I’m trying to think how to keep this fairly short! I started writing music at the age of 12 and singing a long time before that. After my time in school I studied accounting and worked in a corporate job while I was releasing music produced by other producers. These artist-producer relationships often ended in pain which became a huge point of frustration for me.

Eventually I decided to do a couple of drastic things, to produce for myself and to move to the UK. Here I really threw myself in to music and found my sound in my own productions. When I reflected on all of the issues that I had had with previous produces and the sense of liberation that I felt when I produced my own music, the idea for MPW (Music Production for Women) materialised. Once I had the idea I went about starting to build it with no clue about what exactly I was doing.

For two and a half years I worked between MPW and other jobs to sustain myself without knowing if this business would really be able to sustain me. I strongly felt that there was a need for this in the industry though and wanted to keep it going. Now just under four years since it started, I now feel it has found its feet and audience which for me is an incredible feeling and I can’t wait to see where it will be four years from now! 

Mostly email and meetings to be honest! I also get to chat to many inspiring people throughout the music industry and learn about their journeys and stories through our podcast which is always really insightful and enjoyable. My most favourite part of the day though is probably spending time one to one with our students. It’s incredible for me to see where things started for them and see their confidence slowly grow and their apprehension around production disappear! 

As someone who herself has not had higher education in the music space I don’t believe it is essential. From what I have heard from those who have come from that background though, is one of the main advantages is the network that you build there that you miss out on, or takes longer to build, otherwise. 

MPW was pretty much born out of my adversities in music! There were so many times that I felt I was treated in a way that I didn’t deserve as an artist working with other producers and unfortunately this is a story that I hear time and time again from our students.

If I reflect more on this, a part of the issue was that I had fairly low self-confidence then, which I now realise can tend to attract those negative situations. After enough of these situations I decided I was not putting up with it anymore and took production into my own hands.

The silver lining from all of this was definitely the creation of MPW as I decided to put everything that I wish would have helped my journey into this one resource to ensure that any women that were in the same position that I was have an easier way out of it.

Our last event for the year is always a charity masterclass where we raise money for a cause close to our hearts. This year we will be working with the award-winning producer, Marta Salogni and will be supporting the community in Sri Lanka who have suffered from the incredible economic turmoil that they have experienced this year. This will happen on the 6th of December and we will soon be opening tickets for it.

Our first event of the year is always a one-day free event of masterclasses which will take place in January. We will post details on our website about this in December.

Aside from this in 2023 we are launching our first intermediate, one-year course as a follow on from our flagship Master Your Music Program. I’m personally very excited about this!

I feel like I’m in a very lucky place lately in that almost every few months has given me a new high that I am most proud of. The latest was putting on an event in London a few months ago which was sold out and had the most incredible energy in a room that I had ever experienced before! This I feel was not only my achievement but one of my team’s, without whom it would had been impossible to organise from the other side of the world.

I have also had many negative times that have not been enjoyable at all but I don’t think I would like to completely forget any of them as I have learnt something new from each of those experiences.

There have been so many little angels along the way that have hugely contributed to where I am with MPW today. One of the first was the incredible Professor Samantha Warren (who is also a great DJ!) from the University of Portsmouth who helped me get a grant to continue my work with MPW when financially things were extremely challenging in the very early days.

My parents and my sister who were probably initially quite confused about what I was doing (and maybe still slightly are!) but continued to support me on the journey all the way through.

Carmel Comiskey, our communications manager, who has been with us for two years now has also been a humongous support and seen and contributed to our growth over that time. She may not always have complete faith in the grand plans that I lay out but bless her, she will always do her best to work towards them. Our assistant, Victoria Alcantara, has also been a real god send and has taken a huge load off Carmel and myself’s shoulders which I can no longer imagine working without.

In the last year my greatest champion has definitely been my partner Jack who has not only dealt with, but taken my many moments of tears and self-doubt completely into his stride. It’s surprising how much more you can achieve when someone else believes you can do it before you know you can.

Also the members who joined MPW first and our first Master Your Music students who had faith in us to deliver a full year program, having never done it before. I could keep going on and on, so I will just stop there!

Most things you do should be fun so try to look for the fun in what you do!

I have recently started scheduling a fortnightly self-care session where I do my nails, have a bath and give myself a facial. I found that when I do this I feel much better about myself which also seems to reflect in my work. I do have to say that there are some weeks that it has gone out the window but for the most part I try to stick to it.

I initially started very poorly but have thankfully gotten better with this overtime. In the early days as a small business owner I felt I always had to be available, day and night, weekend or weekdays, and that people wouldn’t put up with slow responses in a world that’s moving faster and faster.

I have now realised though that eventually, not only will that result in poorer quality work from you but will also reduce the love you have for what you’re doing which is really why someone would want to work with you.

So now I usually always give myself weekends off and schedule dedicated time for family, friends and other hobbies. I often still work long days but I don’t really mind that so much.

Honestly the thing that usually makes me feel better most quickly is also the thing that I feel like doing least when I’m having a really shitty day and that is a little stint of meditation. If I force myself to do it however I pretty much always come out the other end in a better place!