Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Klementyna Bohdanowicz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Klementyna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I feel like my entire journey thus far has been about taking risks… I was born and grew up in Warsaw, Poland. My parents divorced when I was just 6 years old and I lived with my mom visiting my dad every other weekend. As a child I suffered from insomnia and a fear of sleeping away from my home, which limited my childhood experience in terms of sleepovers, school trips, or sleep-away camps. Surprisingly enough, from a very young age I imagined myself traveling a lot when I grew up. I’ve always been a creative kid, taking dance classes most of my childhood. It wasn’t until I was 12 when I became serious about music though. Around that time and following the passing away of Michael Jackson, I became inspired by his artistry, music and dance. I spent hours watching all of his music videos and live shows, listening to his entire discography, practicing dance routines, and later organizing performances at home in front of my mom after she’d come back from work. I remember the very first time when I started singing and something clicked in my head that this is what I wanted to be doing. I was listening to Michael’s collaboration with Paul McCartney “The Girl Is Mine” and tried to teach myself to sing it. As a child whose first language wasn’t English, my goal was to teach myself to sing it from hearing without looking at the lyrics. I carefully wrote down the words I heard in my notebook and when my mom came back from work, I’d again perform everything that I learned that day. I did the same thing years later with other artists too. I’d go through artist fascination phases during which I’d listen to their entire discographies, watch all of their live performances and practice their songs for hours. These artists included Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera.
My mom worked as a set designer in Film & TV so she’d always work very long hours. I have often spent a lot of time on my own and devoted most of it to practicing dance and singing. My goal was not only to become the best singer and performer I could possibly be, but also learn to speak English so well to the point that people wouldn’t be able to tell that I actually grew up in Poland. I’d create a list titled “Hollywood” and write down my goals together with the things I should do to achieve them. My mom would jokingly tell me to not forget my phone charger when I finally move to the US. I think it’s noticeable that for a child this young, I was incredibly determined, ambitious, detail-oriented, something that in my later teen years would become the cause of other kids bullying me and associated with it eating disorder issues I suffered at the age of 15/16. I’d consider this the first risk I subconsciously took as a teen. That is not giving up despite any obstacles thrown at me at the time. I had my sight set on my goals and I wouldn’t let anyone or anything interfere with it.
The second time I had to face major obstacles and take risks was when I graduated high school and got into my dream school, New York University. My parents weren’t able to afford a school this expensive, not to mention the costs of living in NYC, and the exchange rate PLN (Polish currency) to USD making it 4-5 times more expensive than it was to an average American. Motivated by a partial scholarship from NYU, I decided to take a gap year as an attempt to gather the remaining funds for my education. During that time, I worked part time for an education consulting company helping high school kids apply to universities outside of Poland. I managed a couple of my peers’ applications to their dream universities in the US and UK. At the same time, I worked with a Warsaw-based Arts Foundation and helped with the organization of an opera concert at a 19th century manor outside of Warsaw. During that time I also organized an art exhibition dedicated to my late grandfather, Julian Bohdanowicz, who was an accomplished satirical artist and illustrator. My work during that time paid off and I received a loan from the Foundation for one year at NYU, the conditions beings that I will be able to pay it back at some point in the future by my involvement in the arts, the Foundation’s artistic initiatives and giving back to the community. I’d really love to emphasize here how big of a support my mom was to me this whole time. At the time I was only 19 with big dreams and still a bit of a naive view point on the world. Many people close to us, close friends and even members of my family thought it was a crazy and risky idea. One of the people that opposed to me taking a loan from the Foundation was my dad. Despite everything, my mom and I decided we’ll take risk and do it. And that is how I realized the first major checkpoint from my “Hollywood” list, packed my phone charger and my life into one checked suitcase and a carry on, and booked my flight to NYC. I remember when I first met my dorm roommate and she couldn’t believe that I just flew to NYC on my own with two bags and started my life there.
The first year at NYU wasn’t easy. My major was within NYU’s School of Engineering. I was a bit frustrated about it at first, having had such an artistic gap year and obviously my dreams of making music. I tried to meet as many people as possible and get involved in as many extracurriculars as possible. I also hoped it would help me get a bigger scholarship from NYU after my first year. At the end of the year I also decided to transfer to Clive Davis Institute at NYU Tisch, which I successfully did. As soon as my freshman year came to an end I started once again my fundraising initiatives. I began with my school and persistently scheduled meetings with the Dean of Student Affairs at NYU Tisch. I remember visiting the main NYU Tisch building and taking a photo of their Board of Contributors to later look up if they supported gifted students. That actually resulted in me getting a response from one person, who impressed by my determination introduced me to the Dean of Tisch and helped me get a meeting with her. During that time, I had sent hundreds of emails, LinkedIn messages, physical letters, grant requests and did dozens of in-person meetings. I was fierce and determined. Unfortunately, at the end I wasn’t able to fundraise for my further education at NYU and I was forced to transfer. I chose to transfer to King’s College London given lower fees for EU students at the time and the possibility of getting a governmental education loan.
