When Siki Msuseni puts pen to paper, it’s a moment one shaped by intention, depth, and a storyteller’s instinct. From spotlighting emerging talent to amplifying local brands on a global stage, Msuseni doesn’t just tell stories, she builds legacies.

In this Q&A piece for Culture Club, we sit down with the Founder and Director of Amplified PR, a creative force known for her bold opinions, razor-sharp wit, and deep-rooted connection to local culture. Msuseni shares why creative blocks are a myth, how finding your Ikigai can unlock your path, and why AI will never replace true creative craftsmanship.

We had the honour of chopping it up with this unstoppable publicist, a woman who believes in owning your narrative, building your tribe, and rewriting the script on your own terms.

1. We’ve noticed that you are really passionate about the work you do at Amplified PR for the clients that appoint you, what inspired you to start your own PR agency?

There’s a beautiful African Proverb by Chinua Achebe I center my work around that says, “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter” I take it far to my adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk titled, “The danger of a single story” it’s through these interpretation of words that inspired me to start Amplified PR. I was moved by a deep desire to tell African narratives to a global audience through Public Relations. We come from a place as Africans where our history was told verbally through folklore, coming around the fire and listening to our elders narrate stories to us, as time went by our stories got lost in translation because they were told verbally which results in us having a fragmented account of historical events, our SA history being one of them. This birthed my love for telling contemporary African stories through formalising a PR agency. So the work I do at Amplified PR is that we become the mouthpiece using different communication channels to package and preserve our unique client’s stories for consumption and archival purposes. It’s not PR for PR sake, it’s the crafting of narratives that live beyond our times.

2. You allow us into your world in a very authentic way sparked with a bit of humour, you’re generous with your process while building an agency in public, what sparked your love for teaching?

Having gone through formal learning, I’ve realised that our learning styles are different and that what’s simple information to me is not simple to the next person. There are concepts you can’t only learn in a lecture hall. So one random day I picked up my camera & tripod and started teaching online because to know that you’ve really mastered a concept try teaching it to someone else. By virtue of being inquisitive, I stumble upon a lot of valuable information and my first instinct is, ‘someone needs to know about this goldmine I just discovered!’ Sometimes I may not have the implementation results of it yet but someone needs to also know what I’ve just found out and so I share it for mass consumption. I enjoy making intricate concepts digestible and that’s why most gravitate towards my teaching style. It’s simple and I speak in layman terms.

3. You’re one of the few people we know that live in their true purpose, how did you get to the point of knowing you’re doing what you love and finally getting paid for it?

To get to what you really love doing, you need to first do the things you don’t like doing. It’s a funny juxtaposition. Finding your purpose is a journey of trial-and-error to get to that zone of genius. It comes with disappointing a few people because you will find yourself saying ‘No!” to a lot of things that do not align with your purpose. It’s a culmination of connecting the dots through reflective moments with yourself, and realising what’s fitting for you and your zone of genius. It’s through these moments & experiences that I’ve come to crack the code of finding my true Ikigai which is to spotlight the work that others do. May I add: a life of purpose is found in serving others, that impact transcends all fame. Nothing makes me proud than seeing a client getting the recognition they deserve because they’ve produced great work deserving of all the praise.

4. When one looks from the outside they see a success story in your journey. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced along the way in establishing and running an agency? 

We would be here the whole day if we had to unpack the challenges, but the one challenge that comes to mind is, I work in an ideas generation environment where you come to learn that there is a need to protect your ideas and craft. With high consumption patterns of creative work, we are pressured to have a high production line of creative ideas because the demand is high and you realise there’s no appreciation of process or craft in these modern times. Everyone wants to get to the final product (the glory story) but not realising that it’s the process that refines your practice. It’s in the discipline, the systems and frameworks you set up that gives you the results. We need to go back to the drawing board of acknowledging that the results are great but there needs to be an appreciation of the journey to getting to the results. That’s why it’s important to document your journey, there’s relatability in that journey. Someone is learning from your process, it sparks engagement and a sense of community.

5. What would you tell a young black woman navigating an often gate kept Creative and Advertising industry?

I’m going to assume that they may be struggling with self-limiting beliefs. Every industry has Gatekeepers but sometimes the Gatekeepers live in your head. With the democratisation of access to information and platforms to showcase your work the Gatekeepers no longer stand a chance. And if they do not invite you to their imaginary table, maybe it’s time to build your own table.

Now that we have the Gatekeepers out the way, young black women in this creative industry shouldn’t underestimate the power of making meaningful connections with those they get to meet. The relationships you built back then are the ones that will mention your name in rooms where opportunities lie in your absence. Nurture your connections.

Bonus Question: You’ve embraced your evolution, from being a Blogger to becoming a PR Agency Owner. What’s next for you?

I’m taking life in three-month sprints. I’m prioritising growth and expansion at my agency even though it’s an uncomfortable and scary place to be because change is uncomfortable, so our priority right now is to grow and scale at a sustainable rate with our ethos of, amplifying the stories of those we get the privilege to work with to a global audience, at the core of all that we do…and maybe finally going live with our website that we’ve been meaning to launch *chuckles*