Anastacya is a founder, artist, and entrepreneur whose work spans business, art, and philanthropy across multiple continents. Originally based in Dubai, she recently expanded her presence to Los Angeles, bringing with her a portfolio of ventures and a reputation for operating at the intersection of creativity and impact. Known as much for her discipline as her vision, she moves fluidly between industries without treating any of them as secondary, guided by a simple philosophy: shut up and do it.
You’ve built a reputation across multiple industries and recently made a major move from Dubai to LA. What does a typical day look like right now, and how do you stay grounded while managing so much at once?
One word: discipline. I grew up in a conservative family and was a competitive athlete from a young age, so having a non-negotiable daily practice is just part of how I’m wired. Right now it’s the gym, every single day, no exceptions. It doesn’t matter what happened the night before or how I’m feeling. That one commitment sets the tone for everything else. When you can control yourself, you feel like you’re in control of your life.
What made this the right moment to plant roots in LA?
I want to clarify, I didn’t really leave Dubai. My mom is there, my business is there, I have an exhibition coming in November there. What happened was I flew to San Diego for an event, and while I was there, a conflict broke out in the GCC region and my flight home was canceled indefinitely. So I had to make the best of it. My brain immediately shifted to, okay, what can I build here? It was never really a decision. It was stress, and I perform well under stress.
You work at the intersection of art, business, and philanthropy. When a new idea comes to you, what does the process look like from that first instinct to your teams bringing it to life?
Honestly, my brain is a bit chaotic. An idea comes in and it just buzzes until I do something about it. The key is having the right people around you, not just talent but people you trust, almost like nine best friends who also happen to be colleagues. My challenge is that with ADHD, I can jump between five angles of one idea without connecting the dots for anyone else. So I’ve learned to slow down, breathe, and actually articulate the vision clearly before I start pulling people in different directions.
Where does your creativity come from?
Discipline gives me a peaceful mind, and that clarity is where ideas live. But stress also accelerates my thinking in a different way. It forces me to ask, what do I need to do right now to change the situation? Both states feed creativity differently. Beyond that, I’m a deeply spiritual person. I believe in a higher power, and when a real idea comes to me, I feel genuinely grateful for it, like it was given to me. That gratitude makes me feel obligated to actually do something with it.
With so much running simultaneously, how do you protect your focus and make sure the decisions that require you are actually getting your attention?
I learned this the hard way. Years ago I had what I genuinely believe was a billion-dollar idea, and I failed to execute it because my ego got in the way. I tried to do too much myself to protect the upside, and it cost me everything. The lesson was simple: delegate. I tell my team to handle 99.9% of decisions on their own and only bring me the final 1%. I don’t need to know every detail. I just need the thing done. That’s how you protect your bandwidth for what actually matters.
Is there a practice or ritual beyond fitness that you’d recommend to anyone trying to operate at this level?
Gratitude. I talk to myself constantly, but it’s really a conversation with whatever you want to call the universe. When things get hard, I pause and just ask what’s really happening. And when things are good, I say it out loud. I’ve caught myself driving in LA, sun out, genuinely happy, and I’ll just say thank you, to my family, my friends, to God, to the universe, to all of it. That practice keeps me present and it keeps me honest.
What’s coming next that you’re genuinely excited about?
I have a startup I’m deep in right now that I believe is a once-in-a-decade idea. I’ve had million-dollar ideas before, but a concept with real billion-dollar potential, that’s rare. The last time I had one I let it slip. This time I’m not letting go until it’s done. Beyond that, I’m heading to Miami where I’ll actually be walking in a runway show, which takes me back to when I modeled as a kid. I stopped as a teenager and never looked back, so this is me doing something completely outside my comfort zone. That’s actually another thing I believe in deeply: do the things you don’t normally do. It wakes something up in you.