We’re looking forward to introducing you to Martha Cargo. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Martha, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
A pot of loose leaf roasted tea from Japan, meditation (guided at my local yoga studio or with Insight Timer and Ravi Shankar’s Morning Raga on Youtube), a small container of Skyr.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Martha Cargo, and I am a performer based in the Baltimore/Washington area. I spent over a decade in NYC, relocating to my hometown of Columbia, MD in 2023 following my dad’s long struggle with cancer. I founded the brand consultancy Cargo Culture in 2020 to assist performing artists. I have continued that work on a freelance basis.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
As an adolescent, when my grandfather told me anything was possible.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
Music. The radio, at first; my dad loved classical and jazz. I was a singer first (church choir, Peabody Children’s Chorus, musical theater from the age of 9), then a serious recorder player (soprano and sopranino starting and age 9); a pianist (private lessons starting at age 8), then a flutist (in school, with private lessons starting at age 13).
Reading. I have always had an overactive brain. When I was little, my dad would read Homer’s Iliad aloud to me; by kindergarten, I was reading on my own. Childhood favorites included Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; the short stories and poetry of Edgar Allen Poe; the plays of Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare; and a smattering of female writers – Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, and Jane Austen.
Journaling. Once I started writing, I wrote extensively. My parents took me around North America (national parks, Québec, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico); the Caribbean; throughout Europe (England, Wales, France, Switzerland).
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’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Hildegard Von Bingen’s “Ordo virtutem” (Play of Virtues). She was a polymath composer from 12th century Germany. She wrote nearly a dozen hours of music for women’s voices.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
Trick question, because I’ll never retire.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellencargo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martha.cargo
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/u8msAQgJoUj8uC6D9E
Image Credits
Karjaka Studios
Glenn Cornett
Jonah Rosenberg
