Afro Comb Podcast

02 Mo Maureen - She Did That!!!

April 10, 2020 Ropafadzo Murombo Season 1 Episode 2
Afro Comb Podcast
02 Mo Maureen - She Did That!!!
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Having lived in Berlin for 10 years, Mo Maureen has managed to create a name for herself in event management, creative consulting, and artist relations. She is passionate about amplifying the voices of BIPOC emerging artists in Berlin. In this episode, we get to know about her Kenyan upbringing, her journey to Berlin, and why the work that she does today is important

spk_1:   0:08
Hi. Welcome to the Africa input cost. This is your host, Ropa, and I'm so excited to have you here. Listen, listen. This is a pod cost where every single episode is an interview with a person of African descent living in Europe. So why don't you come along with me as I get to hear some of the most interesting, inspiring, heartwarming and also funny stories from some really, really, really dope people. Yeah. Before we get started, I don't know

spk_0:   0:51
who needs to hear this, But listen, you don't need a snack right now, mate. Sit back down. Just just wear your earphones quietly. And just listen to this episode because you just ate. You literally just

spk_1:   1:05
had something to eat. Now that I'm saying that out loud, I realize that I'm talking to myself. It's me. It's me who I am addressing that too. On dhe. Yeah, in case you found that relatable there. Now we know that we're not alone. Now, you know

spk_0:   1:20
that roper is going through what you're going through to like, lock down is hard for all of

spk_1:   1:24
us. And I've been treating going to the fridge like it's a sport like I the way I pop into

spk_0:   1:30
the kitchen to make something to eat. You would think I'm getting paid for it. So if that is you too, babe, you and I need to do better. We can do better. The point of bulk buying is not to eat more. It's to have the food last

spk_1:   1:43
longer. And this is a lesson that I've had to learn in the last few weeks. Andi, I thought, you know, I would share it with you two. So now that that's out of the way. Welcome. Welcome to the Afro Comb poet cost. If this is your first

spk_0:   1:58
time here, then I'm your host. Roper. I'm the one who's here every episode. Um and this is a pod cost where we get to know different people off African descent. We just have them on the show. And we ask

spk_1:   2:12
them questions about who they are, where they've been, where they're going. So, yeah, I'm coming to you live

spk_0:   2:18
once again from my apartment in Berlin, which I have been in non stop for more than a month

spk_1:   2:25
now. And I won't lie to you guys. I don't know what day it is today. Like a TTE this point. Days

spk_0:   2:32
have blended in two nights and nights have blended in two days, and

spk_1:   2:36
it is getting a little bit hard. I won't like I won't lie to you guys. I pride

spk_0:   2:40
myself in being a home body, right? But at this point, it's like, Yo, bro,

spk_1:   2:46
like I'll be the first to admit that it's getting a little bit hard. It's getting a little bit hard, and we all just have to stay saying And I know

spk_0:   2:55
that we've been getting encouragement from so many different sources about staying

spk_1:   2:59
safe, you know, like so all the practical

spk_0:   3:01
ways in which we can prevent this virus from spreading and all these key words like flattened the curve and so

spk_1:   3:08
on. Yeah, cool. I just wanted to

spk_0:   3:09
encourage you guys also just put your mental help first in this time because we're really going through something traumatic just as a globe, like as as a human race, like what we're going through is unprecedented, and I don't know how many people could have seen this coming. So with that in mind, I employ you to do whatever it takes to just

spk_1:   3:32
a saying on. And no matter what angle.

spk_0:   3:34
You're fighting this virus from whether you're fighting it by just staying at home or you're fighting it by working from home or you're fighting it by literally having to be in the frontline. And, you know, I can't imagine what that's like. But in any case, let's stay saying we are all minds need to survive whatever the hell it is that we're going through right now. So,

spk_1:   3:56
yeah, that's it from me when it comes to Corona Virus and on to today's episode, I'm really excited about this, this guest, because that's my dog man, like Maureen is my dog. Okay, so everyone calls her Mo. Her name is Maureen, but everyone knows her as Mo, and she is an event curator extraordinaire. At least that's what I call her, listen to

