Ready to meet one of the most stylish, empowering women? Musemo is one badass chica with a great eye for style! She uses her love for the digital arts and fashion to inspire her community, by championing for the increased visibility of plus size women and African Nova Scotians in the arts, where a lack of representation is unmistakable. For her work, she’s been awarded the Entrepreneurship, Youth Involvement and Outstanding Community Service Award by the Black Business Initiative and was also honored with the Founders Choice Award by Body Confidence Canada.
Tell us a little about your job & how you got where you are today?
I'm a woman who wears a few hats. I'm a content creator in the fashion and lifestyle field. I occasionally appear on TV as a style expert and host and write fashion-related articles for publications.
This is all started when I was in-between jobs and picked up sewing to keep me sane while I looked for my next gig. This awakened a creative part of me I hadn't really looked into yet. I started working on a line of clutches and while doing that decided to start a blog. The blog took off and I found myself on the radar of magazines because of my bold style! With the growth of my audience and getting plenty of press, I've been able to leverage that into some amazing opportunities.
“healthy self-talk prepares me to be confident in the way I speak and to also be firm in what I am willing to do!”
Describe a day at work you'll never forget!
I work from home and am pretty glued to my laptop if I am not attending events or shooting content! The best days are always the ones I open my email and find out that a brand wants to work with me. A highlight to share wasn't a work opportunity but hearing from Instagram HQ that they wanted to use my immigrant success story as a way of saying Happy Canada Day to Canada!
What's your advice about growing a brand or a personal brand?
Figure out who you are and what your aesthetic is. Be inspired by others but don't fall into the trap of creating a look because you see it working for others, especially if isn't in line with who you really are! You'll get exhausted fast trying to emulate something that really isn't you. So figure it out and what naturally comes out of you will be the driving force of your brand and it will never trap you!
“I think I regret under-charging because I honestly didn’t realize that my peers were getting so much more than I was quoting.”
How do you prepare for negotiation conversations?
I do my research to make sure that I know that I am quoting what I'm worth. I also remind myself of my journey and how much I have invested in myself and what I bring to the table! The healthy self-talk prepares me to be confident in the way I speak and to also be firm in what I am willing to do!
Did you ever agree to something in a negotiation you now regret doing?
In general, I think I regret under-charging because I honestly didn't realize that my peers were getting so much more than I was quoting. But I've also been forgiving of myself because being in the influencer space has just been a learning curve for us all and I'm glad that I'm in a space where I'm confidently representing myself!
What is one tip would you tell your younger self about negotiating?
Don't downplay your creativity and your talents. I know it's hard to claim a title because you think you don't deserve it because you didn't go to school for it. But, own that shit because your creative eye is so freaking rad!
