For me, the Myself project starts with my nickname: Mpotseng.

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As a child, I used to hate this nickname because it was only ever used in instances where the adults who were raising me were either annoyed at me for asking too many questions or for talking too much.

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Mpotseng is a Sotho word that speaks to asking. Directly translated as “ask me” but it can also carry that feeling of speaking to someone, telling them something and bringing them into something they need to know. This felt fitting as I have decided to take Mpotseng on as an alter ego or alternate version of myself. A future me who has fully stepped into the communicator, strategist, campaign lead and creative director I have always been dreaming of becoming.

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I could have never been able to articulate this career field in my recitations as a child, I had no understanding of it, but my curiosity, my bubbly persona and love for people, should have told me everything I need to know about the kind of career I would eventually pursue.

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My earliest memories with Mpotseng is being up early in my great-grandmothers home where I spent most of my formative years. Waking up to soft porridge while the Lesedi FM (or Radio Sesotho, as referred to by my Queenie) playing in the background. Somewhere in that routine, I discovered radio and tv personalities who interviewed children doing interesting things-children winning competitions, reading, playing sports and pursuing hobbies.

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Radio in this instance becomes a point of reference for understanding communication as research and as a practice of listening, questioning and drawing stories out of people. It is also my reflection and pursuit of language and cultural belonging. To not only master the art of communication in English or contemporary formats but also in my own mother tongue.

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Years later, I found myself building a career around doing similar things: creating stories, campaigns and creative worlds that invite people in. Asking questions and taking ideas, events or projects and figuring out how to make someone else care about it.

This interview of Mpotseng is my recitation but it doesn’t end there, because once you have walked into a room and said your name, your age and what you want to become, there is still so much more to tell.

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Mpotseng is that conversation. The questions that follow the introduction.

 

— ENDS —

 

Issued by: Bonolo Mokoena

Email: mpotseng@outlook.com

Instagram: @mpotsengdotcomm