercial studies.
And here I am, I’d love to hear your comments ?
A woman who renews herself in many areas; An interview with Esra Karagulle.
ARTTMODERNMIAMI NEWS/ FITNAT SASAL: Hello Ms. Esra, can you tell us a little about yourself?
ESRA KARAGULLE: I was born in Istanbul. I started ballet training when I was in primary school. Along with classical ballet, I had inclinations such as Flamenco, Jazz, Modern Dance, Piano, and Theater as secondary vocational courses. I started my first professional career at the age of 15 with the musical theater named “Boy Friend” at Izmir State Theatre. I was also teaching ballet lessons and staging performances in kindergartens at the same timeframe. This process lasted until I graduated from the university.
Unfortunately, my ballet career ended as a result of an accident. They said, “It would be very difficult to leave the stage for someone who has been on the stage for years.” I found the solution by escaping from it.
My voice was a soprano, so they wanted to take me to the Opera Department and even the Theater Department, but I didn’t take the exams, thinking that it would make me sad to be in the same environment with ballerinas all my life. In the end, I found myself studying Business Administration. As you may know, people have to use the right hemisphere of their brain for creativity, and suddenly I found myself using the left hemisphere of my brain.
During my university years, I was interested in horse riding and was the head of the Riding Club of the university. I was a member of the Izmir Riding Sports Club Board of Directors and got a riding referee license for a while. I also established a Ballet and Dance Club, and we staged performances there. Although I thought I had escaped in those years when I had an accident, I found myself as a ballet teacher. And still, I am attending various dance classes and performances today.
After my graduation, I worked in a private company in the areas such as finance and foreign exchange. I started to work as a manager in our family company after my marriage and continue to do so.
One of my biggest interests has been Psychology. I attended certificate programs in various fields such as Basic Psychology along with Adolescent and Family Psychology.
Moreover, I have various degrees and trophies as an amateur tennis player and I had art exhibitions.
My biggest source of strength is volunteering. I am the Zekeriyaköy Branch Project Coordinator of the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life, and I am also among the mentors of the association for the new-coming volunteers.
FITNAT SASAL: What is your marital status? What do you do for a living?
ESRA KARAGULLE: Yes, I have been married since 1998. Since then, I continue to work as a manager in our own family company. On the other hand, creativity has been at the center of my life. I wrote children’s books. “Yok Artık Çıp Çıp’ın Bale Pabucu and Bubu Türkan Saylan’ı Anlatıyor” are the books that I have written. Alongside, I have one adult story which was published. In addition to that after publishing my books, I conduct interviews with children at schools and I attended children’s shelters, and book fairs to meet with children and to tell them about my life story.
FITNAT SASAL: Where do you live?
ESRA KARAGULLE: I have been living in Istanbul for the last four years.
I believe that places have different effects on people. I even think it has energy and soul. Therefore, I feel Istanbul was the place I needed to be.
FITNAT SASAL: Where have you lived before?
ESRA KARAGULLE: I lived in Izmir years ago due to my father’s work and I still go back and forth between Izmir and Istanbul.
FITNAT SASAL: Recently, you started to write children’s books, all of which are amazing. How did your writing come into your life?
ESRA KARAGULLE: There is passion and curiosity in everything in my life. If you do not have excitement in your life, you do not have passion. Maybe my creative or artistic side has returned to its essence.
My daughter was a child who had a very hard time eating. I used to make up stories about her all the time. If I couldn’t find anything, I would make the fork and spoon talk. Every night when I took her to sleep, I would do an impromptu drama with her dolls. I used to create a character for each baby. Later, Çıp Çıp, our turtle, was added to our family. Of course, I also created a character for it.
At that time, I never had the opportunity to write a story for reasons such as my busy business life and taking care of my daughter. But on the other hand, all my friends were saying that I should write stories. When the pandemic started, I dived into very serious research aiming that I should enter a new field. And afterward, I had an incredibly intense pandemic period.
I wrote my first book inspired by my daughter Serra and Çıp Çıp, with whom we have lived together for fifteen years. Then, I donated all the copyrights of the book to the “Anadolu’da Bir Kızım Var” which is one of the projects of the Contemporary Life Support Association. Due to the pandemic, very few publishing houses were accepting requests. However, I still wanted to give it a try. Three months later, I got a positive response and since that day, I started to look at life more excitedly.
FITNAT SASAL: You have been elected as the next presidential candidate of the Istanbul Yeniköy Rotary Club. Can you tell us about this process? What are your goals?
ESRA KARAGULLE: The year 2023 is celebrated as the 100th anniversary of the Republic. Working as a secretary this year is very meaningful to me. In 2024, the Republic will celebrate its 101st anniversary, and I will take over the presidency with great enthusiasm in June. We will continue to move forward in the light of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s words “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”.
We start with the journey of “Let’s be Hope to the World” and build our fiction on Peace. Children and women are top priorities for me. Especially girls’ education and gender equality.
We will hope for a better education.
We will hope for a greener environment.
We will be hopeful for a healthier generation.
We will hope for a more peaceful society.
Rotary’s ideal of service is “Service Above Self” and our management philosophy can be defined as “Innovation”.
FITNAT SASAL: What do you think transformation is and how does a person transform?
ESRA KARAGULLE: What a brilliant question.
“Transformation” or “The Journey of the Character” is indispensable for children’s stories. All the works we read begin in the ordinary world. By ordinary world, I mean everyone has an ordinary life. While our protagonist or I go about our usual business, we may find ourselves on an unexpected adventure. Taking a journey outside of your world is a matter of courage. Getting out of your comfort zone is like swimming in the dark waters of the ocean. There are challenges in every journey. Getting out of your comfort zone is not easy. There are riddles and setbacks you have to solve. But if you do not dare, nothing will change on it is own and there will not be transformation at the end. The reward comes when this adventure is over. After this adventure, challenges and difficulties can change our opinions. You can no longer go back to your old life. This journey offers us new powers, a new perspective, and a life. It is like rebirth and like a literary journey from my perspective of view.
FITNAT SASAL: We can say that you like traveling, can you tell me the top three places you are most impressed with?
ESRA KARAGULLE: The places where I am most impressed are; Fairy Chimneys Nevsehir, GAP Region which includes Adıyaman, Batman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Şanlıurfa, Siirt, and Şırnak and lastly New York.
FITNAT SASAL: What are your plans?
ESRA KARAGULLE: I want to concentrate especially on the field of literature. Plus, I would love to improve my writing and volunteer more.
FITNAT SASAL: Do you have a message for your readers? What do you think is the secret of success?
ESRA KARAGULLE: Life loves the brave ones. Focus on realizing what you have in mind without giving up and take all the chances to achieve it. How come? Well, the first step is dreaming. One should think that there is no such thing as impossible and without putting on our own limits and time constraints, instead we should focus on what we want to achieve. What we are going to do is come up with an action plan and focus on it.
The secret of success is neither talent nor luck. Only your faith and disciplined work will lead to success. This is the beginning of all success.
FITNAT SASAL: Thank you Ms. Esra Karagulle
ESRA KARAGULLE: Thank you very much for this amazing interview.
Fitnat SASAL
Founder and CEO of CELINE FOOD & CONSULTING Company.
instagram: fitnatsasal