spk_0:   4:20
the episodes to find out what she calls herself. But

spk_1:   4:23
Maureen is someone

spk_0:   4:24
who's very active in the music scene in Berlin, and she's passionate about helping emerging artists amplify their voices essentially, and we had a very lovely conversation off course about who she is. She's Kenyon. She's lived in Germany for 10 years, so we walked through that journey off her, deciding to move here and how it is that she ended up doing what she's doing and why the

spk_1:   4:49
work that she is doing is important. And one of my favorite

spk_0:   4:52
things about this episode and what I hope will be one of your key takeaways is that Maureen touches on the importance of allies. And before we get into the interview, I thought it would be nice if we all knew what an ally

spk_1:   5:04
is. So the definition often Ally, is someone

spk_0:   5:07
who supports disenfranchised and underrepresented groups of people within their community without necessarily being a part off that underrepresented group. So, for example, if you are in Germany, if you're white, but you are supportive and you stand up for the rights and representation off people of color or minorities, um,

spk_1:   5:30
then you're an ally

spk_0:   5:31
or if you are straight, but you are, like have heavily involved and, you know, supportive of issues affecting the LGBT community, you're an

spk_1:   5:40
ally. So I just thought

spk_0:   5:42
it would be nice to have that definition before we jump into this interview, where we're going to hear why allies are important from Maureen's perspective and pertaining to the spaces that

spk_1:   5:52
she exists and so, yeah, I will talk to you guys in a bit. Maureen, I want you on my iPod costs because you are. I think you have more charisma than Tony Stark. Did you ever watch Ironman?

spk_0:   6:13
Yeah. I don't remember much of it. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so

spk_1:   6:16
Ironman is so charismatic. Hey, he just has personality. Like you just feel his energy when he walks into a room. Wow. I think you're that person to me that's you to just survive. Wait, Mo shows up, she shows up. You're feeling it's warm. It's everything. So we're just gonna peel back,

spk_0:   6:37
We're gonna rewind, and we're gonna figure out exactly who this person is.

spk_1:   6:42
Yeah. Tell me what you want to know. Tell me where you were born. I was born in

spk_0:   6:47
Nairobi, Kenya, and when I was about four years old, we moved to Mombasa, where I grew up. And then after high school, we moved back to know Ruby. So yeah, How about how about how big was your family? Not big. I have one younger system which is four years younger than me and my mom. So soon as my parents splits. When I was about four years old. We just moved to a whole new environment that Mom wanted. Okay, so you stayed on your mom stayed with my mom and my sister, and, um, we would visit the rest of the family in Nairobi and, um, in the eastern part of Kenya as well. So you spend the bigger part of, like, your upbringing in Mombasa on the coast of Kenya. Yes. On the coast, bythe five was like your favorite memory from high school.

spk_1:   7:40
Oh, yeah. I went to school with a whole lot of creative people, so it waas it was jam sessions. Each time the teachers were late, we would have full on jam sessions, okay? Banging on the day s. And you didn't do that as well? No, no. I went to very, like, uptight kind of school, but we would just, like, really get comfortable. We would always have

spk_0:   8:08
somebody who would stand in the corridor to warn us when our office workhorse off course just g any any, like, large surface of the teachers table was one that would turn into like a desk. Um, on this, like metal, cardboard would be also used like some kind of like breasts like, you know, like everybody would use their desks and we would have people like just Oh, it was That's one of my favorite memories. Another one is we used to take school trips to class trips or, like you would belong to clubs like Different, like extracurricular activity clubs and those those groups would like, go away for trips together, lots of memories and vital made. It was like you had to go. You have to be a part of that. The carne, is it?

spk_1:   9:00
And would you say that

spk_0:   9:02
your love for music, which we need to get into a little bit later on? But would you say, like some of it stems from the jam sessions and just being in such a creative environment? Absolutely. Like I always I look back now and most of the people I went to school with a really, um, really integrated in the entertainment and music industry in Kenya as well, Like it's like we were all about. That's what we're all like a part of that. We also went to a school that was focused on the arts and the way had musicals. We had choirs, and it

spk_1:   9:40
was like, you know, the way in the states they

spk_0:   9:41
have performing arts school. Yes, this was the kind of place that was the kind of place I went to. And, um, it's just most of us ended up in the creative industry and advertising, making music producing. And now I look back and I'm like you. A lot of those people have been a part of all the building structure for this industry because it was non existent or something that most people didn't take seriously. We come from the African continent

