42: Sian Morson
Source: Instagram
About Sian
Sian Morson is an Antigua and Barbuda-born entrepreneur, artist, curator, investor, web3 enthusiast, and builder of communities. And that’s plural because Sian has had quite the pluralistic and diverse journey through life.
Sian was born on the island of Antigua to a father from Curacao and mother from Montserrat. So why Antigua? Well, because, in a portentous preview of her intrepid adventures, as Sian’s pregnant mother flew to Montserrat, Sian decided that the world was ready for her, and after getting off the plane, Sian’s mother gave birth to the family’s first Antiguan and Barbudan citizen.
Sian spent her formative years on the island of St. Thomas and moved to New York at the ripe age of 11. Being an immigrant, she had the typical expectation of becoming a doctor or lawyer (I hear that, girl), but when she cut her finger as a dishwasher and fainted at the sight of her blood, it became clear that medicine would not be in her future.
Sian instead decided to embrace her creativity, going to Manhattan’s High School of Art and Design, schlepping an hour each way from the Bronx and continuing the rapid expansion of her horizons. Raised as an Adventist, Sian was not allowed to go to the movies growing up so, naturally, she chose to major in Film & Television at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and subsequently picked up a Master of Arts degree in Design for Interactive Media at Middlesex University in London.
Moving to the bay area during the dot com boom, Sian started as a project manager in advertising, working for clients like philips, audi, coca cola and reuters.
One of the many companies Sian founded or co-founded was the Starfish Accelerator, a first of its kind creative accelerator that invests in premium IP from mid-career storytellers of color, aiming to lift up content creators on the periphery of the “mainstream” industry. After spending time at Magic Leap as the Head of Operations and the Director of Immersive Experience Operations, Sian went all in on the world of Web3, running community at Palm NFT Studio and Cool Cats LLC and starting The BlkChain (BLACK CHAIN, spelled blkchain), a community-driven magazine intended to provide creators of all races and creeds a platform to showcase their art.
Sian now runs community at ScienceMagic Studios, a Web3 studio joint venture between comms agency Science Magic, crypto research firm Delphi Digital, and leading macro investor Raoul Pal.
Sian has been featured in Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Essence, Inc. Magazine and Fast Company.
You would think that it’s a far cry from her Caribbean roots except that Sian is doing what the West Indians are so good at: building, growing, and strengthening a deep sense of community with ties so close-knit that it really is one for all, and all for one.