name: Lale Senol
gender & pronouns: Cis Woman | She/Her
age & date of birth: 31 years old | May 7th, 1992
neighborhood: Hillsboro Park
time living in nashville: 2 months
occupation: Glassblower & Art Teacher at Bloom Elementary
Lale was born with so much of her life already chosen for her. Where she was going to school, what her after-school activities would be, who she was allowed to socialize with, where she was going to go to university. The only choice that was given to her was which business she was going to take over once the time came for the torch to be passed. Her father, Kivance, was a fashion designer on the rise at the time of Lale’s toddler years. ‘ being in the fashion industry is not easy ; it’s a game of patience, ’ he always said. This is, of course, after he became widely successful after hosting his own fashion show when he was just twenty-one. Her mother, Damla, came from new money. Damla’s father had a chain of hotels across, House Senol, Turkey that was posh and in high demand. Damla had taken over for her father and flipped them all in her own image in under a year. Seventy-one guest rooms that are furnished with canopy beds and gingham sofas, while the former rectory houses a neighborhood bar and restaurant ( which have also received two michelin stars ) — plus an ivy-covered sunroom inspired by Monet’s house in Giverny, France. After the paint settled and the paint dried, Kivance and Damla both investigated better options for their businesses, ─ and for their kids, as they always tac on and if remembered.
Lale doesn’t remember the exact moment when she had the epiphany that she didn’t want either business; it must have been that constant, underlining feeling of heaviness in the pit of her stomach. An instinct that was trying to warn her that she wasn’t made for her parents’ endeavors. She didn’t like the fast-paced motion of the design company her father had created, and she certainly didn’t enjoy the stuffiness of the hotel chain. None of it intrigued her, and it seemed that her parents didn’t care. Lale tried to explain to Damla and Kivance on a few occasions that she didn’t want to be part of their businesses. It hurt the first time she had brought it up at the dinner table and was immediately shut down. It didn’t help that Lale never came up with a backup plan past taking the next year off out of lyceum. This is where Lale’s relationship with her parents started to become rocky. The only thing they had ever cared about was their image in society. They won’t like being called parents of a child who was struggling to find a living.
To expand their businesses, Damla and Kivance decided to move to their favourite vacation spot: France. And it didn’t take them long to plant roots there. Lale was fourteen. As it turns out, much to her surprise, Lale didn’t mind immigrating to the southwestern outskirts of Paris, to a dreamy town called Fontainebleau. In fact, Lale heavily embraced the move with the thought of just another chance to explore a different world, and the more she explored the opulence of Paris, she became increasingly absentminded to the duties bestowed on her. Lale also begins making a conscious string of choices and decisions she knows that will get her into more trouble - either with the authorites or her parents. Everything she did, intentionally or not, added more tension to her and her parents’ already fragile connection, but if this was the only way to get across that she wasn’t interested in either lifestyle she was given, Lale was ready to blow up everything - she would rather have nothing at all then be stuck under the thumb of her parents for the rest of her life.
All she had was a heart that was begging to be split open. And she was going to allow it. Fight for it.
At nineteen, Lale leaves home in the middle of the night. Her parents didn’t worry when they didn’t find their youngest at breakfast; it wasn’t unusual that you could never find Lale in the mornings, if at all. She had always made it clear that being underneath the Senol household made her feel as if she were living in an ivory cage. It was a suffocating experience living with her parents and Lale was sure it was never going to change, so she tried to stay out for as long as possible. Damla and Kivance didn’t start to worry about their youngest until two and a half days later when she finally called during the late evening, informing them that she was now on a cross-country road trip. Of course, as Lale saw coming, an argument broke out over the phone with Damla ordering Lale to come back home. She didn’t, obviously. Out of spite and sheer determination to have her own life, Lale’s road trip through Paris took a detour that turned into a trip into the U.S. Eventually, after finding herself following a travelling companion back into Europe, she settled in Stockholm, Sweden.
