In another life, Emprezz might be wrapped in her favourite colours, red and gold, to accentuate her inner most beauty while her lioness persona crafts an Ethiopian feast. She would be caught singing at the top of her lungs to an eclectic playlist but most certainly blending the lyrics of three songs together or forgetting the lyrics all together. In this life, the media personality has positioned herself as a powerful meditation on awakening political consciousness in the digital age. She sits on the Board Chair of the Maxfield Park Children’s home and youth advocate of over 10 years while interacting with thousands of young Jamaicans via platforms she has created including the Talk Up Yout TV Show, Talk Up Radio, Talk Up Yout island-wide School Tour and most recently, the YoutfiChat programme which fosters advocacy training and direct dialogue between the youth and their elected officials.
Trust me when I say marriage and motherhood is not easy but nothing in life ever is; yet I’m passionate and excited about it.
With glowing eyes that’ll unapologetically capture your attention without release, Emprezz finds herself scanning through her WhatsApp – tiptoeing around voice notes and any audio/video files as she has the greatest distaste for them – and email messages at the top of the morning. Then of course focus on getting her son, Tacius Kush Golding, dressed for school. Just three weeks to go before her second delivery, we snaked our way to the hidden gem of Boone Hall Oasis in Stony Hill. Its lush and placid nature is the escape Emprezz needed, even for just a few hours, as she and most likely every mother would echo, motherhood certainly isn’t an easy task.
Stylist: Jane Michelle Wardrobe: Afrocentric Pieces-T&T Fashion Accessories: Reve Jewellery
Fabric: Pings Central Plaza
Shot on Location – Boone Hall Oasis
The infamous ‘m’ and ‘m’. Being a mother…wow,” she sighed with a smile painted across her face as if taken aback with the thought itself. “Trust me when I say marriage and motherhood is not easy but nothing in life ever is; yet I’m passionate and excited about it. I want be a great wife – the idea of a great wife is embodied in my mom so I kind of think I live to be like her or better but certainly with my own values that I’ve adapted or adopted from life experiences and varied cultures that I’ve been exposed to,” she continued. Her response was somewhat predictable, having an upbringing sprinkled with travelling between Australia, the United States of America and of course Jamaica, one would naturally glean from cultures around and disperse it to anyone around. “I have a very interesting upbringing in these three countries, each leaving a specific mark or story in my life. I had very cool but strict parents. Transitioning from country to country and culture to culture was quite interesting but was also a journey I didn’t fully appreciate until years later.” Yet being born in Australia and making trips back and forth to Jamaica never steered her in the wrong direction of knowing and appreciating who she truly is. “I never really identified with being Australian, as much as I believe it’s the best place for multiculturalism – where you’d have to have friends from a different culture – I never lost sight of who I am at the core; a Jamaican. I’ve never seen my friends that lived in Australia and were of Greek origin say they are Australian – they were Greek through and through, you know?” she confessed as she felt a slight pain and joked about possibly being in labour any second now.
As open and blatantly honest as Emprezz’ words would leave her lips, there are glimpses of her vulnerability that can’t go unnoticed. Media personalities tend to wear a smile that hides a number of truths, but for Emprezz, she appears genuinely happy and focused on building her family and youth empowerment. “Lately I’ve been very excited to talk to moms about having a natural pregnancy and labour… I’m calling it my goddess role,” she chuckled before perfectly segueing into her most passionate life mission – youth development. “I think the youth is the most important asset for any nation and if we don’t empower them and give them the tools they need on their life journey then we’re doom. Yes, part of it is a bit selfish because I want to see a better future for my child; I don’t want to see my child growing up in a Jamaica where the crime rate keeps going up, where black people are still at the bottom of the socioeconomic chain, you know? I don’t know how it happened but I ended up with so many young people around me; loving me, and they want to open up to me and my nature is to embrace it all. There really is no use living just for me and my immediate family. It wouldn’t be a purposeful life. I just don’t think we can live in a society selfishly.”
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #2 – May – June 2017