We had the good fortune of connecting with Destinee Rouse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Destinee, why did you pursue a creative career?
It’s funny, I always tell the same story of how I got here. I remember it was senior year of high school, from lil ol Columbus, Georgia, and I was applying to colleges. I had always been in creative spaces; I was in orchestra, I sang, I was in theatre, and I drew for fun. But when it came to what I wanted to do for my career & the rest of my life, I drew a blank. I was sitting on my mama’s living room floor, crying cause my older siblings were so much better off — the dramatics lol!

I officially settled on music management because I love the feeling of creative spaces without being a performer. Going to college in Atlanta really opened me up to some mad talented people. I’ve been to lil open mics & talent shows across the city: on campus at GSU, Aisle 5, Apache, Ugly N Atlanta, State Farm, Tabernacle– everything. I solidified that I want to manage live events because I love living in the moment and traveling. I’m currently in a social media marketing internship, so it’s definitely my speed. LIfe’s real fast-paced, so you might as well live it up. I’m going wherever it takes me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As I mentioned before, I have always been a creative person and explored a lot of avenues. I wanted to be a fashion designer, a visual artist, a singer, a solo bassist, a music producer. But it was all so overwhelming. Comparison is the thief of joy. So as I grew older, I fell out of love with my passions because I always thought someone can and would be better than me.

It was up until about a year or two ago (especially during quarantine), that I was like F it. I started creating for fun and not for the criticism of others. There was one night in July 2020 where I couldn’t sleep and my mind was racing with this image that I just had to put into a physical medium. I remember sitting up in bed and asking God for a sign and if this was the right approach, I kid you not, all the lights on my street went out. It’s 3 am, I’m shook, looking at the weather report like ‘What happened?’. Clear. That’s when I knew. Over the next 2-3 days, I pushed out 4 paintings. As a kid, I HATED painting because I thought it wasn’t good enough. But out of those 4, my favorite is the trilogy “BLK BALLET”. It consists of silhouettes of black ballerinas over tones of brown. I got a lot of positive feedback on social media, but it wasn’t the end-all-be-all because I did it for myself. The response was just a nice addition.

In regards to my long-term career, my mission is to provide music industry and business classes to high school students and implement such programs at high school and collegiate levels, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. As a humble beginning, I plan to create a mentorship and networking platform for like-minded individuals, who would like to pursue a career in the ever-changing music industry. Performance is an important part of our world of music, but we need business savvy and powerful minds to manage and hold the industry together. I’m currently in the startup phases of this dream, with creating a mentorship with high school students to build their portfolios. I don’t want any students to go through the same emotions that I did while on my college search. Much like I have my mentors, I want to be that same support system.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Despite living in the city for 4 years, I swear I would give such tourist-like answers lol.

Taking MARTA is a must. People be so scary going to big cities but like, get over your jitters. The locals can smell fear.

I personally love being outside and having the occasional existential crisis, so I recommend Piedmont Park or Stone Mountain with a smoothie from Arden’s Garden. Piedmont is the perfect getaway to a lil bit of nature but still has the skyline in the back. Perfect for sunbathing. I’d actually recommend Amicalola Falls if you wanna do a lil more traveling.

Avoid Lenox at all costs, Nothing but posers. It’s a mall like any other city.

The Human Rights Museum is clutch. Not only does it cover important movements throughout history, but they have an exhibit to highlight current events. The revolution never stops.

Hit Little 5 Points. Hella shops, hella talent. There’s a lot of hidden gems out there. I enjoyed myself at Aisle 5 even though I knew nobody. Everyone is so nice.

Waffle House. Southern staple. Argue with ya mama.

Lastly, it’s Atlanta. Brunch capital lol, they all prolly hit. My fav is Ms. Icey’s in Decatur.

Oh and wings. Just not Wingstop.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Ahhhh, where do I start? All glory to the Most High, always. Next up is my family, my mama, my brother & sister. We were always a very creative household. The typical black household: you hear that gospel or old school R&B on Saturday? You already know what time it is. My best memories stem from my family and I singing at the top of our lungs to Dreamgirls or the Temptations, painting the entire house just because we’re bored, or making the house our playground, My mom was at every art show, every concert, every theatre performance. My folks are my biggest fans and I am forever grateful for them.

Art & music teachers are the backbones of society. I have a long list and plenty of stories spanning back to elementary but I’ll keep it brief lol. Much thanks to Mr. Mosby & Ms. Martin for showing there’s no such thing as mistakes in art, Ms. Moody & Ms. Davis for showing me the power of being a lead female bassist in a male-dominated world, and finally, special thanks to Al Thrash, Booker Edwards, & Kandis Knight for guiding me into my career when I saw no way.

Lastly, SkeeWee to all my Sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated!

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Image Credits
Xavier Hardy

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