Meet Monseé Wood: Creative Director | Photographer | Director

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

Hi Monseé, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk. It’s necessary to take risk because if you don’t you may not know what is or isn’t possible within reason. I’ve always considered myself to be a strategic and analytical person so I’m totally for taking calculated risk.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
While there are many qualities that set me apart from others, I’m just a normal person with a big vision. One characteristic about myself that absolutely helps with today’s success is the love for interacting with people, and being comfortable in any environment. I have a ton of trust in karma in addition to a pure spirit, so the rest follows suit. I usually don’t think about the difficulty of the challenges, I just know I’m built to overcome so I focus on remaining positive. My brand is purely passion driven. To me passion is that fuzzy feeling you get when you do something because you want to out of love. When you’ll do it for free, that’s passion.

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.
I’m a foodie so my initial instinct is to go somewhere to stimulate our taste buds. Birdies (Downtown LA) – Top 3 best doughnuts and chicken sandwich. Angels – (NOHo) Food Truck style Mexican food. Quesadilla is phenomenal. Morrison’s (Glendale) – Burgers and wings that should be in a national competition. Shintaro Sushi (Hollywood)- Incredible, simply incredible. Alexanders Steakhouse (Pasadena)- Steak & Caviar. Coffee & Plants (Pasadena) 18Kt Gold Charcoal cold brew… Amazing. Pace (Hollywood) Italian that taste like we are in Italy. Otherwise, the normal touristy attractions.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Though my journey to achieve my current success, it wasn’t done alone. Family First. Mike Giles, my high school art teacher that saw my capabilities and got approval from other teachers for me to attend art class all day twice a week until graduation. DJ Rerok for opening up the world of entertainment for me explore while creating album cover art and logo designs. Moe Jones for opening the door to directing my first major music video, which was for Travis Barker. Travis Barker for being a homie regardless of work. Huge thanks for believing in me and continuing to have me direct for him, Landon, and Alabama. Oscar Wood & Lori Alexander for keeping me heavily involved in corporate opportunities as an Art Director for a Fortune 500 company. Gabi Mosci for continuing to believe in my skill set. She introduced me to my now extended family I see annually in Sydney, Australia. The Maggs family-Much love. Alfredo Flores for giving a stranger (me) a shot to shoot an acoustic music video for Ciara which turned into me shooting with her numerous times thereafter. Alfredo has also brought me on projects for from Ciara to Ariana Grande. Blessings. Big shout to Quincy Brown simply for always inspiring creativity and seeing a vision through. Quincy always takes creative risk and is open for us to explore new artistic adventures. The Voyage LA for recognizing a big fish in a much bigger body of water. Justine Monae, my manager, who believes in me to the fullest. Gao Yang- My biggest supporter and friend. Last but not least, I’d like to give myself a shoutout for continuing to push through the many challenges I’ve experienced during this adventurous journey.

“I am your imagination’s stunt double.” -Monseé

Website: Www.monsee.com

Instagram: @monseeworld & @asleepinggiant

Twitter: MonseeWorld

Image Credits
Monsee Yonni Liz Allyson King Chris Lexy Panterra Charity Kianna