spk_1:   10:09
day to do something, like,

spk_0:   10:12
become a doctor or a lawyer, you know? But that was saying you want to make music or become an actor, or we're now building that foundation and really, really doing it some very thankful for being a part of that. And your sister went to the same school system into the things she also creative. She is. But she decided to become a full on boss. And, um, what is my sister? She's in

spk_1:   10:39
science. Oh, I love that. And did you ever at any point I want to go in like that kind of Eric? I tried. Okay, Right. This was the goal. He considered it That was considered for me. Okay, But you don't have No I I wanted to do this. I came to Germany to further my studies. Oh, that throwing parties while I was going to school. What did you come to Germany

spk_0:   11:08
to study? I wanted to study something media related. Okay, then all my documents weren't accepted as I needed to, like, kind of take a few steps back in the sense of go back to the pre university level of education, which is something that I find so stressful. I'm just gonna rent about this really quickly. So is involved. We raid the common whatever. The National Examination Board is called him sick. And, uh, this is what the average John Baldwin child does like. That's the Abbey tour. That's what you write when you finish high school

spk_1:   11:47
and you have some,

spk_0:   11:48
like, slightly more privileged Children who are able to do Cambridge exams. But the average the Baldwin child has some sick, and the Simpson education system is more rigorous than Cambridge. And this is something that's been confirmed by people the teach both, or have had to do both. Yet when you moved to Germany. Zim sec is not recognized.

spk_1:   12:10
So the like. Yeah, if you want to study. If you was a mom, when you wanna study here, you have to go back

spk_0:   12:17
and do study in college, which is like a pre university. Yeah, sort

spk_1:   12:21
of thing. And it's really frustrating, but rent over. Yeah, I think I

spk_0:   12:25
even went, like, further back. Like before studio in college. I had to take other courses like, Oh, wow, the equivalent off high school. And then that was gonna be, like, three years before I was now illegible for studio including. Oh, my goodness. Okay. And so on the way to that change. Okay. And Mother Dearest was very disappointed. Yeah, but, um,

spk_1:   12:56
we moved way, move them. Okay, wait. Before we get to

spk_0:   13:00
like, what happened? Like once he got to Germany and all of these things

spk_1:   13:03
I always saw in your childhood, like I wanted a little bit of a word picture. Like, were you like a naughty kid?

spk_0:   13:08
Or would you like a following rules, kid, where you

spk_1:   13:12
was? What was Just give me, like, a nine year old mo really quickly. But I was a problem. Okay, I believe that no one understands Off.

spk_0:   13:26
I was just hard being brown, 10 years old, leading up to teenage hood was not easy for me. I I had it. Uh,

spk_1:   13:43
what's this? You know, Legally blonde, But like the Kenyan version, that's what you were trying to be The Kenyan version of Elle Woods. Wouldn't it? Is, Yes, it was disaster. I don't know. Okay, Okay. Like rebellious, but, like, productive. That was Elwood's hold by

spk_0:   14:08
was Think I'm gonna do things my way, but I don't know if we were productive, but, uh, yeah, um, yeah, really internalized everything that we saw on TV and tried. It was embarrassing. Okay, We

spk_1:   14:20
don't have to look back on it. I just I'm just trying to find a red thread as you walk through your life story. No, no, it was fun. It was really, really fun. I was, like, very outspoken,

spk_0:   14:30
very thio. I just had a very healthy overcompensated who I thought I was being are becoming. Yeah, but

spk_1:   14:48
then I also have must say

spk_0:   14:50
that I also had a very Christian upbringing. So God was introduced into my life at a very early stage. Okay, That just laid a really firm foundation for me. Regardless of how I sold myself. I always knew. Be humble. Sit down.

spk_1:   15:08
Yeah. Yeah, way. Thank Madame Maureen for dragging your behind a church. Understand? I know that

spk_0:   15:16
it's not. Doesn't rise in full with you. Oh, my goodness. I love that. So it was like a healthy dosage of like, Yeah, OK, but remember, remember where you come from. You okay? So now we Foster would thio you. You're pursuing the studies you're trying to do even, you know, in Germany and trying to do whatever it is that she's supposed to do. And then you get to a point Ray, like this is a joke. Like, this is not gonna work.

