Semii has always loved being outside. When we speak, she traces her instinct for creating spaces back to childhood, when performance, music and bringing people together were already central to her world.

“I’ve always been like that. Throughout my childhood, I was always a performer. I was always writing music, recording, performing. I was in theatre. I was acting. I was in band. I was in chorus. I was a theatre kid,” Semii tells Amplify Africa. “I was always that girl. I’ve always loved people. I used to throw teen parties to push music records. That’s just my whole DNA.”

In May, Semii turned that lifelong instinct for gathering people into Aura Sundays, a flagship experience that has quickly become one of Los Angeles’ most talked-about social events, particularly within the diaspora community. What began as a Sunday gathering has, in just a few months, grown into something much bigger.

“Aura Sundays is crazy. It’s so fun. I started it in May, and it’s just been growing at such a crazy speed in LA. It’s a very, very fun experience. I don’t even call it a party. It’s like its own world. It’s literally its own world,” she says.

That instinct to build worlds runs through everything Semii does. As the founder of production company HEIR Aura and author of Your Career Is The Lifestyle, she has built a career around the idea that work, creativity and the life you want to live do not have to exist in separate lanes. She is moving quickly, turning ideas into experiences and, in the process, creating spaces where people want to be.

We caught up with Semii D ahead of the latest instalment of Aura Sundays to talk about the event’s meteoric rise, building community in Los Angeles, the ideas behind Your Career Is The Lifestyle, and what happens when your creative life becomes the life you actually want to live.

This interview has been edited for clarity and flow.

Amplify Africa: I think it’s really impressive that Aura Sundays has only been around since May and it’s become what it’s become. What do you think is the unique selling point? What do you think people actually come to Aura Sundays for?

Semii: Yeah, I think there are a couple of things to it. Number one, I’m very, very intentional with the actual space where Aura is held. Every space I touch is very elevated. It’s very experiential. There’s always going to be some kind of memorable aspect to it. I think that level of intention that I have going into curating it is really what gets people to come back, because you never know where it’s going to be. It travels. Every two weeks, it’s at different venues. Right now, we’ve just outgrown so many of our starting venues.

On the other side, too, it’s the people. The crowd, the community that comes to Aura, literally—I can’t even put it into words. Everyone looks good, the energy is great, people are friendly, people dance. There are a lot of people from a lot of different places.

I’m a transplant. You’re a transplant from New Jersey who lives in LA, you know what I mean? So there’s a level of mystique that I’ve built around Aura and a level of spontaneity, but still with a consistent standard of production.

Amplify Africa: Can you tell me about that very first Aura Sunday? What did putting that together teach you or show you about yourself?

Semii: Well, to be honest, I didn’t have the intention but I’ve thrown some of the biggest birthday parties. I’ve thrown great Grammy parties. I’ve had an event series in the past. I casually do events once a quarter, so I’ve always done it.

But I had no desire to start an event series again because even now, I’m not a promoter. I’m very clear about that. Some people go into events thinking, “This is what I want to do.” To me, this is a platform and a vehicle to a lot of other things within my own personal branding world.

Amplify Africa: I’m curious, because you say you’ve always thrown really big parties and birthday parties, and you throw parties once a quarter. Have you always been a very social, outgoing person?

Semii: I’ve always been like that. Throughout my childhood, I was always a performer. I was always writing music, recording, performing. I was in theatre. I was acting. I was in band. I was in chorus. I was a theatre kid.

I was always that girl. I’ve always loved people. I used to throw teen parties to push music records. That’s just my whole DNA. I also think it’s because of our bloodline. I think if you come from Africa and you’re a first-generation American, you kind of have to learn how to communicate and meet people because your family comes from a different world, right?

So I think it’s been in my nature since I was a child to explore and wander and kind of have nomad tendencies — to meet people, connect and create as I go through life.

