We recently connected with Naomi Kurashige and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Naomi, thanks for joining us today. Talk to us about building a team – did you hire quickly, how’d you recruit the first few team members? Any interesting lessons?

Having always organized smaller-scale events that did not require more manpower, I was quickly overwhelmed when I scaled up, and immediately understood the need for more people to be involved. Having good relationships with those around you play a very big part when navigating such challenges, as the people that usually know what you are looking for serve as the bridge to bring over someone they believe will be suitable for your needs.

The truth is that no one that I have hired initially, currently works with our team anymore. It took a while for both myself and the team member to understand what our job responsibilities and expectations were, and the experience working with individuals from different walks of life enabled me to determine what I was seeking for in a team player.

In terms of what I would have done differently- it is never good to mix business with friendship, especially when it comes to finance and your contractors fulfilling your quality standards- always discuss and be firm on expectations- I have experienced through the tough way and would not recommend to sacrifice the quality you believe should be achieved because of personal relationships.

Currently, I have an amazing team that work well with me, and are open to discussions- being able to get along well is a fundamental requirement that I now bring with me when seeking for new professionals to collaborate with.

Naomi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

What stemmed from a necessity began a passion that has transcended for more than a decade in this industry. When I was 13, I sold tickets to an all-ages rock show for bus fare to school, and to feed myself. Within months, I was a cross-functional team member who contributed to advertising, artist selection, hosting duties and coordinating of the event itself. The event became a huge success and had 13 installments within a span of 2 years.

Today, my skills have evolved into professional writing, event planning and artist management, presenting myself as an individual who is able to weave compelling stories that showcases brands and innovative ideas which enables others to secure opportunities with others that are not within their usual network scope.

Flexibility and adaptability are two attributes I pride myself in holding- nothing ever really goes according to plan when over tens of thousands are involved, so we do the best we can and hope that the people you aim to serve and celebrate receive the glory they deserve. My team and I specialize in graphic design, video development, photography, crisis management, entertainment services, sound/audio engineering and event planning- we cover it all so you don’t have to worry.

Currently, I am the sole performer booking agent for Kushstock- the largest, free, legal, cannabis festival in the world. I have recently also joined a volunteering initiative to write free resumes for at-risk youths seeking employment.

In my personal life, I write poetry that brings importance to the little things we tend to overlook in life, and as a published poet who always seeks for new challenges, I am working on my first fiction novel right now.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

That trying something new is never frowned upon, especially the more ridiculous and insane it might sound. Most people have already decided if they like you, your work, and if they would be supporting you moving forward. A big percentage of these individuals have preferences of where they wish for your art and vision to go, and may not support you if your final product does not align with their preferences.

So do what you really want. Do what makes you sigh with satisfaction as you gaze at it when it is done.
The work that have been the most well-received, were the ones that I did what I desired, while of course fulfilling the clients’ briefs and project specifications. The perimeters we are given as creatives are usually so vast, and that is the flexibility that many other highly-regulated industries do not have the luxury to play around with.

The main consequence for putting out creative art is validation- we all enjoy being told what we are doing and dedicating ourselves to is “correct”, and once we manage to balance validation and personal gratification, it becomes very enjoyable to do creative work, even and especially for others.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

After the pandemic, as I was about to facilitate a launch of an up-and-coming industrial rock band, I discovered that someone who I didn’t speak to for years had founded a 420-friendly event highlighting small businesses, and when I checked out the event in-person, it dawned onto me that it would be a great opportunity to build a consistent venue for the band to begin performing while also bringing attendees to an event that did not have a great turnout.

With the organizer’s approval, I transformed a quiet event into a bustling party that had a huge differentiator: cross-genre live music in an intimate setting at 420-friendly events that generally only had rap/hip-hop artists due to the simplicity in the set-ups. We were met with heavy resistance at the beginning, people did not understand how all the different genres would come together, but it was a hit the moment it was launched, and this fundamental move reached the ears of important figures in the industry that later became my bosses until today. This is now a common feature in most events today, and I am very happy to have played an integral role in building another platform for performers to share their craft on.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DRQLA.com & https://www.kushstock.life
• Instagram: instagram.com/naomikurashige

Image Credits
@nicovino5 @kushstock @verdungraphics @DRQLA.jpg