We recently connected with Jessica Ridley and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
One of the lessons I have had to learn over and over as an entrepreneur is that no one is coming to save me! These amazing ideas are ours and ours alone and no one knows exactly what our vision is, quite like us. I have paid “experts” tens of thousands of dollars to do things FOR me and every single time I have ended up disappointed, disillusioned and more broke than before. I have learned that I don’t need help at every junction and that that longing has its roots in a lack of self worth! I am slowly learning that I am enough, I have what it takes and I don’t need bailing out!
Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have been a chronic entrepreneur since I was a little girl. :) By the time I was 12, I had started a neighborhood wide babysitting club with its own phone number, several employees and very successful summer camps! I am super creative and I am at my happiest when I am using my hands or my voice to create something out of nothing. I sell paintings, crochet hats, my songs, and even sourdough bread and herbal teas!
Most recently I invented a pet supplement that saved my cat’s life and is now being carried in several locations around Nashville and distributed by a large All Natural online company called Azure Standard!
I think I have a pleasant voice to listen to and I’ve been told I sound like Natalie Maines or Sheryl Crow – but more than even that, I feel like my strengths are communicating with an audience and making people feel understood via my art.
My most cherished achievements are:
1) Winning ABC’s The Big Time reality show in 2011 which earned me an opening spot on the iHeart Radio Music festival opening for Lady Gaga, Kenny Chesney, Will I Am and more.
2) Getting our brand new Pet Supplement distributed by a national company so early on.
3) Making my way to #62 on the billboard charts so many years ago with my independent single Flaming Red.
4) Still making a living in a business that is declining as people seem to value it less and less and want free music (aka the Music Biz)
What I Regret
1) Not practicing guitar more regularly
2) Not taking social media more seriously at its outset
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
It’s literally so hard to choose just one! We could go with my first showcase where I had never really been on stage before and got so nervous that I don’t think I sang a right note the entire show! Or we could talk about losing 17K to a guy who was supposed to be managing me but we found out he was drinking away my money and renting cars for his family on my tab. But I think I’ll highlight the time my manager threw me to the wolves lol This is actually all said with such fondness – not bitterness – because of the amazing lessons I learned and the memories made. I’m so glad I can laugh about it all now!
I started out singing in a VERY small church in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. I had only ever sung in front of 50-60 people. My manager was a friend who attended this church and happened to be the worship director. When he began trying to get me my start, someone he knew had an artist back out of a small tour. This involved 4 nights at a bar a couple hours north of me and a night opening for a bigger act, about 12 hours north of me. He didn’t even ask me – he just committed me to it and then called me and said I had learn FORTY SONGS in FOUR DAYS!!!!! To say I panicked would be an understatement!! But I did it dang it! All while keeping up with laundry, dishes, and four kids under four!
The shows didn’t go amazing, I didn’t get booked again lol but they didn’t flop either! By the time I got waaaaay up north I felt like I was fairly adequate and was determined to kill it…until I pulled in the parking lot. They were putting us up in the motel attached to the venue which also had a strip club as a part of it. It was called “The Do It In The Woods Strip Club and Bar”. Thank God we were just playing at the bar and not the strip club!!!! I am seriously laughing so hard now but at the time, I was in tears calling my manager and saying I was coming home. He told me there was no way I could and so I proceeded to do my job. I have never been so glad a show was over and I feel like standing up in front of people, sucking, wanting to quit when in such an uncomfortable situation, and being willing to keep getting on that horse, shows my resilience pretty well :)
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Buy CDs, merch, LPs, any kind of physical item you can! It’s common knowledge now that we make pennies for streams and digital purchases so by booking us for house concerts, bringing us to your home town saloon, wearing our t-shirts and going old school by spinning a CD, you are supporting us to be able to keep doing what we both love!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jessicaridley.com
- Instagram: @thejessicaridley
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/thejessicaridley
- Twitter: @jessicaridley
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JessicaRidley
- Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@thejessicaridley?_t=8oGvKlwfSFL&_r=1
