Panashe–Gwyneth Mushandu

When it came to breaking into the industry, Panashe Gwyneth Mushandu was ruthless in her determination: she applied for every programme, DM‘ed countless idols and asked for advice from almost every creative she met. It’s the sort of attitude that comes when you have a clear goal in mind. Panashe’s eagerness and excitement paid off; she’s since collaborated with Ellesse, Dazed and Clarks. Here, Panashe talks self-taught creative skills, thriving in more practical environments and the power of IRL promotion.

What I do

How would you describe what you do?
I work as a community manager, creative consultant, art director and designer across fashion, sports, culture and design.

What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
Mostly it’s innate passion, but it’s also the people around me. I began my creative journey from a pretty young age, and, at all times, I was working with amazing people around me – from my music teacher in secondary school pushing me to go for creative courses and schools to assisting my mates who went to London Screen Academy whenever they needed someone. Every one of those people inspired me in so many ways, as well as helping me realise my passion for community work. It’s been a ball, honestly.

NYC also changed my life – I can’t wait to go back now that I’m living in answered manifestations.

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
I think you mostly need time to develop certain skills. I am mostly self-taught, leaning into YouTube and teaching myself how to visually and contextually research so I can find and develop ideas. I studied creative subjects at school from quite a young age, and was doing music before anything else, so I feel like a lot of my learning came from just trying and learning as I went. There are so many different ways to learn outside of traditional training and education, especially if you’re like me and work much better in practical environments.

What’s been your favourite project to work on from the past year, and why?
My favourite project that I’ve worked on so far has to be the pages I did for Basement Approved in the summer of 2024 with Teoni – that was so much fun. It was so cool being able to direct and shoot someone so talented and then seeing it in their magazine. The Basement team has always been amazing to me, and I love them a lot. I’m still processing the chaos of 2025, so I have no clue what I loved the most from this year!

What does a normal day-to-day usually look like for you?
I start off by opening my daily planner and seeing what's on the agenda. I usually have a bunch of meetings, lots of decks and sketching to do, hopping onto calls with anyone who needs some creative problem solving and so many emails. Plus, lots of tea!

If there was a starter pack for your job, what would be on it?
Pinterest, Cosmos, Youtube, Substack, my monthly playlist, Adobe Suite, the Instagram page @notyetfinal_____, my sketch book, peppermint tea, my daily planner and this meme:

How I got here

What was your journey like when you were first starting out?
I started out in music, doing production and music performance. I love music a lot; it’s basically the backbone of my craft. I auditioned at the Academy of Contemporary Music after secondary school, but my parents didn’t want a very angsty teenager moving to Guildford alone, so I never went. I was so mad about it at the time, but I'm glad that I didn’t – I think I would have been a bit too introverted.

Although I was still just that, I found my feet very fast in the music industry. I went from being introverted with stage fright to still being introverted, but liking people more and being less afraid. I also discovered that the entire creative industry is pretty fast-paced.

How did you go about landing your first few jobs?
My first few jobs I landed by scrolling on Kid Circus’ Instagram like a crazy person and DMing people until they said yes to having me on set. My first ever job was with Daisy Deane for a hair commercial. I was a runner, and I turned up 30 minutes early all the way from my parents’ home in West Sussex. I was so eager. I also wanted to work in photography at the time, so I was carrying my camera everywhere and if I didn't have it, I would ask photographers, art directors, gaffers - you name it - about their jobs and how they got there.

Then, I’d give them my email and pester them – not too much, just enough for them to say yes to having me work with them. I just kept going until I started getting paid, posting all my work even if I hated it, applying for every programme possible, my first programme being The Face’s Future Academy 2.0, in the summer of 2022. Overall, it was really just about being excited and present.

What has been your biggest challenge along the way?
I think the biggest challenge has been getting responses from people I want to work with, even through their job calls and listings. It felt like cold calling sometimes, like I could only get access at a certain stage. Social media moving so fast also makes being a creative harder too - if you’re not glued to your phone, it seems like you miss out and I’m honestly not the biggest fan of social media. 

How important are social media and self-promotion to your work?
Honestly, it’s important, but I don’t think it ends there. I think we have too much of a dependency on social media, and I truly believe we can self-promote even better in person through conversation. I think I’m even still navigating the answer to this question! What I can say, though, is don’t feel like you have to post for the sake of posting if it doesn’t make sense in your vision.

I think you’re better off posting three times a year, with amazing, intentional work to show, than posting things you don’t love every week for the sake of promotion. Yes, you won’t always love your work all the time, but you deserve to at least love most of it. Social media and self-promotion are great for business and networking of course, but there’s more to real-life connections.

Art direction, styling and photography for Kingswood House

What are three things that you’ve found useful to your work or career, and why?

1. Knowing how to archive and research - this has been so influential in my design and storytelling.

2. Reading - please read, guys! Genuinely anything you enjoy reading - it doesn’t have to be one of those ‘how to’ books - fantasy, romance, etc. Reading expands ideation.

3. Going outside - get off the screen, go for a walk, go see people, go swimming or do something outside of your work; you will burn out if you don’t. Getting out makes me work better.

Have there been any courses, programmes, initiatives, access schemes or job boards you’ve found helpful or would recommend to get into your sector?
Sondr is an amazing membership platform for collaborative creatives, with amazing events. It’s something I’ve used since it started and through which I’ve met some cool people. Shoutout to Hilary for this space.

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?
Charge when they go over the time by which they should have paid – don’t let these people take advantage.

My advice

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
Your dreams are already here, you just have to get to them. In other words, there is nothing you cannot do in your career because it is already yours – you’re just making your way!

Panashe's first exhibition

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a similar role?
Make things with your friends and value authentic co-creation in your community. These are the best and safest places to start; don’t underestimate their power.