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

Alright, Athena thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I spent a lot of time growing up playing music, I played flute in concert band first chair. Then I spent time in marching band, I also did chorus.

I learned a lot from my dad, he is an entrepreneur and has been my whole life. I remember him always reminding me how important it was to be successful, I remember him telling me how important it was for me to be able to stand on my own regardless of who I have in my life to support me.

I spent many years trying many things, became a mother at 19 & had 3 children by age 23. I have several degrees, I guess you can say I’m a jack of all trades because I tried so many things just trying to figure out where I belong. I don’t even see it as a waste of my time, I saw it as I tried something, I didn’t like it, I moved on.

From the time I was a kid I always loved music, at age 15 I wanted to be a front woman.

After my kids got a little older I started an LLC From The Ashes Promotions as an event coordinator & promoter in the Erie music scene. I met a lot of amazing people and was finally encouraged to follow my dreams, I not only do tarot readings and spiritual work at my events, but I am a front woman of a band and can now perform like I’ve always wanted to.

There will always be obstacles, sometimes our dreams take a little longer to come true, but as long as we don’t give up on ourselves we can make things happen and you’re never too old to follow your dream.

I joke all the time… 21 years later but I finally made it happen.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

An amazing individual Jay Durnell who is also a promoter in the Erie Music scene showed me the ropes, took me under his wing and helped guide me. I don’t think I would have been able to get this far without his help.

I’ve always been a lover of music, I’ve always been spiritual, and I’ve always loved to perform even if it was just karaoke.

I’m also part of other collectives and like to collab with OddCity Entertainment in Erie pa & am part of it, one thing I’m proud of is all the events we do to help charities. We are big supporters & are part of the LGBTQ community, we also work with the Crime Victim Center to help domestic violence survivors.

My proud moments are when I see how much we do as a whole for the community, I’m so proud to be a part of an amazing music scene. I’m proud to be the front woman of my band Next To Cascade, I’m proud to be able to do spiritual work and help others with my coaching & tarot readings.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been many times I have been set back in life, from the time I became an adult, my life changed when I became a mother, my life changed even more when I was a single mother. I had plans I couldn’t follow through with, as a single mother I put myself through college and worked however many jobs I needed to so I could stay afloat. I wanted to give up many times when I broke down, I was in a lot of bad situations being a victim of abuse from past partners & having to start over many times. I can tell you there were times I felt I would never make it to where I wanted to be because everything going wrong felt like that was what my life was, like Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate events. I still didn’t give up, it only made me stronger. One of my close friends said to me at one point “You really are a phoenix rising from the ashes.” And now I own From The Ashes Promotions.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Show up.

Don’t just show up for the people you know, go out of your comfort zone and see someone new, you never know when you will hear a band you like. There are SO many good bands in the Erie music scene, I am AMAZED! and I’m so proud of my band Next To Cascade for all the hard work we have been putting in and I’m honored to be a part of a community so talented.

I think it’s also important for us all to stick together, don’t view another as competition, build each other up! Competition drives us apart.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: From The Ashes Promotions/ Next To Cascade
• Facebook: From The Ashes Promotions/ Next To Cascade/Soulful Healing-Life Coaching

Image Credits

Vyri Photography