Naima Starr of Atlanta University Center on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Naima Starr. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Naima, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Dance hands down makes me lose track of time, it’s a part of who I am. Everyday I find ways to dance with the world around me; When I dance the rhythm carries me outside of the clock—my body becomes the measure, my breath becomes the beat. In those moments, I’m not thinking about the next task or the past mistake, I’m just moving, listening, and responding. Dance strips me down to something honest and alive, a self that doesn’t need words to be understood or heard. When the music stops, I find myself again, more grounded, more whole like I’ve touched a piece of who I am that the world can’t take away.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Naima Starr, a 20 year old junior at Spelman College with a Philosophy Major with a Dance and Choreography Minor from Baltimore Maryland. I am the founder of Soulra, a developing creative agency committed to amplifying Black voices through art, literature, performance, and community-driven initiatives. At its core, Soulra exists at the intersection of creativity, storytelling, and strategy; cultivating spaces where reclamation, radicality, and reverence thrive.

What makes Soulra distinct is its focus on building ecosystems rather than simply producing projects. We center collaboration, resource-building, and innovative design to support artists, organizers, and cultural workers in bringing forward work that inspires, informs, and transforms.

Soulra is consistently engaged in projects that weave history, culture, and design into frameworks that both honor legacy and imagine new futures. For me, this is not just about creating art but creating sustainable and intentional spaces for creativity and community to flourish.

As I pursue my studies at Spelman College, I am using my Philosophy major as a foundation for attending law school in order to gain a strong understanding of intellectual property. My goal is to ensure that artists, innovators, and cultural workers; particularly those from marginalized communities are equipped to protect their ideas, creations, and legacies.

This directly informs my work with Soulra. As a creative agency, we are committed not only to amplifying Black voices through art and storytelling, but also to safeguarding the rights of creators who often find their work exploited or undervalued. By combining my future legal training with Soulra’s mission, I envision building a model where creativity is not only celebrated, but also protected, preserved, and positioned as a source of empowerment and sustainability for generations to come.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
The women who came before me, my foremothers taught me the most about work. Specifically women like My mother Lillan Cox, my Great-Grand Mother Dora Jones, My mentor Sharayna Christmas, Cultural Worker Toni Cade Bambara, Womanist Alice Walker, Writer and Dancer Ntozake Shange, and Black Feminist Scholar(s) Dr. Beverly- Guy Sheftall, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Zora Neale Hurtson, Toni Morrison, and the list goes on.

Their lives are a testament to resilience, creativity, and resourcefulness in the face of limitation. They showed me that work is not just about labor or survival, but about carving out space for joy, care, and legacy. Whether through artistry, teaching, or simply sustaining families and communities, they model for me what it means to move with both grit and grace.

In honoring their work, I’m reminded that mine is a continuation of theirs; rooted in care, culture, and a vision of radical liberation that extends beyond one lifetime.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Zora Neale Hurston’s words “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it” have always resonated deeply with me. Her truth speaks to the violence of erasure, the way silence can be weaponized against us, turning our struggles invisible and our resilience into something to be exploited.

For me, breaking that silence is both personal and collective. Choosing to name my pain, and to transform it through art, passion, and storytelling, is an act of survival and resistance. It’s why Soulra exists and is important to me, to ensure that our voices, our creativity, and our struggles are not dismissed or rewritten by others. Speaking, creating, and claiming our narratives allows us to turn pain into power, and silence into legacy.

Hurston reminds me that our stories are not just for ourselves they are a record and a pathway forward. To speak is to live.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
One truth so foundational in my life that I rarely articulate it is the necessity of authenticity. For me, authenticity is more than honesty; it is alignment. It is the practice of making sure my words, actions, and choices reflect the truest parts of myself, even when that truth is vulnerable, inconvenient, or misunderstood.

I have learned that when I step away from authenticity, I feel fractured, as if I am living a life that doesn’t belong to me. But when I root myself in it, I feel whole, grounded, and clear. Authenticity gives me strength because it demands courage: courage to be seen fully, courage to speak with integrity, and courage to let go of the urge to perform for others’ comfort.

It is such a quiet, constant truth that I rarely put it into words like breathing, it’s always there. Yet it is also the foundation that allows me to build, create, and connect in ways that are real and lasting. Without authenticity, everything else becomes hollow. With it, I know I am exactly where I am meant to be.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am doing what I was born to do. From an early age, self-expression has been my compass whether through fashion, movement, or creative storytelling, I’ve always found ways to make the inner visible. My style has never just been about clothing; it has been a language, a declaration of identity, and a refusal to be silenced. The same is true for all of my creative outlets—each one is a channel through which I speak clearly, without compromise.

One of the best compliments I’ve received came from my best friend, who recently told me that I move through the world without needing to explain to people who I am because I show it through my work and my passions. That reflection affirmed what I already knew: authenticity and creativity are my introduction. They precede me, they speak for me, and they tell my story long before I ever open my mouth.

I wasn’t born to shrink myself into expectations. I was born to create, to express, and to embody the truth that art and selfhood are inseparable. Every project I dedicate myself to, every look I put together, every word I write, is part of that calling. I am living in it fully, unapologetically, and with intention.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thesoulra.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naimastarr/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naimaeggleston/