Built for and by creative entrepreneurs, Norby provides the widest range of tools, resources and expertise to upskill digital marketing know-how, explore passions and achieve success - online and offline.
We’re building a future where creative entrepreneurs can achieve sustainable success at every stage of their journey. Therefore, we want entrepreneurs to feel supported and encouraged on their creative journey, regardless of their experience level.
Grow As You Go was born out of the need to uphold this belief and share it with the world. Luckily for us, our incredible community is filled with creatives who are constantly challenging the traditional notions of “creative entrepreneurship” and redefining what community, success and creative processes mean to them. Keep on reading to check out what they have to say.
What are your hopes for the future of creative entrepreneurship? What are your fears about it?
GRAYSON PRNCE: Our hope for the future of creative entrepreneurship is that artists will have the opportunity to live with balance, and receive more resources. We also hope that art becomes less censored, and the boundaries to create become more expansive. Our fear is that things will not go in this direction, but art will always be created - regardless of the environment and circumstances.
SHYDEIA CALDWELL: My hope for the future of creative entrepreneurship is that its going to become more communal, transparent, and authentic.
What inspires you to continue creating?
CLAIRE XUE: What inspires me to continue creating is my community and customers – seeing them enjoy what I created, whether its physical pieces or educational resources, and knowing that my brand and I are bringing value, saving other brands and creators time, and giving them the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in their field.
PREZ HARRIS: Knowing that my art is helping someone somewhere get through something. I remember when I first came to understand the power of music and the influence that it can have on someone’s life when it influenced mine. Since then, I never looked at it the same. I always wanted to have that level of impact on my community. In college, I had a person tell me part of why they chose this school was because they were a fan of my music. That’s life changing. So, I always think about the fact that there’s no one in this world that has my story, has my background, has my gifts, has my perspective, and by telling my story in the way that I do, it could resonate with someone to the point where it can change their life.
What does community mean to you?
SOPHIE BEREN: As a unifier, community is at the heart of everything I do. To me, community means bringing people together across their differences to unite under one common purpose. Every strong community is built on a foundation of mutual respect and understanding where people do not feel they need to compromise their core beliefs or values, but rather share a greater purpose. I truly believe that when we create spaces where every person feels empowered to use their voice and be their truest self, anything and everything is possible.
VAN NEWMAN: To me, a community is a group of interdependent people with shared values and interests who are opting into being vulnerable with each other, accountable to each other and supportive of one another. Community can take shape in so many forms— whether it be on a local level in your neighborhood or digitally in a safe space online. I think as long as there’s consistency, investment and care— that’s all you need to seed a community. And I think we all should strive to find or create our own communities. I don’t think we’re meant to be as independent as society sometimes tells us to be and I think everything— creative, professionally, personally, etc.— can and should be achieved through some sort of community effort.
What does it mean to have sustainable success?
GREY PRNCE: Sustainable success avoiding the beautiful art of burning out – it’s taking breaks, having time to create beyond what we share with the world and keeping moments to ourselves. It’s building and knowing they will come, it’s making sure we have platforms in place to hold this space we’ve created with us.
Ready to start your creative journey and #growwithnorby? Join today.
Meet the #GrowAsYouGo Community
Claire Xue serves as the CEO and founder of Moodelier, where she offers immersive and one of a kind pieces and educational resources to help creative entrepreneurs achieve scroll-stoppingly captivating visuals Before she Launched Moodelier, Claire designed and created visually immersive events for Bumble, Soho House, Phenomenal Women, and Flodesk.
Prez Harris is a musical artist who writes and performs hip-hop music that branches out into funk, soul, and dance.
Grey & Grayson are queer artists who also happen to be married and share/ chronicle their lives on TikTok as @Officiallyverygay! The couple have been multimedia artists all of their lives and have been on TikTok for the entirety of their relationship – they are going on their 3rd year together!
Van Newman is a strategist who works in tech by day, a TV writer by night, a DJ/music producer on the weekends, and a lifelong community builder at heart. They've been "in the biz" (DJing, writing and community building) for ~6 years and know first-hand the power of feeling seen, whether that be on the screen, at work, at a party, etc. Across all of their work, they feel called to close opportunity gaps and create spaces that don’t exist for BIPOC and queer communities of color.
Sophie Beren is the Founder and CEO of The Conversationalist, a non-partisan educational platform empowering Gen Z to break out of their echo chambers, have difficult conversations, and unify the world. Her community of over 100,000 young people is committed to coming together, across differences, through "POVz" the first ever Gen Z Talk Show, and through their digital network located on the Geneva app.
Shydeia Caldwell is the founder of Black Girl Magik, a community of black women whose mission is to empower and uplift each other. She has been 7 years in business and has garnered an audience of over 45K.
