Learning to Rise: Art, Identity, and Trusting Forward Motion
Some people reinvent themselves once.
Monica McGee has done it many times — each time with more clarity, courage, and truth.
Artist, entrepreneur, and founder of MoKaso, Monica’s journey is layered with creativity, business savvy, deep self-reflection, and a fierce commitment to growth. For host Tiffany Odutoye, this episode is especially meaningful — the two have known each other since the early days of Virtual Partner, when Monica was just beginning her career in marketing and sports media.
Listening to Monica feels like watching someone step fully into who they’ve always been — without apology.
From Corporate Ceilings to Creative Freedom
Monica’s career began in marketing, sports reporting, and media — roles that gave her strong technical skills and business insight. But over time, she realized something wasn’t fitting. No matter where she went, she kept entering roles at the “ceiling,” boxed into spaces where growth quickly stalled.
She describes this experience vividly: entering rooms that were already maxed out, landing at tables that didn’t allow her full range of creativity. Eventually, her creative self simply couldn’t be compressed anymore.
That realization led to a pivotal shift — one that required stepping back in order to scale forward. Monica returned to school, earned her MBA, and began reimagining what success could look like outside of traditional structures.
Art as Healing — and as Language
Monica’s move into visual art began quietly, almost privately. Painting became a way to process life’s hardest moments — grief, identity, mental health, and transformation. Her art wasn’t created for galleries at first; it was created for survival.
She speaks candidly about her mother’s struggles with mental illness and how that shaped her understanding of strength, compassion, and resilience. Rather than hiding that story, Monica honors it — seeing her mother as a queen, a goddess, and an angel.
Her art, she explains, is a series of love notes to healing.
What started as personal became universal. Today, Monica’s work resonates across cultures, countries, and languages — because the emotions behind it are deeply human.
The Business of Creativity
What sets Monica apart is not just her talent — it’s her clarity around value.
With an MBA and an entrepreneurial lens, she approaches art as both expression and enterprise. She speaks openly about pricing, diversification, and refusing to undervalue creative labor. Paintings become prints. Prints become apparel. Art becomes a scalable business without losing its soul.
Monica is unapologetic about knowing her worth — and encourages other women to do the same.
Advice to Her 25-Year-Old Self
When asked what she’d tell her younger self, Monica answers with honesty and ease:
“Don’t take yourself so serious. Learn by living — not just by what you’re doing today.”
It’s advice that reflects her entire journey — one grounded in experience, movement, and growth beyond titles or timelines.
Her Superhero: Catwoman
When asked to name her superhero, Monica chooses Catwoman — and her explanation says everything.
Catwoman, she explains, is often underestimated. She’s confident, sensual, intelligent, and strategic — powerful without needing validation. Monica also adds an important truth:
“Behind every strong and powerful man is an amazing woman.”
Her choice is a reminder that strength shows up in many forms — and that women don’t need to be loud to be formidable.
Why Monica McGee’s Story Matters
Monica’s story is about refusing to shrink — creatively, professionally, or personally. It’s about trusting forward movement, even when the path isn’t clear. It’s about learning to live, not just perform.
Her journey reminds us that reinvention isn’t failure — it showing up fully as who you’ve become.
🎧 Listen + Subscribe to How She Rises to experience Monica’s story in her own powerful words.