Welcome to Stratagems x Artifice

I've written about a handful of taboo subjects in public.

My experiences with anxiety and grief.
My religious beliefs and political opinions.

None of that has resulted in any major roadblocks to my career growth, though it did lead to many frantic texts from my conservative West Indian mother.

As an immigrant, a woman, and a person of color, my mom was obsessed with conformity. This was ironic because she was a rebel through and through. A consummate creative who made art as effortlessly as she breathed. Yet she was deeply afraid of standing out too much, as if she, or I, could ever blend in.

When my mother died in December 2020, a part of me died, too. I experienced an identity crisis that rocked me to my core. And I had an important realization:

My mom advised me to stay small because of her own fears and insecurities about what it takes to succeed. But that’s not a strategy that gets you far in today’s professional landscape.​Over 4.5 years and many hours of therapy later, I can say honestly that I'm in a great place. I've grown so much, I can barely relate to the person I was before. Still, I appreciate her greatly. I needed her. But that version of myself no longer has a place in this world.

So who am I now?

Perhaps more importantly, why should you care?

I am not my work, but as is the case for every entrepreneur, my work is an extension of who I am.

Stratagems x Artifice is my love letter to the craft of branding as I understand it.  

Branding involves influence and persuasion, yes. But also art, science, love, sex, gender, power, fantasy, politics, and the spiritual. Because branding is really about creating purpose.

Making life richer. Fuller. Magical.

It’s also about creating the security you need in a volatile world (especially the workplace!)

People have come to me over the years because they want to know how they can write out loud. I can show you better than I can tell you.

Because that’s what got me to where I am now—those early days of bleeding all over the page and letting others watch. And that’s how I’ll continue to move forward.

Boldly.

Unapologetically.

Care to join me?