We recently connected with Imani Turner and have shared our conversation below.
Imani, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I love this question, it’s nice to look back on happy childhood memories. My mother, Safi Reala, is a creative genius! She’s done such a great job creating a sense of independence and community for my sisters and me. I remember when we first returned to her custody we were chaotic and rude. Not intentionally, we just didn’t have an outstanding balance of energy and emotional management. She told us at the start of summer vacation, “you’re all going to different schools next year so you can learn to appreciate each other’s presence.” I thought that was dramatic at the time but the following school year I was surprised to find myself looking forward to seeing my sisters at home. Of course, we still bickered and fought but we grew out of that with time and learned to respect each other’s boundaries. Another way she created a sense of community for us was introducing us to the art community in Olde Towne East. She’d take us to open mics, the Hip-hop Expo, and all the summer and fall festivals since we lived so close to downtown. However, my favorite events were the bonfires her friends in the art community would host around the corner from our house. They lived in a large brick duplex on Wilson Ave and their sons around our age soon became family, our brother cousins as we’d say. We would hang out around the neighborhood and go to different art programs hosted at Transit Arts, a nonprofit organization that has opened a world of opportunities that I still benefit from today. One of my last core memories in Olde Town East before we all slowly moved out of the neighborhood was us standing on the rooftop of a middle school down the road. The sun was setting as we inhaled the last moments of summer vacation and wished each other a good school year. We all still keep in touch and I will forever feel grateful to them for being true friends.
In terms of independence, my mother taught us everything she knew. We started riding the public transportation system when I was 10 and she showed us how to make healthy meals out of the food we’d get from the local food pantries. She has this Afro-Indian fusion style to her cooking and her curry chicken and kale salad are the main requests at family functions. I’m still trying to perfect her recipes. She also taught us other important life skills like how to do our taxes, and the use of writing down our feelings in order to process them. Today I find myself tapping into my ability to use the resources around me to make the most of my situation as a college student who’s trying to find her footing in business and the world in general. Sometimes money is hard to come by and hold onto when I have so many expenses to take care of, so I am grateful to be aware of the food assistance in my area and utilize the pantries to make healthy meals like I watched my mother do. It’s much easier to hone my creativity on a full stomach, and most times I have enough to feed guests and walk a bowl down the hall to my younger sister. As a wave of business opportunities starts picking up, I immediately put forth a conscious effort to process my emotional responses to stressful situations. Being honest about where I can improve, and allowing myself space to discover more about myself has helped me make great strides in balancing my career goals and interpersonal relationships. I have a million and one things I want to get done, and when that becomes too much to think about its such a blessing to have people to turn my attention and joy to. Strengthening and building new connections to create wealth, while maintaining gratitude for all the small wins is the result of the things my mother did right.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
First things first my name is Imani, but I like to go by Mon, short for Monstar. I am a multidisciplinary artist and self-love enthusiast from the Columbus Ohio area. I’m not sure how to define the industry that I’m in, so let’s just say my work follows my belief that self-care IS universal healthcare, and my mission is to use my art as a medium to authentically express that experience. I spent a lot of time indoors as a young child, so I’d fill my time reading and drawing. I liked perfecting 3-D renderings of shapes, practicing bubble letters, drawing landscapes, space and what I thought god was doing in heaven. I had one of those cool fashion stencil sketchbooks and would create my dream outfits and customize Bratz Doll characters for my sisters. Let my mom tell it I started in fashion when I was a toddler, standing in front of the mirror playing dress-up and running to have yet another unprovoked show and tell. The truth? I love clothes for their layers, their history, and their storytelling. I started tailoring my clothes in middle school because I wanted short shorts but knew my mom wouldn’t buy them, and also a uniform didn’t vibe well with my “I am ME” energy so I had a lot of fun making the most of accessorizing. I started using my scraps to make my clothing pieces and it spiraled into me full-on tailoring and custom-designing looks for friends and family today.
I also provide make-up services, self-taught yet again through my formative years. I owe it to my drill team sister Meana, my mom, and my sisters for asking me to do their make-up for birthdays, photoshoots, and homecomings. As intimidating as it was, I found it so thrilling to use someone’s face as a canvas. I started charging for it the more I improved and word of mouth spread until I was gaining clientele outside of my little bubble of day-to-day interaction. One of the best parts of being a self-taught MUA is clients returning to me with stories of all the compliments they got and how much fun they had at their last event. Whether or not you wear makeup or are into fashion, I believe that when you look your best, you feel your best and then you show up a little better than before. I’m grateful my creativity is included in such a personal process. My deep appreciation for art is spiritual, I see everything from a esoteric context, so every time I’m creating it feels like a dance of becoming the art. Believe it or not, I got deeper into my spirituality through dance. Performing was the first time I ever really felt like there was a benevolent higher power. I started seriously dancing when I was 9 or 10 and joined The Saints Drumline Angels Drill team with my sisters. I was so nervous but I had a freaking blast and from there I kept performing until I eventually got over my stage fright enough to audition for more dance opportunities. I started teaching dance classes my first year at OSU and featured and choreographed several music videos alongside my sister Ianna and other talented dancers in Columbus. She and I go way back when it comes to choreography, we used to stay in the porch area of the house we called “the shoe room” for hours preparing our next performance for open mic. (Check out ImaniandIanna on YouTube for nostalgia!) It’s heartwarming watching her continue to feed her passion of performance and all the new opportunities knocking on her door.
