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Emily Zimmermann and my business is called Grace Communications

The founder and CEO of Grace Communications, Emily Zimmermann, has over 15 years of experience leading marketing, public relations, event planning, and business development efforts for companies all over the United States. She has a demonstrated history of success with helping develop new companies and departments as well as extensive event planning and social media experience. She also has been responsible for public relations efforts in top markets all over the country such as Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Charlotte. Her passion for marketing and helping businesses grow is what led her to form Grace Communications

Emily also has a passion for speaking and educating others in fun, unique ways. Her It's A Match Workshops use the same fundamentals that are successful in dating, to help in the business realm. She has a variety of experience with public speaking including hosting fashion shows, events, live television segments, grand openings, conferences, and virtual training sessions.

www.gracecommunicationsagency.com

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

Now founder and CEO of Grace Communications, Emily Zimmerman has over 15 years of experience leading marketing public relations and business development efforts for companies all over the United States. Her It's A Match workshops is the same fundamentals that are successful in dating to help businesses grow. Welcome, Emily.

Emily

I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me on.

Marlana

So, I'm really intrigued by this handling business like dating. So first, tell us what you see some of the similarities as being?

Emily

I think there are unlimited similarities, honestly, this all came about because it was a way that I would kind of cope with the hardships of being an entrepreneur, it was how I would laugh about things. And I would find myself thinking like, this is like, when I used to be dating like this, or implying to me of how I felt before I got married, like, you know, and there were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of awkward situations. A lot of just, you know, are you a good fit? Are you not a good fit? Are you a match? Are you not a match. So, it was kind of one of those things where it was like a coping mechanism for me to change my mindset and look at it almost like a game or like something fun, when things would happen that were uncomfortable as a business owner. But some of the similarities, I think, right off the bat that most people are going to be like, Yeah, I can relate to that.

Our rejection is a big one. So, as you know, a female entrepreneur or even just entrepreneur, in general, you don't have to even put gender in there. Rejection is just a constant, you know, you just have to be prepared for that. And I always feel like that if you can change your mind set on how you handle rejection, you can do almost anything, because there's that fear of being rejected that so many people have, it's the same in the dating realm. You feel like, one of the things that holds people back, I think, from putting themselves out there, and finding the one or whatever is, is rejection. And it's so easy to take it personally and to feel like, I'm just never going to find that right match, I'm never going to have never been a boyfriend, I'm never going to get married, or I'm never going to find that client, the clients that I want, you know, it's so similar.

I think for me, you know, I still allow myself to be sad if I get rejected, because I think that you're not a robot. So, you need to be able to let the feelings out. So, I have this role where I can have a day where I can cry, I could be depressed, I can just let it all out for one day. And then I have to, I have to just figure out how to grow from that. And I think it's the same with dating, you know, when you feel like you're all of a sudden rejected. And if it's kind of one sided, especially, it's it can feel just like this huge blow to your ego into your identity. So, I think it's important to change that mindset and be like, Yes, I'm sad about it, but what can I learn from this? How can I grow? And what is this opening up for me?

Marlana

You know, because two things came to mind as you were saying that the first one was just like, you know, in both cases, you don't want to be all things to all people and there are people that you just like you don't want to be married to, you don't want to be in a business relationship with either. And the other thing too is, what I found is when a client eliminates themselves that's actually not a bad thing. Just like when a dating prospect eliminates themselves you could have launched a real bullet

Emily

Oh yeah, definitely. I'm sure you have, and I think that's the healthier way of looking at it. It's not what you lost. It's what's opened up for you now. So I know for me in March of this year, I had a very difficult season in my business life where I had one of my long term clients just very suddenly decided not to work with my agency anymore and you feel rejected, you're like, all the weekends, all that needs other things you've given up to make that relationship work the same way you feel if you're in a long term relationship, and all of a sudden, they break up with you like via text or something, you're like all that time, like, it meant nothing. But that's not the reality of it, the reality of it is, for some reason, you're not aligned with them anymore, it's not working for them, or it's not working for you. So, it's time to break up, and you have to accept that, then think about all the things that are positive about it.

For me with that client it was sad, because I was like, Oh, I'm gonna miss some of these things. But then I was like, I don't have to be on call on weekends anymore. You know, like, I don't have to do this. 20 Extra more hours that I can get, you know, all these other, you know, so you got to think about, like, all the winds of the breakup. And I think that's the same with dating, too. And I wish that I had more of that kind of mindset when I was dating, because I think I would have bounced back a lot quicker. Right. In that season of life.

Marlana

So, we have the rejection piece of it. But what about the people that, let's say, are just bad daters in general, how do you go from being a bad business data to a good business data?

Emily

I think it's; you have to be painfully self-aware. Because a lot of have similarities between being good at dating or being good at a business dating is about knowing yourself enough to know how, what works for you in relationships. So, like you said, you're not going to be the right fit for everybody. Not everyone's a match for you. But if you know, maybe what triggers you, you know what I mean, like, there might be some personalities that are triggers, I know, I've discovered that. And I can tell pretty much immediately meeting someone, I'm like, this isn't gonna work, we're not going to get, we're not gonna have good chemistry, we're not going to align together. So, knowing that is helpful, but then also knowing what is good for you like, what is a complementary relationship or personality for you. And once you know that I think you can master almost any connection, because you'll know when to walk away, and you'll know when to move forward more. So, I think it's more about that self-awareness. It's not about really everybody else. It's more about you.

Marlana

So, Is it snowing? Kind of, you know, what are our absolute? Yes, it's an absolute nose? Our

Emily

I think so. I mean, one of the things that we do sometimes with It's A Match workshops, as we talked about, like love languages, and kind of personality tests, that sort of thing. And it's funny, because you can take the whole love language thing, and that can be translated into business to

Marlana

do that for us.

Emily

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, what, you know what? Your love language, not yours? Yours is? Yeah, so I'm really into spending time with people, quality time, that's huge for me. So, when you know that it's something that you can use to strengthen relationships. So once someone knows that about me, they're like, Okay, well, then one on one time would be really important, right? Like, not being on your phone, you know, while we're in the middle of a meeting, or giving me that quality time. And that's how I connect with people.

The same thing if I was trying to connect with a potential client. And I mean, I don't know how we'd get that, first of all, before we even work together, but let's just say we somehow discovered that about each other. I think that's where you would know, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go that extra step, and make sure I'm giving them that really personal kind of connection. If they're somebody that maybe likes gifts, you know, like, that's another one. And that doesn't mean you're materialistic. Maybe you just really enjoy giving and receiving gifts. That's a really easily translatable in the business realm. Because, you know, you can kind of personalize that don't just give them the Grace Communications logo pin. Unless they're a writer, then maybe that would make sense like a journal, but figuring out what makes them tick, and how you can kind of go above and beyond to personalize it. So, I think that's the gist of all of that when we talk about personality. tests are love languages are any of that, I think it's going beyond just the surface. And it's trying to connect with people on a level that you're not just a blurry face in the crowd. So, I think that's a huge problem with a lot of the dating and a lot of the business dating in our day and age. Honestly.

Marlana

it's interesting to me, because part of my brain kick into, there must be certain ways, let's say when you take on a client to be able to, without asking them, What are your love languages? To find out things like how they want to be communicated to or various things that you can put into place? I would think so you know, how to handle the relationship better.

Emily

Yeah, I think that's where like onboarding and having kind of, like certain routines in place before and after you sign with a client, whatever makes the most sense with your, your business model. But I think you having like, certain discovery questions, and I know we do that, but like exactly one of them is What's your preferred way of communicating? I think asking people what they don't like, Joe hate to be negative. But it's interesting, when you ask that you can kind of here about what they do like, as well. And some people are, it's easier for them to tell what they don't like.

But I think that that's also showing again, that personal touch, like we care about you, you're not just another number, you're not just another client, we really want to invest in your future. It's the same with dating when you think about people that have charm. So that's one of the topics we talk about this charm. And you think about that, and most people that have charm, you think it's like this undefinable thing, it's not necessarily most of the time they make you feel like the only person in the world, they have that, that capacity, and you're just like, I am so amazing, you feel amazing, after you talk to them, you can do that for people with pay attention to them and learning certain things about them, and making it about them and not about you. That's the biggest thing, even if it's you're faking it, just make them feel like the only person in the world.

Marlana

You know, and that's an interesting point, too, because the about page that everybody has on their webs. And so many times people go on and on and on and on and on about them. But really, you're about page isn't about you, your business isn't about you, it's about how you can serve other people, and what you can do for them, and how you can make them shine and all those kinds of things. And I think it's kind of if you're having a conversation with somebody, or if you're in a relationship with someone, and all you do is talk about you, where's that gonna go?

Emily

And especially if you're in a business where your client serving, you can't. And that's a huge mistake if you do make it all about you. It's kind of like, well, what are you going to do for me, like this is the Emily show you don't I mean, like it needs to be about the client. So. But that's fine to see these huge parallels with dating because I can think of several dates in the past where I didn't ever want to talk to that guy again. Because it he talked nonstop about himself. I don't even know if they knew my name like. Nobody wants to be around somebody like that. It's just off putting. And I think sometimes we can do that when we're nervous. So, I don't think you're always like a jerk. When you do that. I think sometimes you just come off wrong. And that's where like the first impression thing we talked about that sometimes it's matched as well. They kind of go hand in hand with like charm and chemistry and some of that because sometimes things can happen and you're off, you have an off day or an off moment, and you can make just a terrible first impression.

There was the study, it said it takes like eight positive encounters after one negative first impression to build trust. And I was like, I think it was from Harvard. Don't quote me. But I read that, and I was like, Oh my gosh, that's probably true. Because if you think about it, and you meet someone and they do make a bad first impression, you just kind of like it would take a lot to overcome that. So, it makes it even more important that you do everything you can to make a great impression when you first meet people.

Marlana

What are some tips that you can give us that will help us make a good first impression?

Emily

Move! I think it's kind of like well does should do that, but smiling, you know, being like, positive body

language, don't be like closed off doing some research on who you're meeting with. So, you know, what

they like, what they don't like, don't be fake, like, don't pretend like I'm a marathon runner, just who they are, and then they're gonna find out no, you're lying. So, don't lie to make up a whole story but try to find commonalities with that person so you can bond with them. That's truthful.

I will say that because it's like, we've all been there too, with people we've dated not to go back to that where you're like, so that was not true. They said that just, so smiling, you know, figure out what kind of welcome You know, there's certain cultural barriers to like, do you shake hands like that sort of thing. And also, I think being on time, there's certain things like that making sure you're on time, how you present yourself, not that it's the fashion show, but dress appropriately, if you're going to a very expensive fancy restaurant, don't show up in your athleisure. On the same token, though, if you're doing like a hike, or I don't know, something more informal, don't show up in a business. You know, just try to make sure you're being appropriate for the situation.

I think the other thing with that, the biggest thing is the same thing, as chose we talked about its charm, it's not just about you, you can make a great impression. And honestly, they may want to work with you, and you barely even talked about yourself, I've had that happen, where I'll get off the discovery call with a potential client. And I didn't even get to, like sell myself at all, like, I don't know, if they're even gonna want to work with me. And it's surprising how much it doesn't matter. Those are some of the things you think matter, don't, it's more, you made it about them and they got what they needed from it. Right? So, it's kind of figuring that out beforehand, and not being fake, but also being a little strategic with how you present yourself.

Marlana

Okay, so let's say they've decided they're going to enter into this relationship with us. It also would make sense to me that because when we first enter into a romantic relationship, our best foot forward and yes, we spent a lot of time putting in the effort to date them. And then as the relationship progresses, we put in a little less effort and a little less effort, because it becomes familiar and routine. So, what are your thoughts to on continuing to date your client, so to speak,

Emily

I think that's where relationship routines are important. So, you know, just like you do like a date night or something with your significant other, having maybe like for what we do with our long-term clients, or in long term relationships with, we have set like weekly or monthly, or biweekly meetings, we figure out what works best for them. But we make sure that we have that time set aside. So that we can connect with them. If you can't meet in person, virtual, like doing a zoom call, I think is still better than doing just your phone call at all times. But I do think there's something to be said with in person as well. Especially if there's someone who It sounds weird, but like physical touch is one of the love languages, it's physical touch.

People are not just about hugs and stuff, it's the physical environment. So being in their physical environment might be really important to that person. And I'm sure you know, some people who are really, really into like face-to-face stuff. It would be interesting; that might be one of their top love languages. Where are they, they don't feel connected, and unless they can see you, like, you know, even zoom, it doesn't cut it for them in the long run. So figuring out how to make that space to connect, I think is really, really important so that they're like, Okay, I...

My name is Haydee Irizarry, lead vocalist of Carnivora, solo artist at Zahra Lux, and designer at Haus of Zahra Lux (custom leather and paintings).

Haydee Irizarry studied jazz, classical and contemporary music at Berklee College of Music where she also became lead singer of the metal band Carnivora. Irizarry composes under the name Zahra Lux, offering the listener a glimpse into her soul/R&B side.

www.haydeeirizarry.com

https://carnivora.bandcamp.com/

https://zahralux.bandcamp.com/

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

Haydee Irizarry is a musician and artist. She studied jazz, classical and contemporary music at Berklee College of Music, where she also became the lead singer, the middle band carnivore. Welcome, Haydee!

Haydee

Hi, thank you for having me.

Marlana

So, what brought you into music in the first place?

Haydee

Well, when I was growing up, I went to a Lutheran grade school. And I was surrounded by music and this gorgeous piano that my teachers were using and that connection to reading hands every week and seeing that instrument, just shine, sparks something really special in me. And that's how it began as a three.

Marlana

Okay, which explains a lot knowing and seeing your range. So how did you go from church music to metal band?

Haydee

Well, oddly enough, so yeah, starting from three, you know, for my fourth birthday, I was like, I want a piano. And I spent four years from there working on, you know, the hymns and everything. But I wrote in my journal, at eight years old, I want to be a rock and metal singer. So somewhere along the line, and I remember listening to contemporary music, and be like, what's that? That's really cool. Okay, that's the next thing I want to pursue now. So since then, I searched for avenues that would allow me to pursue contemporary music, like the School of Rock, and just listening to albums that were a little bit heavier than, you know, your average him. My favorite hands were always the one and minor anyways, the darker ones.

Marlana

So, because I've seen you literally within a fraction of a second go from singing, Disney and sounding like a Disney princess to death metal, which was amazing to me, because your range is outstanding, your talents are amazing. When you do that, do you have to shift gears in your head as well? Like, is there a process to that?

Haydee

Absolutely! Those two different vocal tones come from different mechanisms of the voice. And it has been trained to be an immediate switch. You know, when I was starting, you're figuring out where the proper placement is. But you know, over time with the music that I've done over the years, that switch has become effortless, but it's definitely coming from a different place that needs to be supported very well. Or else it's, you know, vulgaris forever

Marlana

Did you have to? Or, what was the process to learn that, to learn where those different sounds came from, and how to make them?

Haydee

The process began actually when I was in college at Berkeley. There are a lot of ensembles that supported metal music there. There's a heavy metal opera, metal ensembles, and that I really wanted to pursue, and I saw that as an opportunity to grow in that sound. So honestly, a lot of YouTube and trial and error. Now, the learning is everywhere. But at that time, it did seem more minimal. Like there's the Zen of screaming and YouTube video. So, it was a lot of trial and error for myself because everyone's body is different, and you literally cannot see what's going on, you can really feel it. So, it was a big learning curve. For me.

Marlana

Were there people that you in particular would try and emulate?

Haydee

Oh, absolutely. At the time I was, I am still a big fan of Elisa Y Plus from Arch Enemy, but she was in the Agonist, and I really loved her range as well. I was just me, how do I get that low full sound? How do I get that high kind of like screechy sound, but with it being still full. And then Tatiana from Ginger was being influenced and an Angela the original singer of Arch Enemy, or the second singer of Arch Enemy. Yeah, big fans.

