We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacy Dawn Valeras a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacy Dawn, thanks for joining us today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?

My very first client was my favorite songwriter, Kelly Lang. I had gone to see her perform at a local venue here in Nashville and introduced myself to her. I noticed that some of her online content wasn’t as strong as I thought it could be and I offered to help her revise it. That led to me designing her album covers, website, social media content and everything she needed to promote her thriving career. My work with her started landing in magazines like Billboard and little by little, other artists began reaching out to work with me. Without Kelly’s initial belief in me and my work right from the start, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to launch my own business.

Jacy Dawn, 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?

I got my start in the music industry as a singer in the Boston area. When I was first starting out I knew that in order to set myself apart from other aspiring artists, I would need to have a website, video and promotional content that were in line with the major artists I hoped to work with with one day. I taught myself how to do all of this by taking extra art classes in school, educating myself on how to build a website and doing extensive research on what the major labels were doing to support their artists’ tours and music releases. I always believed that in order to be successful, I had to act and think like I already was. All of that work was worth it because I began landing major performance opportunities and gained the attention of music industry veterans.

One of the things that I am the most proud of when it comes to working with artists is how diverse that work really is. Not only do I run a company that provides digital marketing services but I also spend much of my time mentoring aspiring artists through my Music City Mentor platform. I get to do this through a video series on YouTube, a robust website filled with resources for young artists, and also through my podcast, Country Music Success Stories which I co-host with Boston radio veteran, Candy O’Terry. Each episode features an interview with someone in the country music world who has achieved a high level of success. We have featured superstars like Sara Evans, Crystal Gayle, Collin Raye, Jamie O’Neal and we have a very special interview with the late, Naomi Judd. Season 3 will launch September of 2022!

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I got to Nashville I realized there were many other rising artists in need of the things that I had already been doing for myself, marketing-wise, so I decided to start helping them. I would send ideas for social media posts and video content and I would offer to design single cover art for my friends. This helped me to gain the attention of some major artists also needing similar services and I started working with so many, in 2012, I decided to launch my own business, Platinum Circle Media.

One of those very first clients was platinum selling artist, Lorrie Morgan. I idolized Lorrie when I was growing up and the fact that she gave me an opportunity to work with her early on in my career was beyond my wildest dreams. All of a sudden I was creating graphic design pieces to support her touring, social media and album releases. It was a giant dream come true. Not only did she give me the opportunity to work with her, but she took me under her wing and really taught me a lot about the music business and Nashville.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal has always been very simple. When I first started out in the music industry, I didn’t have a great mentor or someone who knew more about the music business than I did. I promised myself that if I was ever in a position to be that person for someone else, I would seize every opportunity to do so.

In everything that I do, I always remind myself to be the person I needed when I was younger.

Contact Info:

• Website: jacydawnvaleras.com, platinumcirclemedia.com, themusiccitymentor.com
• Instagram: @jacydawnvaleras
• Facebook: @jacydawnvaleras
• Linkedin: @jacydawnvaleras
• Youtube: Youtube.com/musiccitymentor
• Other: Podcast: countrymusicsuccessstories.com

Image Credits
Michael Jenkins Bev Moser