Our Story

In 2018, Jahi Khalfani, alongside his brother Khary Khalfani and business partner Laila Fakhoury, launched Dion Dia, an independent record label created to support friends, bridge communities, and expand cultural representation in Gainesville, Florida.

The trio used music to foster community by creating environments where people could express themselves, connect, and create freely—spaces where many in Gainesville felt at home and represented for the first time. Their efforts fundamentally changed Gainesville and continue to do so today.

Dion Dia was more than anything an experiment in care driven by an instinct: people thrive when they're supported and given the space and resources to create. That instinct shaped everything that followed. A vintage store, How Bazar, became a beloved community hub; a neighborhood market, Bazar À La Carte, became a touring community incubator; a nomadic gallery, Supermarket, launched first-time solo exhibitions for emerging and established artists alike; and a local festival, Big: Culture and Arts Festival, is growing into statewide cultural infrastructure.

Each initiative taught lessons about impact, how people organize, how resources flow, and what it takes to sustain communities over time. For Jahi, those lessons coalesced into founding Creative Cultural in 2024, translating a lifetime of learning into a formalized creative company rooted in impact and systemic enablement.


A note from Jahi