Marlana

Let's say with bodybuilders, you start off and you can lift a small amount, and then as you keep going and going, you can lift more and those muscles get stronger. Is it the same with singing?

Haydee

Oh, 100%. That's actually how I describe it all the time. But it is like, because these are muscles, and in order to grow more muscle, you need to tear and then repair it and grow upon that. So extremely Yeah, when I was first started doing that death metal style, or when anyone first started, they really should only do what I would say is the equivalent of equivalent of like a five-pound weight. And for a short amount of time, you know, just pure vowels, and then just getting the sound first. And then from there, you can do a single word, and then go from there to two words. So, it definitely is like, very similar progression to I would say, bodybuilding.

Marlana

And you mentioned in there that, you know, it's a tearing down and building up process. And I know with bodybuilding, there is that kind of ripping the muscle, so to speak which frightens me when I think about using that same analogy for muscles in your throat. But, is it the same?

Haydee

I have to be honest, my journey with it did feel kind of similar. It wasn't structured by a professional. At the time a developing professional on I was doing a lot of trial and error, like taking my skill set from standard singing and seeing how it applied. And there are a lot of mistakes that people make along the way. But I learned from that. And with my knowledge, I understood like, oh, I made that mistake here. I'm going to pause, rest. And try it again when it's appropriate. Because you're not going to get it right the first time. So that was something that I was so passionate about doing that I was okay. Going through that trial and error, I really felt in my heart like I wanted to pursue that. And I had a lot to say with that part of me in that voice. So, to me Yeah.

Marlana

You know, here's the interesting thing to me, because I've heard you sing Frank Sinatra. I know you do jazz. What's your favorite?

Haydee

My favorite? Oh, honestly, right now, my favorite is blues, and jazz. I love it. And as I'm getting older, my voice is changing and becoming more mature. And I feel really good singing that style of music and growing it and get it because oddly enough, while I was at Berkeley, you know, they're very contemporary jazz school, I went the opposite route learning something really aggressive. So, I'm kind of circling back to that and finding flavanone What about a dealer? I love how vibrant it is, and colorful and the lyrics are fun. And the music is fun. I like you know, big fan hits and just being a little bit more theatrical in that way. You know, do you think

Marlana

it's important to because you kind of mentioned that your voice is changing, and your kind of leaning into that. Do you think that it's important to recognize that about ourselves? As somebody's voice changes or something to it may lend itself to a different style. Do you think it's important to kind of explore those things and lean into them?

Haydee

Oh, absolutely. I'm doing that currently. So, over the pandemic, I close the chapter and one of the bands that grew my death metal stuff. out averse. And I created what I feel like is a stunning album with them. But I was listening to my heart, I was like, I don't feel like I need to do this particular style anymore. I need to trust myself and see where this new journey is taking me. And making that decision, even though it was bittersweet, it has only been fruitful and brought me joy. You know, the last thing I wanted was to not feel inspired with music. And that is a disservice to the folks that you're sharing those songs with. So, I would say absolutely follow that. And, you know, never burn any bridges. Just follow your heart and trust that it's going to be exactly what you want it to be.

Marlana

You know, and I think a lot of people miss that, in the sense that art in so many things is a journey. If you look at Picasso and where he began versus where he finished, two very different places. So, it's leaning into what we're inspired by and where our accounts take us. Because I know you're up in the Boston area, what's the music scene like in that area?

Haydee

It's a very diverse, especially having a school like Berkeley around. There are venues everywhere. They're scattered about, but the music that's being performed is a high quality. And that's very special for the community of Boston to have a gift like that. There are underground punk and metal and slushy Dumi bands and all sudden, there's more posh jazz trios at the cocktail clubs there. You could just find anything if you really, really look for it. I think it's great. You know, I've been happy with it so far.

Marlana

What's been the best part of the journey and the hardest part of the journey so far for you?

Haydee

Of being a musician? The best part of the journey I would say, have been the people that I've met. You know, I think they're also amazing and talented. Like I'm very grateful to meet so many different types of artists doing what I do. sound engineers, makeup artists, models, photographers, videographers, painters, seamstresses, you know, everything that involves the visual arts that all of it I need in my life, you know, so these folks come into my life and they're just so inspiring. So that has been a blessing. The hardest part is always just keeping the faith knowing that you are doing something beautiful and meaningful. In times of these my cat.

Marlana

I heard those little feet Coco cute!

Haydee

She wants to be in the hardest part. What is the hardest part just for her? It's me being away. But the hardest part is Yeah, keeping them safe and knowing that what you're doing is meaningful and contributing to society and not letting anything get you down. You know, those instances happen in their own ways. But they get easier and easier to just dodge. They really do. When you love something so much, it's just like, oh, it's past. You know? That's my answer.

Marlana

So, when you create a song or anything, even a piece of art, do you create it for you or do you create it for potential commercial gain?

Haydee

Well, I'd definitely start with something that I'm feeling internally even though you know, in school, I studied oh, we need to make Commercial Music for this cat food company. There is that mindset of it, but my songs have always just been about feel and how I feel in the moment and what the song is telling me. And what I like to hear. So that probably leads into the commercial aspect. Like, I listen to what's going on. And I think what I want to hear this is this a melody that, you know, makes me happy perform that someone will be excited about. But as you know, with carnivora my ban now, I am starting to think about that accessibility, but not in an overly I don't know, commercial business. Just this catchiness, you know, fun, what's going to be a hook that's going to make us all excited. And make the listener be like, I love that part of the song. I want to have it in my kitchen while I'm doing the dishes, you know, getting better with that.

Marlana

How do you get eyes on you? How do you promote yourself?

Haydee

As an artist?

Marlana

Yeah w

Haydee

Well, there's so many different avenues and you know, I have my online presence, which is a really big factor for a lot of artists, you know, making video clips, reels, you know, cover videos on YouTube, any way to get your stuff out there. Visually, online has been a big thing for me signing up for opportunities, like modeling for club, my friends clothing company, or, you know, helping out here and there. And playing shows, obviously, you know, really getting out there is the most important part, booking gigs, showing up to support other artists see what's going on is really important. And most recently, I got a job in the Boston Arts community. So that has been huge for me to need a more artists and just being around seeing what's going on. There's so many different ways to approach it, and everyone is different. So, whatever makes you feel the most comfortable, but yourself. Yeah, I would say is how you get yourself out there. Just always create and always be a supporter of the creative arts.

Marlana

I don't think a lot of people get that aspect of it also, because so many people look at things where it's a sense of competition, or a scarcity mentality that if somebody is doing something or even from a sense of comparison, I'm going to compare myself to this one or compare myself to that one, but there's so much to be gained by seeing what other people are doing and supporting other people in what they're doing.

Haydee

Absolutely! Yeah. That was a big lesson for me at Berkeley because there was this overflow kind of, in a way kind of too much. Stimulation overload. There's so many opportunities to support everyone. It was kind of a balance, figuring out that balance for you. But that it's yes, it's extremely important to just show up and not see it as a competition because that's not what it's about, you know, music. That's not what it's about. It's about it in being inclusive. And I think about that very often. Now, how I can be more involved in the in supporting others Yeah,

Haydee

do you believe in the together we rise mentality? That you know, if the community helps one another?

Haydee

Yeah, of course, especially being a woman, metal, and rock, we're rising. Everything I see there's just another badass woman coming out of nowhere and I'm like, Yes, that's great. Wow, that's amazing. I love it, I love to see it. I love to see what they're wearing, you know, like, Oh, that's a great outfit, I love to see, you know, what their voice, their messages, and what they're trying to do with their artistry. I think it's amazing. And I do. Yeah. I love that.

Marlana

Because I feel like the presence of women in rock overall has been minimal, and over the years it's seeming to be shifting. Do you think that was for lack of interest in it by women? Or do you think it was lack of opportunity?

Haydee

I would say definitely not lack of interest. Because women have been doing this for a long time, I would say, you know, lack of opportunity and a way to see for people to see it, you know, in the mainstream and regularly. Because I feel like a lot of new women were underground and trying to find a way to get seen. You know, when people talk to me about being a metal vocalist, they're like, I just haven't seen any of this. And it's because it's not really in the forefront. You know, you have to do a lot of digging, or be at that place at the right time. Which, you know, goes back to showing up. Yeah. Who's on this bill tonight at the bar across the street? You know?

Marlana

Yeah. Nice! I know that you work both with the band, but you also do a lot of solo work. How is it different? What do you gain from one versus the other?

Haydee

So, the band fulfills that dream of mine, that eight-year-old dream, I want to be a rock and metal singer, you know, surrounded by distorted guitars and just delays and grooving drums and you know, low end. I love that. Because that's not something that I'm going to create on my own. I need that community of my guys to combine all of our different influences into something that's unique to us, but in a genre that we all love, extremely. So that is different and unique in itself. And I'm like, extremely blessed to be in that setting. But the solo stuff, is everything around that dream. It's another part. It's the classical music that I grew up loving. It's the jazz music. It's the blues music that I grew up listening to with my mom. It's those inspirations and those dreams that I also want to happen, why to nourish, but are more way more personal. And I believe limitless. So, I'm excited to have created a name called Zahra Lux, which is what I put my solo stuff on her to be that creative person and see where I can go with it. So, it's anything and everything I want.

Marlana

So as a musician, what would you like to be known for other than I have to say, if you ever watch honey perform live any kind of rock or metal or whatever, her hair is a whole thing. She really needs a t shirt that says, you know, stand back six feet or what because it's a weapon.

Haydee

That's...

Randi Karpinia - Sagacity Legal PLLC

Randi Karpinia, CEO of Sagacity Legal, transforms entrepreneur's ideas and inventions into intellectual property assets that can lead to huge profits. With over twenty years of legal experience, Ms. Karpinia is a recognized expert in all aspects of business legal management with a focus on intellectual property rights and management. At Sagacity Legal, she guides her clients through the legal risks they'll face now and in the future, so they can focus their time and efforts on the value, expertise, and experience they bring to their business.

https://sagacitylegal.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/randikarpinia

https://www.youtube.com/c/AttorneyRandiKarpinia

https://www.facebook.com/sagacitylegal

Whether just starting out or an established business, I can help turn your ideas and inventions into profits. I offer a free IP consultation which can be scheduled directly at https://bit.ly/MeetWithRandi

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

Randy Karpinia transforms entrepreneurs' ideas inventions into intellectual property assets that can lead to huge profits. With over 20 years of legal experience, she is a recognized expert in all aspects of business legal management, with a focus on intellectual property rights and management. Welcome, Randy.

Randi

Thank you for having me.

Marlana

So first let's just ask, what is intellectual property?

Randi

That's a great question. And for many people it sounds very legal, right? Like, oh, that's not for me. But intellectual property is your intangible assets as a business owner. So, the easy answer is there's kind of four categories patents for inventions, copyrights for content literary, trademarks for brands and trade secrets for the things you just want to keep to yourself. And many business owners are so busy, which is, you know, working on the market, they're developing those things. They're developing their brand, they're developing their content, even developing patentable ideas, and they just don't realize because intellectual property sounds something for big corporations, but in reality, it's something that should be in all of our business plans.

Marlana

So, the last one was interesting to me that it can be trade secrets .

Randi

yes. Good one that as lawyers like to use all the time,

Marlana

sorry. But

Randi

of course, that happens in a podcast. The one everyone always likes to use as an example, because we all know it is the Coca Cola formula. Okay, Coca Cola has been around forever. That company, as many I don't know, 1000s, hundreds of 1000s of employees it's had over the years, has managed to keep the actual formula, a trade secret. So, they never protected. They protected it using a trade secret. And the way you do that is legally very, very detailed. You know, it's almost like putting a safe in and locking it up. There are some very important procedures that need to be put in place. But sometimes that is the right thing to do.

Marlana

Interesting. So, let's say an Emeril Lagasse, who has his spice blends or something like that, can that also fall into that category?

Randi

Absolutely! Because you can't patent recipes, almost impossible. So, you can copyright them, but people can change one thing, and it's done. So yeah. But what's important is, if he's giving each say head chef, in each restaurant the formula, it's no longer a trade secret. So, there would have to be processes like I don't want to miss the, for example, I believe I've researched like Coca Cola, so this would be the kind of things he would have to do. No one would have the full recipe.

Marlana

Got it! So, he could provide them, let's say with the spice blend in a container, not the recipe.

Randi

Yeah. This very few needs to know

Marlana

So, at what point? Does something become not a trade secret? How many people would have to know?

Randi

That's the hard part I actually don't recommend. I know, we've gotten off talking about trade secrets, I don't normally recommend. It's an interesting area because the law is pages and pages, and then there's federal trade secret laws. There's a trade secret laws; each country is different. Oh, well, most entrepreneurs, smaller businesses, big corporations can do it. But most smaller businesses wouldn't have. It would be very difficult and time consuming to really keep it a trade secret. And if someone copied it, and then they want to enforce it gets more difficult, right? Whereas if you have a trademark on your brand, if you have a copyright on your content, a patent on your invention, you take that piece of paper and say you're infringing.

Marlana

So now that you brought up copyrights, let's talk about those, because it's something that as a photographer I'm familiar with. I was always under the impression that once something is created, it is copyrighted. Is that the case? What does register it with the copyright office gain us?

Randi

Absolutely! And as a photographer, I've seen your work. Some of your work ensure that this is something you have all the processes, and you work with all the time. So, you are absolutely right. And many people don't know that, so, I'm glad you said that copyright law, unlike any other intellectual property ownership occurs for the originator immediately upon creation. So, if you take a photo unless you're doing a work for hire, and I won't go into all that, but if you are taking a photo, or if somebody is creating a business, or let's say a training course, a lot of people are doing training courses, now that material is automatically copied, the copyright is owned by the originator. The problem is to enforce.

So, it's great, I own the copyright. When this video is finished with podcasts, you own the copyright to it, that's great. But if you don't want somebody to copy it, or you want to enforce, you need to register. So, what does that mean? Okay, maybe I don't register the copyright, because I have so much content, but now somebody's copying me, and they've made it and it's blatant. And I'm willing to put in the financials to stop them, I want to put a stop to it, then you need to register. Now, where the benefit of registering early versus when you find out about an infringement, which was your question. If you are registered, and somebody copies, there are statutory damages. Each and every instance of the copying, plus attorney's fees, legal fees. If they haven't been copying, and you hadn't registered, and then you go after them, you've filed the registration and then you sue them or you demand, you have to prove actual damages, you have to prove that 10 customers that would have paid you $1,000 Each, whatever it is for that content went to the other person it very, very difficult to prove actual damages. And then you don't get lawyers' fees, attorney fees either.

Marlana

Okay, so let's say with a photograph, I can produce a raw file or something like that, to kind of prove that I created it in the first place. But let's say you have a song, or you have, you know, like you said a training course, maybe it's easier with a training course. How do you prove that you are the originator with some of these other contents?

Randi

There's no proof needed unless we start talking litigation. Okay, so when you register, and this goes for copyrights, trademarks, patents, you basically raise your hand or your attorney, if they're filing for you and say, I swear that I am the owner, there are no other claimants and copyright terms they can claimants. So, you're telling the government that you are being truthful. Now, what happens is there are laws, and if you commit fraud on one of these offices, it can be as much as jail time. You know, the penalties are pretty high. So, it's sort of like when you get on the stand and you see on TV, they get on the stand, they raise their hand and say, Yes, I'll tell the truth. That's exactly what you're doing. When you're registering your copyright trademark patent. You're telling the government that yes; I am it and they trust you. Until someone says differently.

Marlana

I was just going to say what if somebody else comes along? Like let's say, I use a song because it seems that in the recesses of my brain this has occurred, where somebody says, I created this piece of music or the song and somebody else comes along and says no, that's mine. So how does one prove that or how does that become litigation?

