Semii has always been the one bringing ideas to life, and bringing people together around them. An East African creative raised in New Jersey, she traces that instinct back to childhood, when performance, music and community 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 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 been growing at such a crazy speed in LA. It’s an amazing party, but it’s also more than that. It’s literally its own world,” she says.

That instinct to build worlds runs through everything Semii does. As a multidisciplinary creative, founder of the production company ‘Heir Aura’ and author of Your Lifestyle Is the Career, 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, building the kind of rooms people don’t want to leave.

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: I think it’s a couple of things. Number one, I’m very, very intentional with the actual space where Aura is held. Every space I touch is elevated. It’s experiential. There’s always going to be some kind of memorable aspect to it. I think that level of intention 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 a different venue. There’s a level of mystique and spontaneity to it, but always with a consistent standard of production. now, we’ve outgrown so many of our starting venues.

On the other side, it’s the people. The crowd, the community that comes to Aura…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 myself, from New Jersey, and so are many people in LA. Aura gives us somewhere to find each other.

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 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 brand.

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 in our bloodline. 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? And East Africans know how to host. Growing up, our homes were always full: music, food, family, people you’d just met treated like cousins. Aura is really that feeling, just in LA.

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 the same way; I really like parties, and I really like throwing or hosting parties. One thing I think about when I’m planning 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, a thousand per cent. I curate from two pillars, really. The first is luxury and elevation. I’ve been blessed to be in very exclusive rooms with very, very important, powerful people, and I was able to see, like, wow, the things that they normalise in there.

I was like, “I’ve never been to an event like this.” Caviar bars, rare wines. I’m like, “What the hell? We don’t see that.” So for me, one pillar is normalizing that level of luxury for us. Elevated, experiential, intentional by design. From the marketing to the messaging, 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 push movement and expression and everything.

Think about it: if I throw a party in the middle of the street versus put you in 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 with what kind of energy I’m attracting. The second pillar 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 the 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 to create engagement that feels organic?

Amplify Africa: Everything you do is so intentional, including the name. What was the thinking behind “Aura Sundays”?

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

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. Then 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 an event on a Sunday. 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: My entire life, people have asked me, “What do you do?” To this day, people are like, “I don’t even know what you really do. What do you even do for real?” That’s why the book is called Your Lifestyle Is the Career. 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 is to help people identify how to build a career off their lifestyle and their personal positioning.

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

I go into 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 is—and I know you’ve written the book about it—what would be one piece of advice you’d give to people who want to follow in your path? Especially women who want to do what you’ve done.

Semii: Honestly, just start. That might be cliché, but, honestly, just start with where you’re at, where your feet are. And with what you have around you, tangibly.

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

But for more, go read the book.