Meet Annabelle Irakiza
Written by Trinity Duong
Annabelle Irakiza is one of Brand’s Media Group’s community managers. With an education that has propelled her further in the creative, communicative, and strategic world she is passionate about using her voice to create a more diverse and inclusive community. In this article, readers will get more personal insight into Brand’s Media Group’s community as well as the Communications Agency and what it stands for.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Tanzania at a refugee camp but I always said that I grew up in Montreal because I don't have any recollection of life at the camp because I was so young. They were letting a lot of people apply for Visas in Canada, but my parents asked to be moved because the education was not as good, so my parents raised eight thousand dollars and got accepted because my dad had a degree that would allow him to find a job easily without assistance. I liked Montreal because it was very diversified and I met people from different countries that I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet if I had stayed in Tanzania. One thing I will say is that even though it was very international I had this idea that it would be the same for specific industries like school and the work field but the more I was integrated into the city the more I realized that it wasn’t the most inclusive even though we are all present within Montreal. It was nice and I appreciate growing up there because it set me up to understand the industries lack of inclusiveness. I worked much harder whereas if I grew up in my small camp in Tanzania I wouldn’t have been exposed to those difficulties until much later in life.
Where did you go to school? What did you do?
High School
I went to Jean Grou for high school and it was a very small school. Not many people enjoy their high school experience but I found my place there. It started rocky but by my Senior Year, I enjoyed it. I was in eight different clubs in total and while I was not a straight-A student I had really good grades because studying was very easy for me. So close to the end I had a very smooth experience and I was always told by my parents that I needed to work harder otherwise I wouldn't get any of the things I wanted and that stuck in my head.
Cegep - Dawson College
I went to Dawson College mainly because I wanted to escape French. I always knew I wanted to study in English but there aren’t a lot of institutions in Quebec that allow you to do so. So I just prepared myself by taking English classes by myself and watching television series like How I Met Your Mother. It was really important for me to get as much as I can get. I then did a pre-university degree in Arts and Culture and it was the first time I got to study something that I cared about. I particularly enjoyed creative writing classes, video editing classes, and scriptwriting classes. It helped me see how much I loved creating. In high school, I saw art as more just fun mandatory classes whereas in college it was clear that this is what I like to do even though I didn’t have to do it.
University
I did my undergrad at Concordia. I was in Communications Studies and it was a bit rocky because I applied for Journalism but I didn’t get in and I didn’t understand that if you didn’t get into your first choice, you got into your second and my second was Women’s Studies. So I was in that for a full year until I got into Communication Studies. The first year for me was a quote on quote party year because I didn’t care about the degree and I just used my networking skills and went out. At this point I didn’t understand the Communications existed, I had just met someone in that field who told me that, “Oh you know, I’m in there and I feel like it would fit you.” I’m a strong believer that the things you’re meant to do come to you very easily because I didn’t have the GPA, my portfolio was a mess, it was stuff I did in Cegep and the interview didn’t even go well, however, I still got in. They called me the day before class and said, “Hey you’re GPA is kind of funky, what’s going on” and I just reiterated that I would turn it around. It was smooth and made me feel like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be. I feel as though Dawson helped me with my creativity whereas Concordia taught me about what I care about which is the social justice part of creation and communication. I was super vocal, I started a radio show with a good friend of mine. It was called “Keeping It Real” and we had these weekly one-hour-long rants about things in society that we didn’t like the function of, like black women’s issues. The more I got into my education the more I became refined with what it is I care about and what I want to do with my life. Communications helped me realize I don’t want to just create to create, I want to create to help people along the way. I wrote a book during my undergrad called “A Happy Ending”. It was inspired by a friend of mine who took their life and it’s really about discovering mental health issues that aren’t expressed enough in society. I thought maybe if I share my hardships and lonelier experiences maybe I can raise awareness and help people become more vocal about their experiences as well. So it’s just a collection of stories about myself and a few other people I know that struggle with hardships and the proceeds went to two different nonprofit charities, the first was Suicide Action and the second was called CALACS.
Grad School
I went to McGill University for Graduate School. It was a year-long program in Public Relations. I did it because I’m very obsessed with school. When school is over I’m always like what am I going to do and I was talking to Jasmine and Sharon and I was saying since you’re both in Paris maybe I can come and do grad school there. I mainly did it because I felt like my education was not over. I wanted to get more strategic with my communication studies. I felt like I knew how to create but I didn’t know how to influence or the metrics of things you post. It wasn’t a thesis or anything like that, it was laid back and helped us learn and focus on public relations. It was extremely realistic and opened my eyes to how industries treat their audience and buyers in terms of discussing social justice or diversity but don’t follow through. It was very ironic because the whole degree ended when the BLM movement started growing and it was like everything I knew to be true was happening right before my eyes. We have so much more to do even if we think it’s headed in a more inclusive direction because the people at the top only really care about money and you can’t make them feel for others. Without putting a number on things it’s really difficult to get things moving. Although I enjoyed it, it taught me so much about the reality of things and made me so passionate about changing and working for ethical communication agencies.