Randi

It's very expensive. Once again, we're talking about copyrights. The just to move, keep paralleling the other since the questions are great. In the trademark world, the trademark office actually during the process of registering a trademark has a period of time called the opposition period. It's a 30-day period when the trademark has been allowed, the examiner says, Yeah, I'm gonna give you this trademark. And anybody can file what's called an opposition, I always tell my clients, it's a baby litigation, because it happens in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, where someone can say this, if you get that registration, it's gonna hurt me because either one, I have something similar or two I've been using, and I just didn't register it. And it happens all the time.

Even that, you know, I've said litigation is hundreds of 1000s of dollars, even TTAD proceedings, if they go there, they're definitely like a bit VB litigation, and they can, you know, run anywhere from if you sell 25,000 up to so the cost just really skyrockets. So, you're, you know, the, it's in your best interest to only register what's yours. Unfortunately, there's many people out there both valid lees, like someone may have just happened to come up with a similar song, you know, maybe not exactly the same, the tune kind of sounds the same. Or, you know, a brand name very likely someone in California, someone New York could come up with the same name and be using it. So, it's something that you'd have to look at, as and I'll call it an IP owner on both sides, protect yourself, have the proof of when you created it, and always have the proof somewhere, you know, and then just make sure that what you're using, you're not copying. And that happens a lot. I have a lot of clients who come to me and say, I've developed this content. And oh, my gosh, I'll just make it up. Tony Robbins has this great, you know, thing that he says, and I can't say it any better, and I'm gonna use it and I can't be creative. I always say try to use your own. Because it's the other side. We're trying to protect what we do. But we also want to keep from, you know, getting a demand letter being sued for infringement ourselves.

Marlana

So, let's say we go to trademark something, and you said that there's a period where somebody can come forward and say that, no, I've been using that or whatever. Let's say I want to register a trademark. But you've been using something, how would you know that I've tried to trademark it?

Randi

So, there's something called a clearance, and I don't want to be mean, but it's a little bit interesting. I won't say funny, but it's interesting for me when say a new business owner or someone has just developed a new program. When you come up with a name or a brand, it's really emotional, means something to you. My firm name suggests the legal, means something to me. And when I do a clearance, if the business owner isn't yet using it, and they come to me ahead of time, I always recommend a clearance and you know, we can do a short one, or we could do very worldwide. I'm doing one right now worldwide for a client to try to find out what is the chance of getting that registration. And there are times where I say to the business owner? Yeah, I don't think you should use it because of this or because of multiple, and it's hard for them, because then they have to go back and think of something else. It happens all the time, but before you get out there. A lot of people come to me for trademark after they're getting big, right? Oh, now I see this, I need to protect this. The problem then is if there is somebody out there, they could have to rebrand late, and we could all rebrand, but it's better upfront.

Marlana

So, what's the difference between a trademark and copyright?

Randi

Yeah, people get that confused a lot. I get people coming, I have this name, I want to copyright it. No, you want to trademark it. So, let's go through the three. Trademarks are for names, phrases, logos, they are things that identify your brand. So, if you have, say a phrase that you just happen to use in your messaging, but it's not branded, it's just something you say that would not be trademarked. But if you have that same phrase, and it's at the top of your website, and it's the name of your courses and you use it in a very distinct branding way and you of course know all about branding that would be a trademark. So just having a name, phrase or logo isn't enough, it has to be identifying your brand. Okay? Copyright is for anything in a tangible medium. So, it used to be with a book, we'd say written materials. Well, now it's video, audio, you know, all anything in a tangible medium, you can do. Now, the key with copyright is, you're, you're protecting exactly what you call it deposit. So, there's different names in the trademark of it's a specimen. In the Copyright Office, the deposit, it's really just to prove in the case of the copyright, so if you like, say you use pretend this was a training video, and you said, Randy, can we copyright it? And a year from now, you make some changes, have to copyright it again? So, the registration is specific to exactly what you do. Right?

Marlana

I know, even with images when I have registered them with the copyright office, it has to be that exact title. And, you know, yeah, there can be no variation.

Randi

So yeah, you have that experience. Copyrights are easier to register, in that there's not this major examination to see if there's something out there confusingly similar. That's what the trademark office would use, the patent office would use. There's a lot more examination to trademarks and patents. But the value of a copyright is the exact thing that you deposit. Okay. And so, then what's a patent? So, a patent is, is there's two kinds of patents. One, let's kind of flow in from trademarks. And copyrights are called a design patent that is for an ornamental look and feel of a product. Now I say a product, but graphic user interfaces go in their icons. So that's where it overlaps with trademarks, right? You could trademark an icon as a brand. But you could also change trademark, a graphic user interfaces or design. So that's one kind of pattern that, again, they all kind of overlap a little bit. The patterns we're used to talking about are what to call utility patents. And these are new and novel useful functionality.

Marlana

Okay, and what does that mean?

Randi

So that means that you came up with either a product or a software, I do a lot of software patents we in our digital world, that doesn't exist anywhere. And you say, Wow, that's, that's really hard. How could that possibly be like the US alone, we're in the eleven, millions in the pens. But I just yesterday mailed a ribbon copy of a pen to a client. And it's, that's where you work with people like me and my firm and others like us who know. And so again, with patents, so I'm kind of following the process. It's a lot like trademarks. And we always look and see what's out there. First, we do a patent search and a legal opinion. And we say, oh, you know, you develop this product, this little niche piece. This is what's let's get it. Let's. So, it's complicated, but I have first time inventors, I love it. You know, like, I have moms who came up with things. Because, you know, they're just because I can't talk about what Yeah, it's, I have right now that are moms who came up with inventions simply to make their life better with their babies, and patentable invention. Um, during COVID It was funny because when COVID hit, a lot of my colleagues at other law firms were talking about, you know, things kind of, you know, people aren't going to come get a lawyer when they're worried about all these other things going on, or they're not in the office or whatever. My business exploded in that like, right after March 2020. Because people just everyday people were coming up with ways to deal with the pandemic, you know, everything from I can't talk about the inventions, but you know, things that allow them to do their function or their service in person while keeping the other people safe, you know, and things like that. And so, there were a lot of first-time inventors that came out of COVID

Marlana

interesting and it seems like if you have something the best bet is just go to an A tourney like you and say, This is what I have, how do I protect it? Because you'll be able to point them in the correct direction

Randi

I've actually had this debate with other law firms. Bigger law firms will say, okay, yeah, I'll write your patent for you, I actually take a different approach in that, I want to first see what's out there. So, anyone who comes to me, the first thing I'm gonna say is, let's see what exists. If it already exists, we're not going to patent it. And you need to know that because if you develop the product, you don't want to be infringing. Right, it's always those two sides of the equation of you want to protect it. But you also don't want to step on someone else's IP because it can be painful.

Marlana

And I know that you offer free IP consultation, is that...

Rich Chambers - Songwriter/Producer/Musician/Singer

Does anyone still use the term "rock n' roll" anymore? Rich Chambers certainly does. In fact, he specializes in it, bringing us all the fun, excitement, and energy from the early days of rock n' roll in a uniquely fresh way built specifically for the 2020s.

Starting with the 2019 release of his Christmas album, "Santa's Rockin' Band," Rich has been on a roll. His Christmas album produced one single, "the Snow Miser vs. Heat Miser," which has been streamed more than one million times on Spotify to date. Following this has been six single releases beginning in January 2021, including his film festival award-winning video for his rock original, "I'm So Tired," which has received accolades in over 50 film festivals across the globe for its hard-hitting social commentary. His most recent release is his guitar-driven version of the Beatles, "I Saw Her Standing There," which debuted in March 2022 to high critical acclaim.

Rich's music videos have received a combined total of well over 500,000 views, and his Spotify streaming is clocking in at approximately 25,000 listeners a month and growing. With more single and album releases planned for 2022, Chambers is making his mark as a rock n' roll artist to watch for. As one music journalist recently said in the FLEX music blog about Chambers, who hails from Langley, British Columbia: "One of Canada's best-kept secrets, Rich Chambers could easily become a household name in a matter of months!"

With bombastic guitars and a vocal style that oozes rock n' roll. Rich Chambers is giving us something that rock n' roll has not seen in quite some time—energy and fun. It's Rock n' Roll Reimagined.

https://richchambers.com/

https://www.facebook.com/richchambersrocknroll

https://www.instagram.com/richchambersrocknroll/

https://www.youtube.com/c/RichChambers

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

Does anyone still use the term rock and roll anymore, or chamber certainly does. In fact, he specializes in it bringing us all the fun excitement and energy from the early days of rock and roll in a uniquely fresh way built specifically for today, which is a songwriter, producer, musician and singer, whose music videos have received well over half a million views and his Spotify at approximately 25,000 listeners a month and growing with more single and album releases planned for 2022 chambers is making his mark as a rock and roll artist to watch for. Welcome Rich!

Rich

Hey! Thanks for that. That's a cool introduction. I like that. Thank you.

Marlana

What makes your story a bit unique is that you're actually circling back around to a passion that you couldn't let go of. So, talk to us a little bit about that.

Rich

Correct. I mean, I'm a middle-aged rocker. And it's like most musicians, I've been doing this since I was a little kid, I picked up the guitar at 10 and started writing songs of fourteen. And that's where I got absolutely hooked, songwriting was what did it for me. If it weren't for songwriting, I would just be a hobbyist guitar player and singer, but you put songwriting in the mix, and I went nuts with it. And that's been one of my huge passions is but like many, you know, life journeys, things happen. And when I got out of high school, I was going to be the next rock star. A few cheesy days later, and about a year into that I realize, oh, this is going nowhere. I didn't want the smartest things I could have ever done when I went back to school. And then I pursued went further on as a kid very barely passed high school, I finished a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in it for a while was actually toying with PhD work. And it's pretty good considering I barely finished high school. So, I'm a huge massive advocate of education.

Along the way, I played in bands, I had one band and we together for 15 years, start a family, all that kind of thing. And then I got to that point where most people are starting to ramp up for retirement. You know, I'm looking in the mirror and I'm saying to myself rich, this is your passion and this your entire life. But you've never really gone full bore into it. Why aren't you doing that? And I didn't have an answer for myself. So, at that point, I decided right then and there, I'm going to go full in. I'm going to give it all I've got. So, I often laugh, you know, when people hit their midlife crisis, the stereotypical image is the guy who you know, gets the young girlfriend and the convertible. Well, I bought the guitar and started singing songs. So that's how I sort of come full circle. My big thing, Marlana, is I sort of looked in that proverbial metaphorical mirror, we always look at and say, What am I doing with my life? And I said, I don't want to grow old with regrets, you know, so I figured what am I got to lose chasing my passion? Regrets The only thing I had to lose? Who wants regret anyway?

Marlana

Yeah, let me ask you this, because I was recently having a conversation with a musician who is in her early twenties. And she said that someone had said to her, Well, what's your plan B? And I said to her, tell them that you don't have one, because if you have a plan B in the back of your head, then there's always that default though, there's always that what if I don't make it? But if there is no plan B, and this is all there is, then you have to go forward, and you have to make it work. What are your thoughts on having a plan B or not?

Rich

Alright, it's a great question when I just think every musician has it. Because I was faced with that to an interesting story. I had a high school counselor. Like I said, I barely passed High School. I remember seeing my high school counselor's mandatory all season. And she said, What do you wanna do with your life? Music? That was my answer. And she said exactly what you just said, Well, what's your backup plan? Music, she said, You have to have a backup plan. And then she went on to explain why you should do this and do that and everything else. And I thought, I don't want to listen to this woman. I was out there. And I thought, so we're seeing a high school counselor could have said, and it's the irony is that later in my working career, I became an academic advisor at University where I advise students on career choices. And one of the things I always said as a go after your passions, and I said, whether it's drama, music, engineering, computer science, chemistry, there will be a job for you. Go after your passions and make your passions define your career by what you want to do. Don't let a career define you.

That's the sort of route everybody gets into. And that's where this plan B comes from. People say all musicians don't make money. Lots don't have lots do and the ones that have a plan to be a musician, make money. There's no two ways about it. I mean, people can say, well, rich, you're sort of a bit of a walking orcs oxymoron because you have a regular job at a university right now and you're pursuing this music thing. But what is my true career? I have a job and I have a passionate career. So that's how I look at it. So, your plan B isn't necessarily a Plan B, a plan your plan A is I want to do music. And what people call Plan B actually is maybe it's in my case, it's a job. It's not a plan B, it's just what I do for a work on a day-to-day basis to pay the bills while I pursue the music. So, you're absolutely right, I totally agree. Because as soon as you put a plan B mindset in your head, it becomes a default becomes easy to fall back on that you're not going for it.

Marlana

And I think sometimes, you know, you do the things that you have to do to do the things that you want to do.

Rich

Absolutely!

Marlana

But also, it's interesting to me, because as somebody who also works in one of the arts, when we talk to people, and they say, oh, I want to be a computer scientist, or I want to be a doctor, or they're never usually asked, What's your plan B, it's the people in the arts that are usually asked What's…

Rich

Your right, you know, it's interesting to be a doctor, I work in education, I know what it takes to be a doctor. Oh, my goodness, you have to be the creme de la creme of your students. To get there. You have to be an amazing student. Most people can't do it. But yet, you're absolutely right. If somebody says I want to be a doctor, they can be a C student, I'll tell you the actual fact of a C student want to be a doctor. Sorry, right now, you're not going to make it. That's the reality. But people don't say that. They say, Oh, good for you go for it. Well, you know, so it, people miss it. And we come I come back to what I say often is, like I said, my years of academic advising, helping students and people figure out career paths. Don't define yourself by your career, you define your career. So, you don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer. You want to do what your passion is. And most people don't know there's so many different careers out what often a bit of a tangent, but it's so important in development and plans and goal making.

There are so many careers out there. For instance, I used to tell students, okay, look at the there's the Bank Tower, and Canada's huge bank is like the RBC or Scotia Bank. These are big banks, I say, look at the Scotiabank tower in Vancouver where I live. And it's you know, twenty stories, and thousands of people work there and say, who works at what careers are there, the students will look at me say banker. So that's one career. You're not looking at the accountant, you're not looking at the ITP you're not looking at the project managers. And Phyllis goes on and on and on. And people don't realize that there are so many different jobs out there. So, the worst thing anybody can do is I want to be this no, do what go after your passion. If your passion happens to be medicine, as a lot more than just doctor you can be if you're passionate actors of your writing, there's a lot more than just a novel writer you can be if your passion happens to be music, there's lots more than just a musician you can be you define it. And that comes back to your plan B thing. There is no plan B, your plan A is I love music. I'm going down music path. I love planning.

Marlana

So how do you manage the two things that you're doing? Because you do work a full-time job right now. And you are following this passion? So how do you? How do you do both?

Rich

Whoa, crazy. Well, that's partly why I'm doing it now. Because if you go back 15 years, when I had toddlers at home, there's no way I could have done it. I mean, and I was also pursuing a master's degree, doing a master's thesis while working full time and two young kids at home. So that was the choices I made at that point in my life. I kept it's all about choices, career goals and paths in life, things are all about choices. And I chose to do that. And no regrets whatsoever because I raised two wonderful young boys. And you know, I got cheap, the master's degree, which was put on the bucket list. And I'm so happy and proud of that. But now I have more time open and it's time to make a different decision. And you know, I get frustrated with people. And once people do it, I mean, I get it, you get stuck in a rut, you say, Oh, I can't do that. I need that. All you need is a drive determination and a plan. Do it in some ways. It's that simple.

Marlana

Yeah. So how are you getting traction for your music?

