Messy, Not Wrong: Embracing Multiplicity and Liberation in Business (with Portia Michele Osumaré)

Messy Liberation: Feminist Conversations about Politics and Pop Culture

This week, Becky and Taina sit down with client experience designer and “business cousin” Portia Michele Osumaré for a liberatory conversation about the beauty of being “messy”—and why it’s not something to fix. Together they explore what it means to live outside the boxes that capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy build for us.

From being multi-hyphenate creatives to dismantling productivity culture, this conversation dives into queerness, control, and community—and how letting yourself be delightfully, unapologetically human can actually make your work (and your joy) more sustainable.

Portia reminds us that liberation isn’t theoretical; it’s something we practice every day—in our businesses, our relationships, and even the way we talk about money, success, and each other.

Connect with Portia:

• The Business Cousins Collective
• Follow Portia on Instagram

Discussed in this episode:

• Redefining “messy” as freedom, not failure
• The power of multi-hyphenate creativity
• Queerness as a practice of expansion and self-creation
• How control, order, and “clean” systems uphold oppression
• Building liberatory business models rooted in joy and humanity
• Community as a messy, necessary space for collective growth

Resources mentioned:

• Lucille Clifton, “won’t you celebrate with me”
• Maya Angelou, “Be a rainbow in someone’s cloud”
• Ocean Vuong on how being queer saved his life

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