We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessey Jansen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessey below.

Jessey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I was in 7th grade when my art teacher presented all the students with a 12×12-inch copper plate. He explained to us that as soon as we pressed into the plate the lines would be permanent, so we were to give thought to what we wanted to create before starting. I loved it, all the students started with the same tools and resources, so I pressed my lines into the surface with no worries if they were right or wrong, just instinctively assured I was creating a big picture.

My relief shaped into a butterfly, and it was one chosen to be exhibited at the state capitol. I ran home after school to give the good news to my parents who I knew would be steadfast in support of attending the debut. I could hear the shouting from two houses down, the power was out, and my parents were fighting again. I went up to my dark bedroom and decided to wait until the next day to share my news.

It took a few days for the fighting to stop, at which point I received an excited congratulations and saw the hopeful glimmer in my parents’ eyes. It was then my mind opened to ideas of resourcefulness, imagination, and fortitude as I realized that like the copper plate, with the proper tools and resources, I could create my life.

From that ripe age, I wanted nothing more than a way out, a way out of our broken-down home, hardships from growing up poor, and the narrow-minded perspectives of our small town. Creativity was my companion, allowing me to make sense of the seemingly uncontrolled situations through controlled mediums, ultimately the path and the way out.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I strongly believe that the arts are a profession of insight, rigor and practicality which can be used as an agent for social change. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Communications in the Arts from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, my professional experience includes art event coordination, project management, graphic design, and entrepreneurship.

Following an Emerging Artist nomination at the Peninsula Art School in 2006, I began to use art as a purpose driven awareness tool to stimulate civic dialogue and action on the issues of poverty and social mobility. This unique focus and evolution of business goals led me to volunteer in Tanzania where Voice of Maasai indie music label and social impact brand was founded.

My evolution of career has been a passionate journey filled with learning. In my current role as Executive Producer of Voice of Maasai music label, we use music and media as a platform for empowerment in Tanzania. I share time between my home studio in Austin Texas and our recording studio in Arusha Tanzania, with responsibilities including design and development of our editorial voice and style, brand development, content programming, product development, team management, talent scouting, sales and production of all online touchpoints including our website. I work directly with my multi-cultural partners and my team in Tanzania to help provide the best creative solutions for our storytelling and music brand.

We are recipients of numerous awards for our visionary work including: 2006 Nominee for Emerging Artist Peninsula Art School, 2008 Selected Artist Residency at Alverno College, 2015 Brand Award from Green Festival LA, 2016 Best Jazz/World AMI Music Award and over a decade of American Package Design Awards from Graphic Design USA

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2019, an Achilles injury rolled into the world-wide lockdown, I went from traveling to work with my team in Tanzania multiple times a year to a 3-year hiatus. This gap from face-to-face immersion with my team and Swahili culture has been very challenging for me personally but it pushed my imagination and allowed for some space to reflect on what really matters and how we continue to succeed as a remote team. During those 3 years, we overcame a studio flood, hosted a community engagement mural, produced exceptional new music, sponsored radio tours, hosted our producer for his first international travel experience at ACCES conference in Johannesburg, upgraded equipment and published a 10yr anniversary choir album. Our team keeps thriving because of shared dedication to pursue a dream and the tenacity to see it through.

Voice of Maasai excels by breaking down overwhelming projects into steps: research, prep work, drafting, editing, polishing, all while carving chunks of time to mind-map and trust a process that stretches the unique human capacity of imagination to offer something new, inclusive, and informative for the public.

How VOM continues to thrive is not by accident, here are some of the tenets I follow:

Operate on creativity, thought inclusion, teamwork
Align tasks with talent
Create processes
Value a culture where everyone is accountable and entrusted with resources
Manage our management
Don’t let people sit in mistakes
Illuminate strengths and weaknesses

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

Arts reminds us of shared humanity and when people interact about human concerns via insights that may be stimulated by my work, that is extremally rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.voiceofmaasai.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voiceofmaasai/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/voiceofmaasai
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/voiceofmaasai
• Other: www.jesseyjansen.com