What do you think made you apply to BMG?
I met Sharon when we were in Cegep and we hit it off then. She was super funny and super passionate, she's always been that way. I think with time she just became more focused on what she wanted to do but she's always been so passionate and I've always enjoyed talking to her. We followed each other's journeys but from a distance because we were both meant to go to Concordia but we were both refused for Journalism so she went to Israel and I stayed in Montreal and I just really admired her from a distance. When she posted the job opportunity I was working at this customer service job that I didn't enjoy. I was in Africa as well and I didn’t want to come back to Montreal working and living the same life I was doing before. I decided to take a leap of faith and I sent her a DM on Instagram. She was super professional and I made a CV just for this job because even though I knew her I wanted her to respect me as an applicant and not like a friend. I wanted to show her that I cared and that I did my research and that I am someone that wanted to be part of this for the long run. I liked the idea of starting with women that are motivated, passionate, diverse, and fun and that's what Brand’s Media Group offered me.
What are your future aspirations? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I'd like to have published more books I don't know what about yet. I would like to be working on more creative outlets like films or web series because a lot is going on in my head. I always had a bunch of stories and I didn't think that they were interesting to anyone until I started telling them to people and now that I feel more confident in who I am and my voice and stories I would love for them to be published whether it's in book form or film, I don't really mind the format as long as they're told. I'd like to also still be working for BMG because I'm very excited to see where it's going to go and how it's gonna grow. You know, every month there's something new that happens so in 10-years it must be some crazy stuff. I'd also like to be well-traveled and have a lifestyle that allows me to be anywhere that I would like to be in the world and create from there because I didn’t get to travel much when I was younger so I would like to be able to travel a bit more now that I'm older.
Where did you see yourself 10 years ago?
I would have been 14 and I always knew that eventually I would do what I want to do and I live alone and by my own rules. As a teenager, I was always like it’s going to be my way or no way and I think a lot of people think that things will change over time and, when you’re older you’ll be more flexible in terms of what you want to do but I don't think I sacrificed on anything that mattered to me. I went to school where I wanted to go to school. I graduated from the programs that I chose. I live alone in the neighborhood that I want to live in, so I think the fact that I didn't budge on any of the things I wanted to do kind of help me get to where I always knew I could get. From 14 to 24 I think I'm exactly where I want to be. Maybe I would have wanted a bigger apartment but I'm pretty happy with where I am.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
I think it’s very cliche but I would say my biggest inspirations are Beyonce and my mother. My mother didn't get to go to school and learn like everyone else in her village and every time she got something good in her life something bad would happen. For example, she thought she was going to go to school but then her father passed and she wasn’t able to afford it, then she thought she would be educated by becoming a nun but then the war happened. She met my dad, had kids and, then moved here and I think she’s the one person in my life always reinventing herself. Whenever life throws something crazy at her she never lets it define what she wants to do. She always puts the people she loves first. She’s my best friend, she calls me three times a day and puts joy first every single day. I never thought I’d be this close to my mom because I used to be such a grungy teenager. And Beyonce because I know some people call her overrated but it’s inspiring because she’s unresponsive to the criticism she receives. She’s very in her bubble doing what she wants to do and this kind of fits with my motto which is “Do what you want and do what you care about and if people like and they enjoy it then good and if they don’t then still good.” If you're proud of what you put out into the world then that’s all that matters.
What is your greatest accomplishment?
I’ll say my published book because it started important conversations even with my friend group. I didn’t need a wide world reach, I just wanted the people in my life to know that I cared about them and that I could lay my soul bare and I wouldn’t care who knew it so that they didn’t have to feel bad about expressing their hardships. A lot of people called me when the book came out. It was hour-long conversations about our similarities within our struggles and it allowed for there to be a dialogue and open-minded conversation. It just started this wave of positivity and I feel as though it honored my friend who had passed away because I wished she had her own happy ending or that she had stuck around enough to see the progression and relief of stigma within our society.
What is your favorite thing about working at BMG?
It has to be the sisterhood. Sometimes I’m very confused about things that I’m doing and I can always count on the team to answer me and give me pointers. I feel like we’re all in it together and that’s not something I would always have in the jobs I’d work, whether it’s creative jobs or customer service jobs. I always have people here that want to see me win. Everyone here is so happy for one another and the way that we support one another is so incredibly important to me and the foundation of Brand’s Media Group.
