Money Matters 2024 - Resilience, Family Support, and Investing in Dreams with Cherise
At Money Matters, we had the pleasure of hosting Cherise. At only 26, she is becoming a big name in London's music world. She's won top awards like Jazz FM’s Vocalist of the Year and the Parliamentary Jazz Awards’ Vocalist of the Year in 2020.
“Throughout all of my 20s, I’ve had the liberty to invest financially in exactly what I want to do in a career that I want to have. Whereas especially my grandmother - a lot of her financial investments and sacrifices were to bring to life the dreams of her husband and to nurture the children that she had.”
Cherise, a musician and entrepreneur, shares her journey from pursuing her musical dream to unintentionally becoming a business owner. She recounts her experience of investing her own money to release her debut album due to the challenges in the music industry. Cherise then goes onto perform her song "Remedy," and expresses gratitude for the support of her family, particularly her Jamaican mother and grandparents, who always believed in her potential.
Growing up as a single mum's daughter in Luton, Cherise faced rejection but eventually found her place at a boarding school in Harpenden, thanks to her mother's persistence. She emphasises the importance of her family's support in her music career and their belief in her as the embodiment of their dreams. She says, ‘My grandmother’s financial investments and sacrifices were to bring to life the dreams of her husband and to nurture the children that she had, and there was mourning of the fact that she was never going to be able to return back to the country that she loved.’
Cherise also talks about her commitment to investing in herself and her team, ensuring fair compensation for her band, management, and agent — ‘I pay my band well, my management and agent care nice chunk of whatever I make on my pursuits and I'm very proud of myself for that.’ She asks support from the audience by investing in her art, such as her vinyl records, and by following her on Instagram to boost her online presence. Admirably, she is adamant on maintaing her autonomy in her career and avoids conforming to industry standards dictated by others.
Before finishing her speech, Cherise performs another song from her album, "Calling," and thanks everyone for being part of her journey.
It was a true delight to have Cherise perform at Money Matters 2024!
Cherise singing at Money Matters. Credit: KOKO
Our media partner The Financial Times. Credit: KOKO
Thank you to our partners:
At JPMorgan Chase, we believe that we have a responsibility to harness our business and policy expertise, research, data, talent and global presence to help create greater economic opportunity for more people.
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