Afro-fusion artiste with A heart for psychology

Laurriette Rota aka Larota Africa.

Laurriette Rota aka Larota Africa is an Afro-fusion musical artiste based in Mombasa. She also doubles up as a psychologist.

Ms Rota chose three career paths: music, psychology and business, which she says complement each other.

"Music is a talent, but with the education systems, you need to go to school for professionalism. I did that because in music performance, you need business and in music, you need psychology," she says.

The 28-year-old is a mother of two; Ace Oenga and Damian Leshan. When it comes to juggling work and family, Ms Rota is firm on three things - proper time management, stress management and having a support system to which she credits her family and team.

Standing out as a woman in the industry, Ms Rota has owned her identity and is key in bringing out African culture through her music.

As an entertainer and psychologist, she safeguards her mental space by participating in activities that make her feel whole, like music.

"I know how to balance my mental health. Sometimes going to performances, you get anxiety and panic attacks. You need to be present and do what makes you feel better," she says.

Ms Rota's biggest achievement is being able to touch children's lives through her foundation, Art Against Abuse, which she started in 2014.

"I was receiving a lot of cases when I was volunteer psychologist on abuse and I thought I should do something about it. It is easy to edutain more than just talking about the issue as people tend to pick more information through entertainment," she says.