2 Minutes With : Antonya David-Prince
A professional in market research and brand development strategies for over 15 years, with an entrepreneurial soul I consider myself to be a hypersensitive multipotential who denies herself no means of expression. The latest challenges I’ve taken on: starting a new career as a Life coach and releasing an album of poetic texts set to music as an author and performer.
The town where you were born.
Dakar.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A doctor.
How did you discover your creativity?
I've been dreaming, drawing, writing, singing and dancing since I was a child; I just decided to assert my creativity more strongly as time went by at the end of my undergraduate degree. At the time, I was keen to discover the world: I had just enough savings to cross the English Channel... but I set out to discover myself.
Who's the person you've always admired, from your youth to the present day?
My mother, that's a super classic answer, no ... She got her baccalaureate and driver's license at the age of 16 in Dakar in the 60s. I don't know if you can imagine. As a young medical student in the climate of independence and May '68... I think that this desire for freedom and the need for revolution is part of her personality. What's more, I've seen her combine a brilliant career in education and research with her family life. I've always recognized the stakes and challenges involved.
A moment in high school or college that changed your life.
I didn't know it yet, but my first economics class in Seconde.
What's your favourite meal?
Too hard to choose! I'm allowed to give more than one? Yassa poulet, Ceeb bu wexh, Thai sautéed rice and papaya salad, Coq au vin, Garba and alloco pimento from my friend Amie K, ... lol I love it when it's good.
What's your favorite musical artist?
Lauryn Hill, she's an icon of black music for me, and she's the one who showed me that it's possible to write lyrics that are both committed and sensitive, and to tell my own story with emotion and modesty.
What's the best book you've read recently?
Those people who are afraid to be afraid (Elaine N.Aron).
What's your favourite film?
The Green Line.
The best creative project you've ever worked on
I'm hesitating between the clothing brand I created a few years ago, Tiss'Ame, or my album Vulnérâmes.
One thing that always makes you happy
Eating, drinking champagne and remaking the world with my best friends and also watching an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race (it always puts a smile on my face).
One thing that always makes you sad
I'm hypersensitive. The slightest thing makes me sad and a child's despair or misery even more so.
Your favourite fictional heroine or hero and why?
I'm bugging on this question, ... my imagination is so full of characters that it's hard to settle on one ... let's go with Simba, the Lion King, “because it's the story of life”.