Maya AlZaben doesn’t do beige. Whether she’s crafting a killer caption, styling a maximalist look, or speaking her truth online, the Palestinian writer and content creator is all about going big, being bold, and staying real. With a background in fashion and a deep love for language, Maya’s work exists at the intersection of storytelling, identity, and rebellion. She’s not here to please the algorithm—she’s here to build her own world (aka the Mayaverse) and say what others are too scared to.
In this edition of Career Building, Maya opens up to KHAMSA about trusting your gut, navigating the fashion industry, and why the most powerful thing you can do is speak like you mean it.
١. From Parsons to the Page: How Did Your Journey into Fashion Journalism Begin?
My parents have always been really into fashion—especially my dad who gets absolutely everything he owns tailored—so that was something I grew up with. I was raised on maximalism. Since I was a little girl, I knew it was a world I wanted to immerse myself in. I still have stacks of Teen Vogue, Tiger Beat, and J-14 plus my old notebooks full of fashion sketches. I wanted to be everything when I was younger—a pop princess—the president—an astronaut—both Olsen twins (as a triplet)—but more than anything, cool! I still believe I can be all of those things and more—and I already think I’m pretty cool so we’re already halfway there.
I started taking fashion seriously around 2018, but back then, I didn’t know where to look or who to turn to. I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to take it seriously. But I made myself a promise: if I was going to do this, I’d become the best at it. So I studied everything—fashion shows, designers, journalists like it was a full-time job.
Eventually I started putting work out into the void and my little void eventually became the world.
And people found it. Editors I looked up to loved it. That’s the key: you have to share your work. How else are people supposed to find you?!
٢. The Power of PR & Purpose: How Does Your Background Shape Your Activism?
Dont give a fuck. Just do do do. Action inspires action. People are always waiting for permission to care. Knowledge is a communal resource–it’s one of the few things that can’t be stolen from us under any government or structured institution. It can only be shared.
I’ve had mentors drop me because of my “political beliefs” which obviously aren’t just beliefs. They’re my identity! I’m Palestinian. I can’t separate who I am from what I stand for. If that makes me “controversial,” then OK! I don’t give a fuck—and neither did my ancestors.
If the last few years in media taught me anything it’s that the intersection of fashion and advocacy is an illusion—we can intellectualize it all we want—I mean I literally have a master’s degree in that—but fashion advocacy is just another term for marketing—clothes can be powerful statements but they’re more of a byproduct of performance—or spectacle really— rather than praxis. Sorry.
“Your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
Toni Morrison
٣. The MAYAVERSE™: How Would You Define Your Personal Brand?
My mantra is to think big—and then think even bigger. I remember one night walking home and looking up at the Empire State Building lit up in pink. And my first thought was, wouldn’t it be fun to imagine it’s pink just for me? That moment really was when the Mayaverse came to life for me. I’ve always believed we are the creators of our own universes.
I move through the world as the most authentic version of myself—and I’m my own biggest fan. No one wants to see me succeed as much as I do.
You don’t need to force a “brand” when you work to become who you are meant to be because it happens naturally.
٤. Fashion as a Cultural Statement: How Does Your Palestinian Identity Shape Your Perspective?
Being Palestinian means always holding two things at once: the dream of liberation and the reality we’re navigating every day. There’s a push and pull between imagining a free future and surviving the present and that shapes how I think about everything. The bigger picture vs. tiny details. Fantasy vs. real life. It’s the law of polarity and of balance. I think applying that mindset to research and analysis lets me move through as many lanes as possible.
Again, think big and then think bigger. It’s the most Palestinian way to navigate anything.
٥. Astrology & Aesthetics: How Does the Cosmic Influence Your Creative Work?
If you believe in oneness—like, really believe everything is connected—then astrology kind of becomes inevitable. To me, it’s not a belief system, it’s pattern recognition. It’s math. “As above, so below.” I remember thinking once, if everything has a birth chart, then why can’t trends? Why can’t we track the exact time a model hits the runway and read the energy from there? At one point, I was literally pulling natal charts for runway shows. I don’t use astrology like that anymore but honestly, it was pretty innovative looking back.
I think it’s crazier to not believe in the stars than to believe in them.
Now, when it comes to zodiac-inspired styling—I think a lot of it feels very surface-level and inauthentic. It’s just another trend that brands are trying to profit off of. Astrology is an ancient system that’s been used to make sense of the world. Think about the Islamic Golden Age—astrology was taken just as seriously as medicine and philosophy. Babylon, Alexandria, Baghdad. Astrology was intellectual and scientific. It’s always been a way to map the human experience and to track cycles and repetitions. There’s a reason people say “history repeats itself”—many events have the same exact astrological patterns.
٦. Advice for Aspiring Writers: What’s Your Career-Building Playbook?
These are the five rules I live by:
- You’re never off track because you’re not designed to be “on track”—you’re here to pave your own lane. That’s the best advice I’ve received and the one I return to over and over again. There’s only one of you. You can’t be the blueprint if you’re taking someone else’s path.
- When you’re doing research, try doing it in the native language of whatever it is you’re researching—this is my favorite hack. So much nuance and depth gets lost in translation. Not everyone speaks English and we shouldn’t expect them to. The best gems I’ve found I’ve uncovered in Arabic. This is how you decolonize your mind.
- Be engaging. Seriously. Don’t be a passive reader, engage with whatever it is you’re reading otherwise are you actually learning from it? If someone’s work inspires you, tell them. Ask questions and challenge the scholars you’re reading. Their words are not gospel. Read obsessively and let yourself fall into every rabbit hole. Keep thousands of tabs open. Embrace chaos. I call it Mayamaxxing. There’s always more to learn. Become an expert in what you love but also accept that you’ll never fully master it—that’s what makes it fun.
- Be intentional with your work. I always ask God and my ancestors to bless me before I work on anything really important. It cures writer’s block. Intentionality breeds clarity. It breeds creativity from your higher self. That is really important to me. Tie your camels first, though.
- Lastly, use the internet like it’s 2007. I’m obsessed with reading old Blogspot and WordPress articles. The OG reddit. The OG Instagram and even Tumblr. People used to write with no algorithm in mind or fear of whatever reaction the audience would have. They were just expressing themselves and posting stuff they found interesting. The best work usually comes when no one’s watching. We’re lucky those sites are still up. So many of my sources are from there.
