We recently connected with Nikka Paloma Ty and have shared our conversation below.

Nikka, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

I have been blessed enough to have encountered a couple of amazing bosses – in fact, I call them LEADERS – in my career life, both in the music industry and in my corporate (advertising) years. Today I would love to talk about the amazing leader I worked with in my young years in the music industry – because she was my first boss ever, and also like a mother to me.

I was only twelve years old when I started in the music industry, and I was thirteen when I signed with Universal Records back in the Philippines. The late Bella Dy Tan was the big label boss. It was very empowering for me as a child in the industry to have had a lady boss to look up to. I always feel that I was partly raised by her. I carry with me to this day all the lessons I received from her, both career-related and personal. She always exuded kindness, but also was never afraid to firmly communicate what needs to be listened to.

It was not until my adult years when I took a break from the music scene, that I realized the challenges of navigating one’s place in a “world of suits” as a woman. I will always be inspired by who I called my “Tita Bella” – the way she owned her voice, knew what she wanted, and had a confident balance of both caring both for the business and the people she worked with. She had genuine care towards her artists. She defeated the wrong notion of having to make “cruel decisions” to make good business. You can care for people, and still be successful. You can be a record label owner that treats artists fairly. You can be in the entertainment business and not be evil. You can be a WOMAN and have an empire. You can be kind yet respected.

The world deserves to know that you do not always have to be what the world dictates. And if you are a woman trying to build your own empire, I hope you elevate past the challenges and bring a lot of good, because more little girls out there need the kind of inspiration that the little girl in me has been blessed to talk about today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a singer-songwriter. I received my first music award at the age of 12. It was an MTV-Asia Award for independent musicians. After that, I was approached by major record labels in the country where I grew up – the Philippines. Together with my band, we made the decision of signing with Universal Records. We had a short yet successful run, with a couple of songs that made it to the country’s top charts, and awards within a year of our album debut.

I took a long break from the music scene, but during that time I was still often invited to contribute. I once took part in reviewing and voting entries for nominations for the Awit Awards – which I guess is the Philippine equivalent of the Grammys. Outside of music, I spent ten years in media advertising where I worked for 20th Century Fox, caring for partnerships with some of my top favourite brands like Coca-Cola.

My experience both in music and brand partnerships inspired me to manage and care for live-streaming artists during the pandemic years. It was a joy servicing artists, making sure they received protection and fair opportunities in online broadcasting. That sort of work grew me a lot.

Currently, I am working on new music. I felt the call to return to my first love. I never stopped writing music, and so I look forward to publicly sharing my penned songs again very soon. In the meantime, I am happily sharing my journey so far, and the lessons, while still developing new music material.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We are living in an exciting time where different artists can independently share their work to a larger audience. With this however also comes a more unfiltered variety of offers. As a society and as consumers in general, we need to be mindful of what we invest our attention into. Attention is one of this generation’s largest forms of currency. The kind of media you consume the most is the kind of media that the algorithm will further push. So if something does not nurture you, or does not offer any positive growth… Then stop giving it your time. We as a society tend to get guilty pleasure from content that brings controversy. But does that kind of content serve anyone?

Always remember that as a media consumer, you are shaping future entertainment. You cannot always blame the major media outlets for the type of content they serve. As a consumer, stop serving the wrong system. Let the system know what you truly want. The algorithm relies on your behavior. If you wish to support messages of positivity, put your time and attention into that type of content.  If you wish to support independent artists and small businesses, and not allow the future to be shaped only by the major players, then give some of your time and attention to independent creatives. Every bit of attention you give – every click, like, comment, save and share – means more than you think. Do not wait for an artist to trend before you give them your attention. YOU help decide who trends.

Lastly, we cannot ever complain about what our children watch or listen to if we do not do our part. Please be discerning of what you give attention to. Future creative trends depend so much on you.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist is when you get to change someone’s life. Back when I managed and mentored live-stream artists, I remember calling them “architects of light”. It was my way of encouraging them and reminding them who we are. Unlike doctors and architects, the results of an artist’s work is not immediately seen in the physical. But that’s because our purpose has always been to treat or build something beyond the physical. An artist can change someone’s perspective or heal a spirit with sound, with visuals, with colors, with words.

Yet the path of an artist is tough. It takes so much time to produce art and results are not easy to come by. We live in a culture that celebrates quick numbers – followers, likes, streams and views. So it is easier than ever for artists to get discouraged when they do not see a number that society deems “successful”. Plus most people do not understand the hours of training and rehearsals that go behind every 3-minute performance. There is more to the work than most people know, so it’s common for artists to feel underappreciated.

We forget sometimes that the best feeling in the world does not come from numbers on our screens. The best feeling comes from messages from people telling you how you saved them from depression, how your song helped them get through a heartache, or how your message played an instrumental role in understanding their true identity. Nothing compares to that feeling of purpose, and I hope artists do not forget that. We are not built merely to produce numbers. We are entrusted with the opportunity to produce light.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: nikkapaloma

Image Credits
Lloyd Ty photography Universal Records (Philippines) 20th Century Fox (Philippines)