Rich

That's the interesting thing. Boy is it takes a lot of work. Wow. It's one of those things where I started. I mean, I started with just a bit somewhat just a pipe dream, my guitar, and some songs. And I always had full belief in my songwriting, not necessarily some of my production levels, and my singing and guitar playing has taken a lot of years to work at it. But when I was a young boy and I first started writing songs at full belief, and I come back to I haven't said this yet, but having belief in yourself is massive, because in any career endeavor, no matter what it is, you're going to come up with roadblocks and you got to have that belief in yourself to get over around those roadblocks. So, when I started this huge music push you know as a hugely, I was definitely a neophyte I'm What am I doing? I went on and checked all the Google boards and Reddit and everything else. What's everybody saying? How do you do this and how do you do that? And I started by basically releasing a Christmas single Christmas song. And part of that and by logic there was Christmas sells itself. So, you know if you do a good version or Frosty the Snowman that helps you right there, which actually ended up being a smart move on my part. So, I've won a Christmas song up to 1.2 million streams and Spotify last three years.

So that's pretty cool. And that's because of Christmas. And people familiar with the song. I didn't write it though. So, I My goal was to be original music. So, I piggyback use Christmas to start, and I love Christmas too. So, it wasn't really that big. So unfortunately.

And so, I started Christmas. And then from there I by pure Fluke Marlana. It was two years ago, January 2020, through the middle of the pandemic. And I'd written a song over the Christmas holidays after I released my Christmas album, called I'm so tired, and all sent January 6 hit and I finished a song two or three days before January 6, and people storming Capitol Hill, I'm sitting watching TV that most people can't believe what I'm seeing is this actually happening in our backyard. And I realized I finished writing, producing a song five days earlier called I'm so tired. And it was it was, and I realized how prophetic And how fitting the song was to what's actually happening. In our culture, there maybe you know, maybe it's tapping in some subconscious thing or something. But at that point, I decided I'm going to release the song, but I want to I want to put my statement and what I feel is going on. So, I made a social video, I went on to social media, when the Facebook, YouTube everywhere else upload these clips from all the unrest and going on the protests and what happened in Portland, all the protests in Washington and people protesting in the streets are so many different protests, and I dove in a company how much stuff was out there. And I made this what I call a social video, called I'm so tired with all these clips.

I'm super proud because in the last two years since at least I've received accolades from over fifty film festivals on this video, because it's so socially cutting and hitting. And the amount of feedback I got when I released that in January of 2020. I was like, Wow, maybe I'm onto something, you know, I plan to release a Christmas album. And my initial plan was a year later releasing another album, and I thought I'm gonna start releasing singles. So that started in like any plant, it's evolved, it's changed as I've gone, it has to because you have to be ready to change on anytime and adapt to the environment that's happening around you. So, I start releasing singles. And I started making contacts and some radio airplay, and it started and I through trial and error, you find who the good promoters or the bad promoters are. And I think a lot of artists, I have promoters that were getting me robot plays on Spotify and YouTube and you trash them, and you go for the ones that get you legitimate place trial and error. And now I have a network of writers that enjoy my music, and they'll write for me, I have a network of promoters that will throw it on Spotify...

David Baer, The Prepared Group

David is a veteran direct response marketer who started his career selling classical music subscriptions online at the dawn of email marketing. Since then, his copy and strategic guidance have earned his employers and clients millions in sales.

Through his consulting work, David has served clients in industries ranging from Theater & Opera to Wine to Health & Wellness to Professional Services.

David hosts the podcast, More Perfect Marketing, where he discusses the importance of creating marketing systems to achieve consistent and predictable business growth.

David, along with his partner Ken Cook, runs the marketing strategy firm, The Prepared Group, which licenses a marketing strategy consulting process to marketing agencies and service providers.

Together they co-authored the book "Systematic Advisor Marketing: How Financial Advisors Can Strategically Attract, Convert, & Retain More Clients." In addition, David has authored two books on small business email marketing.

moreprefectmarketing.com

thepreparedgroup.com

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

David Baer of The Prepared Group is a veteran direct response marketer whose copy and strategic guidance have earned his employers and clients millions in sales. David has served clients in industries ranging from theater and opera to wine to health and wellness to professional services, is also an author and the host of the podcast More Perfect Marketing. Welcome, David!

David

Hello! Thanks so much for having me.

Marlana

So, first of all, define marketing for us, because I know sometimes there's a little confusion for people about what marketing exactly is.

David

Sure! I think there's a lot of definitions, the ones that I tend to gravitate toward. And it really depends on the situation that I'm in, the way that I'll describe it. But it's really the mechanism for helping somebody who needs a solution. It's the mechanism that you use to help them determine whether your solution is the right one for the issue that they're dealing with, the problem that they have, or the desire that they want to fulfill.

Marlana

Love it. Okay, so then how do we make our marketing more effective?

David

Okay, well, that is a big question. And I think part of the ways that I would answer that is really, to go beyond what we mean by more effective, what are we trying to ultimately accomplish in the business, and that might be more revenue, it might be a larger client base, it might be that we want to simplify the business that we have. And depending on the goals that we ultimately have for the business, that's going to define how we make it more effective. And the sad truth is that this is a part of marketing and the professional marketing world that often gets overlooked, even by those who are marketing professionals, and that's the challenge. So, I'm kind of on a mission to undo that and help people think a bit more strategically about what am I actually trying to accomplish with this marketing, so that there's less waste and more effective and efficient marketing?

Marlana

Yeah, because you know, you are the first person I've ever heard, say that to basically start with the end goal in mind, and it will affect everything else that you're doing, which baffles me, because that seems to be the most logical way to start.

David

It ought to be, but you know, we're in a society where we're looking often for quick answers. And I think that we've trained ourselves to look for a simpler solution. And what I've just proposed here, it's more involved, it's more complicated, and a lot of us don't have or don't want to have the bandwidth to do the necessary work to really figure out the types of things that are going to be most effective in their marketing.

Marlana

So, is the approach different if we are a solopreneur versus a small business versus a large company?

David

Oh, yeah, I would say to a certain extent that there's more complexity, the larger the organization, and there are exceptions, there are large organizations that do have a very simple structure, right? They deliver one thing, or there's very consistent process in place. But for the most part, yes, there is going to be more complexity, the larger you get, the more stakeholders that are involved, the wider the range of types of people you can serve.

I'm getting in the weeds here, but let me explain what we mean by this quickly. Most businesses have no business trying to market to everyone. I'm sure this is a concept that most of your listeners have heard at some point, right? If you're marketing to everyone, you're marketing to no one. What I mean by this is ultimately you want to be as specific and directed in the messaging in the specific solution, the specific problem you're trying to address. Let's take an industry, I've worked a lot in financial advisors, okay. You cannot easily speak to a brand-new married couple or a couple that is about to have their first child in the same way that you would speak to someone who is very close to retirement and hasn't made the necessary plans to, you know, live out their years and not have any money worries. And so, what I mean In by more complexity and marketing, it may be a simple business, but you may have more opportunities to speak to all of those different audiences. And because you have to speak to all of them differently, you may choose Okay, well, I'm going to start with one, and I'm going to get that up and running. And then I'm going to move on to the next and move on to the next move on to the next. That's no different, regardless of whether you are a solopreneur, or whether you are a large organization. Most businesses, regardless of size, however, fail at this.

Marlana

So let me ask you this, because it seems easier to carve out a niche or a target audience and things like that, if you are a business, per se, but let's say you are an artist, or something along those lines, where perhaps the problem you solve isn't as clear, or a musician whose and the problem you solve isn't as clear, how do you effectively market that kind of a service?

David

Okay, so if you're an artist, you're very much in the same boat as any business that is really trying to market to someone around fulfilling a desire rather than solving a problem. You might see this in the travel industry. Well, I used to be an arts marketer, right, I used to sell classical music subscriptions as a marketer. And, you know, I wasn't necessarily solving the problem of somebody's lack of access to performance, or to the beauty of the experience, right? What I was really marketing was about fulfilling the desire to improve oneself or to educate oneself or to, to create a new experience, right? So, there's a lot of personal development kind of psychology built into the types of marketing that artists might consider.

Marlana

Interesting!

David

And look, there's also a business involved here. Very often, you have to think about the mechanisms of the business. So is an artist marketing directly to the end consumer, or the marketing to the middleman, you know, in a gallery, for example. And so, there's some positioning that you have to think about as well, because you need to approach it as any other business approaches it, which are what is going to move me closer toward making that sale.

Marlana

Got it? So, I know you talk a because this is a lane that you travel very well. And I know you talk about effective copy in your marketing. So, what role does that play? And how do we make it more effective?

David

Well, I think there's a few things to think about. I was just talking about tapping into the psychology of the person you're trying to get in front of. And remember that at the beginning, you asked me about, you know, what is marketing? I said, it's the mechanism to connect the desire and what you have to offer? Well, we tend as consumers, when we're looking for something or when we know we have a problem, or we know that we have really the problems that we have, from a marketer's perspective. I would say they're more symptoms, right? We don't know that. You know, though, my trouble sleeping, right? isn't really that I can't sleep it's really that I have anxiety or it's, you know, that I drink too much too late in the evening, and I'm getting, you know, waking up all night because of that, right?

As the people who are selling the solution, we might know that, but we can't start there. In our discussion of, hey, I got a solution for you. If you want to, you know, help resolving your sleeping trouble. Well, just drink less take my course on how to you know, that's not what we do. Right? We need to think about where the person's mind is at, at the moment in time where they're going to be willing to listen to what we have to say. And then we can move them from that point to where we inevitably want to introduce our opportunity or solution or service etc. copywriting is a key part of that and understanding a what they need to be hearing and be what you need to say in order to move them are, you know, mostly carried out through the mechanism of copywriting.

Marlana

Okay, because it seems like we may know what the solution is, but it's not the solution that people may believe that it is. So, you're need to take them on a little bit of a journey to get them to what the solution really is, is that correct?

David

So let me give you an example. In our business, we now train marketers to think differently to think strategically as opposed to tactically, right. So, somebody who might have been in the business of selling Search Engine Optimization, or Facebook advertising services, we now help them approach this by saying, Okay, do you really need to be doing search engine optimization, or Facebook ads, I may not end up serving you. But I'm going to now guide you through the process of thinking through where all the revenue opportunities are in your business, what the right way to connect, etcetera, might be. One of the things that we teach them about is this concept of symptom versus problem that I've just demonstrated a moment ago, but the story that we give them to relate to their clients, and we give them lots of examples, because this is a conversation every business owner needs to hear is okay. Imagine you have a headache. And you have two solutions that are that are, you know, put in front of you by experts, right? One solution is Oh, take this aspirin, it'll, you know, it'll help your headache go away. And the other one is, well, let's crack open your skull and do some brain surgery. Because clearly, you know, there's some problem in there now. One of them is right, one of them is probably wrong, right? But how likely is the person with the headache? To raise their hand, say, Oh, yes, crack my head open, please. Right? That may be the right answer. But it's not presented at the right moment in time for that person to reset receptively say, Yes, I'm ready to move forward with that. We need to inch them along until that presents itself as the right answer logically in their mind.

Marlana

So let me ask you, this is an effective approach to tackle their symptom and then lead them into the root of the problem. Because that, to me, is kind of what you just illustrated, okay, the headache is the symptom of something, but it may not be the root of the problem.

David

Yeah. So, we have another business that we are co-owners in, which is a marriage coaching business. And we do exactly that, in that business. Our partner who runs that really is focused on Well, we know that you're in a situation where you are, you know, a month or less away from divorce. And you really want to find a way to solve and save the marriage. And then what he presents behind the curtain, once they say, Yes, I desperately want to do this is something that is unexpected but makes a lot of sense to them. And it taps into an age-old principle in marketing, that I think is, you know, runs across the board. Again, no matter what size no matter what type of business, whether you are an artist, or whether you are selling widgets, it's that we buy on emotion. And then after we buy on emotion, we justify using logic,

Marlana

right? So, should we be thinking then in terms of funnels, per se, where the first thing that we put out from a marketing standpoint is addressing the symptom, but then we go through to the problem we really solve?

David

Yeah, and you know, you bring up the word funnels, and that's a word that I think has captured people's minds these days in terms of like, you know, going to a website, entering your name to get some free gift, and then you get moved through a process. And while the medium may be new is, that's the process that we've gone through for years, whether it's attracting somebody into a storefront, and then having a conversation that moves them in a certain direction or responding to an ad in a newspaper. That is really what you're describing when you're saying, Well, we start where they are, and then we move them to the next place that that is going to either help them determine Yes, this is for me. No, this isn't for me.

Marlana

I looked at some of your copy and things like that. And I know you talked about that there's three funnels that every business should have, what are those?

David

those are really all about what I was saying earlier, we need to figure out what we want to accomplish with our marketing. And invariably, many businesses are looking to a attract brand new customers into their business. And so that's funnel number one, we have a funnel that is intentionally designed to move somebody who is already a customer into a recurring customer, or some other sort of upgraded customer. And there's lots of different ways that that plays out, depending on the business. And then the third funnel is really about building mechanisms for referral. So, the most expensive investment in acquiring a customer is acquiring a brand-new customer, the least expensive for pretty much any business. The way to acquire customer is to get a referral or get a recommendation or an introduction from somebody who is already a customer of yours, who's a champion of yours. And they simply are asked, Hey, can you go find other people like you? And so those are the three distinct funnels that I think really almost any business could benefit from?

Marlana

Which one do you think is the most overlooked?

David

I think both. The second and the third are incredibly overlooked. The first one is the most obvious, and the one that everybody really focuses on, which is I need new people all the time, where's that, where's the next new person? And to a certain extent, businesses think that they have a process in place to orchestrate referrals to manage that. But in fact, most don't. And here's the evidence on that. Whenever, back in the days, when I was at networking events, you know, we would have lots of people say, Oh, I don't need marketing. And since when I was a marketing service provider, so they wanted an excuse to run away from me. I don't need marketing; my business runs on referrals. And so, my answer would be something along the lines of oh, that's great. So, tell me, how does your referral system work? And they would start telling me and, you know, usually it was something along the lines of Well, I do good work, and people appreciate that, and therefore they refer me. And then I would follow up with oh, so there's some form of, you know, sort of documented process that you and your staff go through to ensure that you get referrals? Is that correct? How does how does that work? No, no, but we're just good at it. And people refer us. Oh, so it's opportunistic. And then it's not consistent is what you're saying? Right. I think, where most businesses lie right now is they think that they have something in place to actually get those referrals, but they lack consistency in that lack process.

Marlana

Let me ask you this, when you are a solopreneur or an independent entrepreneur? How much do you believe should be automated in your process? And how much do you believe should be personal touch? In your process? What do you think either one helps your marketing, or your referrals more?

David

Yeah, I think if your business is built on personal relationship, that the personal relationship should always be at the forefront of the way that you're doing your marketing. However, that doesn't mean that it can't be aided or assisted by automation. Here's what I mean by that. You might have a system or a mechanism to follow up with people on a regular basis based on how long they have been in a relationship with you the first time that they bought from you or, you know, the first who knows if the first encounter that I had an anniversary of their first purchase from you, for example, right. And you're not going to be able to remember all of those things and put them all in a you know, a diary and stay on top of it. So, automation could help simply by having a database that tracks Okay, the first time they bought from me was, you know, November 13. And I want to reach out to them a month later, six months later, a year later. Let's send myself a reminder the day before, or let's put something automatically on my calendar. So, it's an activity that I am then going to absolutely engage in and So its automation supported, but manually fulfilled.

Marlana

Makes sense. Let's say, I am starting out in an industry brand new

L. Frederick Dudek

Prosperous Ventures, LLC

When Frederick Dudek is not turning ideas into millions of dollars in global sales, the award-winning author, speaker, and top sales executive spends his time inspiring others to achieve their highest business goals. Now you can receive the benefit of Frederick's mentorship and experience through his book, Business $uperfans.