The young artist blossomed in Sweden for five years, and those five years were blissful. Here, she was able to focus on herself, her art, and the companion she was quickly developing feelings for. The woman had a sense of poise and mysteriousness that Lale was drawn to completely. They looked out for each other, and watched over each other. Well, mostly it was the companion making sure that Lale wouldn’t get jumped on the streets due to her tactlessness. When they were out together, it was clear to any stranger that the two women loved each other. Fingers intertwined and locked together, the way Lale would lean her body into the other woman with ease. When it was just them in Stockholm. The second her relationship becomes more serious, Lale gets flustered and leaves Sweden with a note. In a snap realization, her future came into focus: It didn’t exist. Whenever she looked in the mirror, there was an unsettling feeling that rested on the nape of her neck and occasionally lodged itself in the middle of her chest, forcing Lale to forget how to breathe: She was not the woman she has imagined herself to be.
Not knowing where else to go, Lale returns to her family home in Fontainebleau, specifically on her parents’ doorstep asking for a place to crash until she gets some money together. They agree but not after giving her an ultimatum: Live under their roof and take over one of the businesses or call a cab and be cut off from everything. Lale promises her parents she’ll stay. And stay she does. Unbeknownst to her family, Lale was simply buying herself some time to save up as much money as possible. In the meanwhile, Lale works with her father’s fashion industry, Vice + Virtue. Lale can admit that working on designs kept her happy for a while. She certainly learned one or two things about creative fashion design, and it allowed Lale to explore another side of her artistic talents that she wasn’t aware of.
Of course, that isn’t all to the fashion industry, and in the end with the number of drawn-out meetings, interviews, and phone calls – So many damn phone calls that could have so easily been in an email, Lale’s life once again begins to lose the luster of learning new things. As quickly as she found interest, nothing compares to the moment Lale found something she didn’t enjoy about working at Vice + Virtue and forgot how to care about it. Lale was willing to accept the fact that there were aspects of a job that she wasn’t going to enjoy no matter where she went. But Lale knew in her heart of hearts that working beside Kivance wasn’t for her, and she certainly didn’t want to learn under the thumb of her older sibling, Lida, who had decided to help their mother with running the chain of hotels.
Just as she was gearing up to leave the Senol household once more, the family received a devastating call. Lida, Lale’s older sister, had passed in a car accident. She was picking her daughter up from a sleepover and was sideswiped by a drunk driver. The funeral was held three weeks ago and since then, Lale had discoered that Lida had placed her daughter, Defne, in the care of Lale if anything were to happen to her. Lale was shocked when she found out Lida wanted Lale to be her child’s guardian if anything were to happen to her. They had never discussed anything like this, and she would have thought Lida would have wanted her daughter to be in the guidance of their parents. Lale also found out that she had to pack up and move to Nashville, Tennessee, where Lida had been running the latest Senol hotel. This part wasn’t as big of a deal to her. She wanted to get out anyway. As always, she’s an optimistic opportunist. Thankfully, the Senol House wasn’t going to Lale, but to their brother. This was also a very surprising decision, seeing as their brother had less of his life together than Lale does.
From the moment Lale stepped into the city, it was immediately figured out Nashville is truly the entertainment capital of the world, and Lale has been to Los Vegas four times. From being the music mecca, its landscape teeming with cultural landmarks, outdoor activities, fantastic food, and professional sports, there was never a dull moment to be had. Unfortunately, she’s had very little time to enjoy Nashville. Instead, she’s been desperately fighting to keep both her niece and her head above water. With some luck, a few name drops and handy references, she’s been able to focus on the opening of her latest exhibition that she’s been planning. To get her name out so that people will want to fucking hire her or buy her fucking art. That's just on the side. Full-time, Lale was able to score the position of art teacher at Bloom Elementary. However, with everything going on in her personal life, Lale feels the overwhelming sense of responsibility beginning to crush her. Lale has barely gotten by in life by herself, barely. And now she must take care of a child in the wake of losing Lida? But she’s going to keep pushing until she breaks, and even when she breaks, she’s going to keep going. It’s not about her anymore. And Lida would have done the same.
