Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nismah Osman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nismah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

From an early age I was captivated by music. I remember being as young as 8 or 9 writing lyrics and melodies and sharing them with my family. I even made up a rap song with a stage name and everything. I still remember all the lyrics! It was clear that I had vocal abilities, and so my musical interests were encouraged by my family. Little by little I amassed a musical skillset – plucking melodies on the out of tune upright piano we had in our garage, and teaching myself how to play guitar on early-stage YouTube with an old, beaten up guitar that was missing the high E-string.

By the time I was in middle school, I was recording songs in a studio environment. They weren’t great songs, but it didn’t matter because those experiences were far more valuable to me in terms of the inspiration and encouragement they would provide to help me write better songs.

It all came to a head for me my freshman year of high school when I went to a local singer-songwriter convention they were holding in my town – which, I should say, was odd for the town I grew up in because it was a small, beach-side tourist destination that clung tightly to small town, traditional vibes. It turns out that one of my music teachers had a son who was in a successful band, and he put this convention together. They gave us high school music nerds free passes. That was the beginning of the end for me.

I went to this convention with my cd-rom demos, some free Vistaprint business cards I managed to scrounge together last minute, and a whole boatload of naiveté. From about the moment I walked into the conference room, I was hooked. The energy was electrifying; creatives, business people, writers, managers, producers, executives – you name it, everyone was there. I could sense the tension and excitement that comes with moments full of possibilities.

As I made my rounds through the lectures, seminars, and tabling, I became more and more convinced that this was the path for me. There was something so thrilling about the music industry; about carving your own path and defining your own success.

Of course, since I was 13, I still had to go to my softball game later that day. It was the worst game I ever played because I was so distracted by my fantasies of a music career. I didn’t care. I knew I had found the path that my heart and soul wanted to take. From that moment, it became my dream to spend my life making music.

Nismah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

No matter what other formal titles I possess, I am and always will be a songwriter at my core. I absolutely love writing songs because I am obsessed with the process of creating something from nothing; with solving the puzzle of how to tell an amazing, honest story that touches others so deeply. It is one of my greatest joys in life.

In terms of how I utilize my love of songwriting to create a career, right now my focus is in two places – writing music for sync licensing opportunities and teaching other musicians how to do the same.

I help other musicians earn income through music-making by teaching them how to write music that works for sync licensing opportunities. I’ve taken my years of experience, distilled them into core lessons and strategies, and invited others to achieve results by applying those lessons and strategies.

What sets me a part is that I take a systematic approach to this process that holds the long-term, sustainable vision I mind at all times. In other words, I don’t just teach people how to fish, I teach them how to run a fishery.

I believe that time is the most precious resource we have – and that doing anything that doesn’t fill our cup but that still requires our time is actually in charge of us. I don’t believe we have to live that way. I believe that we can create systems and therefore lives that allow us to focus on and participate in the things that bring us joy, health, community, connection, etc., while outsourcing the rest to others for whom that work feels fulfilling.

This is the type of thinking I bring to all the work in my life, and the type of thinking I teach my clients.

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

When my grandmother died, she disinherited all of us from her will. It’s complicated, but needless to say it was a huge disappointment in many ways, on top of the grief from losing her.

I was already determined to build financial and life freedom at this point, but this event catapulted me into overdrive and I began learning about wealth, finance, investment, business acquisition and more. I became obsessed with it. All of this not only led to increased knowledge and insights in this area, but it also led to a painful realization that in the USA, we are NOT taught how to handle money, use money, invest money, or build wealth! Despite the fact that beginning at 18 years old our entire lives revolve around making a living, we are not prepared in the slightest – that is at least if you are in the modern public school system like I was and didn’t have parents to teach you these things, either. I think I remember one lesson in high school where they briefly explained what a credit card was and how it worked. That was the entirety if my financial education.

This leads me to my point — I believe that what society can do for artists and creatives is teach them financial literacy, so they can actually know how to build thriving businesses from their art. The fact is, the world needs art, entertainment, music, etc. There is an ever growing demand for it, actually. Yet, most people can’t crack the code on how to convert their skills into financial gain. When this happens, they believe it is because they simply aren’t good enough. This may be the case, yes, but it’s definitely not the whole story. If you have the best pizza recipe in the world, but no idea how to get people to buy your pizza, that’s not a testament to your recipe, is it? It’s a symptom of a larger problem – you don’t know how to sell your product! The good news is that as long as there’s a will, there’s a way – you can learn how to do this but it will take time.

I think if society prioritized this education from an early age, we’d have more successfully self-employed creatives leading fulfilled lives, contributing their work to our world.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal in life is to enjoy it.

The means to this end involves several things:
1. Knowing what brings me joy and makes me feel full, happy, connected, healthy, etc.
2. Having the time to do those things.
3. Having the energy to do those things.
4. Having the money to do those things.

Ultimately, I want to engage in activities that make me happy more often than not, and help others learn how to do the same, so we all feel happier, healthier, and more connected. My creative journey serves this purpose by helping me stay in touch with my inner joy and knowing, and by helping me grow closer to the 4 things I mentioned above.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nismahosman.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/nismahosman
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/nismahosman