We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Marlisa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle , thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

From an early age I’ve always known I’ve had a thing for music and singing. My parents definitely knew that I was a very creative being. My first recognizable talent was being able to draw/sketch pretty well and that was the talent I had no issue with sharing with the world. I say that because I’ve always been so shy, few people knew of my singing ability. I began zeroing in more on my musical talent around the age 16 and by 17 I realized I had the potential to be a great songwriter once I wrote my first truly decent song. I’ve always been an excellent writer in general when it comes to essays and what not and combined with my ear for music, that was discovered by a teacher of mine, I decided to just go for it. I believe if I wasn’t so shy, my musical ability could possibly be much more enhanced or at least would’ve gotten me further if I didn’t let my fears get in the way. One month before my 25th birthday, I became a brand ambassador for the company, Red by Kiss, in 2021 and being one of their ambassadors came pretty naturally since I been using their products for years. As both an ambassador and as a singer-songwriter my creativity has been my most essential skill to set myself apart from others and ultimately my shyness would be the biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome when it comes to both.

Michelle , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Michelle Marlisa and I’m a multitalented brand ambassador and singer songwriter. If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok you will definitely be able to view the work I’ve done for Red by Kiss and how I’ve been intersecting that with my original music as of lately. I became a brand ambassador after Red By Kiss’ official instagram page made a post stating that they were looking for brand ambassadors to help represent their brand. I believe I attempted a total of 2 times to be selected as a brand ambassador and on my second attempt I was chosen. I represent their brand by making a post at least once a month showing how I use their products rather it’s just a picture of me wearing or using something or actually doing a mini tutorial on camera. Everything that I showcase revolves around my natural hair and how their products benefit me. Once I released my first official single, “When U Need Me”, this past March, I’ve used it a couple of times as background music as I discuss in my videos the product(s) that I’m using on my natural hair for the brand. Once I figured out how to synch my music with my brand ambassador videos, that made me pretty proud and it made me realize my true potential as an upcoming influencer, being both a singer songwriter and brand ambassador. Also, Keyshi Cole watching one of my trending brand ambassador videos on Instagram which featured me singing a snippet of her song “Love” in one of her bonnets from her Red By Kiss collection was also another proud moment highlight. Musically, my own material is done pretty independently and I only have one official song out and snippets of what should’ve been my first single that I never released. I would love for my future fans/followers to know that right now I’m a growing creative with so much to share with the world that they can enjoy and/or benefit from and slowly but surely my name and work will be known from one if not all of my talents and I’m very interactive with my followers so feel free to discuss any questions or concerns with me on my IG @michellemarlisa and my TikTok @michellemarlisa as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being a creative is the unexpected positive feedback I get from my work. I know my work is pretty good and has tons of potential but just getting the random positive feedback is such a beautiful feeling. Seeing that something I created or was apart of creating is respected and acknowledged is a true feeling I can’t fully explain. Back in March, four months ago, when I released the song “When U Need Me”, I got so much unexpected and unsolicited love for it, it filled me with so much joy just knowing that people appreciated my voice and my input on the song. I sing the song and I cowrote it and my little sister produced the beat besides writing the song and that added to the other joyous feelings that were felt from a big sister’s prospective because “When U Need Me” is the very first song she produced and wrote. “When U Need Me” is very special to me because it’s the first song of many that I have in my musical vault that actually has been officially released. If a person knows me, they know I had another single titled “Heaven On Earth” that I kept releasing snippets for in 2016 that was never released and some of my followers still even remember that song from all of those years ago and inquire about that or when and if I’ll drop more music.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Over the years I’ve built my social media audience just by being myself and challenging myself to post quality content especially once I became an ambassador. I still have a long way to go but I’ve been steadily increasing my follower count as time has been going on. The best advice I can give to someone starting to build a presence on social media is to ultimately be themselves and the rest will follow. Participating in trends and networking in your everyday walking life helps too and being patient, yet consistent with your work definitely goes a long way. You never really know what piece of content will be the one to propel you into guaranteed success or even stardom at any given time no matter if your material catches on months or years later after you initially posted it. I’ve experienced this in some aspects. Never give up!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: michellemarlisa
• Twitter: michellemarlisa
• Youtube: Michelle Marlisa
• Other: TikTok @michellemarlisa

Image Credits

Artbytrill
Q11 photography
Michelle Marlisa