Can you take us back to the beginning? What are your earliest memories, and how do you think they’ve shaped who you are today?
My earliest memories involve time with my family, singing with my sisters, and performing at a young age. I think the performing makes more of an impression into the memory because there is more pressure, nerves and emotional intensity that helps to sear it into your mind.
Getting started performing and singing with my family at a young age definitely was a guiding force in my life. I am very blessed to have grown up with parents that loved me and wanted me to succeed in life, in whatever I chose to do. I didn’t choose music as my career path until I was almost 20 years old, but that was not a choice I would have made as early in my life had it not been for my upbringing surrounded by music.
As you reflect on your life, are there any key moments or turning points that stand out to you? What made them significant?
A couple turning points in my life come to mind… First, would be graduating high school and beginning to make my own decisions and carving out a path of my own. I have always been a very independent and self-reliant person, so it was difficult for me to be a kid and under the rule of schools and parents. Graduating high school allowed me to begin exploring the kind of life that I wanted to live, aside from what other people wanted from me.
The second major turning point in my life was when I went on my first solo global travel when I was 21 years old. I spontaneously went to Iceland and bought my tickets a couple weeks before I left. This trip changed my life and showed me how I truly wanted to live. I mentioned how graduating high school showed me all the places where I was living my life for others, but this trip truly allowed me to see where I wasn’t living life to the fullest. Where I wasn’t following my bliss, my passion, and living fully in every moment.
After I got home from this trip, I changed my life completely, and this was when I truly began my music career journey. I don’t feel that life is something to be endured, but an opportunity to create and explore. Traveling helps to wake me up to that and put me back in the moment. Since my first solo travel, I have traveled to over 26 countries and been on countless global adventures.
Who were the most influential people in your life, and how have they impacted your journey and development?
The most influential people in my life would most likely be my parents. My mother has Muscular Dystrophy, which is a progressive disease, and she is now wheelchair bound. She hasn’t always been immobile, but it has always been a big challenge in her life. This experience helped me to mature at a younger age, take on more responsibilities, and understand what it is to be strong. You make the most of the cards you are delt and my mother subliminally helped me to see that.
My father is a hard worker and selfless caretaker. He not only provides for a family of children (still to this day… they adopted two foster children), but also is a caretaker for my mom. On top of all of that he takes care of our yard, property, and many animals that they also care for. I definitely picked up my work ethic from him.
Between both of my parents, they have taught me how to stay true to myself, follow my dreams, and be ambitious while doing so; To chase big things, and face those moments with courage and strength.
What challenges have you faced along the way, and how did you overcome them?
I would say the biggest challenge in my life thus far has been myself. I was born a very emotional person and as a young kid I didn’t understand that or have any idea how to work with my emotions. My anxieties were crippling in my younger years, and it wasn’t until I was 19 that I began the journey of truly finding myself and realizing that I am not broken at all. I was made to be an artist and creator, which doesn’t always fit in with the way society wanted us to live. I was trying to fit a round peg in a square hole!
I started really getting to know myself and my spirituality in the years that followed. I went off all medications and chemicals and began to truly love myself and this mysterious life that we live. What truly helped me was trying to understand the mystery underneath it all. It is a mystery for a reason, so there isn’t really a definite answer for anything, but developing a relationship with a higher power really unloaded many emotional burdens that I had weighing me down.
If you were to pick a theme or a lesson that runs through your life story, what would it be?
The theme of my life story so far would be authenticity. Like I mentioned before, I was a very emotional child, and was always trying to fit in. I cared way too much what people thought of me. As I have come into myself, I’ve realized how powerful authenticity is; It is truly a superpower. If you can claim who you are, and own that as best you can, it empowers not only yourself, but the people around you.
Are there specific accomplishments or milestones that you’re particularly proud of, and why do they hold such significance for you?
One of my most recent significant milestones/accomplishments would be making it to Top 20 on NBC’s The Voice. This took almost a whole year of my life, from start to finish. I went into the process knowing who I was as a person and an artist and knowing that I could make it onto the show. There is quite an extensive process of auditions to even make it to the blind auditions, and even then, you’re not promised an audition, or that it would make it onto air.
This was a huge milestone in my career and my exposure went through the roof, which was my aim with doing the show in the first place. It really helped me pop my career up to the next level.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and aspirations for the next chapter of your life story?
I feel myself moving into a new chapter of life, and in this chapter, I feel less anxiety around the ticking of time. I have always had such strong goals and visions for my future, which has helped motivate and guide me, but I wish to leave some more room for life to show me where to go. In that space there is less rigidity and resistance to what “is.”
I still have high hopes and goals and a knowing that I will achieve great things, but I wish to have less rigidity around those desires. I want to be the best version of me that I can be and putting peace as my priority. I know that my momentum is moving swiftly in the direction of my best life!
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
I wish to leave a legacy of living life to the fullest. There is a difference between surviving and thriving, and I hope to live an example of living a life that makes you happy and letting your heart guide your path.