#GIRLBOSS SPOTLIGHT: NICHOLETTE FORTUNE

Written by Amy Adams

Meet Nicholette Fortune. A story teller, visionary, and an artist. With that being said, during this interview Nicholette takes us on her journey, of how she becomes a revolutionary artist. Read all about how this #girlboss becomes fearless and follows her dreams.

Amy Adams: What kind of artist would you consider yourself? And why?

Nicholette Fortune: I consider myself a multidisciplinary “infinite” artist or a “ jack of all trades, master of learning,” kind of artist. This is because I have the excitement of a child when it comes to different forms of art. If I see something that excites me I will study it and the people who create it to figure out how to do it. I do really like to combine different modes of art though.

AA: How many alter egos does Nicholette have? What are the names, and how do the names come to you?

NF: Haha that’s a great question! The real answer is that I have an infinite number of egos. I have one post where I just spit out all the things I’ve ever been called or call myself haha, but I guess for the sake of business, I’ve only discovered 5-6 that were significant enough for me to extend into a brand. Most of them came from me discovering a new part of my purpose and what I want to give to the world. “Nonconformity the artist, MissFortunate the teacher, The Lonerd is the teacher and the preacher with the T-shirts, then we have Pico - with my alter ego, Oyo Nico yes she lethal, Always On for the people...”

AA: What is the inspiration behind your art?

NF: Again another big question, you’re too good at this! Haha honestly it’s hard to say. I’m very spiritual so maybe that but my other huge passions are people/humanity and psychology. Deep topics like who we are, what we’re meant to do. Then again, I sometimes just take a walk down the street and get inspired by the little things I see. So again in conclusion I’m a grown child lol, life inspires me. But any opportunity to help people, authenticity from other artists, and sometimes current events influence what I create.

AA: What does it mean to be a revolutionary artist?

NF: To me being a revolutionary artist is using my art to spread messages of love, peace and freedom. I see life as a huge party, one that should be filled with love and happy experiences. But I’m not naive because I’ve been through some things and I see many people still suffering. I know that without justice there is no peace, and it’s hard to truly enjoy a party if I know other people are haven’t as much fun as I am. So I use my art to help bring awareness to things that require change or to help people free themselves the way art has done for me.

AA: After high school you made a big move and attended College on the West Coast, what factored into that decision?

NF: *Note I went to school upstate NY but moved to Cali after college* This is actually a huge part of my story as I originally went to college for Computer Security. I got a job offer after graduation and since I lived in NY all my life, I decided to pick the LA location. I never intended on being a professional artist, and that made me seem like a unicorn when people asked what brought me here lol. But at some point I realized I didn’t enjoy my career. I realized I wanted to solve problems for people not computers, so slowly God/The Universe nudged me back towards my first love: art. It was a challenging transition but now that I think about it, I guess my move to LA was more intentional than I thought.

AA: What was the inspiration behind 'Yerrrbs'?

NF: Ahhhh Yerbs was one of those random things that just made sense. I was scrolling through IG and I seen something called Verbs but I thought it said Yerbs. Anyways once I found out it wasn’t in use, I told my friend Asia like yo Yerbs sounds like a dope idea for some reason and she ran with it! Being two girls from NY now living in Cali where weed was newly legal? It was explosive. We came up with so many ideas on the spot and to this day it’s one of AOM’s best performing series. We both got the opportunity to be really creative with it and obviously the Yerbs was nice lol.

AA: During your creating process, what's your typical playlist? Does it vary depending upon the project, if so how?

NF: Hmmm if I’m being real, I can’t really listen to music while creating lol. I honestly identified with having ADHD for a while (still do but just manage it better) so I can’t listen to music and focus. I love music! It may be my favorite form of art (shhhh don’t tell the others, especially painting) and so I’ll probably just start singing and dancing to the music and forget I was writing something. But if I really want to hear music while I create, I’ll opt for a lo-fi/jazz mix on YouTube. These days I love retro Japanese lo-fi funk mixes.

AA: Artists tend to learn more about themselves everyday, what are some interesting things you've learned about yourself thus far?

NF: I’ve learned that I love learning lol ever since I was younger I loved almost every subject at school. But even as an adult I have no problem putting myself through teaching experiences just to grow. That’s kinda weird but I truly enjoy the journey of solving problems and finding solutions. But I also learned through my infinite capabilities that I’m really a loner, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I would morph myself to connect with different groups of people but never quite fit in to any of them. But I realized that I’m a reflection of God in physical form. And if I can’t fit in a box, how can God? This truth alone has helped me accept that all of us feel misunderstood or strangely unique in some way, and that’s because we are. So instead of wanting to fit in, I learned that I’m finally happy with standing out. Thanks for coming to my grandiose Ted talk haha :D (no but really thanks for interviewing me, you’re so dope!)