Black In Business

Black Leaders (Inspiration Story)

As a 25 year old female, I have struggled and faced many conflicts and battles especially in the music industry. As an artist there are many thoughts of self- doubt and criticism you generally have but I am lucky to have a leader and an inspiration by my side through it all. Back in 2017, I met one of the most motivating, uplifting and creative Artists. My friend Marcus. He is a multi faceted Artist who is an engineer, producer, singer/ songwriter and creative director. I am truly honoured and grateful to work with such talent and brilliance. Marcus is continually pushing me and helping me to improve myself everyday as a musician. Days when I felt defeated and alone, he was always there to mend any insecurities I had. Through the years, Marcus has not only become my music producer& engineer, he has become my mentor and most importantly someone I can call a friend. We have shared a lot with each other and he has spoken out to me about what it’s like to be a person of colour. He opened up about past trauma of being bullied for a short period of time in high school because of his race. Growing into an adult, this trauma held on to him and left him with a lot of anxiety and pain, listening to this was a turning point for me. Even though, I could relate to him on so many levels, it almost felt unfair for me to speak about any of my problems since they just weren’t the same.

Hearing these stories he shared with me, they were inspiring and life changing. As a white person on the other end listening and learning about his background, I will never know what it’s like to endure the type of pain he had and will forever be grateful for black leaders like Marcus. I felt like this person I knew, who was so creatively talented did not deserve to ever be put down or made fun of because of the way he looked, even if it was for just a short period of time. At the end of the day, I will never understand what it’s like to feel like an outcast for the way that I look as well as many other people who are in my position who look up to black leaders. On a brighter note, there has been a huge shift in the world of social media and this couldn’t be better because speaking out on this matter has transfigured the energy in today’s society and people have built platforms to use their voice and express what needed to be said a long time ago.

I do believe by doing our part in vocalizing our stories about Black Lives Matter with the rest of world and educating our minds will make a huge difference. By making a reconstructive change, this will help immensely and has already. I am so thankful and lucky to get the opportunity to work with Marcus everyday and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be doing music today. I love the joy he always puts into life and I will forever be lucky to know a man like him. I will always stand by what is right in this world and I will continue to stand by the Black Lives Matter movement that has become a momentous turn in today’s world. Creating liberation and freedom in black lives is something we should continue to do as human beings. I am happy to share my story and being able to talk about this subject. I thank god for Marcus and black leaders every single day because without them the world wouldn’t be the same.