Born in rural France, Frederick spent summers on his grandfather's vineyard in France, where he developed a love for French wine. As a youth, he showed a strong aptitude for engineering and competed in drafting and design competitions. After winning numerous engineering awards, he became a draftsman working on numerous automotive projects. He was selected to design the spot weld guns for the 1982 Ford Escort car. That led to Frederick joining the emerging computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) industry, in which he quickly climbed the ranks.

While working for a CAD/CAM company as an application engineer, an opportunity presented itself that enabled Frederick to transition into sales. It was the right decision, and he never looked back. In the thirty-plus years Frederick has been selling, he has earned a reputation as the go-to guy for small companies that want to expand their business domestically or internationally. This role has allowed him to travel to over thirty countries and counting. When abroad, Frederick's favorite pastime is to go exploring for hours, not to mention enjoying some of the local cuisine and fine wines.

Frederick is a former runner and athlete. Today, you can find him hiking various trails with his significant other, Kiley Kaplan. When not writing, selling, speaking, or exploring, he is cooking or building things. The next thing on Frederick's bucket list is learning to sail and to continue the exploration of countries and their unique cultures.

https://FrederickDudek.com

https://BusinessSuperfans.com

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcript : Vision In Word

Marlana

Frederick Dudek is not turning ideas into millions of dollars in global sales. The award-winning author, speaker and top sales executive spends his time inspiring others to achieve their highest business goals. Now you can receive the benefit of Frederick's mentorship and experience through his book Business Superfans. Welcome, Frederick.

Frederick

Good morning!

Marlana

So first, explain to us what exactly is a superfan? How would you define that?

Frederick

Let's think of a sports team. So, the best way I can explain that is, we've all watched football or European soccer or baseball and stuff, and we'll see the fan that's in there. And it's got their faces painted. They got the jerseys on they got the hats; they got the banners; they got the bumper stickers on their cars. That's a superfan. And, you know, they're enthralled and just energized, and their energy's contagious, and they're promoting their team? And if you think about it, is the sports team paying them for that? No. So are they making money off for their merchandise? Of course.

So, they're getting free publicity. They're getting somewhere that it's talking about the team and all that PR, they're getting other people sucked into the team to watch the team and everything else. So, the idea came about through my sales experience for many, many years was Why can't a business apply the same methodology to create their own superfans for their business to become promoting them? So, you know, there's people talk about brand advocates? Well, you know, I look at it as Okay, brand advocates cool. But a super fan is super cool. Because it's in my mind is supersedes the advocate, because they're in a sense fanatic of the business, and they're going to be promoting it, talking about it telling all their friends and family and everything else.

Marlana

The term ride or die kind of came to mind. So then how do we create these for our business?

Frederick

Well, that's a really good question. Because a lot of people have written books on client retention, client engagement, and all that aspect. But really, if you think about it, that's a silo. Okay, it's strictly about that. Then there's other people that talk about employees and employee motivation, employee retention, and all that stuff. But really, that's another silo. And then nobody talks about the business, what I call business alliance partners, which are complementary businesses that complement one another. Best example I can say, is a painting person and a flooring person, they kind of go together.

So, what I did is, through a multitude of research was that I combined all three, because at the end of the day, all three are intertwined. And that's really the difference. And so business superfans talks about how to engage those, that group of people, which is really how to handle your customers, how to make sure your employees are engaged, how to make sure your business alliance partners are motivated and everything else. Because if you think about it, let's say I'm a painter, and I'm giving the flooring guy a ton of referrals, but they're not going, they're not reciprocated, and a flooring guy's not giving me anything back. After some point in time, I'm gonna say, You know what, this relationship isn't working. It's one sided.

I talk about that kind of stuff. It's the same thing with the employee. You know, Sir Richard Branson says it the best, you know, if you take care of your employees, they'll take care of your customers. So, if you got an employee that's going to do the flooring, the guy that did referred you, the painter to refer to visit and does a poor job, not only does it reflect negatively on your company, but it also reflects negatively on the painter. And so that's the things I talk about is, you know, things to do to motivate people and to engage them but it's a lot more than that. It's not just that part of it. I'm just keeping it short.

Marlana

Is it a different strategy to create these superfans to depending on the category they fall in, whether their business alliance or an employee or customer?

Frederick

yes or no. Because one of the things I did in the book, and here's the cover of the book. I've got to kind of go through some of the chapters. So, one of the chapters is, it all begins with prospecting. So, if you're a new business, how do you go and find new clients? How do you create those relationships with those clients? So that one is focused on really getting business? Because if you don't have business, well, Russ doesn't matter. Right? Then I get into the follow up, why is it super important. And the follow up is with clients as well as employees. So, if you want to make sure that they're doing the things that they need to be doing, either they're motivated and things like that, follow up with them.

Same thing with the business alliance partner, how did the project go? That kind of stuff. So, then we get into, and this is really what I think is really important. One of them is thank you builds a bond of trust. And a lot of businesses forget to say thank you. And people don't say thank you three employees, enough. People don't say thank you for, you know, to their business partners enough. And it's such overlooked, you know, and one of the things I talked about in the book is especially for like the home improvement industry, you know, they're notorious, I mean, we've all had worked on our houses or places, and we never hear from them again. They're gone. I mean, we had a cleaning person that came in, about three or four months ago, we never heard him again, like, they'd never came back reached out and says, Hey, you know, it's been three months. You know, you're interested in having a house cleaned again, zero, nothing. It's mind boggling. So, thank you to me is paramount.

Marlana

Let me ask you something in that, do you think that gratitude and follow up are the same thing, or they're just kind of two sides of a coin?

Frederick

There are two sides of a coin. And I'll talk about gratitude in a moment. Then the other part is, you know, get personal with birthday greetings. You know, it's amazing, you know, birthdays are someone's very important day. And if you acknowledge something, and I had this happen, you know, to where I sent somebody's birthday card, and it was the only card they received. And they contacted me with such emotion that was it was just a blew me away, that they were so grateful that I actually thought of them and sent them a card.

I'm coaching a company right now. And today, at lunchtime, I'm going there, we're celebrating an employee's birthday. And, you know, the owners asked me, well, we wanted to have a business meeting afterwards. I said, Are you nuts? You know, this is a birthday, it has nothing to do business, keep it light, keep it fun, let's acknowledge the person because as soon as you switch from birthday, okay, now we're gonna have a meeting, you just negated the whole birthday. And they went like, oh, never looked at it that way.

So, that aspect of the other one is creating an environment of appreciation. One of my personal quotes is that people will crawl through broken glass for appreciation and recognition. Tell me I'm wrong.

Marlana

Yeah, and I don't think we get it nearly enough.

Frederick

No, we don't. And it's the little things you acknowledge somewhere in the little things, and they go, Oh, wow, and they'll do more. It's recognizing your customers. It's recognizing your team. It's recognizing a business partner that they did a great job. And so, you recommended them, they killed it on a project. Hey, you know, you just made me look good by doing a great job because I recommended you thanks in oncome grateful you knocked it out. So that's important. And the next one is given them what they crave, recognition. So, if I turn around and say, "John, thanks a lot for the effort that you put in on that stuff." All right, that's fine. John feels great. If I turn around and say, "Hey, everybody, I want to take a moment and I want to acknowledge John for doing this particular project." Now, I've done it from everybody. I've edified John. Everybody realizes that I appreciate, and I recognize John So they're gonna go, oh, man, I'm gonna do more so I can get that exposure.

Marlana

You know, it's interesting too, because recently, I know something that happened that I'm even recognizing what somebody brings to the table, or the talent somebody brings to the table, or the skill set that somebody brings to the table. Acknowledging that and recognizing that, really goes a long way, instead of, if you're a business owner, thinking that you made it all by yourself, because nobody makes it all by themselves,

Frederick

It takes a village. Those are a couple of things, thank you, the appreciation, the recognition, it's easy to do cost nothing. And the return on that investment is unsurmountable. So, you know, the next thing I get into here is retention saves you money. And, you know, it's basically, you know, the cost of onboarding, the new customers, phenomenal, you know, in cost. Same thing with employee, I mean, if you think of the revenue that's lost, by losing an employee, not only the lost revenue, you'd lost revenue of training that employee, but you also lost the revenue and productivity of the other employee that's training the new employee that nobody ever thinks about.

That's monstered, it's the same thing, if you have a business alliance partner, and that relationship goes out the door, you know, your general contractor, as an example, and you lose your electrician, and you need an electrician. So now you gotta find somebody gotta make sure to qualify, and all that stuff. And so, your project falls behind the minutes. So, it's important to do things that are going to retain the team that you've got put together. And then I get down to is, go beyond expectations with unexpected extras. And this is something that blows my mind how people don't take the time to do that little something extra.

I'll share a story that I put into the book. That is when I really realized the power of it. And it happened to me, we ordered some food from a restaurant, we lived in a nice condo area, and right across the street as a whole shopping restaurants place that was pretty close. We sold our car for eight months and walked everywhere. I go there to pick up the food, no food. So, the hostess gets the manager, and this was called blah, blah, blah. And he says, okay, I'll take care of, we'll get it. So, they goes, and they make the food comes back in buys. And it says go set the bar or buy a beer while you're waiting because you know, it's a mess up. So soon, no comes back to food. We'll look at the food. And Murphy's law comes in. Not only did the order wasn't done in the first time, one of the orders is wrong. You know, so it's like it's tumbling. And so, I'm sitting there, and he goes, Oh my god, he goes out personally make sure that it's time, so I sit there he goes and gets the food comes back. And he says Hang on a second, he runs back, and he brings back on dessert, or he goes to desserts on us and says okay, how much sorry for the food. And he goes, nothing was completely screwed it up. Matter of fact, he goes, here's a couple of tickets for five hours, two of you two tickets for five hours off for both of you for your next meal. And it was just like, No, that was, you know, the unexpected extra. And we're super fans of that place. We call her all the time, because the food's phenomenal, but the service and that little extra that he did. That means a customer for life.

Marlana

Yeah. And it also seems that by doing that he also showed appreciation to you. So, in doing all of this, it may be obvious, but it may not be. Let's say we have alliances with various people or businesses. At what point do we cut our losses without creating an issue with that business or company? Let's say if we were working, you know as an Alliance Party.

Frederick

Very good question! At some point in time, I would say that probably the best way to do that is to just say that you're going in a different direction. And so, it's a nice subtle way of just saying, you know, I'm changing my business model a little bit, and someone would be going in another direction. And I appreciate all your efforts.

Again, appreciate you're grateful for the partnership and stuff. But you know, I need to grow, and the growth is taking me to a different direction. And people will appreciate that and...

Lori Peters

Ocean Studios

Emerald Escape (music)

Previously a member of Multi-Platinum & Gold selling, two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist, Skillet. Performed on several #1 hit singles. Over 30 years of drumming experience including studio recording, live performance, worldwide touring, & drum instruction. My husband, Chris, and I own and operate Ocean Studios. It's here where we have the capability to professionally record & edit my live drum sessions. We use Pro Tools Studio and have mixing capabilities using analog hardware and plugins. We also write, produce, and record our own music available on Spotify under the name Emerald Escape. I also enjoy volunteering for the non-profit organization called Breast Cancer Can Stick It! Foundation. I'm a 4 year breast cancer survivor, drummer, and rocker!

https://soundbetter.com/profiles/69296-lori-peters

https://soundbetter.com/profiles/138884-ocean-studios

https://open.spotify.com/artist/700jGfxWCVeMtJ0yYXX9R8?si=qBOMgt0MTYasQz-seeNqrg

https://www.breastcancercanstickit.org/

https://tiltify.com/@lori-peters/loripeters4yearsurvivor

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcript : Vision In Word

Marlana

Lori Peters is a four-year breast cancer survivor drummer and rocker. previously a member of the multi-platinum and gold selling two-time Grammy Award nominated artists skillet. She has over 30 years of drumming experience, including studio recording live performance, worldwide touring and drum instruction. Now with her husband, Chris, she owns and operates ocean studios, while also volunteering for the nonprofit organization called breast cancer can stick it Foundation. Welcome, Laurie.

Lori

Hi, how are you?

Marlana

I'm doing well. So, tell us how did you get into music in the first place?

Lori

Oh gosh, well, I was my first drum kit was probably age four or five. So, I feel like right out of the gate. I was already into music. And then I really didn't get into like school band and stuff probably until junior high. And so, I begged my parents you know, can I they tried me on you know, piano guitar, everything else. I just really wanted to play drums. So, I just had to beg them for a drum set and finally got into school band probably like ninth grade, which is a little bit later. Just bought my own drum set from a neighbor. You know, I saved up my money. And I think that kind of showed my parents that I was really serious and watch MTV nonstop. But I think that's that was my biggest teacher was just watching videos like seriously. headbangers ball, all that stuff.

Marlana

So, what was it about the drums though?

Lori

I don't know. I think I just have this internal clock. Internal just beat always going at I don't know, I even before MTV was a thing. I'm know I'm kind of dating myself, but I just was interested in so wherever I would see drums no matter what kind of if it was rock music, anything. I was just always glued to it. So that's kind of how I ever since I can remember really. So how were you able to

Marlana

make the leap into doing it as a career? Oh, man. Well,

Lori

it took a lot of work. But I think my story might be a little bit different than maybe the typical stories that you hear. So, I played a lot. In church, I played a lot with a friend of mine, like we'd had local bands probably had two or three local bands and a lot of worship team, you know, playing on Sunday mornings. And then a friend of mine that I grew up with Cory, she started to date this guy. And he was from Memphis. And fast forward. You know, he, he was in a band called skillet, and they got signed really young. And I got to be in their wedding, which is kind of nice. But you know, again, fast forward, they were already two albums into their career. And then Cory they got married, and they and she, you know, join them on the road and eventually join the band. And then I was working one day, and I came across their website. And it just happened to say that Trey McClurkin was leaving the band and I think shout out to Trey because I think people forget about him. He was the original drummer of skillet. It started with three guys. So, and Ken Stuart's and John Cooper, so I, I just couldn't believe that the door was even cracked that much. And not that it was like a gimme, or, like a freebie. Like I had to audition. I did talk to like; I knew John and Cory very well at that at that point. So, I just asked John, you know, what do you think, you know, could you give me a shot? And it's like, well, you know, let's, let's go over buy your drum kit and let's play a little bit. And he was like, well, at the end of it, he's like, Well, I think I think he kind of did better than I thought you would, which was kind of a backhanded compliment, or, you know, it was still a compliment, but I knew

Marlana

somewhere in there. You just had to look for it a little bit. Yeah,

Lori

I knew him well enough that I didn't take offense or anything but, and they said, well, let's fly down to Memphis and you know, have you because this was we were up in Wisconsin at the time was fly down and have you play for our manager and the other member Ever since stuff probably about a week later, he called me he's like, Would you like to be our new drummer? And I was like, Heck yeah.

Marlana

So, what was that, like performing with them?

Lori

Amazing. Again, a lot of a lot of hard work. So, I guess, you know, the easy part was, was kind of over it. Now the hard, the hard practicing, you know, I practiced for a month, straight eight hours a day. And we are hitting the road. It was their second album called invincible. And that tour hadn't even started yet. The album had just released, it was done. So, I was going to do the invincible tour. So, practice by my by myself pretty much every day for a month. And I know, your question was, how was it playing with him, which was amazing. But I, I have to touch on some of the work that went into please do because I

Marlana

don't I don't know that people realize that just because you get the gig doesn't mean that the work stops?

