Meet Wayna

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wayna. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wayna below.

Hi Wayna, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I think we find our purpose at the intersection of what we do best and where life has tested us the most. For me, being raised by a single Black immigrant mother exposed me early to the challenges women and people of the African diaspora face. Those inequities was always clear and present, and I always wanted to fight on behalf of people like us, who maybe didn’t have the advantages we did. Fortunately, I had the model of two very strong women at the helm of our family, who demonstrated extraordinary strength in different ways. My mom with her strength and huge heart and my aunt with her wit and bravery. And I had music, which was both an escape and a source of strength. When I learned that music could be used to give others strength and an outlet, and even to inspire practical change in the world, I found my purpose and a way to merge my gifts with a passion greater than me. Our natural gifts and our challenges are no accident, they are tied to our calling on this Earth and they are clues we can use to find purpose and fulfillment when we answer that call.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a singer/songwriter/performer and above all — a storyteller. Like the greats who inspired me and who I had the fortune to work and tour with, like Stevie Wonder, I use music to help us access the strongest and most vulnerable parts of ourselves. My goal as a performer is to create that pin-drop moment on stage, where everyone can feel the truth just got told and audiences leave feeling freer, emboldened, and more fearless. The stories in my songs are raw and honest. I leave it out there and make music to inspire others to do the same.

I just released a music video called “I Won’t Answer f. Dre King,” about an immigrant girl who stands up to a culturally biased teacher who refuses to make the effort to pronounce her name correctly. A TEDx talk on the same subject will drop next year along with a new album, and a concert film I’ll be recording in Ethiopia, which will give listeners a window into my roots creatively and personally. I’ll be taking our show to venues across the US and sharing these stories and all my passion for them.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The power to validate myself – this is a constant work in progress and tested/built at every stage of development. But the ability to find one’s center, remember your why, and reflect back to yourself who you are and what you are trying to build, even if you are the only one who sees, is critical and a tool that every impactful person learns.

Persistence – talent and skill are great, but they are wasted without consistent action. We have to recommit ourselves to doing the work everyday and to reevaluating and course correcting when need be. But bouncing back after you hear ‘no’ is a muscle we have to practice and build daily.

The power of relationships – People are walking resources of skill-sharing, advice, and sometimes just emotional support. We have to be willing to make ourselves vulnerable and build real relationships, where we sow into others and allow them to sow into us. This makes the journey joyful and you’ll always have someone to hold up a mirror in the moments where you aren’t strong enough to see yourself or the path ahead.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am always looking for creatives and those skilled in business to collaborate with. Having the right support network is so vital and I’m looking for like-minded people I can build with, whose goals are aligned with mine, who want to serve the audiences I do and who have insight into areas I can learn from and add to is thrilling!

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