Amplify Africa: I’m curious, because I think I’m sort of the same way; I really like parties, and I really like throwing or hosting parties. One of the things that I try to think about when I’m doing parties is, “If I were a guest, what would I want my experience to be?” Would I want to start here and then end here? Maybe when I’m leaving, there’s something else waiting for me.

So I’m wondering, with you, do you curate Aura Sundays with that in mind? What’s the perspective you’re going in with?

Semii: Oh, yeah. A thousand per cent. I curate from two aspects, really. One aspect is luxury and elevation. That’s one pillar. I’ve been blessed to be in very exclusive events and very exclusive parties with very, very important, powerful people, and I was able to see, like, wow, the things that they normalise in there.

I was like, “Oh, yeah. I’ve never been to an event like this.” Caviar bars, certain wines, whatever. I’m like, “What the hell? We don’t see that.” So for me, one pillar is very much luxury, elevated, experiential by design. By marketing, by writing, there’s a lot of intention there because the physical space is what’s going to provoke emotion. The people are what’s going to help push movement and expression and everything.

But the physical space is — if I throw a party in the middle of the street versus if I put you on a penthouse in the middle of LA, those are two different experiences and two different types of human behavioural responses.

So I’m very, very intentional with that and what kind of energy I’m attracting from that. That’s one big pillar of mine. But the second is interactivity. I’m so big about things being interactive. There are a million parties going on in the world. Trust me, everyone’s going to have a bar. Everyone’s going to have food. Everyone’s going to have a good DJ.

What are other elements that we can have? What are other ways that I can tap into the community to maximise it? What are some other creative ways that I’m able to create engagement that is organic?

Amplify Africa: As you said, the naming is very intentional. What was the thinking behind “Aura Sundays”?

Semii: Yeah, I have a production company. It’s spelled H-E-I-R, where I produce a lot of content, creative direction, music videos, and commercials. I’m currently working on my own unscripted work, and we’ll soon grow into TV and film. So that’s called HEIR Aura.

When I thought about an event series, I didn’t want to do Fridays. I didn’t want to do Saturdays. I didn’t want to do some random day of the week. I don’t know why, but Sundays felt good. It’s like, I wake up, I go to church, and then I want to go to brunch. Imagine I go to brunch; it turns into a day party, and then it turns into a vibe.

I was like, “Oh, that’s perfect.” So I thought about it more, and then I was like, okay, I have my production company. I want to do Sundays. We’re going to call it Aura Sundays.

Amplify Africa: I’m very curious about your e-book. What was the inspiration behind Your Lifestyle Is the Career?

Semii: You know, a lot of times people always say to me, for my entire life, “What do you do?” You know what I mean? To this day, people are like, “I don’t even know what you really do. What do you even do for real?” Pretty much, my e-book is entitled Your Lifestyle Is the Career. Essentially, the lifestyle that I’ve lived and enjoyed, I’ve been able to make a career out of it.

I’m constantly creating things, whether it’s music, events, TV, film, acting, media. The purpose of my book really is to help individuals identify how to build a career off their lifestyle and their personal positioning.

What does that look like, and how do you actually curate a system for that?

I go into details of actual formulas and structures for how you can do it. But alongside that, I give a lot of examples of how I did it, and I share a lot of my personal background.

Amplify Africa: Okay. So I think my last question actually is — and I know you’ve written the book about it — what would be one piece of free advice you’d give to people who want to follow in your path? Especially women who want to do what you’ve done.

Semii: Oh, yeah. I think the one piece of advice that I would say is really just start. That might be cliché or whatever, but, honestly, just start with where you’re at, where your feet are at. You know what I mean? And with what you have around you, tangibly.

I think from there, things start to grow. How they grow, time and God will show you. But at least you’ll never really know unless you actually just start something. If I hadn’t started that, I would have never gotten to the point of selling out the Dream Rooftop Hotel or being called to open up other venues by established hospitality groups in LA.

But for more information, go read the book.