Digressing, although I was having a great time pursuing dance, it wasn’t paying the bills and I started losing peace over something that usually made me very happy. I had to take a good honest look at what I wanted to do with art, in general, to know what to put out and accept in return. I was led into shadow work, a process that helps someone shed light on the parts of themselves they’ve hid away in their subconscious, and work to integrate those parts back into their conscious reality for an authentic and balanced interaction with their inner and outer world. I came to understand I had to make time to learn how to love myself through all my seasons, not just when I feel like I’m on top of the world. Most days, I’m not 100% confident in anything I’m doing, all of the time. Come to find out that’s normal, I just didn’t know that yet. Being my own BFF, I do know to put some music on, get to moving my body around the house singing to my cat, maybe cry a little, and then tell myself to take it step by step, breath by breath, and add some rest. (Please don’t forget to rest. It’s the most productive form of rebellion). I usually end up laughing after all the stress I put myself through just to enjoy the dreaded tasks I’ve been overthinking. I like to remind myself of the time I got Ianna to join me on a door to door quest selling paper fans we drew on for a quarter each. That 10 years old little girl had confidence and charisma and I take that mindset with me into everything I do now. I’ve started working on music, something I always wanted to do since my teenage years, and I’ve been getting my hands in the film industry as well. I feel having a daily routine in place that caters to my mind, body, and spirit has improved my creativity and ability to persevere through the mundane tasks of day to day life.
Self-care has become my favorite art form, and I love to help other people feel the same way by way of my talents. When I interact with my clients, I don’t want them to leave feeling hopeless. I want them to know they have a choice on what and who gets the best of them. Break that dress code, make that song, wear the dress, and say it with your chest! You deserve to treat every inch of your being like magic, every second like a new plot development, every person like a new story to hear. It sounds all fantastical and whimsical but on a very practical level the way you think, speak and feel over your life holds tremendous weight over time. So many of us have been forced to put away the things that bring us joy for one reason or another, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it back. Joy is created, and we’re all creators (yes, you in the back) and sometimes we just need help getting through those creative blocks. I am not a therapist (might’ve missed my calling), or a world-renowned motivational speaker (yet), but I’m a dreamer who’s making her dreams a reality and cheering on others to do the same.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that needing help makes you weak and a burden. Summer of 2021 I was approaching the week of my 21st birthday, super anxious but excited because I was nearing the end of creating my second big birthday project as a self-proclaimed entrepreneur. I quit my job earlier that year to pursue an art career full-time and had some money saved up that would only last me about 4 months. I was a bit delusional to think I could get a business up and running in a month but it got me to take a leap of faith. As if adulting wasn’t hard already, I had a plethora of limiting beliefs from my childhood I wasn’t aware of holding me back from really understanding what kind of impact I could and did have on the world around me. The biggest limit was my lack of feeling connected. On a deep level, I felt like I always had to rely on myself to get through hard times because I didn’t grow up feeling fully supported. Everyone thought I had my life together so I conformed to the role of the “strong friend” and “mature, hard-working student with a bright future”, but internally I was depressed, confused and lonely. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing my negative emotions because I didn’t want to be a burden and bring everyone else down. I got out in the real world and felt like one mistake would be the end of the line for me, so of course, when I started to struggle with paying my bills I battled with a harsh cycle of self-criticism and self-victimization. Months leading up to my birthday I’d smile on facetime with friends and family talking about the dance gigs I was doing and other artistic projects to convince them not to worry that I quit my job, to eventually admitting that I was stressed and needed to find a source of income. My mom suggested Instacart and I felt a bit of relief that I let her in but I still struggled to meet rent. The constant stress made my depression and anxiety worse, affecting my ability to get out the bed sooner to “seize the day”. I felt really stupid for quitting my job to make my dreams come true, I felt like a disappointment to all those who expected great things from me and proved everyone who doubted me right. Even still, I was looking forward to my birthday because it was the only thing in my control I could positively focus on. I remember I was about to shoot the last video of my birthday series when my friend Jaida called. I’m not sure what possessed me finally be honest (I think she pressed the matter) but I broke down and let her know the situation. I was a month behind on rent and I was fearing an eviction notice. That day I had $900 due and I only had $300 with no idea how to make up the other $600 without digging myself into a deeper hole. Well, my voice is cracking and a tear starts to slip so I swat my phone away because no way in hell am I going to sit up here letting someone else watch me suffer and she just calmly says “if you need help let me know.” So I force open my mouth and ask for help. She loaned me the $600 and took me grocery shopping. My pride only let me grab a few things, but I didn’t know how else to feel besides thankful and terrified.
You would think I was in a horror movie the way I talk about being vulnerable, but to admit I needed help meant I didn’t have it all figured out, then no one would want to vent to me. Since that’s the main reason I thought people liked me, I believed no one would have a reason to care about me anymore. What I discovered under those thoughts was the belief that my needs were not important. The neglect I endured in my childhood led me to find safety in listening and people-pleasing, not in speaking my needs because they might add an inconvenience. I spent such a long time figuring out how to “solve problems” without ever considering sharing the load, but simultaneously wishing someone would save me. Making a small habit of asking for and accepting help has helped me make space for more parts of myself to shine through that were previously suppressed because I didn’t want to be “too much.” I also learned that needing help creates an opportunity for real, honest and deep connections to form. The vulnerability and humility it takes to trust someone else step in is a new strength I’ve developed within. I’ve been on an intense journey of rediscovering what my needs are and finding my voice to speak them out loud. Knowing that I can seek assistance from others has opened me up to a wider belief in my ever-expanding dreams. Embracing teamwork has motivated me to go after my dreams confidently, like 10 year old Mani and Yanna at your door with paper, crayons, and a 25¢ dream.
Contact Info:
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Instagram: @themonstaroffical
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Tiktok: @theemonstar
Image Credits
Monstar, Mason Ferguson, Ianna Turner.