Former #HerSourceHeroine Kaiya Milan has been making big moves lately in her mission to bring women in the music industry together through events and a strong support system. Her organization Women In Music UK has been re-imagined into The Sorority House in a bid to emulate the American notion of sisterhood with British female artists and tastemakers.
She sat down with HERSource to catch us up on all of the exciting events she has planned, which includes the debut of Goddess Fest (London’s first large scale, annual, all-female music festival) and a possible collaboration with media maven Karen Civil.
You recently had brunch with #GirlBoss Karen Civil, are there any plans to work with her in the future? Did she give you any useful advice?
We organised [the] event in partnership with an organisation called Life Talks to host an exclusive brunch with Karen Civil. She is definitely a #GirlBoss and a woman I highly respect in the industry, so I definitely intend to work with her once I get out to the USA. The best piece of advice she gave me during her stay was that it’s okay to be who you are!
Your organization Women In Music UK is being rebranded to The Sorority House, why did you choose that name? Are the American connotations strategic?
I was struggling for months to work out why Women in Music UK didn’t feel complete. It had all the right elements, but I knew [that] I wanted it to [be] more than just another female music industry events company. I wanted it to not only be a movement, but a sisterhood.
Growing up, [I] wanted to go to college in the US. [I was] fascinated by the concept of Greek societies and what it meant to be part of one. A Sorority House seemed to fit the concept of unity and solidarity that I have been trying to promote through Women in Music UK. The Fraternity/Sorority concept doesn’t exist within the UK, so I thought it would be the perfect way to integrate this idea of sisterhood into the [UK] music industry.
What will the main changes be to the organization after the rebrand? Will you be taking your organization to the States?
The way we do events, the interaction between [events] and what we represent as a collective. We will also be expanding to encompass women across all creative industries, including all aspects of the arts.
We are definitely looking for opportunities to expand to the States to grow our sisterhood and learn from other creative #GirlBosses.
What can you tell us about your upcoming all-female music festival this August?
Goddess Fest will take place on August 9 in London! I came up with Goddess Fest “to support and elevate female artists in the creative industries” and at this stage [our] supporters include Live Nation, BoxPark and Cargo. At the moment there is a HUGE amount of female talent out there and [I] set up the festival to act as a catalyst for promoting young female talent that deserves a place in the public eye.
What artists can we expect performances from?
So far we have the following Goddesses confirmed on our line up:
Hollie McNish
Mahalia
Rainy Milo
Cilla Raie
Sherika Sherard
Emmavie
Nipah
Jaja Kisses
JayBay
Florieme
+ more TBA
In honor of your monthly event #FemaleBossFriday, what do you believe defines a female boss in 2016?
I think that a #FemaleBoss is defined by her acceptance [of] who she is and [her] willingness to work harder to be who she wants to be and get where she wants to get to. Being a #FemaleBoss is all about being who you naturally are, not pretending to be something you’re not.
