Mona Lxsa shows us why it’s never too late to realise your potential and go after your dream

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"I told him, 'I'm going to be a better DJ than you'll ever be!'"

Many people believe that, to achieve your dream, you need to be chasing it from the time you're in nappies. Not so, friends. If you have a dream, you should go for it no matter what age you are. Dreams and goals were the main topics on this week's episode of Girls With Goals, where we had the extremely talented DJ Mona-Lxsa on to chat about her goals and share the story behind why she started DJing. When Mona-Lxsa first moved to Ireland from Malawi she was seventeen and the closest to DJing she had come was meshing two YouTube videos together. She had always been creative but, when it came to her career, music hadn't even crossed her mind. She enjoyed controlling the songs at house parties but that was pretty much as far as things went.

"On YouTube, I always loved discovering new music. I'd blend two YouTube channels together, like, 'oh, this is actually going to go with this.' But I still never thought about [DJing] because, even in college, I was like 'oh, I'm going to do business.' I never had a clear path. I just wanted to be creative but I didn't know where to start or how to start."

Check out the full episode below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spwPYCXLWhE Far from going for an arts degree, Mona-Lxsa decided to study Business Management at university. She moved between business and creativity for a while, even attempting to start her own fashion brand. Eventually, though, her music talent caught up with her and she started to feel the pull towards DJing.

"I did have two friends who were DJs in Cork and they would do it and I was like, 'I want to learn how to do this!' But I never really was pushed because I'd never seen a female DJ so I thought, 'maybe this is really hard... Nah, I don't have the time for this.'"

In the end, it was a fight with her boyfriend of all things that gave her the spark she needed to get herself started. The two of them had started a record label and, up to that point, she had mostly been working behind the scenes, doing all of the organising. Meanwhile, she was also learning how to DJ from her boyfriend, wanting to try it out for herself. During the fight with her boyfriend, she argued that she could be a better DJ than he would ever be and went right out to buy her controller the next day. Now look at her - she's played gigs at festivals all over the country: EP, Longitude, Body and Soul and of course, the Her.ie summer party. She is living proof that anyone can have a hidden talent that's just waiting to pop up. You may be well into adulthood before it decides to reveal itself. Listen to the rest of DJ Mona-Lxsa's journey and hear all about her new collective Gxrl Cøde, which helps aspiring female talent in Ireland, on the most recent episode of Girls With Goals. If you have your own goal that you're aiming towards and want a little help, we have partnered with Neutrogena to give one lucky person out there a whopping €5000 towards achieving their goal. To learn all about that and find out how you can enter, check out our Goal Getters competition. The winner of that competition will be crowned at our next Girls With Goals Live, which will be happening in Elle's Bar this August 21. Click here to read more about that and to pick up tickets to the event. Goals are there to be met, ladies. Don't be afraid to get started. https://soundcloud.com/user-845776759/ep-92-one-more-tune-dj-mona-lxsa-on-reinventing-dublins-music-scene Brought to you by Neutrogena® Hydro Boost®.  The Neutrogena® Hydro Boost® range brings you skincare products that offer skin everything it needs to bounce back. Whatever demands a busy lifestyle puts on your skin, the range works with your skin's natural transport system to actively replenish, restore and deliver hydration when your skin needs it most. The Neutrogena® Hydro Boost® range is available in pharmacies nationwide. See their website for more information.  Goal Getters T&Cs: ROI residents, 18+. No purchase necessary. Enter by Midnight on 12.08.19. To participate, complete the relevant Wufoo entry form.  1 entry per person. Three finalists selected must be contactable for 7 days after closing date, claim prize within 2 days and attend Live Event in Dublin on Wed, 21 August 2019.  One night’s hotel stay included, travel excluded. Full T&Cs apply.