We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candra R.. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candra below.

Candra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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 remember my first year at Prince George’s Community College, I was in the Paramedic Program. I was also working part-time as a security officer to pay for school. But I wanted to take music courses on the side to better understand what I was playing, as I was self-taught. I remember meeting so many amazing musicians and music teachers in the jazz band and related classes at PG. I met a guy name Russel who was a highly accomplished/skilled pianist. He wasn’t even IN the music classes (that I know of)! He would just come by and jam with us sometimes.

He saw me play and decided to take me under his wing and teach me the ins-and outs of gospel music. After a few months, he told me that I should get some real world experience, so he invited me to play at his church’s bible study on Wednesday evenings. He said he would pay me $25 per hour each service. My mind was blown as I realized I would make a WHOPPING $50 every Wednesday playing bass and learning gospel music under Russel!! Lol! I was so elated! It was a win-win! I could learn, get experience, and get paid.

It was essentially my first “creative internship”. I’m super grateful for the opportunity even to this day!

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’m a musician and all-around creative and I’m a devoted mother of 2 amazing children. The importance of these two things led me to coin the term #Gigmommy. You can always find me somewhere playing bass (or keybass), recording bass or background vocals on different projects, editing videos for myself or other small projects, and most recently, dabbling in music production.

I was always musically inclined as a child and would often find ways to record myself singing, play drums, and pluck out melodies on the keyboard. I grew up in church and would play drums for the children’s choir occasionally. During my pre-teen years my attention became fixed on our church’s bass player, and I was completely hooked. I began to sit as close to him as I could get so I could watch intently. I begged my Dad for a bass for at LEAST a year! He finally gave in and found me a cheap $99 guitar from a local shop. He taught me my first notes by accident and I took off from there. My Dad eventually MADE me play in church. Be decision he ever made for me. The rest is history.

Because I have experience in other performance-related spaces, I find myself answering tons of questions online about bass in general, recording, shaping tone, gig-insight, and just my thought processes on things within the creative space. It led me to eventually trademark my hashtag #Gigmommy, and I’m now in the process of creating a merch business, a consulting service for musicians, and a general movement around the term. #Gigmommy is meant to empower and celebrate women of color who juggle their Mommy-life and their gig-life — In whatever creative space that is.

My goal has shifted from popularity, touring, and name-dropping to honestly being able to share information, tips and experiences that can help other musicians and creatives to successfully BE a creative full-time if they so choose.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During my first pregnancy, I had cut back to 3 or 4 gigs monthly because I needed to be on bedrest. I had a very slow, very difficult recovery after my delivery. That recovery took me down to no gigs. Once I was mobile again, I was only playing at church. Some friends of mine made a “life-savings” decision to pursue a franchise business. They consulted me heavily about the music, photography and entertainment aspects of the business.

Eventually, they asked me to come on board to help as the business came into fruition. That lead to me pivoting into the corporate world as a full-time assistant manager. I worked for my friends for 2.5 years until I had my second child and ventured back into music full-time. Being in the work-force is never a bad thing when you have “ends” to meet. In addition, it can be a resource to fund your passion!

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

I can’t say my audience is huge lol, but I will say I grew my audience by changing my mindset and committing to it. Most creatives are very hard on themselves and nit-picky when it comes to posting their content. I made the decision to post myself and to highlight what I thought were my strengths. I committed to it, and I found that my content was even reaching people I look up to! I got several reposts from people with huge followings, and it grew my audience greatly. Moreover, I am honored to have that small group of die-hard fans, though. No matter where they are from, they always enjoy my content, support and encourage me!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @whatiscandradoing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CandraR
• Other: Digital Music outlets: Candra R.

Image Credits

Image 1: Tim Koen

Image 5: Anthony Minter