We recently connected with Ashley Orlando and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I was about 15 or 16 years old the first time someone paid me to sing. It was for a wedding at my church. Somehow the couple had heard me sing either on Sunday or at the local high school where I was a member of various choirs and school musicals. I was still relatively shy and quiet at that time in my life, so what an incredible feeling it was to stand at the choir loft balcony edge and share my unique gift–my voice–in a professional way for a couple’s special day.

To prepare for that gig, I remember needing to learn several songs, including Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” The way I learned it was by digging my parents’ old record of Luciano Pavarotti out of the closet and listening to it on repeat so I could mimic his pronunciation.

For more than a decade, people continued to request that I sing “Ave Maria” at their weddings, and it wasn’t until just a few years ago when someone finally handed me the sheet music for the song that I realized all those years I had been singing half of it in Latin and half of it in Italian (rather than entirely in Latin).

Thankfully, I don’t think anyone ever noticed the difference!

Ashley, 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?

As a jazz musician, it is my pleasure to share joy and connection with people through music and culture. As a joyologist and charisma coach, I love helping women move through self-doubt and imposter syndrome to cultivate their powerful voice (whether spoken, musical or creative) and create opportunities beyond what they originally thought themselves capable of.

Once incredibly shy, quiet, and terrified of new things, I became the joyful leader I am today thanks to my love of music, my lifelong desire to sing, and a series of key mentors who taught me how to stop listening to my inner critic, connect to what I was afraid of, and enjoy exploring the boundaries of my comfort zone.

As a Louisianian, I love interacting with people not only in English but also in French–an important part of our heritage and culture–and weaving this into my music.

What brings me joy is hearing that a song of mine has lifted someone’s mood/made them want to dance, or when I get to watch a client blossom over time from a closed-off/somewhat muted version of themselves into their full vibrant, confident self.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I used to think that I had to be confident in order to do certain things, like be charismatic on stage or step into important leadership roles. In reality, confidence is something that you gain from experience, which means you have to DO the scary things (and often repeatedly over time) so that you can eventually build the mental muscle of trusting yourself and feeling confident/capable in that particular situation.

A lot of people have heard variations of the phrase “Fake it till you make it.” I strive to “Be it till I become it.” That small change in words can make a world of difference in your head, because everything you think, do and say stems from who you are BEING in that moment. Stive to BE the person you dream of becoming every day, and you will gradually develop habits that belong to that new version of yourself.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The BIG mission that drives me is to help 1 million women and girls find their voice (spoken, musical or creative) and help them cultivate it to live a more full life. I know what it’s like to be afraid to ask for what you want or nervous to give someone constructive feedback in a group setting. I also know how it feels to tap into parts of your voice that you didn’t even know existed and stretch your creative muscles in new and exciting ways for self-expression. The freedom my powerful voice gives me to create my life every day is exhilarating, and it brings me joy to help other women learn how to do the same while impacting their lives and their communities in a positive way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyorlando.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyorlandomusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyorlandomusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyherrickorlando
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AshleyOrlando

Image Credits
Jordan Hefler Ingrid Nacole