Moving to London wasn’t easy for me as I felt incredibly discouraged by my lack of success with NYU. Therefore, the first year in London impacted my mental health. I wasn’t ready to give up though. I decided to travel to NYC during my summer break from university to make music connections. At first I was denied a US visa at the US London Embassy which prompted me to act fast and book another visit a week later in Warsaw. This time I was given it and once again booked my flight to NYC. That summer albeit risky and against my dad’s will was monumental in terms of my music networking skills and experience. Funny enough I met a lot of Clive Davis Institute people and by the end of that summer I realized that in fact not going to NYU was not the end of the world. That one summer in NYC allowed me to make meaningful professional relationships and friendships that last until now.
The next time I’d travel to NYC and take another risk was half a year later when I went to study at the New School for a semester school exchange. My mom scrambled her last savings to help me support myself there and also prove enough funds for the visa application. I also worked part time as a tutor doing online tutoring for UK-based middle school and high school kids. That was at the beginning of 2020. And then COVID hit. All of my friends who were studying in the US or UK came back home. But not me. My dad had sent me emails, messages and even asked relatives to text me to come back but I didn’t want to give up. So I managed to get an unpaid internship that allowed me to extend my visa and I stayed in NYC for most of 2020. During that time, together with 3 other friends, I co-founded a music live-streaming platform that got us admitted to the Columbia University startup accelerator. As always, I was incredibly motivated to push our idea further. As the Growth and Marketing Lead, I executed a massive outreach on LinkedIn to music executives and entrepreneurs which got us an official meeting with Sony Music in NYC. Our startup allowed me to gain a lot of confidence in pushing for my dreams. We were also finalists at Columbia University’s pitch competition which helped me gain public speaking and presentation skills. Despite us closing the startup 1.5 years later, we have gained a lot of valuable experience, skills and confidence. Around the same time I founded my own women empowerment collective that empowered hundreds of women by featuring their stories on social media. With it I also organized multiple online events, the biggest one of which was an online STEM conferences that hosted 500+ girls and young women from across the world interested in STEM, and invited 20+ female leaders in STEM. My involvement during those years, helped me reconnect with someone who would become my first boss and hiring me right after I graduated from college to work with him on his networking platform for creatives in the immersive industry. I have also worked an extra job I got from LinkedIn and supported a newly opened coding school in London. Throughout this time and later, I have persistently applied for new jobs and connected with more clients, which allowed me to gain experience in the newly developing web3, immersive tech and media, and art&tech. Fast forward to now, I have my own marketing and business development agency, working with clients in the US and Canada. I’m still based in London and travel often to NYC. My dream is still to move to NYC permanently and I hope to be able to achieve it soon. As always, I’m trying hard to figure out a way to make that a reality in the near future. This year I’m also releasing my debut music album which I’ve been writing over the last 2 years and produced it with my dear friend, an artist and creative entrepreneur, Jake Tavill. I have a lot of hopes for it and for the coming years! :)
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?
I was born and raised in Warsaw, moved to NYC at the age of 19 to study at New York University and later ended up traveling to London where I graduated from King’s College London. As a child, I performed and sang inspired by music & performance from artists such as Michael Jackson, Beyonce or Whitney Houston. During college years and after, I’ve been working on my own ventures within the music and tech industries, such as a music live-streaming platform, LiveRoom Media, where I served as a Marketing & Growth Lead, and a women empowerment collective, called FemZquared, supporting young women, which I founded in 2020. In the last 2 years, I’ve been heavily involved in the web3 and immersive tech industries, launching my own digital marketing agency that works with US, Canada and UK-based startups within crypto and digital art, immersive tech, entertainment and media industries. Some of the current companies that I work closely with are Infinite Objects, a video print startup, where I work with the NFT/digital art community, Tangible Interaction, a Vancouver based art&design studio where I manage business development outreach, or Indigo Soul NYC, a Brooklyn-based entertainment and media company, where I serve as a Director of Marketing. I’m also currently working on my debut music album to be released in November 2023 under my artist name, Klemntyna (you can already find some of my older songs on major streaming platforms). I’m passionate about music, tech, art and women empowerment, and I’m always excited to connect with like-minded people!