Lori

Oh, yeah, yeah. Um, so a lot. It's not, you know, unknown that a lot of bands play with tracks, and, you know, backing tracks and might have, you know, some strings in there, or background vocals and that kind of thing. But at the time, skillets didn't want to do that. They, they wanted to have the tracks because the invincible album was a lot of electronic key kind of influence. And Korea could only do so much even though she had like a whole city of keyboards and like probably 10 keyboards going on stage. So, he wanted me to learn how to trigger every single like drum loop or whatever was going on. So that meant hitting an electronic trigger, like every measure, literally, literally while I was playing. So, I had like a six pad, Roland active pad on the side, I had multiple triggers throughout my drum kit. So, I'd be playing the regular parts, and the verse, I'd be constantly hitting a trigger on than a, another trigger, I'd have whatever was going on the course. And then to not to not accidentally hit those triggers, or a vibration sometimes from my drum kit would trigger that, especially if I was not on my own drum kit, like, like at a festival or something. If two if two drum stands are touching, it would trigger it. Oh my, well, yeah, it was very nerve racking. So, I had to, I had to learn all the music, and learn how to play on the drums and learn how to trigger all that at the same time. Which was pretty overwhelming for somebody who had been playing for a while but didn't have, you know, quote unquote, professional experience at that point. But that threw me into the deep end. But everything like all those things make you better in the in the end. So

Marlana

do you think you thrive in the deep end?

Lori

I've come to learn. Yeah, I think most people do because that adrenaline and that nervousness, I think it's always healthy to have a little bit of nerves. Because if, if you don't, you might be teetering on the side of overconfidence. And that, I think that's when mistakes can happen. Yeah. You just plow through it. And if you do make a mistake, just act like you didn't.

Marlana

Do you still get nervous? Yeah,

Lori

definitely. I, I had the pleasure the last month or so of sitting in with a band called dig Nissim, which they're from the Chicago area. And they, they were waiting for their full-time drummer to come on. And they had a few festivals booked. And so, they reached out to me and they're like, Well, can you, you know, would you be interested in doing some live shows with me? I'm like, okay, and that threw me right into the deep end because I'd never heard their music. Sorry, guys. Sorry, Jen. But I'm a fan now. But it's very evanescent skillet, that type of genre. So, I think I meshed very well with that. But I had to me had to hit the kid, you know, for a few weeks of pretty good practice just on my own with their tracks. And get that down pat. And that threw me into the deep end because it's a lot of double kick work, which I'm decent at but everybody's got everybody's gotta practice when you go into something new. Yeah, yeah.

Marlana

So, tell us a little bit too about what touring was like.

Lori

Um, you get to see a lot of cool places.

Marlana

The shows

Lori

I guess the shows are kind of like, at the end of the day, that's, that's what you're there to do. So that's kind of, especially on a tour you kind of get an automatic mode a little bit. But then you hit the stage. And it's like, it's all brand new again, like a new city, a new set of fans, you know, new venue. So that's really cool. Some days you don't get to see even where you are, it's, you know, maybe it's been a long drive you get in, especially for the drummer you need, you need to be set up and, on the stage, first, because everything kind of gets built around you on, you know, sometimes it's a smaller stage or whatever. But some that sometimes you have a day off on the road, and you get to see some really cool things like I've been in Australia and New Zealand, and we've toured the UK, I think I've been to every state at least twice, Texas, probably 25 times,

Marlana

does it all blend together after a while, um,

Lori

a little bit, I mean, some of the scenery, as far as like driving down the highway, that all looks the same. But then once you get off and then into the city, you're like, oh, like, Oh, this is cool. You know, I've never seen this right. And then I always like to see the different venues because sometimes you play a high school gym, and those all look the same. But then sometimes you roll into like, you know, a House of Blues. I'm like, oh, you know, this is cool, or some old theater that a town has renovated and it's really, I guess, cool characteristics and unique. So that's pretty cool. I'm always a sucker for like an old, cool, weird theater that you have never seen before.

Marlana

And now I hear you what's taught us a little bit about the difference between the different kind of energy between working in a studio and working on stage. Completely different

Lori

worlds. You get that energy from the fans, and the stage and the lights and the sound is like, you know, bump in. And that's like a whole thing in and of itself. And I love that. And, but then you kind of switch gears when you get into the studio. Because you might have, you know, you have more than more than one take or more than one chance, I guess, to create something. Whereas on stage, it's, this is what we're doing that set, you know it, you're, you know, you're just in that moment of the studio, it's a little bit more creative, and you're coming up with new parts, or you're, you know, hashing things out and, and then you get to go over to the control room and hear it right away. And like, oh, you know, I heard that in my head, and I played it, but now like you hear it coming at you. And it's like, that's a whole nother experience. You're like, wow, I didn't I didn't think that would sound like that. Or, yeah, it's really fun. What is it

Marlana

like to hear something that you have played on? On the radio?

Lori

I remember, I think every musician probably remembers that. That first moment actually, was not with skill it was with one of our local bands. Cory started a band called alchemy, which I think somebody's put the whole album up on YouTube, if you want to look it up. But um, John actually played there dating during that time. So, he actually played guitar in that and he's, he's, uh, he plays every instrument, but he played guitar in that, but we just, it was this was before, you know, social media, any of that stuff. So, we kind of just had to grassroots, you know, play where we could in the area. And I can't even remember how we got on the radio, but somebody grabbed it, and they put it on their show, like, late at night out. I want to say it was 95 will rock which is one of the predominant stations in the Chicago area. But that yeah, so long ago, but I remember it was it was planned, and I turned it up. I didn't have any means to record it or take a picture or like I didn't I just say you didn't think of it you just asked one of the things I think sometimes is missing in in the music industry today. I was just in that moment by myself with the radio on. And that moment is just in my head forever. It's not posted anywhere. It's not there's not a picture of it anywhere. It's just that I experienced that by myself. And I think I think sometimes these days, if you went to a show and nobody had a phone or a camera, it'd be a different experience.

Marlana

Yeah. And you know, I say this as a photographer, I think so much of that is missing to just be present in a moment. And enjoy the moment for the moment. And because if you lose a photo or if you lose your phone or any of those kinds of things You know, you may lose that memory so to speak. But if you sit there and you absorb it and let it in, it's with you forever.

Lori

Yeah. I mean, thank the Lord for photographers who, you know, professional who have captured those moments over the years. I mean, thank God for that. But I have heard stories, like on, you know, late night talk shows where, like Jimmy Fallon has said, you know, I went to such and such concert. And they were they required that everybody leave their phone like, and it was a whole other experience. Yeah.

Marlana

Next, I remember those days going to concerts before phones. Now. I'm dating myself.

Lori

Yeah, me too. I remember. But, well, there's pros and cons.

Marlana

Yeah. You know, I read online that you talked about, saying that when you hear something that you can add value to you can just feel it talk to me about that little bit. Ah,

Lori

I remember writing that. I think it was mainly I was talking in the studio setting. You know, if someone wants me to play drums on their song, I think I could say this about Ignis it when I was practicing their music, I felt like it meshed. correctly, it was the style that I enjoyed the style of my playing, you know, went, what? It's like I was in the pocket. So, some styles of music. I'm just I'm just saying that they're not right for this. Yeah, I could do my best. And I definitely can play something very good. But I don't know if I if I added the value that you were looking for. I think some of it's just my own satisfaction. Like do I feel like I did the best I could I met? So, I'll tell I'll just tell people upfront. I don't think I'm right for this.

Marlana

Yeah. Which I think is huge. Because when it's less about you and more about the outcome for all those involved it because I do the same thing. Yes, I can take photos of someone, but just because I have the ability to doesn't make me the best fit for you and your story.

Lori

Exactly. Yeah.

Marlana

So, tell us a little bit about ocean studios and we'll escape. Well,

Lori

it's kind of me and my husband's baby. It's, we've been married, it'll be 10 years, in a month or so. And so, I feel like it's been a journey through our whole marriage. Because he, he grew up in Seattle, so he's always been interested in music. His name is Chris, by the way. And so, he plays piano guitar. His main instrument is piano, and he taught himself how to play guitar and he sings and so he's always wanted to he's always dabbled in recording. And just over the course of the last decade, you know, it's always about the next piece of gear, or this is going to make me sound better, oh, we need this, or we need that. And, and I went to Columbia College in Chicago for studio recording before I joined skillet, that was what

Julia Lage

Meet Julia Lage - bassist of Vixen and Smith/Kotzen

Julia is a Brazilian bass player, singer songwriter.

Inspired by bands like, Rush, Aerosmith and Guns N Roses, she began learning the Bass Guitar at the age of thirteen.

At the age of seventeen Julia had become a full time member of the critically acclaimed Latin Grammy nominated Brazilian band Barra Da Saia.

After her thirteen year tenure with the band which included major network television appearances, International festivals and domestic arena tours plus 3 full albums and 1 live DVD, Julia left the band and relocated to Los Angels California.

With a BA in music and arts as well as extensive studio and touring experience, Julia has found herself performing and recording with a vast array of A list artists and musicians such as Pat Travers, Elliot Easton (The Cars), Richie Kotzen, as well as performing along side Pop Star Janelle Monáe and rapper Jidenna at the American Idol Finals.

Julia also worked with Grammy winner iconic Latin artist Alejandra Gusmán, recording a live cd/dvd called 'Live at The Roxy'.

Most recently Julia toured with Smith/Kotzen, a rock blues band formed by Adrian Smith ( Iron Maiden ) and Richie Kotzen ( The Winery Dogs ).

At the same time she was invited to join the all female platinum selling rock band Vixen.

Julia also has her own projects which include her solo music and her band The Sister Knot.

Julia's prolific nature as a writer has found her compositions and performances featured in various American films and television shows.

She is currently working on finishing her first solo album as well as a Sister Knot album and continues to tour with Vixen as they work on their new music.

My website: https://www.julialage.com

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia_lage/

facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaLageMusic

Here is my latest video for Wake Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsJu0LJ0hzU&list=PLUNkX209tKPGdGCzhSUBJBhvnlIm8lxrZ&index=7

wwww.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcript : Vision In Word

Marlana

Julia Lage is a Brazilian bass player, singer and songwriter. Inspired by bands like Rush, Aerosmith, and Guns and Roses. She began learning the bass at the age of 13. With a BA in music and arts as well as an extensive studio and touring experience. Julia has found herself performing and recording with a vast array of alias artists and musicians such as Pat travers, Elliot Easton, Richie Kotzen, Adrian Smith, Janelle Monae, and the all-female platinum selling Rock Band vixen. Welcome, Julia.

Julia

Thank you. Thanks for having me here.

Marlana

So, you started off in Brazil, then you had some success in Brazil, and then you came here. Tell us a little bit about that whole,

Julia

you know, there. Oh, well, I played for 13 years in Brazil. And we did have a good heat there for a while. I tour like I used to play like arenas there like rodeos was always on TV, radios and stuff like that. And I learned a lot with that I joined the band, I was 17. So, I was just like a baby. And I remember, you know, it was amazing. But at the same time, I wasn't really playing the kind of music I love. I was playing like what we call Brazilian country music, which is the country music people from the countryside write songs is kind of similar like America, but the rhythm is similar, but has a little different swing here and there. You know, it's Brazil. But um, so yeah, so I started there. And we did all major stuff, like for real, like, we had a boss who their faces on and he was like, a big band for a while. Then he started declining.

In after 13 years, I was like, not seeing myself at all excited anymore, or happy about it or anything. I was like, go play like, whatever, I will come home from the shows, but my base and the side, not even look for my base or my guitar, nothing. I'll try to write anything, nothing. Just live my life. Whenever the next show was gonna happen. I was like, Okay, tell me where and what time I'll be there. You know what I mean? So, I was completely like, I don't know, I lost interest. I don't know, for a bunch of reasons. But so then after 13 years, I decided to finally quit the band. But actually, what helped me with the decision was the fact that I started dating my now husband, but you know, my boyfriend at whatever rate you so that helped me too. And then he was like, so since you're so frustrated with your band, why don't you quit? You know, sell your stuff, move and come to LA? I'm like, why? And then actually, I did it. I'm here.

Marlana

So, we have Ritchie to thing.

Julia

Yes. So yes. I mean, you know, he could say I ruined her life will say no, you actually, you know, made a very exciting because I was in a plateau, I was very unmotivated. I was I didn't know what I was anymore. What I wanted was too many years of the same things. And not really the kind of music I love. So. So yeah, I mean, I thank you for bringing me here because I've been taking my career here.

Marlana

So how is the music scene different here for you?

Julia

Well, first of all, for me, it's very different because nowadays, I'm playing what I like, which is rock and roll. So, since I moved here, I did a few different gigs during the beginning, obviously. But most of the gigs were rock geeks. And I was super surprised. I was like, oh my god, I'm just seeing a rock. I mean, America is way more rock. I mean, if you go to Costco, they're playing me golds, they're playing whatever, rock. And in Brazil, they're playing all kinds of stuff, not rock.

So, like when I got here, I was like, Oh my God, you know, I love all this. So, for me the difference, the biggest differences for sure that I'm playing actually what I like, the most here, so and that's very important for me to do what I love.

Marlana

Yeah. And I know along the way you wrote songs for film and TV. Were you approached to write them, or had you written them? How did that all work?

Julia

Both I mean, I was approached to write a few stuffs. And so, I did. And funny enough was mostly rock stuff, which is good. And yeah, and then there's a few movies and you know, little placements of songs that already exist even with my band. We have a song in the movie that close the movie with our song now. That's my song. Oh, there's another movie that had like an entire song played in the scene. So, they played our entire song, the theme, and we're like, they were cheering and that was so cool. So, like both for sure.

Marlana

So, did you have to, like reinvent anything about yourself when you came here to start to pursue a more of a rock career than what you were doing?

Julia

no, really, I was always a rock chick. In my heart. I as a as you said, I start learning bass because of bands like Rush, Aerosmith, guns, and roses, whatever you name it. But one thing that I had to invent, let me think, I think, because I did join my band in Brazil was very young. And they already have a band that was kind of stablished establishing lists. So, like, I wouldn't, I never, for example, is that's very technical for musicians, but they get it. Like usually, depending on the gig, you bring your own amp, or your own pair of pedals, for sure. But like, we have your microphone, stand your little gear, your PA, I never did that in music, I would get to the gigs, and everything is there. So, I was very spoiled it right in the beginning. And then I never did the hustle the gear, the gear driving far for the gears, for the gigs, because I was just you know, getting in the bus and going out. So that was different. When I moved here, I had two rings in everything. And like, Okay, what am I gonna do, and that was probably the hardest phase in my life, too. So, I even did it like church gigs, which is like, you know, completely different and you have to read, I wasn't reading anything members, you parts, you know, and then or like, carrying gear, like, you know, whatever, say like, oh, like carry gear, like, Please forged our SATs, all this stuff I did here. And I think that's a big, humbling scenario, you know, for anybody.

I was like, Wow. I mean, I was kind of, you know, ready, and motivated in Brazil, but I hadn't good No way, you know, but then coming here, even though it was doing all this, I can Oh, and we drive and so far. And, you know, it's 2am I'm coming back home exhausted, I'm bringing this gear, putting ba together that I was still super happy. Because I was not only playing rock and roll all the songs that I always loved. But I was like reconnecting with myself again, like, oh, that's what I really liked. I liked his music. And I really liked to interact with the public him, you know, be me, I'm out. I'm outgoing. I'm like, I'm like, they like that I am an entertainer. And in Brazil, I was being like, you know, more and more quiet and more and more like, my light was kind of dimming. So that was a good, you know, like a Phenix.

Marlana

How did you know that you were starting to get some traction?

Julia

Well, um, a few things. But like coming here to LA, you probably already heard about that. They just tons of jams everywhere. So, people go out in the jam. Right? It's the good way to meet new people to meet new musicians. And then, you know, we talk to them, you do your network, all that stuff. And I remember, I was obviously dating Richie, my husband, and then one of the gyms wanted my husband to come jam. And he was like, you know, he, he doesn't need to go on a jam, I guess. He has a pretty established career. But he said, well, but I can come do it like a night, like a few songs. And but like, I would like to bring my band. And then he brought me as the bass player.

