Uprising: Grace Musungu on Curiosity and Dedication
Grace Musungu, junior account executive at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment grew up being the loud, bubbly little girl that “never knew when to be quiet.” In fact, if she was told to be quiet, she’d always find other ways to communicate – somewhat of a culprit for her current job.
Buzzing with life and always exploring, asking questions, trying out new interests and getting lost in her own world, Grace was an inquisitive child grown up to be an equally curious adult. “I always wanted to know how things were made, or how people think and feel,” she says.
However, while new interests and hobbies were never at a shortage, there were three things always present as Grace was growing up - sports, entertainment and fashion. This, coupled with her passion for helping people… well, it didn’t actually put her on a straight track from the get-go. But it did lay down a foundation.
She went from wanting to be a football player, to a prima ballerina, to a track star, a singer, a music producer, professional dancer, fashion designer later turned stylist, a writer, teacher, therapist, pastor, doctor, social worker for young people and more.
The plurality wasn’t just in the breadth of imagined career paths – at home, Grace spoke multiple languages and lived in a multi-diverse area in South London. This allowed and pushed her to connect with different heritages and customs. “It did not only allow me to explore without leaving the country, but gave me a pathway to be able to bond with cultures on a deeper level.”
Beyond this, Grace shares that growing up in a Congolese household and being a second-generation immigrant “not only shaped [her] personality, but influenced [her] outlook on life.”
She continues: “Due to the Sapologie movement (a cultural and artistic movement that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo in the early 1920s) which heavily influenced the Congolese community, it often meant my clothes and accessories spoke for me. I was often forced to think and dress outside the box of whatever was deemed ‘normal’.”
It wasn’t only the Sapologie movement’s influence that showed Grace how to think and live outside of the box. “One of the challenges I tend to face is that I am neurodivergent in a world full of neurotypicals. My mind is wired differently and that often feels confining because the way the world runs does not suit it.” The good thing is, though, that in creativity the best ideas never come from inside a box.
“This encourages me to think differently and come up with unique ideas that most people wouldn’t consider,” adds Grace. “It inspired me to be remembered as someone who never let the sky be the limit when it comes to creativity.”
When talking about the experience of being a second-gen immigrant, Grace brings out the good old “delulu is the solulu.” She says that being delusional was the one thing that allowed her to dream big and not let the adversity of life and her circumstances “determine what [she] could and could not do or achieve in life.”
Grace went to Coventry University to study sport and exercise therapy for two years, before getting her course terminated. “The inner child in me still wanted to be a doctor, while remaining a part of the sports industry and this birthed the idea of being a sport therapist. Although I didn’t graduate with a BSc, I left with a higher national diploma!”
But sports and helping others weren’t the sole things on Grace’s mind – as someone who had gone through considering numerous career paths, she knew she needed clarity. “I took a gap year to explore my passions and the things I wasn’t allowed to explore due to my parents’ expectation of success,” she says.
During this time she volunteered as a PE teacher and bagged her very first commercial fashion styling gig for an adidas and Guap collab, which was later displayed at Piccadilly Circus. During London Fashion Week, she interned with Labrum London and had her styling work published on Dazed magazine’s social channels.
Later that year Grace also secured her very first industry job as a marketing specialist and content creator for Swished. “Before securing that job, I had an interview with none other than Tinie Tempah for his company, then eventually had the opportunity to intern for M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment.”
It was actually her basketball coach and some key members of Greenhouse Sport – a charity that Grace was part of growing up and is now an ambassador for – who were calling her daily and consistently encouraging her to try for the M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment six-week internship. “If it wasn’t for this, I would have never realised that I wanted to be part of this industry.
“Leaving the internship was so bittersweet, because I didn’t want to leave, but I had to return back to university to finish my studies,” she says. Yeah, did you forget she did all that in her gap year? “The bitterness quickly faded when I got offered a job once more a couple of months after the university prematurely terminated my course!”
It seems like the stars had aligned just perfectly, but the truth is that it was hard work that got Grace where she wanted to be. “Something I picked up from growing up in an environment where doors are often closed for you or you have to climb over many hurdles is that closed mouths never get fed,” she explains.
“The only way to hone my craft was always asking people who were in the position I wanted to be in if I could shadow them, if they had any advice to offer or just ten minutes to chat. I would ask people so many questions and constantly learn and try new things, converting my insights into skills and adapting for any role and situation. This was one of my earliest lessons.”
It is this journey and the way she landed the job at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment that is a true representation of what Grace loves and is excited about in the industry.
Being part of Greenhouse Sport’s programme with the agency is what allowed Grace to consider advertising and get her foot through the industry’s door. Not only did she experience the marketing world at a deeper level, but she got to see it through the lens of one of the world’s biggest and most renowned agencies.
“That’s why this conversation is also something that gets me going,” she says. “How hard it is for people that have similar backgrounds as me, people from working class families or even more disadvantaged backgrounds, that are classified as the minority, to gain access or their foot in the door of the industry.”
She continues: “Programmes and initiatives like the Greenhouse Sport and M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment help break the barriers and modify the status quo. You no longer have to have an amazing personal connection to be able to get a job in this industry or have a prestigious degree to apply for a role.”
As we mentioned before, it is the diversity of ideas that advertising thrives on. Grace, like many others, believes that if the industry was open to more people that don’t come from a uniform path, an abundance of ideas and different perspectives will help drive the industry to where it’s meant to be.
“This is why I love being part of the Sport and Entertainment team within M&C Saatchi. You get to meet people from different walks of life, backgrounds, people who talk with so much enthusiasm about their passion and transform creative campaigns through this passion.
“And the best part? When you sit down with any individual in the office, you learn so much more about their interests, it makes you realise, you don’t need to be a marketing specialist to be a part of the agency. You can be a specialist in your own passion.”
When it comes to Grace’s own passions and interests, she shares that one of her reasons to look forward to the weekend are her six siblings buzzing with life and always teaching her something new. “I also get to remind my parents why I am their favourite child,” she laughs. “I get to spend time with my friends too, whether it’s late-night drives to Motown or exploring London city.”
“The seven things in life that allow me to travel the world in my own bedroom and give me peace are music, art, film, fashion, food, nature and God. Each in their own way,” Grace adds. After letting me in on her love of bossa nova and her obsession with not only watching romcoms but also diving into the depths of the internet subcultures around them dedicated to deciphering every scene, she talks more about her faith.
“My faith is one of the biggest pillars in my life,” she says. “Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, has been such a healing and nurturing experience. Similarly to how excited and thrilled I get when someone deciphers a movie and the knowledge in my mind expands. It’s the same with my faith.”
The same curious, restless mind that led Grace through the hundreds of job roles she imagined herself in, and the same mind that ultimately never took a day off during her gap year, but instead explored the possibilities and made concluding her projects feel like a breeze. But things are just getting started for Grace, and as her career develops parallel to an industry that has its gaps and downfalls, we will watch this space.
She leaves us with this: “In the end, it isn’t the final products of my dreams and goals that motivate me in life. It’s the smiles on my friends and family’s faces when I finally achieve them that motivates me more.”
