After more than a decade of producing music across Tanzania and the U.S., I knew the songs were only half the story. This memoir takes you behind the scenes; into the Maasai villages, the recording studios, the highs, the setbacks, and how creativity became our currency to build community, cross cultures and defying expectations.
What you’ll learn / Why it matters:
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how to translate cultural heritage into global art
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the power of collaboration across continents
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the resilience required to shift from music label to movement
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practical insights into cross-cultural collaboration, systems-building, and entrepreneurship
Memoir Coming Soon: My Journey with Voice of Maasai
Hook
From a small-town carnival to the global stage, Creativity as Currency is the true story of how imagination—and fairness—became a bridge between worlds. A deeply human memoir that shows how art, when grounded in respect, can become the most enduring form of wealth.
Author Bio
Jessey Jansen is a creative leader, social entrepreneur, and founder of Voice of Maasai, an independent music label amplifying Tanzanian artists through cross-cultural collaboration. Raised in Wautoma, Wisconsin, she built a career in brand development and creative direction before launching a platform that now represents over forty-five artists. Her work has been recognized by Graphic Design USA, the Blue Whiskey International Film Festival, and art residencies across the U.S. and Africa. She lives between Seattle, Washington, and Austin, Texas, traveling regularly to Tanzania to continue recording, mentoring, and building bridges through sound and story.
Overview
What if creativity could circulate like money; measured not in profit, but in trust, exchange, and shared humanity?
In Creativity as Currency, Jessey Jansen, artist, designer, and founder of the Voice of Maasai music label, tells a remarkable cross-cultural story that begins on Fair Street in rural Wisconsin and unfolds across the savannahs of Tanzania. From bartering ice for carnival rides to building a global collaborative label that amplifies Maasai voices, Jansen explores how ingenuity, fairness, and creative reciprocity can become a form of sustainable wealth.
Part memoir, part field guide for ethical creativity, this book traces how one woman’s small-town resourcefulness became the backbone of a movement rooted in respect, not rescue. Told through vivid scenes and honest reflection, it offers readers a rare inside look at what it means to build bridges through music, design, and the messy, beautiful work of human collaboration; an urgent blueprint for creative leaders, changemakers, and anyone daring to build bridges in a divided world.