I wasn't on his band. But he knew that I could perform his songs the way he liked and everything. So, he brought me in. And then that was the first step to get in. And then since then, the people from the gym capacity has come to him. Let's go gym and now go and Did I did I get hired a few times got hired a few times to do the house bands. And so, you know, and then people started knowing who you are and start. Oh, there's that girl. Oh, oh, she also can sing. Oh, she in on me. Oh, she kinda looked good. And blah, blah, whatever. Whatever do you need? Because I learned that in LA. There's a lot of looks involved, too.

So, I think that's how I start, you know, getting my name around, because that's what we have to do. It's not working period.

Marlana

And like you said, Richie had very, you know, established career. Do you think that helped you? Or did it really not matter one way or the other because you didn't go off of him in his connections?

Julia

I don't think it matters that much. He didn't matter that much. He married that day when he brought me in the gym. But that was it. Like after dad, everything started happening on my own, you know, like, he can bring me if I was like, not like professional or if I wasn't, whatever, good enough, right? You could bring me as many times as you want, I will not get anywhere.

I'm very perfectionist, so every time I go places, I like to be prepared. So yeah, I mean, obviously, I guess exposure here and there, you know, people see me, for example, on his Instagram, and they clicked on the check. And then they figured out Oh, my gosh, she plays bass as well. What is that? You know, maybe that but yeah, I mean, we both have different careers, different separate things. So yeah.

Marlana

What's it like to have two musicians in the house?

Julia

It can be difficult, because, like, if I'm recording something, or trying to write something like record vocals, for example, I do here in this room, because I have this little, you know, that's here, everything is here, actually. But I only do this here because he's in the studio on the other side of the house, any lyrics. So, like, if I had a perfect room just for the studio, but then the first time we try to record something that he's on his studio, I'm here, but I'm your drums on like, this is not going to work. So, I had to put together something there's room. But like other than that, I mean, it's pretty, it's pretty chill. I mean, we're not always like playing loud music in the house. I mean, we do that for a living. So, when we come in the house, we might play a radio station of Tom Paley, or like, Holly notes, or you go something chill, you know, cook something, but we don't make too much noise at the same time. We need to balance you know?

Marlana

Do you critique each other?

Julia

yes, but positively, like, you know, good criticism. Like I even asked Ricci sometimes to say, you know, like, singing wise, I love his voice. And then sometimes I record something and clearly, I have Brazilian accent and stuff. So. And then I asked him, like, what do you think? What do you think like this, okay. And I do trust him. Because I tend to think too much. And overthink, I'm a Libra. And I'm like, he's like, good enough. So yeah, I asked for criticism, and he does too. Like sometimes he would talk about of course, yeah. And we know, the best of both. And I know my best I know his best. So, I think is good criticism. Never like, oh my god, you know me?

Marlana

Well, that's good. So, when you write songs, do you have to be in a certain headspace or what is your writing process look like?

Julia

Definitely go to headspace for sure. Usually, when I'm alone, when Richard goes out for touring for, you know goes out, I usually tend to write more. Because then there's less distractions too. And you get in the zone, like you get in a studio, and I'll sit here for hours just to get to eat I have like, coffee. And next day I have reflux and I don't know why.

I have to go to a different place because I like writing and I imagined everything like, you know, the guitars, drums, the beats, the bass, whatever I like, literally arranging stuff to and then I go sing and I need I like to think about maybe, what am I going to sing about? What is this song bringing me you know, because rarely starts with the lyrics for me. So, then I start, you know, I have to just literally, I look outside the window here, I look at all, I start thinking about lyrics and words and what's going to be cool, what's going to make sense.

So, for sure, you have to be in a different mind space. Like, you have to get out of things. For sure. And sometimes it can be like, if I'm upset for something, it's very helpful. You know, if you have like, a heavy energy on you, could be upsetting, could be excitement, could be whatever, that they usually help to, if you sit down and use that energy to put out in wars or whatever, or songs that helps for sure.

Marlana

And that's always been baffling to me that you you can just write something from nothing and put yourself there kind of a thing where instead of oh my gosh, I'm so upset about this. I have to write something.

Julia

Right. I rarely my life, road stuff based on reality or something that happened? Rarely. I get inspirations of course. But yeah, that is interesting. A lot of people use their own personal lives, like Taylor Swift. I know she writes all about her love life or whatever

Marlana

she writes about everybody.

Julia

Okay, yeah, I don't know much about her work. But I know that she writes based on her experiences, and I'm like wow! I like tripping out about possibilities and wards and lakes in there. I don't know. And then I'm about to finish my first solo album. And sometimes it's even like the little what exactly, are you talking about? No nonsense.

But like, I like to be a little too lifted the creativity of people just think about what cannot be, you know, not obvious stuff like that. So, yeah, I do know music is just very interesting. It's creating is, is art. I mean, it's like painting, you just start from nothing.

Marlana

Yeah, that's true. And I wouldn't worry about if people understand it or not, because Queen made a whole career on them on things that you can't necessarily understand.

Julia

Is not even. That's the point of like, some people might get upset or something, oh, my God, I don't get the feedback I want. But like, when I write a song I'm writing first of all for myself, because I have that energy, that creativity. I'm like, oh, and I get excited. I listen to the devil. Yeah, I look at it, and I want to share with my husband or someone. But that's why I'm trying to finish my album, because I've been writing for so long.

And I have a few singles who in their britches, like people have to hear stuff finish. I'm like, Yeah, that's why because I already get excited. myself with my own...

My name is Payton Rose Velligan, but I go by Payton Rose on stage and on social media/website

(From my website) Payton Rose Velligan is a 21-year-old multi-instrumentalist and performer born and raised just outside of Charlotte, NC. Specializing in vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, and occasionally a bit of tambourine, she is versatile and happy to fill any position on stage. Recognized at the national level as a high schooler by associations such as the GRAMMY foundation and Honors Performance Series, Payton has had many opportunities to perform on stages across the country, from small town bars to Carnegie Hall.

A public performer since the age of five, Payton took her first professional steps at the age of fifteen as a founding member of the band Irrashional, an original group out of Charlotte which sought to revive the sonic glory of 70s rock-n-roll. The band released two original EPs, Closer Than You Think (2018) and Beyond (2019), which feature Payton on vocals and bass guitar. In 2019, during her first month of college, Payton joined forces with Tommy DeCarlo, the singer of the legendary rock band Boston (since 2007). She has been thrilled to be the keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist of DECARLO for three years.

Payton is currently on tour with Tommy DeCarlo, performing the Music of Boston, and with Rudy Cardenas of American Idol, performing the Music of Journey. She is excited to be sharing some of her favorite music with audiences all over the globe!

Payton is currently a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, majoring in Music (surprise!) and minoring in Arts Administration. She is expanding her study of piano in college and spends her weekends traveling and playing shows.

When not practicing or performing, Payton enjoys spending her time reading anything - from classical literature to sci-fi novels to biographies to Shakespeare's dramas. She also loves spending time with her family, her dog Cookie, and all the wonderful people she has befriended through music.

paytonrosemusic.com

@paytonrosemusic on Instagram and Facebook

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

I just met a star. That's what I thought when I first met Payton Rose Velligan and saw her perform. She sings, plays piano, keyboards, guitar, bass and occasionally a bit of tampering and kills the stage in her red boots of public performance since the age of five, she took her first professional steps at the age of 15. And at 21 is currently on tour with Tommy DeCarlo and Rudy Cardenas while still finishing up her music major at UNC. Believe me when I tell you this girl is the total package and I'm honored to know her. Welcome, Peyton.

Payton

I relate to thank you so much for that. That was so kind.

Marlana

Well, so tell us how did you get into music in the first place?

Payton

Like any little kid, I mean, I love to mess around with the piano. And my parents were very musical. There was always music playing in our house on the stereo. My mom played piano, I mean, just singing, dancing. I had a very musical upbringing. So, I love music since an early age. You know, I started taking piano lessons when I was five or six. And I never wanted to live my life without music in it. So that's kind of how it all started. And it just grew and grew from there. Definitely.

Marlana

So, you play a lot of different instruments. Was that just out of curiosity that you kept picking them up? Or at a necessity? Or what?

Payton

A little bit of both? I guess definitely curiosity is a good way to put it and just in love and wanting to emulate some of my heroes, probably because like I said, I started out with piano. And then I picked up the guitar when I was 13. Because my dad, he played, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And you know, I wanted to be like Jimmy Page or John Lennon. And I wanted to play, and I did pick up the bass as a necessity. Ironically, it might be my favorite instrument now. But I was in a four-piece band in high school. And our bass player went off to college. We were all sad. And we needed a bass player. So, I thought I try it. And I ended up absolutely loving it.

So, we became a trio. And singing. I mean, I've just always loved to sing. And I had to find my competence in singing, especially in front of other people. That was not something that came naturally it was playing in front of other people, but I always love to do it. It'd be nice when nobody was listening.

Marlana

So how did you find your confidence? Because believe me when you get on stage now, you own it.

Payton

Oh, thank you!

Marlana

So, where'd that come from?

Payton

It took a while. I actually owe a lot to my amazing, amazing teachers that I've had throughout the years. I would not be on stage, especially if it weren't for my guitar teacher. His name is Carl Gunther. And I started taking lessons from him when I was probably 14 or 15. And he really gave me the push that I needed to go out of my comfort zone. And that was something I struggled with, stepping out of that, my little tiny box that I felt comfortable in. I think I was taking lessons from him for about two weeks only. And he had taught me the guitar solo to purple haze by Jimi Hendrix, which I never even thought I could play guitar solo at that point. And he said, Hey, we're having a little concert at this pizza place nearby and I want you to come out and play and I didn't even know the whole song and you know, he just got me up on stage. And he played drums behind me, and we had a friend jump up on bass and I just did it and I was terrified.

There's a video of me out there somewhere my hair is just completely covering my face intentionally that way. And I did not like it the crowd the whole time. I was so embarrassed. But afterwards, the song ended, and I just felt this amazing. I just felt so good. I loved it. It was like I definitely noticed at that moment that it wasn't as scary as I thought it was. And you know people, I mean I made mistakes; people didn't care. You know, everybody was just there to have fun and it's really that simple. Every time I go up on stage, I think to myself, I'm here to have fun. I always have fun. And the crowd is here to have fun. They don't come to a rock concert, expecting perfection, they just want to have a good time. And that's what we do. We have a good time. And it's always fun, and it's never perfect. And that is totally okay.

Marlana

So now when you get on stage, what does it feel like?

Payton

It feels energizing. And it's always a thrill. Seeing the crowd for the first time, you know, we go out in the soundcheck, and all the seats are empty. You know, there's a lot of reverberation, and nobody's soaking up that sound yet. And then we don't go on stage again until the place is full. And that is always I think I'm immediately struck with just so much gratitude that people are coming to hear us and I maybe a little bit of surprise, sometimes that, you know, people are there to see us and are so excited about it.

But yeah, I'm always very thankful to see a crowd so excited when we walk out on stage, but definitely energizing some days. You know, I can't wait to go out there and I'm just bouncing off the walls and some days. I'm like, I could really use a nap. But as soon as I go out there, it always feels the same. I mean, I feel amazing.

Marlana

You did something that not a lot of people have done. You've actually played at Carnegie Hall. Tell us about that.

Payton

Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I have. I've sang at Carnegie Hall. And that was just one of the amazing experiences I've had. I had as a high schooler actually. I audition for something called The Honors Performance Series. A program for students, and singers to take the trip up to New York and be an acquirer with people from literally around the globe, all across the US. And yeah, other countries as well. And we all came together in New York and rehearsed for a few days. And then we had the big show at Carnegie Hall. And that was one of the most beautiful spaces I have ever been in. I have dreams in Carnegie Hall to this day, like where I'm just walking around. It is so dreamlike. I mean, it's an ethereal, it's really amazing. So yeah, so I keep saying the word amazing a lot because that's kind of how I feel like everything is looking back at it, it's almost hard to believe that it happened and that I was actually there. And it was a great memory, I met a lot of I was in the women's choir. So, a lot of ladies who were just amazing singers and pushed me to be better.

I learned a lot about harmonizing with others. And I was an alto. And you know, that's it's, it was hard for me to be in the middle of all these voices. And definitely helped me train my ear a little bit. And you know, Carnegie Hall is built to be perfect acoustics. So going in there, you know, when you start singing, I tried to soak up every second of hearing, you know, the choir that I was a part of just hearing that sound. It's like nothing you've ever heard until you actually go there. It was really cool.

Marlana

And you know, that's one thing that always strikes me about watching you in any performance I've either seen on tape or live is you soak everything up, which is such a good thing because there's so many people that just aren't present in their life. And to see that you just want to take it all in and love every moment of it. And that's so nice to see. Now, you're only in your first month of college when you joined forces with Tommy DeCarlo. So how did that happen?

Payton

Yeah, that was a crazy time in my life.

Marlana

And also, for anybody who has, you know, kind of been under a rock, tell us who Tommy DeCarlo is.

Payton

Yes, Tommy DeCarlo is the current lead singer of the band Boston. So more than a feeling peace of mind. All those hits came from Boston and yeah, he's, he's currently singing with them. So, I've had the absolute honor of sharing the stage with him for about three years now. And yeah, as you said, I did join the band. Right after I started my freshman year. I met them over the summer after I graduated high school. And, you know, we're all Charlotte. Well, current Charlotte residents. And so of course through the music scene, you know, you meet people, and I always knew Okay, the singer of Boston is here, but like, I've never been able to catch a show. And I've been a huge fan Boston, you know, all throughout high school and everything.

So, I finally got to go to show. And to my surprise, they are looking for a keyboardist and a guitarist. And is the first time I got to talk to Tommy, senior, we call him because there's a Tommy Junior. He pulled me aside at one of their shows, and he was like, how are you on the keyboard? And this was out of the blue, like, he had actually invited me to sing a song with them. I think I did a journey song separate way with them. And so, I was like, Oh, that was so fun. And what a cool experience to sing with them. And, you know, they'll remember this forever, you know, whatever. But I will. The he pulled me aside and carried on keyboards. I mean, I've played for a long time, and I'm studying in college. But in that moment, I had like, no cough. I was like, I don't know, because he's really good on the keyboards anyways. So, they invited me to play, sit in a couple more shows with them. And then I got the big invitation to join their band. And I actually play guitar as well. So, they needed a second guitarist. So, I was able to kind of fill both those roles. And learning all the Boston songs was so much fun. It is such great music. So well written in very genius composer, and all the guitar harmonies and keyboard organ parts are brilliant. So that was a fun project to take on, but a little bit stressful going into college as well as a bunch of new things all at once.,

Marlana

So, what's the road like been like for you at 21 years old?

Payton

It's so much fun. I love it. I love it. I mean, a year ago, two years ago, if you asked me, you know, do you think you'd be on the road? You know, with whoever I would say, You kidding me? Like, that would be amazing. But I mean, I never expected to be here. It's definitely the time of my life. I love it. We have an amazing band and amazing crew. And so, everybody being on the road together is just fun. It is really cool. It's really fulfilling to be able to go out to different cities and see, you know, we're in the a few new places for the first time. And we see crowds coming out and loving the show. And it's just really cool to be able to share this music with so many people and new faces and make new friends.

I try my best to be able to go out and talk to some people after the show and make new friends and I love that part of it so much. And now I have friends across the country and that is definitely the coolest thing to take away from all this, is just meeting new people and, and definitely all the great memories I love. You know, on our days off, we try to go out and see the cities. We're in Dallas right now. So, we did a few historical things yesterday and had some barbecue, which was fantastic. And you know, we just tried to explore it and take it all in. There's so many cool things to see. And all the places we've been, and I love to explore so it's definitely a dream come true for me. And I'm just so insanely grateful to be here definitely.

Marlana

So how do you then juggle Rockstar Peyton and student Peyton?

