Naomi Ambrose Introduces the Christmas Snow Woman

CMNS alumnas Naomi Ambrose introduces the Christmas Snow Woman, a fun, festive, and fashionable female interpretation of the traditional Snow Man, right in time for the holidays!

Naomi is the founder of Brillyshine Entertainment, a multimedia entertainment company. The company's mission centers around the creation of content that features the Caribbean diaspora and underrepresented groups. Brillyshine also provides production support for artists, entertainers, entrepreneurs and organizations who wish to elevate their work and their brand. Some of our services include DJ and emcee services, mixing and mastering and music production. The Christmas Snow Woman is a brand and online store connected to Brillyshine.

What is the inspiration behind the Christmas Snow Woman?

Growing up in Saint Lucia as a child who loved watching Christmas movies, specials, and TV shows, I only recalled seeing images of a Snow Man. I sometimes wondered: Where’s the Snow Woman with short, long, black curly or braided hair? What about the Snow Woman who wears glasses? Several years later, after moving to Canada, I eventually found myself drawing some Snow Women and eventually decided to create a coloring book and a clothing line to celebrate the diversity of the Christmas Snow Woman. It’s my hope that young girls and women from diverse backgrounds can now see themselves reflected among the pantheon of Christmas characters in the media, the coloring book world, and the fashion world.

We have a few female alumni working on their small businesses. Can you talk a little bit about what it’s like to be a creative female entrepreneur?

It can be both challenging and rewarding. I’d say some of the challenges involve finding consistent commercially sustainable and scalable work. I’m someone who tries to see the value of challenges so the reward for me would be to find alternate revenue streams and learning about the experiences of other creative female entrepreneurs.

How did your SFU experience in the School of Communication help shape your success today?

In this context, I’ll define success as my ability to keep my marketing and audio-visual costs low. The practical skills and knowledge that I gained from taking the CMNS 326 Applied Media Workshop Course has helped me to reduce my marketing, video, and audio production costs. I learned how to use a professional camera, gained some more knowledge about Adobe Premiere and Adobe Audition. These skills and knowledge that I gained helped me to produce, edit, and enhance content for my business and some clients.

What are your future aspirations for Brillyshine and the Christmas Snow Women?

I’m planning to launch a fantasy adventure scripted podcast series and an accompanying soundtrack based on the Vancouver Breadfruit Pie short film I wrote, produced, directed and film via my Brillyshine Entertainment company. I also have some other creative projects that I hope to produce in the near future. I also envision launching a podcast, an animated series and an accompanying soundtrack based on my Christmas Snow Women brand. I also envision expanding the Christmas Snow Women line.

What is your favourite memory from SFU?

I have quite a few memories from SFU—I’ll choose one of them. I enjoyed the group video project I did with some of my classmates for the CMNS 253 Information Technology Course. The video was a mockumentary of the effects of constant texting. It was fun co-producing the video and hanging out with my group members—they were a fun group! It was also fun directing the video.

What advice do you have for current CMNS students and current female entrepreneurs?

Take time to write your research papers. Start researching and writing your research papers early. Join a student group. Read The Peak. Familiarize yourself with the library’s resources. Book an appointment with your academic advisor every semester. Read case studies about entrepreneurs you’d like to emulate, have a willingness to pivot, read about the latest trends in your industry, and take time to take care of your mental, physical and spiritual health.

Check out the Christmas Snow Woman website here. Please note that Naomi is generously providing the CMNS community 10% off their first order! Please email Naomi at christmassnowwomen@gmail.com by December 10 to receive your discount code.