We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nauticah a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nauticah, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I would say the best thing about my upbringing was the fact that they encouraged my creativity. I didn’t have many rules growing up, but my mom was really serious about me being in entertainment, even at a young age, so she made me focus on always looking put together. I didn’t have many rules as far as discipline or school, but I had to make sure my hair and makeup was always done lol. I didn’t understand it then, but now I’m thankful, because it’s really helped me with branding.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m an entrepreneur, singer, model, influencer, and mother. I was born in the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina, where I began singing, dancing, and acting in local theater plays. When I was in high school, I competed in pageants and accumulated multiple accolades that led to my local popularity. I was Homecoming Queen, High School Vice President, and Cheerleading Captain. I participated in chorus since I was in like 6th grade and over time I started to gain a love for performing and being in front of people. The older I got, my interests started to move towards business, so I decided to attend a local community college after High school. In late 2016, I moved to Georgia to pursue a career in entertainment where I began an internship at Quality Control Music while working as an assistant for a family friend. I stayed in Georgia, specifically the Marietta area for about three years then eventually moved back to North Carolina where I had my son. I released my first single, “COCA,” featuring Dababy’s Billion Dollar Baby artist, Rich Dunk, followed by a project titled “Nauti, If Ya Nasty” in 2021. In late 2022, I released my single “Who Raised You,” which included a lot of young people participating in the #WhoRaisedYouChallenge. As of Today, “Who Raised You” has accumulated over 2 million streams on Soundcloud, and I gained over 80,000 TikTok followers and 400,000 Twitter followers. As a boss mom and serial entrepreneur, I’ve dedicated myself to the business side of music first, and I’ve started multiple companies with a focus in artist creativity and independence. Lareine Records was one of the first companies I started located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was founded in 2020 and is built with staff and young creatives in the Carolinas. I chose to build upon the foundation of creative branding and extensive marketing services, where all members participate in a community of like-minded creativity, strategy, and resources for young upcoming musicians. I’m currently a full-time entrepreneur, artist, and media influencer, and I’m an active brand ambassador for companies; such as Lafrancé, Kiss Colors & Care, Pretty Little Things, Irresistible Me Hair, and What Waist, to name a few!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Anything worth having is never easy, at least not from what I’ve experienced. Being a single mother isn’t a smooth road in general, so adding new layers of business and music definitely takes things to a completely different level of difficult. To me, the best thing about having a little boy is how uninterested he is in anything I have going on, haha. I never really have issues taking him anywhere. I can take him literally anywhere, from the studio to video shoots, because he pretty much tunes everything I have going on. The older he gets the easier it is to navigate, but starting out I will say it was extremely stressful and there were multiple times I contemplated giving up.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had taken advantage of YouTube when I was in High school. I was so scared to put my personality out there when I still had to go to class with my peers, but now its a thing to film even when you’re in class. I one hundred percent believe I would be way more successful if i would’ve jumped on the YouTube train when I was younger. I love instagram and TikTok, but I knowing what I know now could’ve helped me move into different spaces a lot quicker.

Contact Info:

• Website: nauticah.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/navticah
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/navticah
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/nauticahmonae
• Other: www.linktree.com/@nauticahmonae

Image Credits
Yyelli @Yyelli_lens