We were lucky to catch up with Lady M recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lady thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I have been unknowingly doing the work which would also help support myself in feeling better about life since the age of 13. Although music and dancing were my 1st love, I have used my own life experiences to assist others in becoming their best selves with various holistic methods. For years while working in corporate America, I started creating a curriculum and ideas that would allow me to connect with youth. It was so fun and innovative in my mind. By 2013, I started volunteering with a non-profit using music to connect with youth. This connection created a language to which they could connect when they needed space to decompress. I then began writing out various ideas to implement holistic methods of self-care and healing. Now a full-time entrepreneur, using the curriculum that saved my life to help others see the light, I am grateful for my life path. The one gift which was a set of turntables for my 13th birthday has given me the space to create hope in dark spaces for future generations to come. The process has started already but the growth will be in abundance soon. My practice will be implemented in various centers in person and virtually. I love showing youth methods of managing stress, anger, and depression non-traditionally.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am an innovator, artist, mentor, and youth advocate providing grassroots mentorship in urban communities throughout the city of Baltimore. I have expertise in arts integration with a specific focus on music theory. I now take practical and effective use of music to break down generational barriers and to provide guidance and motivation to youth. I had three consecutive cycles with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks combining music and mathematics to teach youth ages 10-18 basic deejaying skills. Through those cycles, students are afforded internships and employment opportunities. I also became a Workforce Development Director for youth 16-24. I am also a barber, addiction couselor, and anger managment counselor. By sharing my own experiences with trauma, depression, and anxiety, I pretty much use hoslitic practices to bridge the gap that help youth build resilience and become their best self mentally, socially, and academically
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
My reputation is built off of who am I … and that’s love. Love for music, love for others, and love for myself. With so much competition, ego-driven, scamming folk in this world, I used the one thing that was universal with every step in my life to keep me from giving up. I have been through hell and back, but those who saw my passion for what I do has allowed my name to be mentioned in rooms that I have yet to step in.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
By the age of 13, I had been assaulted by my hair being set on fire, rapped by one who was raised as a brother bullied about my weight, lost a best friend to suicide, and another in a house fire. I became so depressed without knowing who to talk to, I made several attempts to take my own life. I refused to allow my life to continue to be that way because I told myself that I wasn’t good enough. I spent too much time telling myself that I was a mistake. All because I could not figure out the good things about myself considering what I endured by the age of 13. In 2020, I stopped working events, the barbershop closed, lost my father in front of me while my mom was fighting for her life, and 15 people after in that same year due to COVID. I am now running all businesses again while starting another, and in school full-time pursuing my MSW(Master Social Worker).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/LadyM24
- Instagram: @djldymysterious
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djldymysterious
- Twitter: @djldymysterious
Image Credits
Stylezsolyte Photography