spk_1:   15:41
No, I mean, I just had to

spk_0:   15:42
be true to myself, right? Yeah. I mean, I got excited about the fact that you don't have to pay tuition fees. Yeah, and it felt right to pursue further studies for as long as it was possible for me to be living here. And I and I started the journey of doing that. I just didn't finish. And I also started to work while I was going to college. And because I was earning money and lots of it. I decided I'm gonna just drop out of college and, like, walk me through that point. What do you most worried about? Are you most worried about how your mom's gonna feel about it? Or are you worried about regretting the decision, or are you actually like now I'm gonna go for it. You're not worried about anything now, then? Then

spk_1:   16:30
then I was fine earning, earning lots of money

spk_0:   16:32
and paying my own bills and being able to even send back home money and support my family and paying various bills that because this was a way to, um, appease the family. It's not a degree, but yes, what I was doing something that I would get if I had had the degree. But there's just always this, like assurance that you have with, like, once you have completed your further studies that would bite, like would really disturbed me, and that never went away. But, um, I went on to become like a bilingual English speaking teacher. I worked a different international schools. I work for different, um, families, and, um, it was a good run. You excited that I just love to bring people together around music and events and parties. And ah, so that when you first decided tow leave college, you were working and teaching. It wasn't the music thing. I wasn't music. Okay? I did that for almost five years, okay? And you enjoyed it. I loved it. It was good until I now began to, like, assist other friends with events. And then he just went into segment into a whole other different area that I thought I was doing on the side. But I was like, doing Justus full time was always doing the whole teaching thing, which is, like, hard. If you're doing that at night, then you wake up to go to work. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I am foolproof hustle. Oh, we can see

spk_1:   18:14
waken totally tell Distant to the hustle on How do you Ok, so like, maybe now you

spk_0:   18:24
have more clarity than you had. Let's say while you're still teaching and doing this on this, I like

spk_1:   18:29
how do you define what you should be doing? Or I don't want to say purpose per se,

spk_0:   18:34
but like, how do you define your passion and this thing that you want to be doing right now. Yes, around music. And how do we describe

spk_1:   18:44
that? At the core of it, it's all about

spk_0:   18:48
amplifying and bringing visibility to emerging artists and creatives. Now that I'm realizing who I am and what I stand for, it's it's just usually revolves around BP. You'll see. You know, um, I've been here for a really long time, and I feel like I haven't understanding for what it feels like when you just arrive on DDE What it feels like when you've been here for over a decade and because Berlin is a transient, I don't I don't see many people that have decided to stay as long as I have on DDE have the access and the resources that I have in the sense of the trust and credibility that are built, different networks and with different people on. I want to find a way to offer that to our community. Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, and you feel that the like, people of color BPO sees need that more. That's

spk_1:   19:53
because I guess all emerging artists I don't know if I can speak for if they need that more. I

spk_0:   20:00
just want to be able to offer it when people ask for it or when they're looking for it. That's true. Just have a presence of it and make it easier to find because we still have lots off people that come and feel alienated and isolated and don't know where to find while I'm out here like I know where it's at, you know? Yeah, I know where to go. I know, I know. I know. I know. I want to be able to extend that right. Um, And right now it happens through the events that I do or I am a part off And, um, at the various projects that are on the biggest scale than what I do independently. And then I get to be a part off. Um, so it still needs to be more defined more concrete. But, um, yes, just I just have it on my hearts to really push us forward. So help me get, like, a clearer picture off

spk_1:   21:03
what you like. What do you do and like, because I feel like you do a lot of different things. So what do you do? Let's say in

spk_0:   21:09
a week like Touch, like five different things are two different things, depending on one. Yet booking artists it's coordinating with various venues. It's, um, figuring on budgets that we can work with to produce events. It's, um, meeting artists that I'm connected to. It depends on what I'm working on. Next, I run to live music events and depending on if they're parallel or back to back, that's what I would usually be apart off. And then, if I'm called on to be a part off a freelance project, that it depends on how much time I'm dedicating to that and what I'm doing for them. So, yeah, loads were It's, um it's a mix of like event management and coordination and consulting and advice, ING artists and um, different teams that are part of, like event spaces that wants to bring in Maur entertainment elements that a community based Yeah, I would say that you were like prominent at this point, you

