We had the opportunity to speak with Brooklyn Trapp, a Gen Z Renaissance woman, about her experience with entrepreneurship, music, and modelling in the face of a global pandemic. Brooklyn, who goes by Brookie Blue as an artistic pen name in media, gave a candid, vulnerable and informative interview that I’m glad Sophia Lia Mag readers will have the opportunity to experience!
We began our interview with a mental health check in, and Brooklyn was authentic about her journey in balancing self care during the age of Covid-19. “There are days where I’m really struggling because I’ve been neglecting to take care of myself. I get hard on myself, but most days if I remember to eat well, and exercise, I’ve been doing well, I’m pretty hopeful.”
Having recently launched her crystal jewelry company Indie, Brooklyn has been one busy bee, marketing, shipping and distributing her products in her one woman show. “It’s been really difficult but really rewarding. I think what’s important now, more than ever, is connection. People feel so disconnected, and I didn’t want my business to be one that was just for profit. I wanted to create a community–I’m still cultivating it, it’s all very new.” She also shed light on the unique name for her business. “The textbook definition of Indie is ‘not owned by any one thing, and completely their own.’ As a person, as an artist, I love the idea of being an individual, and having something that is completely my own. I hope that’s how everyone feels about the piece they own.”
We switched gears to talk about something of a common interest to Brooklyn and I, performing. The pandemic has had a gigantic impact on the artistic industry, and for someone who held performing at the centre of their life, the closing of venues, shows and opportunities was a difficult pill to swallow. “I want to be completely candid with you, it’s been soul crushing. My life was performing, I was a full time musician. My mental health took a huge hit. Music and art is so important to our society and very overlooked. But, I slowly got back into writing. I’ve been working on a new album, and I think remembering why you do it for yourself is so important.”
Every great artist or creator has a muse, or a mentor, someone who pushed them to be who they are today and lifted them up on their journey. For Brooklyn Trapp, this inspiration was her mother, who also runs her own business and has pushed Brooklyn to be her best throughout her life. “She is definitely the most creatively inspiring person in my life. It’s cool watching her exist because she just knows some much about who she is and she isn’t afraid to share that with people. She has so many cool friends and a great community because of that. It’s so inspiring to watch someone fully do what they know they were meant to do. It makes me want to do the same.”
The unpredictable roller coaster that was the past year has made planning for the future a very difficult undertaking, and Brooklyn, whose plans for schooling in New York were axed by the pandemic, fully agreed. Still, she is looking forward to possibilities ahead, and has many goals for when it is safe to go out and pursue them. “I really hope by some miracle we are able to travel in the near future. I love to travel. I would love to be able to explore the world. But besides that, in 2021, I think I want to accelerate my career as a musician in a way that is not so much material as it is personal. I want this to be a year where I step into my voice, my aesthetic, my style as an artist. I’m hoping to be able to share that again with the world on stage someday.”
Completing the classic triple threat, Brooklyn Trapp also works in the modelling industry, another artistic venue that was affected by changing Covid-19 restrictions. Like many of us, Brooklyn has mixed feelings on the industry as a whole, and has some advice for any young people trying to pursue a career behind the camera. “I think the industry as a collective industry has been really, really toxic. We see society’s beauty standards and how brands and agencies are perpetuating that–it can be really brutal. I think models are really starting to push back against that and it is changing. I think it’s really important as a model to use your platform to advocate for more expression and diversity. As a young model who is just beginning to understand the industry, I want to let people know that you can’t expect the industry to do it for you. You are your own boss.” She spoke about the importance of coordinating fair wages, feeling comfortable on set, being respected by photographers and agents, and going out and self advocating.
As if she hadn’t given us enough great advice, Brooklyn Trapp dug deep and discussed what she thinks are some of the things weighing heavy on the shoulders of young women in our society. She had two main answers, social media, and cancel culture. She touched on how battling the editing, photoshop and distorted beauty standards on everything from Instagram to Tik Tok is always an uphill battle for the young generation, but also how the snowballing effect of cancel culture on these apps and the internet can be equally harmful. “With social media, this is my mantra right now, she is beautiful, but so am I! But something people may not be thinking about as much, is calling each other out and not giving each other room to grow and make mistakes. It’s one thing when you are a really horrible person doing terrible things, but it’s different when you are a sixteen year old girl that slipped up and needs room to grow. I think it’s a weird gray area for teens because we want to do the right things but we aren’t always sure where to look and what to do.”
Going with the tone of advice for young women, she also discussed the lessons she would give to a younger version of herself if she ever had the opportunity to spread the knowledge her current self had learned over the years. “This might be a cliche, but I would tell her not to get so hung up on relationships and boys, there is so much power to be found within yourself as a young woman that you need to focus on cultivating. If she only knew–and I want to say this to every young human being–if you only knew how powerful you are, and how divine your soul is, you wouldn’t let a single thing someone says get to you, as hard as that might be.”
We closed off our interview with a message very close to Brooklyn’s heart–an encouragement for climate activism and sustainability. “Whatever we do to the earth, we do to ourselves. In the age of social media, online shopping, it’s really important to consider sustainability in all our actions. Don’t beat yourself up when you make mistakes in that, but we all just need to be conscious and know we aren’t separate from the earth, we are a part of it. Take care of the planet and your body!”
Interview by Sophia Wojdak
