Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Natasha Winston Clarke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Natasha, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
Sooner definitely, but I wish I took more risks instead of being on and off. It was my circumstantial factors at the time that deterred me from a creative path. One of them being the location of my first college. I didn’t realize how inconvenient the location would be until I started passing up opportunities because of it. Then, my finances weren’t stable enough, so every break, I would come home and look for a job. However, it was difficult because finding a job to hire me when I’ll only be home for 1-2 months before I go back to school was so annoying. But, this one Summer break when I came home was interesting because I stopped being so pressed for a job, signed up for the Backstage subscription and applied to be background characters on students’ film projects. That’s when I faintly realized I liked theater, being on set, and creative background work. When I went back to school after the break, some of those students reached out about another filming opportunity, but I couldn’t because I was too far. Even being at my first college, I was also accepting of how lost I felt until I pivoted into my exchange program to visit my current HBCU that I eventually transferred to. The change in school and location gave me new direction because people there were more aligned with what I wanted to do—especially professors. The professors were more encouraging, had experience in the creative fields I wanted to be in, and alumni were in careers similar to what I was looking for and came back to speak about it. I even picked up theater again as an extracurricular. Fast forward to the pandemic in 2020 and I placed my creative endeavors on the back burner again to stabilize my circumstances. At that time, the turn off was about to be permanent because there was so much going on and weighing me down. Being creative was the last thing on my mind, but then I took a chance on myself in 2021 and did what made me happy. In light of everything and the question at hand, I wish I would’ve started my creative adventure sooner if I had taken a risk, had better circumstances, and definitely with more support.
Natasha, 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?
Of course! I’m a Content Creator and have been since September 2021. My content mainly focuses around fashion, travel, adventure, and lifestyle. I debuted on the scene in September 2021 with my Ivy park fashion passion project and have been dabbling in other creative content since then. This year though, I’ve taken the time to step back from being in front of the camera to behind the scenes to focus on branding myself on other platforms and discovering new/old hobbies that I enjoy. Currently, I’ve been traveling and creating trip itineraries of my visits to different countries for anyone who’s interested in visiting those countries as well. Traveling has been a great addition to my content because it encompasses the other niches I have: fashion, adventure, and lifestyle. If you would like to see more of what I do, check out my website natashathemuse.com.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Feeling like I’m where I’m supposed to be, which according to my astrological Birth Chart, I am. I noticed that I’m at my best when I’m creating and I’m glad that I took the risk on myself to work creatively again. Taking that risk has encouraged me to bet on myself more as a creator and explore things I always wanted to do. Looking back at my creative journey, I noticed that I’ve had more successes, increased happiness, and less bumpy roads. I’ve been flourishing since I pivoted into the creative field, which lets me know that this is my calling.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
To work on production sets, whether that be for movies, TV shows, music videos, photoshoots, etc. I’m still figuring out the plan for it, but I know I definitely want to be on set ever since I was an extra for the student films. Maybe throw in being an actress too because I do have a flair for the dramatics and I enjoy voice acting too. Also, throw in creative direction because it’s so much fun! I love the background work that goes into these things and it would bring me immense joy to have firsthand experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: natashathemuse.com
- Instagram: natashathemuse
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-winston-clarke
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@natashathemuse
Image Credits
Flashalook ShootsbyAmmar_ _pink.glam