Who is mizChartreuse?
Gemini: The Twins. Multiple personalities. Alter egos. Adaptability to situations. Most Interesting. Fierce yet soft. Fabulous yet humble. Funny and quiet. Hard and compassionate. Generation Y member. COMPLEX.
Hard and soft. Powerful and empathic.
mizChartreuse is the poster child for the female Gemini sign. Which means that she is one of the most interesting and intriguing people you will be blessed to meet…and possibly one of the most misunderstood.
Enough with the third person. I’m Charlotte Nyirenda-Mutesha by birth, but you can call me mizChartreuse. Or Char, or Char-Char, or Chartreusey, or Egomaniacal/Dissociative Bitch who Judges People by Their Looks and Astrological Signs. I’m a writer, storyteller, and recovering journalism student, and that’s pretty much all I care about. That, and vodka, or a nice sauvignon blanc.
Beyond the vino, however, I am a Fierce Entrepreneur at heart.
Also, the mizChartreuse brand is synonymous with style and flowers. Namely, flowers that are to be worn in the hair (and sometimes as accessories like belts or rings). A lot of people tell me that I have the “Billie Holiday vibe” going on, but they are mistaken: I have the “mizChartreuse Fierce Flawless Fabulous vibe” going on.
Be not fooled: I’m no imposter. I have my style, and I don’t bite others’. I pride myself in being unique. And most of all, I do what I want.
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My Story
I was born in Michigan (the Upper Peninsula, mind you). My parents were born, raised, educated and married in Zambia, Africa until my father came to the States to finish his Master’s Degree at Michigan Tech, subsequently having me, the firstborn (what kind of Africans decide to move to Upper Michigan? Must have had some great travel agents). Can you say Culture Shock? In my younger days, sleepovers were forbidden, I couldn’t be a cheerleader because my dad thought they were all sluts, and my sister, Chloe, and I mastered the art of imitating our parents’ accents. I used to call “garbage cans” “beans,” because my parents pronounced “the bin” like “bean” in the typical British-like accent. That certainly made for some interesting conversations and misunderstandings by kindergarten teachers/friends.
Up through high school I lived in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago. I spent a year at Northern Illinois University (NIU) studying Instant Messaging with a double minor in Acoustic Guitar Playing and Mozzarella Cheese Stick Eating. Apparently those studies weren’t part of the academic curriculum, so I went home and got a job as Front Desk Cute Girl at Sam Ash Music in Buffalo Grove.
Who can guess how many things were stolen while Allie and I were posing for pictures at work?
At 18, I ran away from the madhouse home to Chicago to live with my best friend with whom my father assumed I was having a lesbian relationship. I left the church I’d attended for years, much to the chagrin of my God-fearing mother who had put Chloe and I in a Christian school for the elementary grades. Meh. It honestly was because I went to a Korean church and the attendants were horrifically ethnocentric. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (Seinfeld<3), but more because I felt that I was much more than just a helpless woman who needed a man to save me. #justsayin’.
I attended Palatine’s William Rainey Harper College for two years studying Business Administration and Marketing, then went to Dominican University for journalism school, mastering the ins and outs of the industry. I also studied abroad in Ghana, which was a life-changing experience in itself.
It wasn’t until I’d racked up a nice average of $90,000 (give or take) worth of college education that I realized that journalism and the media suck. Ass. I didn’t want to be a slave to the Chicago Tribune of ABC News’ affiliate for 14 hours a day only to make $20-somethingK annually. I didn’t want to be told to go to Obama’s Election Night celebration on Michigan Avenue and not be able to show any emotion. I respect dissenters, but being creatively restricted is just not my bag.
After all my tumultuous adventures and lessons learned the hard way, one thing has always remained: my love for writing.
And above all–my desire for independence and autonomy.
FORGET clocking in and out for $12 an hour. FORGET working for a salary that requires you to work at all odd hours of your life. FORGET letting SOMEONE ELSE tell you what you’re worth.
Decide it for yourself. As Brandon Boyd of Incubus said, “Make Yourself.” Don’t let ‘em fuck you. Do what you want, and live the life YOU want. YOU are in control. YOU chose to be incarnated to this life. Don’t let it go to waste. Do what you love and don’t let any naysayers tell you otherwise.
You are one interesting chick! Can you write a bio for me that’s better than my one sentence description of myself? Cause yours rocked! And you have such a cool style! Thank you for visiting my blog. And I understand about journalism. I was supposed to do that, too. But then I realized I could not live on 15G a year and free CDs. And health insurance is pretty darn good, too.