spk_1:   22:29
on and in this wickedness in this industry in this world, like when it comes to like Berlin, people of color music, you know, I think I think mo right. What makes you think that? Because you're you know you're Mo and I just want to know, like what has been, like, the most challenging thing about getting to this point where at least even

spk_0:   22:51
if it's just a perception, someone like rope. I can thank you prominent in this, even if it's just a perception or like a misconception. What? What? What has been the most challenging thing about, like building this credibility or getting the opportunities and all of these kinds of things? Uh,

spk_1:   23:11
I don't know if we should go. I think you can. You can also take it from, like a personal No, I think what really I find challenging is I'm not usually what

spk_0:   23:22
people expect to have this much access to like, um, I'm

spk_1:   23:29
small is data black girl, um, super chirpy and Kirky.

spk_0:   23:39
And I'm also like a Christian. When you get to know me, then you know this and then it's like usually it's just being in spaces and everybody's like, What

spk_1:   23:47
are you doing here? Um, it's not.

spk_0:   23:52
I know. I'm very rare now off the fact that I just don't, um, fall into that. I don't know when you think of somebody who's who's doing what I do it's not. They don't usually look like me. Okay, that's fair. So there's attention that you get from other guys. And then there's also the attention that you get from other girls or other women that feel they should have the same opportunities that you do here. And I sometimes find that hard to to deal with. Is it? I mean, like, a comedy of a bottle. Make someone cheese. But is it hard being a woman in this world, or is it hard being black in this world? I separate the two robot. I know your concept,

spk_1:   24:44
but yeah, yeah, I am. Now. I would if I had to choose. And

spk_0:   24:52
it's just it's just it's not hard but a destruction. Yeah, it can be tired of being black. It's hard because I've been here so long. I know how to pick my battles. Okay, So when I pick up on something that I know I'm experiencing because what I look like, I know. And now I know how to switch into, like, I'm not gonna waste my energy with this. I know I literally cannot afford to go there because I know who I am and what I'm about and I don't need to be validated by somebody who was looking for me to, like, meet them on that level. I know that what I now understand it's like for people coming just a lot to be confronted with people who are brand new in the city and experiencing all these. But these micro aggressions, like full on, um, any musty or Yeah, it's a lot to deal with in a new city where you don't speak the language or not people. Um, but this is now I see it as a gift. What I have after being here for so long and having like, my support system and knowing when to go and how to vibe. Yeah, And I guess that kind of power, Yeah, to help the new people the brand new P. Yeah,

spk_1:   26:08
I What I still have is

spk_0:   26:10
like, I go into spaces and I realized later like it could be home and I'd be like,

spk_1:   26:14
Damn, I was the only black person that Oh, yeah. You know, I don't like seeds. I'm now comfortably Don't always seeds when I like it. It's far life now, remember? Like click. Oh, wait. That was like to us. Yeah, it's so fascinating. I've only I've lived here for, like, four years, almost five. But I'm also exactly the same way because I think you get desensitized to excite you the only black person at school. And then you're like, barely these two black people in the company work for. And then there's when you go into whatever this particular tourists walking tour back first in there, whatever, like, I've also become kind of decent. So I stood, I'm like, Okay, I guess it's I guess

spk_0:   27:02
this is it, but yeah, but for people, this means a lot to it's not easy to be confronted by. No, absolutely not. And it's not easy to, I think, also something for me, that's that's, like, specific to my life. That is how I feel that it's not easy to feel understood. So, for example, I work and study that's difficult for anyone off any race to do. Um, but then these layers off it where I work and study. But I'm far away from home and I work and study, but I have a visa to worry about, and I work in steady, have a visa, Torey, but but don't speak the local language. And I work in steady Hannah but also look different on you if you all constantly in space where, like you're the only one there who's black. It's also hard to feel understood. But I also have really amazing friends. And I think my, my, my my desire is to turn the ones willing into allies. Yeah, where they're able to understand where I'm coming from or people like us are coming from. You know, it is a privilege not to be thinking of all these things. Hence the term white privilege. And I wasn't always somebody who lives like this. The whole super vocal about, like, what's wrong with calling enough out? But e just came a point someplace quiet, I think a mean, if you follow me on those social media's, if you're there, then it's because we know each other. We're friends right on and or we're becoming friends. So we need to go there, you know? Wake up, Tonto. I'm on album. Not a single like it's all of me. It's all of us. You and I come with all of it, so we can't just be happy clumpy every once in a while. I do want to talk about not dwell on it. But I do want to talk about, like, what's often how we can all pull together to make a things better, more bearable, you know? Yeah. And you mentioned allies. They're like, Why, From your perspective, I wire allies important for weird trying to do