Payton

Well, I don't know if I think of myself as Rockstar Peyton. I guess I'm just Payton . I think it is. Realistically, it's definitely taking a little bit of hard work and discipline and you know, doing some reading and homework at soundcheck and stuff like that, and, you know, on the bus or van going back and forth on the plane. I mean, it really is just a matter of doing it. But, you know, I'm studying music and school and arts administration. And so, it really kind of ties into exactly what I'm doing right now. And so, you know, I'm grateful to be receiving that education and being able to put it into practice right now with my work. And so, it's, it's not easy, but it's 100% 110% worth it. And so, like on the job training, yeah, I have to give a shout out to my professors to at UNCG I've had so many really great professors and who have been really understanding and supportive of me being in in music and doing this, and I'll tell them the beginning of the semester, hey, I might be missing class sometimes. And I'll do whatever I can to make up the work or whatever. And you know, can you record your lecture or whatever, and they have been so accommodating and just really supportive. So, I owe a lot of them as well.

Marlana

So, you play primarily with an all-male band. But recently, you and I met when you got to play with an all-female band at Rock and Roll fantasy camp. So how was it different playing with all men versus all women?

Payton

I love my guys, I love them. I've played with so many fantastic guys. Throughout my career, so far, I'm playing at the Women's camp, but with our band, hello, cleavage. We were, we had so much fun, it was definitely different. I think, well, first of all, we had all just met each other. So, you know, that was one thing too. And I feel like we kind of created a bond really quickly. And maybe that was because we were all women, and we were all sharing this experience. And I think we just had never had that opportunity we'd all been in bands, but never with women. So, the fact that we were all there, and we could share our experiences and kind of relate over certain things. And we find, you know, somebody would be telling a story, and we don't be like, Oh my gosh, I guess like, you get it, I get it, you know, like, we feel the same way about this.

And it was really cool. You know, we were it was a very supportive environment, everybody was there to kind of lift each other up it, there wasn't a sense of real competition between anybody, it was just, you know, we want to help each other. And we were all there to share this, you know, once in a lifetime experience. And so, you know, everybody was just grateful to be there. So it was great.

Marlana

What do you take away from that experience?

Payton

Wow! Definitely! Well, a lot of things. I feel empowered. I definitely. I mean, I don't know if this sounds cheesy, but like, I feel like I can do anything. And I really do. It was really cool to see women of all ages there at the camp. I'm 21 and there was, I think some ladies in their 70s there who were still totally rocking out and just killing it. Seeing Nancy Wilson, seeing you know, Kathy Valentine, all these women who have been doing it for so long, really gave me competence and empowered me that I feel like I'm on the right path.

Sometimes I feel like, I feel anxious, or I feel this pressure. Because, you know, you got to do everything while you're still young, or oh, now, you know, before you're a certain age, you know, you have to have made it or else it's not going to happen for you. And usually that happens when you're, you know, in your 20s People are kind of, nudging you to make it or find something else to do. Because once you've hit a certain age is if I don't know,

Tosha Jones, Musician

From playing small, smokey bars in southern Indiana, to touring world wide with national music acts, Los Angeles based heavy hitting drummer, Tosha Jones, quickly made a name for herself throughout the world's music scene. At just the ripe age of three, Tosha began expressing herself through music, song, and dance. In 1991 as a true drummer at heart, Tosha joined her jr. high school band and eventually begged her parents for a real drum kit instead of playing on various pots and pans and her mother's Tupperware.

Stemming from numerous garage bands and many Battle of the Band competitions throughout the Midwest, Jones finally jumped ship from working multiple factory jobs in Indiana and saved up enough money to move to Los Angeles, California as she immediately landed the Vans Warped Tour in 2008 with then, all-female punk rockers, The Randies.

Respectfully, after years of rejected auditions and trudging the streets of the Sunset Strip along Hollywood, Jones found herself in various bands on the road opening for national rock acts such as Stone Sour, Halestorm, Seether, & Skid Row, while eventually landing a long tour stint playing drums for Grammy nominated rock band, Saliva in March of 2018. As one of her personal career favorites, Tosha was contacted by American Idol (2015) to play in an all-female drum line for contestant Tyanna Jones, performing the song "Run The World" by Beyoncé.

Fast forward to Covid-19's protocols and cancellations in 2019/2020, and unfortunately like many other musicians finding themselves away from touring, Jones was part of numerous collaboration videos online which includes Sheltering Sky's Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot) in their 2021 Björk's cover "Army of Me", and most recently "Throwin' Stones", which hit on the recent attack of Ukraine. Jones was also featured in artist/singer, Chloe Trujillo's videos, "Mana" and "The Heaviest Sound is Silence". You can also find Tosha playing drums online in the star-studded cast for the David Z Foundation covering "Zombie", by Bad Wolves.

In December 2021, Jones was asked to play drums on a few tour dates for alt rockers Carolina Liar, best known for their hit songs "Show Me What I'm Looking For" and "I'm Not Over".

In January of 2022, Jones received a last-minute call to bash the skins for the fresh hard rockers, Black Satellite, as they were direct support for Nita Strauss's (Alice Cooper, The Iron Maidens) 2022 Winter Wonderland Tour.

In Spring of '22, Jones was invited to be a camp counselor for the famous Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp where iconic musicians such as Melissa Etheridge, Nancy Wilson (Heart), and Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's were the special guests.

Tosha is currently preparing for a summer long tour in the making playing drums for original singers of Josey Scott (Saliva) and Brett Scallions (Fuel) doubling down on the kit for both powerhouses on the Original Madness Tour!

•https://youtu.be/3-G9zkcBQTE

• https://youtu.be/1ZQy3lQF7Mc

• https://youtu.be/6UmqG43rSV8

www. marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcript : Vision In Word

Marlana

From playing on various pots and pans on her mother's Tupperware to small smoky bars in southern Indiana to touring worldwide with national music acts Los Angeles based heavy hitting drummer Tasha Jones quickly made a name for herself throughout the world's music scene, opening for acts such as Stone Sour, Halestorm, Seether and Skid Row and eventually landing along tour stint playing drums for the Grammy nominated Rock Band Saliva. Welcome, Tasha.

Tosha

Thank you. It's good to be here.

Marlana

Did you always want to be a musician?

Tosha

Yeah, I always bordered on an athlete and musician, drummer, for sure. It was always something that would pull at my heartstrings. Like I always make time for everything growing up. But I knew that I was gonna have to make a choice. Soon once I got into high school. And when I got into high school, and then went into college, I played basketball in college, and also tried out for the band in college, but I made it, but I decided that I was too busy with basketball. And so, I actually didn't go down the music route until a year later. So, it was interesting that that was how it worked out. But yeah, that's kind of what happened with that situation. And then after basketball, I joined my first like, real GarageBand with three other guys on college campus. And then that was once I got a taste of that.

Marlana

So, why drums? Because I know not a lot of girls play drums.

Tosha

Correct! Yeah. And growing up in the 80s, actually didn't see it hardly ever. I was born and raised in a super small town in southern Indiana, and I got made fun of, told that I was never going to be any good. Bla , bla, bla ! And that finally happened. Even like older people too. I even remember, one of my basketball teammates in college said something like, you're never gonna make it do that. So just a lot of different people have told me that through the years. And I'm sitting here now proving them all wrong, which feels great.

Marlana

and I always believe that you should really never take the advice or opinions of people you wouldn't trade places with.

Tosha

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's true. And I never did really, I was just like, silent bird and walked away.

Marlana

So, tell me then, what does it feel like to sit behind those drums and play for you?

Tosha

Oh, my gosh! Powerful! Humbling as well, but very powerful. Growing up knowing it was a man's world. And now I'm right up there with some of the best of them. So that's empowering.

Marlana

Yeah. Do you think more girls should play drums?

Tosha

Well, it's definitely risen so much since I started. But yeah. Not based on fear. as long as there's no fear involved. If there is fear involved, I guess I should say don't let that stop any girl from doing anything. Whether it's basketball, doctor, drummer, yeah. Don't allow fear to dictate your future.

Marlana

Do you ever get nervous when you play?

Tosha

No, I don't get nervous. I would rather play in front of 10,000 people 20,000 people instead of 10. The only time I remember ever getting nervous was if my parents would ever walk into my room and I was playing. And then in seventh grade, we had a show and tell, and I brought my entire drum kit to the classroom and played that thing, and I was nervous then I remember being nervous then. And then I also played for like at the end of the school year, we could bring in, you know what our talent was like a talent show. And I believe that was in eighth grade. I played in front of the whole school. And I was nervous because I played by myself when I was just up there. I don't even remember, I think I played like In a Gadda DaVita, or something. Not very well, but that I remember being nervous about, but fast forward, my senior year, I played In a Gadda DaVita at my graduation, because I was in tough bands, jazz band, the school band. And I wasn't nervous for that. And that was in front of a whole auditorium arrives the whole gym of community and local, local parents and all my peers, and that was amazing. Like, I remember doing that, but I wasn't nervous.

I get weird, to where my brain doesn't function. Like you can ask me the simplest of questions like, what's your favorite color? And I'll go, I have no idea. That's right before I play, that's like an hour or two, before I hit the stage. And I don't know what's going on, or how that happens into my body. It's something I can't control. And I just almost blackout kind of, it's like, my brain shuts down. And I'm just on, airplane mode, basically. But once those lights go down, or once our walkout music starts playing Oh, yeah. I'm psyched, ready to go. So, like, who's not watching me? Because you should do? I'd like more eyes on me. I love it. So, yeah, no, I don't get nervous.

Marlana

It's interesting that you say it like that too, because that's something that happens with athletes, before they go out and play, they get in the zone, so to speak. And so, it's interesting that you were an athlete, and also had that experience with music.

Tosha

Yeah, that's interesting you say that, because I actually do pull a lot of musicians like as inspirations and influences. But I look a lot more to athletes that I pull from for inspiration. So, I can go out and run, every morning, or get through that strength training in the mornings and stuff like that. So yeah, I kind of pull from athletic side to inspire me and motivate me and stuff like that.

Marlana

So, has this always been an easy journey for you?

Tosha

The opposite. Oh my gosh! It's been the toughest journey ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it's just always full of surprises. And every day, you never know what's gonna happen. a lot of times, people take what they want to do, and you have a routine, and they do the same thing every day, like Groundhog Day, the movie, which is fine. Sometimes that's awesome. sometimes I would like a little bit more stability in life and not having to guess, where my next gig is gonna come from, or how I'm gonna get it or anything like that. But yeah, it definitely hasn't been easy. And being a woman on top of all of that, I think it's way easier now to enter into this field as a as a female woman. And not that it is still easy, but it's way easier than it's ever been. People want to see it. They're kind of sick of seeing men all the time. They want to see chicks rocking out and letting themselves go and being free. And even men like they love it. They love it. Most of them, but yeah, it was tough growing up for sure.

Marlana

And I got the sense to that. Because we met about a month or so ago, at Rock and Roll fantasy camp, and that was the first women's only and I got the distinct sense that the voice of women in rock especially has been underserved and under heard for a really long time. How would you like to see that change?

Tosha

I mean, just more opportunity and do the same. The same across the board. Like, if the men get certain gear, the women should get the same gear, stuff like that just equal opportunity all the time. No one has any excuses with anything and so. But yeah, more opportunity, more airtime more TV time, more rock camps that were only women base. And it's unfortunately still slowly headed in that direction I feel

Marlana

Actually, let me ask you this incident, would you get out of Rock Camp once you get out of that experience?

Tosha

Oh, man! Well, I needed that. More than ever, at that time, as far as not even a musician based feeling it was more of something I was going through in my life at the time. And it was based on trusting women again and having that camaraderie and feeling safe. Then, on top of it, being able to play with all these other amazing women that were there, whether it were or the campers, the counselors, or the headliners. And each of my experience in those three fields was amazing. I was just talking to one of my campers an hour ago, she had wished me a happy birthday. And it's like, gosh! See, that's what I was able to pull out of it was friends, and I needed that more than anything. So, it came at the perfect time for me. And it was the expectations exceeded all of that. From my experienced in those four days that we were all there.

Marlana

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think the space exists often enough for women to just support other women. But when we have that space, and when it happens, it is an unbelievably powerful thing.

Tosha

Yeah, I have no idea. It would impact me as much as I think I cried a couple times. I cried, excuse me with my tampers in our room. together one day, we all did. And it was lovely. It wasn't a bad cry, you know? So, it was good.

Marlana

So, as you've gone through this journey, how much of it do you think is talent? And how much of that do you think is connections?

Tosha

In my opinion, you need the talent to get connections, but then you need the connections to get, where whatever path you're wanting to go towards. I mean, I don't want to say 5050 Because that's like cliche, but kind of right down the middle, honestly, because you can always build your talent, you can have a little bit of talent. And if you have a huge work ethic, then your talent can expand to a huge degree. So, that's that, but definitely knowing the right people, but keeping it to where it's not fake or phony. That's kind of the trick, honestly.

Marlana

there's a right way to network and there's a wrong way to network. And I don't think people are taught the right way often enough. We'll just leave it at that.

Tosha

Oh, I've done some really stupid things in the past, in my opinion, not even thinking that oh, this might not be the best idea. you get into this like, Oh my God! I want that gig so much. I'll do anything to get it. And you're just thinking that you're not thinking of how this is going to offend whoever or them think that you only want to contact them because of who they know. I'm guilty of those numerous times. I've learned, luckily, a couple people said, don't do that. So, I learned from that.

Marlana

So, how do you make your connections? Or how do you handle your networking?

Tosha

for example, I am best friends with one of the best drummers on television at the moment, and we have an 11- or 12-year relationship. And I started off by sending him an email, just a cold call email, and told him that I really appreciated his drumming, and I thought he was a great talent. And if he ever had time for drum lessons, or any knowledge, he wanted to drop me with that I would be more than grateful. And he responded and was amazing in his response, and now we're best friends who take me to the Lakers games. And if he doesn't take me to the Lakers games, we go watch the Lakers down the street at a bar, or I babysit his kids for him and his wife sometimes, and it's a give and take equally.

So, he gives me knowledge. And I'm like, Dude, do you know and oh, I remember taking his kid to a computer class one summer, but I wanted to because I couldn't repay him financially. And I definitely couldn't repay him drumming because he's a beast, right? So, I tried to find where I could be of service into him and other ways to where he would know that. I'm not just trying to get something out of him. Right. and so we talk almost multiple times a week, during basketball season, almost every day.

Marlana

Do you think appreciation isn't shown enough?

Tosha

Oh, man. Absolutely! That's an interesting question. Because we're all so different. That if I message someone like, happy birthday, they don't respond or anything, like sometimes I'm like, Man, I said Happy birthday, but there wasn't much of a reaction. And maybe their reaction was enough for them, so things get misconstrued. We're humans are wired. So, strangely, and I find it hard not to take offense to some of that, because I'm very sensitive and emotional. And so, I don't know.

Marlana

At the end of the day, one of the things that I've found is that people really just want to be seen and heard. And it doesn't take a whole lot on anybody's part to say, "hey, listen, thank you, "or "I see you" or "I appreciate you" or any of those kinds of things. So, speaking of appreciation, who's been your biggest influence?

Tosha

Well, definitely any member of No Doubt, from when I was, I had just turned 15 When I got turned on to them. So that was in like, 95 or 96, something like that. Let's see, anyway. And they got me through life, basically. Because during that time, there wasn't easy for me, in the household. And at school, so all I had was music and a dream to be like them, and so they were definitely my biggest influence. But as I got older, I mean, I'm a huge Tommy Lee fan. I always loved him, you know.

But as far as non-celebrities, my mom, my auntie, my aunt Vicki, my sister. My family is amazing. They've been my biggest support through all of this and definitely would not be here if it weren't for them. So, I wouldn't say my family just because they're ultimately, nine times out of 10. Everyone has that situation where their family wants the worst for them. But yeah, I would say my biggest influence my mom and my auntie, my sister.

Marlana

I asked this for a reason. Do you think that initially letting...