I have always had a passion for creation, whether that was music, art, or dance, but I never expected to emerge myself within the music industry. I always wondered how people got discovered, and was constantly astonished with the talent that was within my own school, and with the great City of Chicago. I’ve had my fair share of performing in talent shows, or fundraising events, but I never understood what it took to organize such an event until this summer.

   As people filed in on one hot summer day, my two coworkers and I had a rough go of things at first, finding the best assembly line approach, but we were finally in harmony with one another. Right as we begin to settle down for the show, the elevator doors open and a father and his little daughter step out. He was young and smiling as his daughter looked no older than 10; sheepishly walked up to my booth. I started to get the father signed up when my coworker asked “Do YOU want to perform with your dad?” and she yelled “YEAH!”. I got the two signed up and let them go off to perform. 

   Ten minutes later, the first performer gets on stage and things go downhill. My friend and I had let every person we called know it was a family friendly event, and of course, the first guy gives a violent, X-rated freestyle. I was not happy, my friend looked embarrassed, the big boss was not happy, and the father/daughter duo were definitely not amused. They waited outside as I explained the situation, and they decided it was best to wait out there rather than risk another bad situation. They never got to perform, but those two made me recollect why I was interested in working in the music industry to begin with. At a young age, I was singing harmonies to some of the most iconic Whitney Houston songs, or playing guitar to Switchfoot, creating my own rhythms and world tours for my family and friends to watch. None of my family members were musically gifted, so the fact that a 4 year old could memorize such songs and create music with anything that was around her, made my family realize that I had a fire within me that would lead me into the years to come and be something I pursue in the future. My good friend taught me to love all music, and growing up listening to his absurd albums and Spotify playlists, were some of the greatest influences on my journey to really appreciating music. Quoting Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd led me to listen to artists like Father John Misty and Hobo Johnson, artists that helped me overcome struggles in my life and taught me that there is so much more to life than sadness or doubt. It brought me to the job I had and the friends I had met. I was once that little girl, and music has shaped me to become a young adult, and free spirit; and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

   The event I helped was a failure financially, as free events generally don’t make money, but that wasn’t the point. Even though we didn’t rake in much, we made community connections with incredibly talented young people. If any of the people who performed with us succeed, we will have a success down the road that will greatly outshine the money we lost that day. Watching a crowd, especially that father and daughter, was a sign that the future is bright and that giving to those people will come back in the long term.  Not only did I get to see my hard work pay off, but I got to see how strong, how confident the next generation of musicians are, and how they feel the same energy that drove me to pursue music.