Meet Mungo Ligoya

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

Mungo, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience and work ethic come from constant self-reflection and staying aware of my journey. I’ve always had a vision, and I revisit it regularly to check if I’m still aligned and see what adjustments are needed. The path has shifted over time, but as long as the core of that vision remains solid, it’s easier to pick myself up and keep moving forward—always keeping my eyes on the bigger picture.

Otis Redding’s song “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” resonates with me. Even though his dreams were different, I connect with the idea of holding onto your vision when things feel uncertain. When life gets shaky, I believe it’s essential to return to your sense of self, to ground yourself before tackling the external world. My resilience comes from knowing that my vision is mine and no one else’s.

That said, it’s important to allow room for change and failure. Being flexible when plans shift or fall apart makes it easier to bounce back. The key is having elasticity—giving yourself the grace to adapt while staying rooted in your core vision.

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 like to think of myself as a protean artist, constantly evolving in my expression and exploring new horizons. Whether I’m creating as a musician, actor, dancer, or visual artist, what drives me most is the ability to create meaningful experiences. I love blending these different forms of art because, when combined, they build on each other to create something truly magical. Music, in particular, holds a special place for me. It’s not just about the songs or the product—it’s spiritual. Music is a vessel for celebration, mourning, and everything in between. It’s deeply tied to our emotional states, giving people the space to reflect, make changes, and, of course, to dance. Music is also where much of my career focus lies right now—I’ve been recording an album, touring, and sharing my music throughout the Pacific Northwest.

No matter the medium, empowerment is at the heart of everything I create. One of the greatest joys for me is hearing how a song helped someone through a tough time, or how a piece of art made them feel seen, represented, and uplifted. I’ve also been told how much better people feel after one of my dance classes. Empowerment is central to my work. When people feel empowered, they approach life differently, with a sense of aspiration to do and be better. I even wrote a song called “Miracle” that serves as a reminder of the beauty and potential we all carry inside to transform the world around us.

Another anthem I’m excited to release is called “Better.” It reflects my journey of reclaiming my power after a relationship that left me feeling disempowered. The song has been cathartic for me, and hearing how healing it’s been for others when we sing it together means the world to me. “Better” is part of my upcoming six-track EP, which delves into themes of healing and self-discovery, set to release on November 15th.

Lastly, I’m thrilled to be co-directing and co-choreographing a project called Classical Queens. The show tells the untold stories of two trailblazing Black women composers, Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, and their unlikely friendship during Chicago’s Black Renaissance in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The performance features an innovative orchestral commission that blends electronic, trap, and orchestral music, with a moving orchestra adding a dynamic layer to the experience.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think one of the most important skills that have been impactful for me has been goal setting. I think having a solid sense of where you want to go is important and I think there is barely space for that because people are busy with all the things they have to tend to. These goals do not even need to be anything extraordinary. We do not need everyone to try and get us to the moon, there are so many things people can do to have fulfilled, beautiful lives. It is in the way we see ourselves and our lives that this magic of having goals exists. If you set out to make one person smile as your mission for the day. You feel more fulfilled having done that. Envisioning yourself having done things, and thinking about how to get them done, all get you closer to your marks in a grander schemes. There is so much magic to goal setting, setting smaller goals that add on and pile up to make a bigger goal happen is one of those pieces of magic.

Another skill is studying my craft. Seeking out others who have done something like I want to do has also helped me a lot on my journey. Understanding how things are birthed. Seeing the ways people took to get where they are. There are so many stories in this world and you can find plenty of them to help motivate and inspire what you want to do. Especially now with the internet. It goes hand in hand too with the previous skill which is knowing what you want to do. That’s step one, then go see and hear about others who have done that. Even if what you end up doing is not formulaic and the same as what someone has done, you learn the basics of becoming. People used to just go be an apprentice at a firm for years and then become whatever they apprenticed for. You can do that too in whatever thing you see yourself doing.

The third is learning how to pivot. Attach to the dream or goal but it is so important to not attach to a level that becomes impossible to pivot from. Things change, circumstances change constantly and so the more you are attached to one outcome the more difficult it will be to switch when you need to. Sometimes the journeys require changing the way things happen. So I think just being more loose with the way that you go for what you want allows you to change your reality easier.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I think the most helpful thing that helped me overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities, or knowledge to be successful was stepping out of my comfort zone. I have done so multiple times. The first time was not by choice, I was sent to a boarding school when I was 11. That forced me to step out of my comfort zone. Once the ball was rolling – we had inertia, I went to Armenia at 15, went to Spain at 18, and then moved here to the US at 19. All because once I found the power of stepping out and growing, I became addicted a bit to growth. The idea that you can constantly just become a better you is a beautiful one. Imagine, every day, you wake up and you have the opportunity to do better than the you that was the day before.

Kurt Hahn once said, “There is more in us than we know if we could be made to see it; perhaps, for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less”. I think this is what I have dedicated my life to, it was very true for me and I think it can be true for more people. There is a power to be found in stepping out of one’s comfort zone and growing.

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Image Credits

Bill Dyke
Amy Russel

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