Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Callie Paige. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Callie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
After 10 years of working as a Phlebotomist and losing my ability to work in that field a due to health issues which effected my ability perform my job safely, I realized I had been living and working unfulfilled the entire time. I wanted to be the person that lived up to that saying, do what you love for a living and never work a day in your life.” I wanted to show my two girls what it looks like when someone follows their dreams. I wanted them to know that it does take dedication and hard work but that it is possible and that it is worth every bit of effort that it takes. I started in Feb. of 2020 which felt like split seconds before the Covid pandemic hit the world.
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?
February 2020 I enrolled in a course that I can honestly say, changed my life. I know that might sound a little dramatic and I may never find the words to truly convey what I mean when I say that, but it truly changed my life, it changed me. It bettered me. it inspired me, encouraged me, challenged me. Id almost given up on myself ever progressing in much of anything in life at this point prior to taking this course. It was the best decision I ever made for myself. The course I enrolled in was called 6-Figure Songwriting. I could always sing but I didn’t know how to truly write a song. I was kinda clueless, I didn’t understand the language that musicians used and I didn’t even know what a DAW was, let alone how to access one and then use it for that matter. Then, this course threw me into a very large pool of many talented people, people who were all sharing the same interests and goals as me, many of them were far more experienced than I was at that time but some of them were just like me. searching for hope and for direction. it was like I just arrived in this place I never thought existed with people I would have never otherwise known, who all shared the same dreams as I had. We Learned a lot about the Sync industry, about songwriting, production, business, networking, do’s and do Nots within the industry. But my favorite and most valuable of all lessons learned was Collaboration. Collaboration was the key to everything. It was a room of a thousand doors and I was just so happy to walk through every single one that I could to learn as much about the industry and as much about myself and where I might fit into this industry as possible. Im still figuring it out to be honest and I am still growing and learning every day and it is all because I decided to to take a leap and to commit myself to this growth and development.
I started wanting to learn how to write a song and wanting to know if I could eventually earn some type of living if I became any good at it. now I am a developing artist and I have been diving into many different genres. I’ve been told I should “pick a lane” and develop a brand in that one lane but Im honestly still having the time of my life branching out into different genres and discovering what I am capable of. Most of my music falls under some sub category of Pop for the most part but my list of songs as of now includes pop, dark-pop, cinematic pop, dream-pop, pop-rock,Rock all different types of EDM, some bluesy-Jazz vibes, contemporary-jazz, and some folky Americana. Some have said I am a bit “Urban-Sweet” with my style. I think I might agree with them. I am so grateful for all of the amazing people who have aligned with me and have given their time and their talents to create music with me. For anyone who has been on this journey with me. I just want to say thank you and I cant wait to see what lays ahead. Creating music ties us to something that…is eternal, and universal, and I just feel so lucky to feel that in my soul and to share it with others who feel that too.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
In my view society can support artist by simply listening and supporting their music. It is true, Artist do not make much money from streaming, literal cents on a dollar but find an artist you like, find out where you can purchase their music, share their links on your social platforms to help generate more streams for them, add their songs to your playlists, donate towards their music career if that option is available, I recently discovered that Spotify allows the fans of Artists to make a donation on their artist page and the funds go directly to the artists, they dont even take a cut or anything. That blew my mind actually. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I set mine up but I have not advertised it or anything. I just thought it was such a cool feature and option to have available so If you really truly want to support their career and see them flourish…look for them, Donate, or stream, or share and support their socials. If they perform live, go to their shows, let them know that their music means something to you because hearing that from people….it really does mean so much to us.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding thing about being an artist is that the potential for growth is everlasting. it feels like the most exciting thing ever to just always be able to write yet another song and explore yourself even further, you can explore styles and range and thoughts and language and movements and people and there’s just no end to it….being a creative is to be clay… forever molding into new shapes and sizes and you can place your musical heart into the hands of another and be reshaped in new ways again and again…thats what I feel like every time I start a new song with a new collaborator … “Let the shaping begin!! (That what the voice inside my head says) lol
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/calliejanedoe?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/callie.paige.3152
- Other: spotify:artist:0sLv1fL5eKbVlFpWThURep
Image Credits
1 photo credited to Santiago Valencia