For Kait Johnson, it is simply a myth that someone must choose a single avenue in life to be passionate and talented in. As she puts her finishing touches on a degree in data science at Mississippi State University, Johnson has been performing on Starkville’s stages, creating fashion for her peers and making sure her artist name – girlphim – is never forgotten.

Johnson has created an atmosphere around herself full of the pillars that make up her identity, serving in roles such as president of the Data Science Ambassadors, director of operations for MSU Fashion Board’s Être magazine and a member of GrammyU. Though, with all these different outlets, Johnson said her music is what truly “makes her heart beat.”

With her Instagram bio reading “the only pop star in Starkville,” Johnson marries her passion for pop music and her love of numbers and statistics to create a unique approach to the world. She says her beginnings in music stem from a choir background in Houston, Texas, and even spending a semester with Mississippi State’s own choir. From there, she began to perfect her own attempts at music in her freshman dorm, Griffis Hall.

“A lot of it was informal practicing that led me to do these things, and I almost reject music theory in that way because I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, I need to have a diminished seventh in here.’ Like, I just do it,” Johnson said.

As for influences, Johnson identifies the likes of Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga as her musical inspiration, all people who create rhythms to get people on their feet and experience the freedom of movement.

The pop star said she believes that “there’s no permission that you need to make music.” Johnson walks in this truth onto stages at events like MSU’s Battle of the Bands or to open for artists like Between Friends at Rick’s Cafe.

Jordan Jackson, a junior art major with a graphic design concentration and editor-in-chief of Être Magazine, recalled his experience at girlphim’s performance for Battle of the Bands.

“She was the first person that got people to stand up. She wants people to feel her music,” Jackson said. “She wants people to really get an experience of this dancing state.”

Jackson also described the data science major as “intellectual,” “passionate” and “philosophical,” explaining that her “blend of art and science create aesthetic.”

In addition to Johnson’s work as “the only pop star in Starkville,” she works for Être magazine, using music and fashion both as creative outlets.

Katie Garcia, a senior fashion merchandising and international business major with concentrations in marketing and Spanish, has known Johnson since her freshman year and believes she will go far. As a writer for Être magazine, Garcia has witnessed the work ethic and process of her friend.

“I know she is destined for greatness because she will make the life she wants for herself,” Garcia said. “I am always in awe of whatever creative outlet she chooses for a new project, whether that be one of her styled shoots for Être of a new setlist for a live performance.”

As the director of operations for the magazine, Johnson said she believes that fashion is a “proximity to self” with style being a “mastery of self-acceptance.” She said she uses these outlets for self-expression to give voice to the models and creatives around herself.

Johnson also said her position as a minority shapes her creative endeavors.

Reading novels like Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman’s “The Double Tax,” a work focused on the under-appreciation and underpayment of Black women in the workforce, Johnson arms herself with an understanding of the conditions that she lives in as a minority and uses them as fuel to excel.

“I know that by being here and showing up, I’m fighting a statistic,” Johnson said.

As a Black woman in a STEM field, Johnson’s collegiate career has not been void of difficulties, and she has had to stand up for herself.

“I find myself being the only [Black woman] in that class, and I literally had a lab partner who told me ‘I don’t listen to females,’” Johnson said.

Despite these difficulties, Johnson defined her spirit as “triumphant” and refused to let these happenings deter her from her goal. Acquiring skills in coding languages such as Python and C++, she is currently building her own app, using her skills to “create for the creatives” and “invent things for the inventor.”

With so many passions to consider life through, Johnson has created her own runway and dances to the beat of her own drum, orchestrating music and sharing information that guides others to do the same.