We recently connected with Kemi “Moon” Balogun and have shared our conversation below.

Kemi “Moon”, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

This year is the 10-year anniversary of graduating high school for me and I have had a lot of reflection on my school days as I have been forging my own path as an entrepreneur. One of the biggest things I would change about the education system is the cookie-cutter curriculum. I was regularly regarded as one of the smartest kids in class but the reality of things was that I struggled a lot in classes that didn’t allow space to approach things differently than how they were being taught in class.

Something we can do to help prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career is to stop trying to force them into a mold we want to see them in. Being Nigerian-American, there were some stereotypes that we heard and made fun of growing up, but now that we are older… it’s funny how most of us fell into it. One of them is the, “you have to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer or you will bring shame on your family name”. Seems a little extreme, I know, but the sentiment ultimately is that they wanted us to be successful and not have to want for anything in life (I know other first gens can relate)

We are living in very different times now though. There is such a broader variety of options where we can create our own lanes and thrive in them. I struggled a lot in my early 20s trying to find my identity once I decided against going into law. Ultimately I landed on something that I have been doing since elementary school. I often think about how much further I would be along today if I was being nurtured and encouraged in writing as a career path in school instead of it being seen only as a hobby.

Kemi “Moon”, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For those who aren’t familiar with me, I am Kemi “Moon” Balogun, writer, poet, & entrepreneur. I honestly feel like I was born to be a storyteller & communicator, writing is my main medium for doing that. I started writing stories and poems in elementary school as a way to express my vivid imagination and the way I see the world. Through the encouragement of some really amazing English teachers, my family, and my community, I began sharing my written works more publicly and searching for opportunities to diversify my writing skills. I have written policies and procedures for corporations, I’ve written bios and co-written with artists, I’ve written custom wedding ceremonies as an Officiant, and I have published my first collection of poems Enter the Mooniverse. I currently am the Lead Writer and Director of Operations at Degenerate Genius; which is also partnered with a local performance venue and event space; Truth Haven, and the Owner of a Writing and Editing services business; Moon’s Works LLC.

I would consider myself a jane of many trades. Writing is my home base but I crave knowledge, learning, and expressing myself in more ways than one. My artist/pen name is Moon The… because I am not just one thing, I do not reside in one box. So I am literally Moon The…whatever I decide to be that day. I pride myself on my business and brand representing authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability. I’ve always had people putting me in a box for one reason or another and I am finally starting to get to a point in life where I have freedom and control over how I am seen and received in this world. I want to inspire the way I was inspired by creatives and artists growing up, but I don’t want to put on like one day I woke up and all my dreams came true either. My favorite thing to say is “Trust the process”; the process is a big deal. I want people to appreciate the small wins just as much as the big ones because they are the stepping stones to those big wins.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Honestly, the journey is the driving force. Since I was a kid, I always researched the lives of the people who created art (in any medium) that I loved. I wanted to know about how they got to the point of producing what they did. Even though I’m still in the thick of my origin story, I want my art and my journey to go hand in hand. I want people to read one of my poems or hear a song I wrote and look me up. I want my journey to be an inspiration to the next generation of creatives, especially the little black girls who want to be writers and story tellers.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Lately, I have been meeting some of my favorite local artists in person by way of some of the other hats I wear with Degenerate Genius, FICE BOB Expo & Truth Haven. It has been so exciting to experience them already being familiar with me and my art. I will literally be fan girling and they are doing the same. It is so rewarding when artists I love and respect for their artistry, big me up and tell me they are a fan of my art as well. Being that I deal with imposter syndrome pretty heavily, these experiences cut through that feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://moonsworks.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moon.the___/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoontheOwlPoet
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kemi-moon-b-28b173ba/
• Other: DegenerateGenius.com