Ever since a young age, I’ve been motivated by music and singing. I still am. I’ve always been interested in music and tech and the intersection of art and tech. In order to learn more about the industry and meet people, I started my own projects, which helped me get more experience and skills in those fields. This is also how I got into my industry and current profession. My marketing & business development company offers various services within digital/social media, marketing, and business development. I’m always excited to meet new people and discuss how I could help them with their goals! At the same time, I’m creating a brand for myself and my music project. The album that I just finished recording and that will be released in November this year will be a mix of my experiences from the last 3 years. It will reflect a lot of mystery and detail that I think define me as a person. It will also have a very fresh, “synthy” pop/r&b sound, which features my various inspirations from powerhouse vocals, to dark r&b/pop inspirations in music. If you like the sound of it, make sure to follow me on IG @klemntyna to stay tuned! :)
I think what sets me apart is the ability to persistently push forward and never give up. I talked a bit more about it in the context of risk taking. I do consider this to be my huge strength as it really got me to where I currently am. I’d say it’s the journey thus far that I’m really the most proud of. This together with consistently achieving the goals that I set years ago as a child. Seeing them gradually realize and become reality is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
So many! Starting off with the discography from some of my biggest music inspirations, which included Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Specifically Beyonce who was my main inspiration in terms of singing excellence and performing skills. Her live performances and singing entirely motivated me to get better at singing and performing. I’d listen to and watch attentively her live shows and repeat her movements, gestures, dance routines, as well as carefully listen to her singing. Later I would ask my voice teacher about her technique and practice my voice and vocal runs with her songs. I spent hours doing this over and over again. Also reading books and watching documentaries about her journey pushed me to set her as an example in terms of work ethic. I read about her dad organizing summer bootcamps at home to train Beyonce and other members of Destiny’s Child (Girls Tyme at the time) that involved running and singing and dance practices. I did the same thing on my own during summers while my mom was at work. I’ve always been very hard on myself and persistent, and did it to make sure I got better at my skill.
When I was in middle school, I aspired to learn to speak English so well that people wouldn’t be able to tell my background. I asked my middle school English teacher for private classes after school, during which she would teach me a more informal/slang language. I just really wanted to sound “normal”, and the way schools were teaching English were very formal and professional. As funny as it sounds, watching some of the biggest American movies, such as Clueless, really impacted me and my ability to achieve my language goal. Similarly to Beyonce with music, I’d listen to these movies over and over again, repeat some of the lines to perfect my accent.
When I was in high school, I started being very interested in the poetry of Beat Generation, which was covered extensively by my Polish teacher. Reading about the importance of improv and jazz, made me increasingly interested in jazz and rap. This is how I came to get to know my artistic self and also got inspired to create my own work. I remember being particularly inspired by the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and the music of JAY Z. I was so into this subject that I asked to write my Extended Essay (the final big paper in the IB program in high school) on JAY Z’s work, unfortunately it was denied by my English teacher. I ended up writing about Langston Hughes’s poetry, which was also mind-opening to me. I’ve always been inspired by music and rhythm that existed in poetry and literature. It inspires me up until now especially when I write my own songs. Rap and Hip Hop in general has actually played a huge role in my personal development as a songwriter. The idea of lyrically writing about my reality has something that I learned the most from it. Listening to Jazz has also impacted my songwriting and composition skills. You can hear a lot of Jazz inspiration in some of my early songs. I still very much enjoy coming back to these readings and recordings to help me boost my songwriting.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was related to my whole experience with fundraising for NYU, and that was to learn to look at life with a bigger perspective and not limit my view point to one possible journey or way to get to where I want to be. It hit me hard after my persistent fundraising initiatives to be able to continue my education at NYU Tisch. I’ve always been a risk taker and a very ambitious and determined person, ever since a very young age. I consider this both a blessing and a curse because despite it helping me stay focused on my goals, it also contributed to a lot of frustrations and even health issues I’ve struggled with throughout. I used to think that there was only one way to achieve some of my dreams and if that particular way didn’t work out it was the end of the world. Naturally, when my emails, messages, letters and grant applications ended up failing, I felt like my world fell apart. I was forced to leave NYC and move back to Europe. Getting settled in London was very hard for me because I didn’t want to accept my reality at the time. I was physically in London, but mentally and emotionally in NYC, watching Snapchat stories from my friends having a time of their lives in NYC (I actually wrote a song about it “Bubble” that will be on my upcoming album). Even when I moved to London from NYC I still tried to find a way to move back and resume my education at NYU. One of the people I had connected with on LinkedIn who supported NYU Tisch and helped me get in a meeting with the Dean of Tisch was visiting Paris for a panel and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to go and meet her. I remember meeting her after her panel and briefly talking to her after. She gave me one of the most valuable advice and that was “to think wide”. I have since tried to always remind myself that there’s numerous ways to achieve goals and it’s the journey that defines who we are and how successful we will be.
Leaving NYC still makes me very sad. I catch myself thinking I’m missing out on things that I won’t be able to access anywhere else. In a way it’s true, but I’m trying everyday to not let it affect my focus and to think wide. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.klemntyna.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klemntyna/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbohdanowicz/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/klemntyna
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@klemntyna
Image Credits
Kamila Vay Miriam Arroyo Zach Gruillon