spk_1:   29:23
it just we need people that

spk_0:   29:31
understand what wrong from different perspectives. You know, um, this people usually tend to feel like, Okay, I'm not directly affected by this, so I really have no way off reacting to it or making it better. Um, but even choosing to understand the situation and see what you have at your resource is our actual in your reach to move forward is it's just it's just nice to just know that people are mindful of these things, you know that it doesn't need much. Just be mindful. Just listen, just understand. Be aware, be there, just be engaged. That's that's being an ally. And it's just helping people like really helping people move to the next level. I don't want you to feel sorry for me. Just be aware of what's going on like recognizes, like

spk_1:   30:36
for some hill simple things

spk_0:   30:38
like if you see something on the bus and it's usually there's somebody else. If somebody is just not nice somebody on the bus whose happens to be black of somebody else's black that then the probability of the black person standing up for them It's higher, then everybody else. But it's even more powerful when other people chime in. You know, that's a nice ship that I want to see more off. I also think alike Ship is important, like what you're saying just being more mindful and being more aware, getting more information. It's important because we ultimately are all growing into becoming decision makers. No matter what stage you're at, that you live in your life right now. In the future. At some point in some capacity, you will be a person who makes decisions off who's hired. How much do they earn or which policy do we sign into Onda few arm. You know, if you have blind spots, it means we the system continues the way that it is because when you're in that position, you also still don't know any better, so you continue to reinforce the things that have been, therefore centuries, almost right. Whereas if you do become an ally even in just the capacity off listening, asking questions or whatever be more informed, it means now you're gaining more perspective on when you get into that position. At some point in your life, even subconsciously, you start to make decisions that impact minority groups in different, different ones. You know, women. Um LGBT Q and so on and so forth. So that's a word girl

spk_1:   32:23
way. We do need allies. Yeah, I have some. It's just that I want to see more, more challenging people to think. What role

spk_0:   32:33
do you think? The artist? So you said you you tend to work a lot more with B abuse puting

spk_1:   32:42
on Lee. But yeah, yeah, more, right? Not only definitely, but

spk_0:   32:45
more right. What role do you think them taking up space place in just the bigger conversation. It's balances stuff out. It's She brings just so much more to the table. It's just important to have diversity scene and represented on different various levels, you know, and also not just diversity, because it's just what's hype right now. But the goal is to make diversity normal. Like to bring it. Just make it like we don't have to even think about it anymore. You know, this is how it is, how it is. And I just want to be a part of, like pushing this artist. If it's on this level right now, then they're being pushed on this level right now, like it's more giving them access to more opportunities than then they would have. So, yeah, it's just more about making it present, making them visible, giving them access, moving them forward, even if it's just one level up further him. Yeah, and I guess it makes a fight. I always think of most forms of art as some kind of storytelling, right? I think. Then the more we push forward diverts artists, all artists from different places, the more stories we have represented. Acid Yeah, like old perspectives, a great And right now there's a prevailing perspective, and it's good to just have more and more and more and more out there. So good roll with that on dhe about like Berlin specifically Why wide this city? I mean, maybe it wasn't like, why the city when you moved by, Why now, besides the fact that I've been here this

spk_1:   34:36
long because I still I still haven't given up on Berlin. I just find it very fascinating

spk_0:   34:43
that it's it's super creative. Lots of creative people live here. Um is just love the fact that you're able to carve out your own Isha, you condone this? This room for everybody here, even stagnating. You mean they will find you? You'll find your tribe. Hey, you name it, You find it. I find that very special about this place Soto have. Yeah, that I still haven't given up on the city. And it's home. Yeah, it's home.

