We recently connected with Eliza Javaheri and have shared our conversation below.

Eliza, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

As many know, successfully pursuing a career in music is no easy feat. I’ve always been an artist. I started singing just as early as I could talk. The music bug runs in the family and ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be performing,

In 2012, I quit my last “real job” and decided that with the money I had saved up, I was going to invest in my music career and go full time. I started working on an album with local Hip Hop legend, Swamburger, who had high hopes for me. Not only could I sing, I could rap really well and he took me under his wing. He wanted to focus on building my catalog with more rap-heavy songs because he said, “A lot of women can sing well but not a lot of women can rap like you do.” This is when we also began building my brand.

I used to go by the name Eternity which I came up with with a friend in 7th grade. Flash forward 10 years, and it was time for the next chapter of my branding. People would call me “Etern” for short. Swamburger had the idea to create a logo that looked like a street sign and then thought, what if you changed your name to “E-Turn” like “U-Turn” with an E? That would still preserve the name, “Eternity” but it would have a fresh perspective on my brand. I thought it was dope- connecting the street sign with my name and considering other things the name could mean…. “It’s E’s Turn.” “We don’t make U-Turns, we make E-Turns.” “I’m making new ‘turns’ in my life.” The list goes on.

The biggest thing that helped me level up in the game, I think, was investing in plane tickets to travel to areas where I felt my demographic lived. Areas I felt I’d do well in. Traveling to those cities and playing as many shows as I could whether it be open mics, opening for other artists, or sometimes even jumping into a cypher outside of a show and just showing people what I was capable of. I knew that most ears that heard me would be impressed. I impressed as many people as I could, networked, and built relationships with key people in each city.

I did this for years. A lot of people think that one day, you just blow up as an artist because you get seen by the right person. This does happen, but more times than not, artists’ journeys don’t shift until years and years of hard work have been put in, especially in the Hip Hop world. We “pay our dues” and we journey up hill, many times experiencing multiple burnouts.

It is still a struggle today. I am not famous like Lauryn Hill or Nas. But I have been able to do so many wonderful things in my career that keep the fire burning for me to keep pushing, including traveling the world to perform. I have opened for artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Talib Kweli, Snow The Product, Hopsin, and more. And I have toured and worked with artists like KRS-One, DJ Abilities, Homeboy Sandman, Dessa, Ceschi, Blueprint, etc.

Networking and building solid relationships is key in this industry. Creating quality product, honing your craft, and being the best at what you do are also major keys. Branding and marketing is extremely important, just like with any other business. Understanding that the music industry is not what it was 20 years ago will allow artists (and other stakeholders) to learn the proper ways to pursue revenue. Record sales used to be how artists would become successful. This is mostly a thing of the past. Streaming is how we consume music and artists get paid very little for this. You must be touring to make money. Selling merchandise on tour. And also getting licensing deals with your music. Sponsorships are also important for artists these days.

Since the pandemic, my life has been a series of side hustles. Beforehand, I was touring full time and that became impossible when the world shut down. I don’t know if live shows will ever be the same so I think it’s important to start innovating what they look like. Thankfully, I’ve been able to pick up some work creating music for Facebook/Instagram to use in their Sound Collection for Reels. I’ve been doing more voiceover work as well. I’ve also signed a sync deal with a great company and am hoping to get my music picked up for film, TV, commercials, and video games in the near future. My life seems to be moving toward more non-profit work which has proven to be very rewarding. I’m doing workshops with local non-profit organizations in which I teach kids how to make beats, write lyrics, record, etc. I may start my own non-profit someday. I think that everyone’s purpose ultimately ends up being something that helps others, and I’ve found a way to do this through music.

A career in music is really not what most people think it is, especially for indie artists. It has been a very tough journey at times but such an incredible one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I think a lot of this was covered in the last question :) but I’ll add what I can.

My brand, E-Turn, represents many progressive pursuits. I’m here to show to women that they can succeed in male-dominated industries and also to help raise the standard for women in Hip Hop. I want to make good music that inspires the world to be better. I want to help heal people through conscious music and encourage them to follow their dreams. I aim to show young women that we can succeed with our talent and that we don’t need to be objectified. I aim to show the youth, in general, that we can succeed with righteous pursuits.

I’m a touring artist, performing Hip Hop music worldwide. I write and record my music and frequently collaborate with phenomenal producers and other musicians. I sell merchandise that connects with my brand. I am a teacher, spreading knowledge to preserve the culture of Hip Hop and teaching the youth positive outlets of creativity, I also do voiceover work and have done ads for companies such as K-Mart, RE/MAX, and more.

I am passionate about mental health which you’ll learn through my music. I believe we are all here to help each other and to collaborate in uplifting our earthly experience.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Organic interaction!

At shows, I ask people to tag me in pictures and video which usually leads to them following me. When they comment on my posts, I interact back. If they message me to give me a compliment on my music, I always respond with gratitude.

Interesting content is a big one. Do you have content that people want to see? I started a series on Instagram called “Sunday Sixteen,” where I rap a 16-bar verse over a dope producer’s beat and release a video every Sunday. I also did a series on my IG story called “Rap Wars,” where I would pair 2 rappers up against each other and put a poll on the post to see who was more popular among my followers. It got a lot of interaction. Interactive content! Quality content! Consistent content!

Hashtags have also brought me some traffic but you have to be careful these days because they will also bring you a lot of spam.

Overall, building your social media presence successfully is a combination of things and I’m still working on it myself. You want organic and loyal followers. This is how you’ll gain more and this is what will propel and sustain your business.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When the pandemic happened, I thought that was it for my music career. 3 tours cancelled, including a big European one. This happened at a peak point in my career. When I tell you 2020 was my year, I say that without hesitation. I was finally on my feet with my business and doing big things!

After years of not working a “9 to 5,” I thought this would be when I’d finally have to go back to slaving for someone else’s empire. Thanks to my community and relentlessness, I didn’t give up. I found ways to move forward, including livestream shows where I locked sponsorships in to help pay the artists. I got connected with other working artists, brainstormed, and collaborated. I had to think outside of the box and that brought me a sync deal, a contract with Facebook, and more voiceover work. I sought out resources that helped keep working artists afloat through the shut down.

With our rapidly growing and ever-evolving technology, I think it’s so important to know how to be comfortable adapting, learning new things, and becoming innovative as a business owner. Above all else, I think that solid relationships and genuine effort to solve people’s problems are the most important.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eturnmusic.info
• Instagram: instagram.com/eturnmusic
• Facebook: facebook.com/eturnmusic
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eturnmusic
• Twitter: twitter.com/eturnmusic
• Youtube: youtube.com/eturnmusic

Image Credits
Daniella Hume Tyla Harrington Sandra Quinlan Tasha Copley K-Mo Snaps Juan Ruiz (Please contact me for specifics)