We recently connected with Bianca Zalez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bianca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

As a kid growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, my mom always had my sister and I at home so we can work on our reading and writing. Whenever we had a break, I looked forward to watching TV and listening to music. My sister and my brother seemed to know all of the good music that was out and I was especially moved by R&B, Hip Hop and pop music. I had so much fun dancing and singing in my room with my siblings and feeling the music. It didn’t really feel like I had to try. It simply felt right and I didn’t want to stop. As a toddler, Michael Jackson was everywhere. They aired Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” concert tour on TV and it truly blew me away. I saw the possibilities of what someone can do on a stage with their voice, dancing, lights, stage effects and more! Not only did I become a big fan, I became so inspired that I wanted to be part of that life, that feeling and that experience. Simultaneously, I was introduced to Disney movies as a toddler and when I began to sing along to “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, I realized my love for singing. On TV I try to find whatever I could to be inspired. Dance movies such as “Fast Forward”, Disney movies where i can learn the songs and music videos on MTV only further reinforced my passion and fueled me with a curiosity and a desire to learn how to sing, move and present myself like these incredible performers and artists. I pretty much knew that for the rest of my life this is what I would be doing no matter what. I knew that this is who I am.

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

Growing up as an inner-city kid, I didn’t quite have the privileges of going to fancy dance and music schools. So I spent a lot of time at home trying to study whoever I could find. I attempted to practice on my own whatever I could find on TV. If I saw someone do a cool spin, I would stand in front of the mirror in the living room and practice that spend it until I could get it. If I heard a song from a favorite artist and they added a specific type of a vibrato, I wanted to practice that to see if I could apply that to my vocals with ease. I always love seeing what the possibilities were and as I got older of course I wanted to see what opportunities were out there. In high school, A friend of mine introduced me to someone who was looking for a member of a girl group. I eventually was invited to join this group called “Tiffany Affair.” We got signed to Warner Bros. Records end it was truly one of the best experiences of my life as we got to record music and tour the country. When this project ended, I wanted to continue my pursuits in music. It was incredibly challenging because I had to figure out how to navigate my career while still being a teen. I continued in collaborations and projects with producers and songwriters I had met along the way but none of these projects reached a point in which they could be released. It certainly requires a lot of emotional and mental strength to try to push through with that continued belief in yourself. I certainly had years where that believe in myself was stunted and even though I knew I was capable I needed to overcome a lot of anxieties and fears so that I can continue to fully pursue my music and live fully in my authentic artistic self. I genuinely hope that those who struggle with their mental health and struggle with taking risks and believing in themselves could see me as an example of that person who didn’t always feel strong and didn’t always love themselves but always believe that she could and continued to push through because of it. When I perform I would hope that people can get a sense of that energy as they’re genuinely having a great time. Life is really hard and it affects all of us mentally emotionally and even physically. I have found a sense of freedom in my performing and I hope that people watching can enjoy and feel a sense of hope and freedom in their joy, laughter and excitement. It’s incredibly fulfilling. It’s especially fulfilling because I know that stressors, struggle with mental health and many of life’s circumstances can impact us in so many ways and make us feel as if we don’t have a sense of freedom within ourselves to be who we are or pursue what we want. We can move the world when we have an understanding of what joy, peace and believing in yourself can really do.

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

For many years I have struggled with my mental health including severe anxiety and OCD. This certainly had an impact on my behaviors and my way of thinking as I was always afraid to take bigger risks. This became more challenging as an adult because we are all conditioned to believe that we have to live by the book and do everything a certain way. Even though there were certain things I tried to do on my own because it felt right it still wasn’t enough of a rest for me to take to really immerse myself in my music which is what I wanted all along. I was always afraid that something bad was going to happen. I was always afraid to fail. It took so much work to try to push through my anxieties and the best way I’ve been able to work through them is by facing them head-on. I’ll explain.
I was working full-time for quite some time but I felt incredibly unfulfilled. When the pandemic hit it really put things into perspective and I knew that I wanted to try to live my life differently. But I still had a lot of fears and of course as COVID-19 became significant, it only made me more nervous about how Music was going to play out in my life. I attempted to go back to work but only part time because I was afraid of that unfulfilled feeling that I had before . However it seemed like it still wasn’t enough of a risk for me to take. I knew I had to take some type of leap but I didn’t know how. Until one day I was driving and got into a serious car accident. I was temporarily disabled and I could barely walk. I was in pain everywhere. This forced me to leave my job. Although this was a difficult time, this really put into perspective for me that I really needed to wake up and change my life for real. I was really scared that my injuries would impact me as a performer for the rest of my life. but I didn’t wanna give up. I wanted to do whatever I could to heal and bounce back even better than before. I tried to research singing opportunities and found out months later that an entertainment company I had applied for was interested in having me join them as a singer in Miami. This was just months after my car accident. I agreed to get on a call with the owner of the company to learn more about them and discuss what I wanted to do. Prior to the call, I had a dream of my late aunt who for me, felt like I was receiving validation that I could make this decision to go to Miami and sing with this company. I was in New York at the time and decided That I was going to move to South Florida so that I can sing. I felt very isolated in New York and knew that I needed to make some type of change so I can immerse myself in music, singing and performing. I did it despite not knowing how life would be in Miami. I simply knew that after losing everything, I had the power to change it all.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to establish a positive energy in the room and to foster an existing positive and fun energy within the audience. Life is extremely hard and people are really having a tough time. I genuinely enjoy giving people a space where they can have a great time and feel good even for a moment. They can let go of stress, smile, laugh, dance, sing and let go! I want them to feel a sense of freedom as we celebrate music and embrace a significant level of freedom in their joy and joy in their freedom.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/Bianca.Zalez
• Youtube: YouTube.com/biancasmusic
• Other: Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@bianca.zalez