spk_1:   35:22
Yeah, and it doesn't mean

spk_0:   35:23
that I won't go back. I think the goal is to find a way to go back and forth on a regular basis and to build a bridge for other people with my background to also be exposed to this place and also have the same like my people that I work with here. I also have an opportunity to go back to where I'm from. You know, I just want to to also be a part of facilitating that and contributing to that. Yeah, on. Do you like what is the thing you miss most about home. About Kenya. What is the thing that sometimes makes you stop and say? But guys like I mean, yeah, this is home now. And his home for now. Yeah.

spk_1:   36:12
I wonder what it would be like to

spk_0:   36:14
be part of the scene, Like a I just really wonder what it would be a part of if I if I stay. Don't know. I haven't been home in a really long time, so that I mean, I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss Howe. How easy interacting with each other is. You know that that level of like you just understand each other on a number? Yeah. Another familiarity level. Yeah.

spk_1:   36:42
Yeah, we've I've different, but, um, yeah, I have It is not much to miss, cause I also have

spk_0:   36:47
a lot of homeless is here. Yeah, fair. You know, I have a lot of like when people travel and they come out here from Kenya. We also find each other here. It

spk_1:   36:57
hasn't always been like that,

spk_0:   37:00
but I now have my my group of, like, really supportive and dope canyon friends that would make missing home less less of a thing for me. That's pretty cool.

spk_1:   37:13
So in all of

spk_0:   37:14
this, like, we're gonna take a turn. All of this stuff that mode does stuff that Mo is like, How do you take care of yourself? Like, how do you take care of your mind? All my cause. Your body. See,

spk_1:   37:29
that's something I kind

spk_0:   37:29
of, like, underestimated for a long time. And I really love spending time on my own.

spk_1:   37:35
Oh, that is You know what? That is really funny because it's most saying, like, no such social butter, you know, But I don't really imagine Yes. Yes, I

spk_0:   37:46
need this. I need any time to decompress. Like as much love as I love being around other people. I need time to, like, go back and, um, just be on my own on, then. Come back out. What does Mo do in that time? Oh, my God. I sleep loads. I listen to music. I watch stuff. I, um I plan like, how do you like Rick

spk_1:   38:14
up for my friends? Okay. Like, wow, you know, stuff where I want

spk_0:   38:21
to like like have, uh, like, meet up with, like, my heart and soul people and feeling that I haven't really experienced everything that I have experience. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh. But nice to you. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna wear. Gonna like, freak out. What? Yeah, of experience And what you expect PowerPoint presentation? Friends. That's a bit excited.

spk_1:   38:43
Uh, yeah. I just really take time to just be

spk_0:   38:47
be still and spent time also communicating with my create top. Yes. Um, yeah. I just really And just really enjoy being downtime. I need that. I need a desperate and a recognize when I don't have enough. And I was gonna ask, Like, how do you make sure you have that? Like, Yeah, it's just I don't have to go to everything. Yeah, yeah. It's just really understanding that Yeah, it was much as it looks like. I like I go to everything I don't I know it's hard to believe.

spk_1:   39:21
I know. I'm looking at you right now. I'm like, Really? Yeah, I don't know. I don't I don't

spk_0:   39:25
have to be everywhere and had to be in tune with myself and to show up with all the vibes that you also need to tank up on it on. This is how and when I can, as it doesn't happen that often. I love the spa. Oh, I love a good like spa experience. A good bath. Yeah. You know, just relax. Massage. Yeah. You

spk_1:   39:54
know, I I want to explore that more. Okay. And somebody said to this Maybe

spk_0:   40:00
maybe it should be considered that you just don't go out one night and use whatever you would use on that night for for good massage. And I was like,

spk_1:   40:10
And it's for only about Seo. Yes, it is. If you're any asset, this is help because I thought

spk_0:   40:16
it was like, too much luxury. Like massage. Come on.

