Brampton, Ontario native, Carrie Mullings has been building a large following on Vibe105 FM for close to two decades, picking up awards and a legion of fans along the way. The fifty-year-old single mom hosts the popular radio program billed as Canada’s number 1 reggae show. Rebel Vibez (Mondays & Wednesdays 10 am-11 am) highlights Canadian reggae music and offers a vital promotional boost to up-and-coming artists through radio play and in-depth interviews conducted by the influential DJ.

You are a radio personality at Vibe105 FM & are the station’s top DJ. What has the journey to get here looked like for you?

"When I went to radio, I was blessed to be redirected from “badness” (laugh), to a good situation! I literally was a...I wasn’t just a “bad gyal”, I was doing the wrong things at the time. A lot of it was for attention, money, nothing that was serving me. I got away from all that through CHRY (which became Vibe105) back then. It changed my life, to be able to give to others and share energy."

What is your boldest career move to date?

"Knowing I was able to serve and fulfill the expectations of many, I think one of my greatest moves was conceptualizing Stages Canada. It took all my finances, I sacrificed most material things but I was blessed with so much after the event/performance platform was established. You have to let go of some things and not see it as a loss but just have faith. Something better is going to come, something better is going to happen."

Mullings’ faith paid off. In 2018, three years after Stages Canada was founded, the event/performance platform began producing successful tours in Canada followed by Jamaica. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tours have been postponed.

Carrie, what’s your mindset when you walk into a board room and you’re about to make a deal?

"It’s to be heard correctly. For instance, when we hold the annual music advisory meeting for the JUNOs, for the reggae category, which I’m chair of, I conduct that boardroom meeting. We need to go through submissions and look at a lot of the information. So, you have to, A, walk in with confidence within yourself that you can lead the discussion properly and B, make sure everyone’s voice is heard because at the end of the day everyone came to the boardroom because each person has something to bring to the table. So I feel equally a piece of what everyone brings must be used. That is the final piece to the puzzle going into the boardroom."

Who does Carrie Mullings answer to?

"I answer to the light. I answer to what leads me and gives me strength every day to wake up and continue working. I answer to the almighty, most high. I answer to God, Mother Azna. I answer to Allah, Buddha. I answer to a higher power that leads me to a higher place. It’s important that it’s understood where I work from. It’s love, it’s light, it’s just wanting to be better and it starts here (points to herself) first."

Mullings has nurtured the careers of dozens of reggae artists and is aptly known as “Mumma Canada” worldwide, but Mullings has at times neglected to nurture her own emotional needs and admits to dealing with bouts of depression.

"I sat here one day (mid 2018) and I just started crying. I couldn’t understand where the tears were coming from because everything I was looking at was so great. I have won awards & the majority of artists I’ve ever worked with have gone from unknown to Juno nominated or Juno award winner, so there are all these great accomplishments but still I’m not feeling fulfilled. Did I not do the work? Oh, yeah, I did but who was that really for at the end of the day? That’s when I realized, I’m not walking in my shoes right now and it’s time to walk in my shoes... I came to the realisation that what you give is what you’re going to get so, you have to walk right, you have to walk good. Juno award-winning artist (that I manage) Elaine “Lil Bit” Shepherd-McLean and I made a vow with each other that we will ‘walk good’, & always walk the on the right path. We even got matching tattoos with “Rebel Vibez” scripted on both of our right feet to serve as a reminder."

Walk good for Carrie refers to being the authentic ‘you’ and achieving soul satisfaction. "I really want to encourage women, (to) take care of yourself. It never has anything to do with another person. Once you as a woman start to live in your own wholeness, then you can share whatever you have. But you have to have for yourself, first."

How do you react when your authority is challenged?

"Every day there’s a challenge that comes my way, every day there’s somebody that says I need to be doing that more than what I’m doing, but do I care? Absolutely not because I’ve given so much and I am happy within because I know I am pleasing who I ultimately need to please. We went wrong somewhere where business became personal in our community and that should’ve never even come in to play. So being challenged is something that always happens. Have I been defensive over the years? Yeah, oh yes, I have been. I definitely have because it’s one thing to have a knowledge test thrown at you but then it’s another thing to have a legacy misrepresented or even not acknowledged at times when it should have received its rightful acknowledgment."

Fiercely proud of her late father, reggae music industry stalwart Karl Mullings who co-founded the original Toronto Caribana Festival, Mullings reveals little patience for any slight to her father’s legacy. Mullings credits a great deal of her success to her father and the rich musical environment he established in the home during her formative years.

"I am both Carrie Mullings and Karl Mullings’ daughter and if I see you don’t know, I’ll politely share the information. I cannot be who I am without the things he has done.

As a businesswoman, which word has more power, yes or no?

No!

Why?

“Yes”, for me personally, has power. “No”, for the entire movement of music, the Canadian reggae scene, to be exact, needs to hear “no”. We’re in an industry that needs infrastructure, it needs building so when you hear “no”, it’s powerful because you have to look at why you got the “no”.

Before the interview ends the 2018 Best Reggae Radio Show Award winner offers additional words of encouragement to women.

"What I’d love to share with every woman is, look into yourself, find your weakness and make that your very first focus. Strengthen you!"

Carrie Mullings hosts Rebel Vibez, Mondays & Wednesdays, 10 am -11 am on Vibe105FM.

Rosey Edeh spent a decade (2005-2015) bringing the latest entertainment and pop culture news to the masses as a senior reporter on Global TV’s ET Canada. Building on her vast experience as a news anchor and TV personality as seen on CNN, MSNBC and Global News, Rosey has founded an award-winning production company, Micha Muse Media Inc. Movies, plays, art exhibits, good books and all things track and field get this journalist, filmmaker and three-time Olympian excited for life. Human connection, struggle and triumph, maintain Rosey’s mission to tell meaningful and even entertaining stories that hopefully offer readers insight, depth and even a little levity. Twitter: @roseyedeh