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Monica Ma • Performer & Storyteller

@monama_creative

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🎬 Performer • Storyteller • Design Director
Told I’d never dance. Danced at 40.
Now writing my second act: Hollywood.
Founder @sparkpick

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🎭✨ A little video & photo dump from our musical performance this Sunday!

So many hours of rehearsals, hard work, laughter, and smiles went into making this happen! 💃🎶

Feeling lucky to share the stage with such an amazing and talented team! ❤️

Looking forward to getting the final edit!

#musicaltheatre #sandiego #onstage #dance #behindthescenes taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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15 minutes ago

How I imagine my morning vs. how it actually is ☕

I dream of waking up rested, a green smoothie, and a sunrise jog. Real life is a Lego under my foot and cold pizza over the sink 😂

We all live somewhere between the dream and the reality. I think the truth is in the middle, and the middle is pretty great. So I made Ep. 14 of Voices in Jessica’s Head about it.

What does your real morning look like? 👇

#sparkpick #morningroutine #mindset #comedy #over40 taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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a day ago

Another amazing offsite with the Lose It! team in Boston! ❤️

It’s such a gift to spend time together in person in the age of remote work. Because at the end of the day, it’s not only about helping 5.3 million monthly active users. It’s about inspiring each other, learning from one another, and building something meaningful together.

So grateful for this team. ✨

#loseit #teamculture #remotework #boston #offsite taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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7 days ago

Friday vibes - pinks, books, and new shoes from @unitednude that remind me of my teenage times back in the 90s 😅

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#friday #fridayvibes #colors #designerlife #unitednude taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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12 days ago

I started dancing about 1.5 years ago 💃 and it’s been teaching me way more than dance.

Big lesson: when you start something new, you will probably suck at it and your confidence may dip 😂

My Carnegie-style reminder: focus on what you can control.

Nervous about performing? Rehearse more.
Feeling behind? Keep showing up.
Comparing yourself? Stop.

You cannot control everything. You can control your effort.

What have you recently decided to get better at? 👇

#growthmindset #learningjourney #dancejourney #personalgrowth #keepgoing taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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13 days ago

I don’t cry at movies. Titanic, sure. That’s about it 😅

Then I watched Samsara. Not a single word spoken in the whole thing and I was a mess.

Ron Fricke shot it on 70mm. 25 countries, 5 years. Same guy who made Baraka.

Ever since those two I look at people differently. Faces I’ll never meet and I still feel something for them…

Has a film ever done that to you?

#samsara #baraka #ronfricke #documentary #filmlover taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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15 days ago

Ten years after taking a graphic design program at Berkeley Extension, I still come back to the same principles again and again ⚡️

Do I know everything about design? Definitely not. 😄 But some ideas are timeless:

• Readability before fancy typography.
• Keep alignment consistent.
• Give every layout a clear focal point.
• Keep icons simple — one icon, one idea.
• And my favorite: think of the idea before the visual.

That last one feels even more relevant now. It’s so easy to jump straight into Figma, Canva, AI, or whatever tool is in front of us. But a polished visual can’t rescue a weak idea.

Tools change. Trends change. Good thinking doesn’t.

What design principle do you keep coming back to?

#graphicdesign #visualdesign #designprinciples #designthinking #typography taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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19 days ago

“Energy is the real currency. Budget it.”

I used to end my days broke. Not money — energy ⚡️

Spent it all on worry, on replaying conversations, on being annoyed at someone who was already asleep.

Turns out creating and ruminating run on the same tank. I’d been funding the drama and wondering why there was nothing left for the dance, the work, the version of me I keep sketching.

So now I check the receipts😊

What’s your most expensive habit?

#motivation #transformation #energy #funafter40 #mindsetshift taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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a month ago

Me and my boys! Long weekend escape to Julian 🥳

#julian #california #family #kids #hiking taken in Julian, California by @monama_creative

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a month ago

Scene work this summer: Tyler and Kristy.

Little brother comes home from prison. Big sister opens the door — and then draws the line. That’s the whole scene. She loves him. She’s furious at him. She’s exhausted by him. All of it at once, in the same breath, in the same look 🤔

Playing opposite feelings — love and resentment at the same time — was very challenging for me.

Which is why I keep saying: acting class isn’t cheaper than therapy. But it’s about as effective. You don’t talk about the thing. You use it.

Ongoing class with @melanienichollsking at @margiehaberstudio — she reads with me, and she is amazing.

And at home, my 15-year-old read Tyler. Boundaries with a teenage boy in the room. He thinks he was doing me a favor. He was doing the heavy lifting lol

#actingclass #scenestudy #characterwork #secondact #actorlife taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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a month ago

Been digging through the career archives this week, and look what fell out. 🎤

Eight years at one company. I’ve never stayed anywhere longer, and I’d do it again tomorrow 😂

Smule was my first Silicon Valley job. I commuted to a building where the work was singing. And rapping. And playing a piano that lived inside a phone.

But the part I still think about isn’t the technology. It’s that Smule never treated music as a solo act. You didn’t sing at your screen — you joined someone. A duet with a stranger. A friend three time zones away. Ed Sheeran, if you were feeling brave🤔

I genuinely can’t imagine singing alone now. Why would I, when I can jump into somebody else’s song?

Still one of the most creative products I’ve ever worked on — and the reason everything I’ve built since has been about people making things together instead of alone.

#productdesign #smule #musictech #communitybuilding #designer taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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a month ago

San Diego friends!! 🖤✨ Come see me perform with @house.of.psyche as part of Fusion Movement Arts’ Beautiful Beasts on October 4!

Our piece is a little historical, a little mythical, and full of magical creatures, strange characters, movement, and drama — basically exactly the kind of world I love getting lost in. 🐍🦚✨

If you’re in San Diego, come play in our weird magical universe with us!

📍 Samuel M. Ciccati Performing Arts Center, El Cajon
🗓 October 4 | 4 PM

Buy tickets - link in bio ⚡️

#sandiego #sandiegoevents #houseofpsyche #beautifulbeasts #danceperformance taken in San Diego, California by @monama_creative

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a month ago