spk_1:   40:19
Yeah, but yes, to take care. Do you do massages, you wrote? No, actually. But you know what? Together, ma'am, we owe bawling

spk_0:   40:30
on a student budget. You know, do

spk_1:   40:33
what you do is you like to complain. I love food. Is it I a big e like food? Money to decompress. You got food? Oh, my goodness. Like, do you know every time? Okay, so I've had amazing things like great things happen Where, like we need to celebrate. We need to You Too late. We need toe. Whatever. I go home in which everything overnight order sushi. That is to me. Oh, you say nothing to me. You can't say anything. I love food. I like sleeping. I love I love

spk_0:   41:09
movies that come with a big movie girl.

spk_1:   41:11
So that's how I decompress. And then and then when we,

spk_0:   41:15
you know, elevate, then I'm gonna be decompressing by getting onto my private jet

spk_1:   41:21
to soak up some sun. I guess I do. But yeah. And one other thing, when you're in this quiet time or

spk_0:   41:29
like no noise, like, where's Mo going like, where do you? Because

spk_1:   41:34
I feel like you know, it's always to places

spk_0:   41:37
where you can answer that question. You can answer that question when you in the middle off everything that you're currently doing on. Then you take it like yes, So what we're gonna do is by next year we'll be doing 10 of these friends a year, and none of them do you think of it in that direction. But

spk_1:   41:50
I think I want to know

spk_0:   41:51
more when you're quiet. When you're chilling, where's move going? Where Where you taking this? Where are you two years? Three years from now, where does your heart one to be. Then it's more off like I really I really want to really see this through with, Like, doing what I do here in in, in Kenya or on the continent somewhere really wanted, like, have a solid way of having a good exchange off that you're, like, taking what I do here and having it happen in different parts of the world. For the longest time, I thought I was building a portfolio that would a creative way of gun gonna ring experience. I could work with the label or with a creative agency. And maybe that will be the direction I go. Yeah, uh, just getting being a part of an infrastructure to, like, really do things on a bigger scale in MENSA, then how doing things right now, um,

spk_1:   42:58
I want to also help,

spk_0:   43:01
um, African and be PLC artists break on this part of the world really want that on dhe? Yeah. Just what is more doing a couple of years, you know? Yeah. This is the biggest game with bigger budgets. Yeah, on and thank God, but also in exchange notes on exchange like a good solid, um, quality exchange off all that. Yeah, I like that one. Last thing s O on this podcast. I always asked this question and because it's wasteful recording the pilot season, none of my guests know it's coming.

spk_1:   43:43
Someone's not a tough question. Like chill.

spk_0:   43:44
It's chilled. But if we were to write your biography Oh my, what are we naming it?

spk_1:   43:51
My biography. She did that. I know I'm not allowed to pick favorites, but she she did that. Yeah, okay, I love that. No, on with that, Like we have come to the end of today's this'll buy Also guests Mo Mori is anything you would like to shamelessly plug. This is the podcast of shameless plugging your yes follow song authorizations. That's an interview for much that

spk_0:   44:30
integrates a live music performance and an after party happening once a month in Berlin. Follow higher grounds, that live music event series that integrates elements of a cipher alive headliner and an after party. Follow me on instagram More Maureen M o R E M O U r the bleak and and for all those things on instagram

spk_1:   44:53
Yeah, just do the do the wood guys. Thank you. Thank you for having me there. You have

spk_0:   45:04
it, babes. That was my lovely conversation with Mo. And if you would like to find or her socials and everything she just mentioned, be sure to follow Afro Comb pod cost on both Twitter and Instagram. I will make sure I put all the details up there.

spk_1:   45:19
And Yeah, sweetheart, if you've made

spk_0:   45:21
it this far clearly you love me as much as I love you. So why

spk_1:   45:24
don't you do the right thing and subscribe to this part cost? And also, if you enjoyed this episode, recommended toe a friend. Yeah, I do this every second Friday. So

spk_0:   45:34
I will be back again in exactly two weeks with another episode with yet another awesome guessed. His name is the Gwyn. He did not approve of that name. His name is actually going. I, um he works in the banking sector in London. He's just all types of smart and funny, and I can't wait for you guys to hear all the amazing things we talked about. So

spk_1:   45:55
be sure to tune in again exactly two weeks from now until then by E

Ropa's Monologue
Definition of 'Ally'
Mo's Kenyan upbringing
Mo moving to Germany
Mo's Career
Allies and importance of representation
What is 'home' for Mo?
Self Care
Mo's future plans