We were lucky to catch up with Kristen Harris recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristen, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
First dollar earned as a creative/ Meaningful projects/ When I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally
The Kristen Elizabeth is the overarching umbrella that houses everything else. My brand and platform is all about inclusivity, empowering marginalized groups and giving a voice to the voiceless as a model, poet, spoken word artist, former pageant queen, host and more.
The first dollar I made as a spoken word artist was in June 2022 when host/comedian Precious J. Dorsey booked me for her comedy brunch and Rae Lay and Christopher Kaiser booked me as the featured artist for their poetry show, ‘Dat New Shit’. My first dollar from modeling came when I booked a commercial ad job with Save a Lot through one of my agencies, Babes N Beaus. My first dollar earned as a poet/author came in December 2023 when I published my first poetry book, ‘Y’all Not Ready for that Conversation’ on Christmas Day.
The title of the book came about because my poems seek to start conversations that may initially seem uncomfortable including but not limited to racism, sexism, police brutality, body shaming, breast feeding, abortion, dementia, poverty, drug use and more. The poems provide factual information about the topics but also encourage the reader to do their own research to learn more. The goal is still to give a voice to the voiceless and even bring topics that often ‘brushed off’ to the forefront.
The modeling serves as a meaningful project because of my height, my weight, my scars and even the darker pigmentation of my skin aren’t usually associated with society’s beauty standards and what one would usually associate with a model.
The passion I have for both gives me a sure feeling that this is my gift and what I should be focusing on professionally. With a background in journalism and communications, I’m able to clearly articulate thoughts in my written poetry as well as verbally through performance and able to make sure the correct message is being conveyed through photos in my photo shoots.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
About the author: Meet KMoney The Poet
Kristen Elizabeth Harris also known as Kmoney the Poet is a woman of many talents- a poet, spoken word artist, author, model, a voice over actress, a higher education professional and a communications professional. I have always had the gift of poetry, but in 2022, I decided to start sharing it with the world. I provide poetry, spoken word performances and modeling services for my clients. I am most frequently booked to create brand and/or custom poems for events, banquets, birthday parties, weddings, etc. You can learn more about custom poems and pricing here: https://www.thekristenelizabeth.com/poetry.html
Harris collaborated with the Riverfront Times to create the first ever Riverfront Times Art A’fair Poetry Exhibition, collaborated with the Luminary to create “TIMELESS”, was honored to be the first live poet on Fox 2 News, was the first live poet to be featured on 100.3 the beat and 1600 hallelujah reciting a Mother’s Day poem, was voted STL’s 2022 Best Top Poet at the 2022 STL Awards, was honored as a 2022 St. Louis American Salute to Young Leaders award recipient, a 2023 Black Girls who Rock honoree and spoken word artist and featured on the cover of Delux’s 314 Day Special Edition magazine cover.
She has performed at several venues and events including but not limited to Authenticity’s Live Segment, National Day of the Girl at the History Museum, Brock Seals’ ‘Blessed by the Ancestors’ opening ceremony at the City Museum, Ohun’s For the Culture Kickback, Mocha Latte’s ‘This is for the Cool’, the Saint Louis Art Museum, National Blues Museum, HiLow, the Woke Brand’s grand opening, Scene Event Space, FemFest, Handlebar, headlined for a Rios Mios production, Blue Lounge, Black Girls Rock, Harris-Stowe, Black Business Ball, several fashion shows, brunches, birthday parties, vowel renewals, women’s empowerment events and more.
She has served as a featured poet in Kansas City, MO and recently won a competition in Memphis. She remains undefeated in the PenUp ShutUp poetry battles and has consistently placed in the final round of the Regional Arts Commissions’ grand poetry slams, hosted by slam master Gregory Maurice, in the last two years.
She has always had a passion for community service and youth empowerment and currently serves as the advisor of youth poetry organization, Rewrite.
About the business: Mission
The Kristen Elizabeth serves as the overarching umbrella that houses “Kmoney the Poet”. Multi-talented, Harris works as a Director of Communications and Marketing as her day job in addition to being a spoken word artist, poet, voice over actress, Public speaker, interviewer/host, print and runway model, author, event coordinator and freelance communications and public relations specialist. She is available for booking through her site: https://www.thekristenelizabeth.com
Her entire brand revolves around increasing representation, giving a voice to the voiceless, providing a platform for marginalized groups, those who usually don’t have a voice and empowering youth.
Harris has modeled for brands including but not limited to Patrice J. Bridal, Rob Shot Me, Modish, Save a Lot, Monarch Studios, Gabby on the Beat, The Label 17, 1026 Styles, Misha J factory, the Woke Brand and more.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Support the artist– I don’t think people realize it can come across offensive to offer to pay artists, singers, musicians, etc. but often expect poets to work for free. Poets have to live through certain experiences or do a lot of research to come up with content for poems, then write it out in a beautiful and artistic manner to make it more easily digestible for the listener even if it’s about a difficult topic. Then the poet has to memorize the poem, and memorize it well enough to add feeling and emotion and bring the poem to life. So book and pay the poets. If the poet, delivers a great performance– tip them as you would for any other service. Like, share and comment on artists’ works shared via social media and purchase books written from these same people. When artists are fighting to survive, it’s harder to create and to create quality pieces and deliver quality performances– this helps the creative ecosystem because when society supports creatives now we have the ability, morale and financial situation to be our best creative selves.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
When people think of a poet or poetry universally– I want to come to mind. Everyone knows Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, etc. I don’t have to be the greatest, but I want to be amongst them. I want people to pay more attention to marginalized groups of people and the harmful words and actions keeping these groups oppressed, I want to spark conversation with my poetry and hopefully that conversation will lead to a better more empathetic world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thekristenelizabeth.com/
- Instagram: thekristenelizabethh
- Facebook: krisrenee10
- Linkedin: Kristen Harris
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kmoneythepoet
- Other: Anyone can purchase a book at either of the following links: Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/yall-not-ready-for-that-conversation-kristen-elizabeth-harris/1144560799?ean=9798855696530 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CQWYRPQB/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1703519522&sr=8-3 Thank you again for supporting and allowing me a platform to tell my story. “Cause if I was a poem, I’d be a full circle moment, as a person or a poem, still branded Kmoney the poet…words of wisdom giving GOAT, I go hard for my generation, I could really drag this out, y’all not ready for that conversation,” Kmoney the Poet said in her poem ‘If I was a poem’. She hopes her story and journey will serve as an inspiration and testimony for the next young upcoming poet, author and spoken word artist.
Image Credits
pink brand photos – Ellis w/ Echo Exposure orange photos – Marvin Norman with NylusBlack photos black w/mic – Joseph Richardson