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

Alright, Cliff thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Side Hustle & Flow, my book, is celebrating being out one year in hardcover, and is now available also in softcover, digital and audio on Amazon. It was my pandemic project and a bucket list item. I started it in 2020, first taking a course with Scribe Media and then with Brian Tracy, who wrote the front cover endorsement. The “vomit draft” aka “rough draft” took about 90 days, then I used Reedsy to find and editor and proofreader which went through several rounds of changes and then through Fiverr I sent out over 350 queries to eventually find my traditional publisher Black Spring Press Group. I just finished a year of PR with several radio, podcast, and written interviews plus several reviews for the book. It’s part self-help and part memoir. It meant a lot to me to get my life story and ideas out there and this was a departure from music for me though it was about my music, so it is interrelated. The audiobook is currently in Grammy for your consideration status. It’s a long shot but you must take them. We currently have a companion mini documentary that’s out for awards and festival consideration and an online modular course just released on Udemy. The book cover photo is by Sheldon Botler with artwork by Image Stricken. Writing a book is a very long, solo, arduous task and is not for the faint of heart. Many want to write a book, but few will because it’s not easy, but is rewarding.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started in the music industry right after finishing Berklee College of Music and moving to LA. There were ups and downs from getting kicked off American Idol to my first band The Moon Crickets disbanding, but since 2013 I have been releasing music under Cliff Beach and released 10 albums in 10 years with 3 more that just finished production. What sets me apart from others is I have written a book, Side Hustle & Flow, which chronicles how I am able to work full time while also pursuing my passion projects and I help others figure out how to do that too, as little or as much as they want, by learning to set clear goals and better manage themselves and to invest their time wisely. Music has expanded from albums to radio and tv, licensing, publishing, a record label and more for me by tapping into the limitless potential of adapting a growth mindset. In the process I have won numerous awards including 4 Global Music Awards, 2 World songwriting awards and The John Lennon songwriting contest Grand Prize. Music has taken me on a tour with Sofar Sounds up and down the west coast from Vancouver to San Diego and as far as Beijing China to write songs for an up-and-coming girl group. I always try to challenge myself with exciting new projects and always stay true to myself as an artist. Now I am focusing on the next generation, mentoring, and educating through my book Side Hustle & Flow, with a new mini documentary and online modular course too.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Getting kicked off American Idol, for me, was a blessing in disguise. I had to quickly pivot and change my definition of success, while expanding my universe as I never wanted to win Reality TV, I just wanted to get my music out to the masses, and I quickly realized that even though Idol was one way, it was not the only way. I built a tough skin and strong stomach from that point on in the industry, as it will chew you up and spit you out if you are not careful. Let no man write your epitaph. You are the captain of your own ship and the master of your own fate. Resilience is a muscle that can only be exercised through adversity. When I was creating my first album Who The Funk Is Cliff Beach, now ten years old, released in 2013, I wrote the lead single Let Me Down about the adversity of a woman who did me wrong who became immortalized in it but not only was it a great story of heartbreak to connect me humanly with others but eventually a story of learning how to forgive and forget. Now that person and I enjoy a friendship as I try to leave all relationships better than we started and that has built up my resilience muscle exponentially. With every song, every album, every adversity I get stronger and learn something. With every dream there will be difficulty, dead ends, and disappointments before deliverance, and you must as an artist or entrepreneur prepare psychologically for the uphill battle. The good thing about the rough side of the mountain is at least you have something to hold on.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I meet many people who feel they are not creative, but I think many are. We learned from Sir Ken Robinson that our educational system beats creativity out of us. I think the next thing people must realize is that you don’t have to do it full time or make money to enjoy it. Lastly people think the muse must hit them a certain way through things that might not be beneficial (like drugs or alcohol) or only at certain times, when I find it’s committing daily to show up that makes all the difference. You don’t have to be the most talented or smartest, just don’t be out hustled and you will succeed. I think those who think they are not creative need to try to create, as like with resilience, creativity is a muscle too and if you don’t use it, you will lose it, and it will atrophy. You don’t have to drink or do drugs or have any special equipment to create. All you need to do is to adopt a growth and artist mindset. We are all created to dream and thereby create. It’s the story we tell ourselves or not that allows us to do so. Change your story and write a new creative prescription for your life today! You’ll be happier you did. Go view art, listen to music, or watch classic movies to get inspired. There is a great big world out there and we need that creative gift that only you can bring, or we may never get that book, song, movie or art work from anyone else, and if that is the case, you would do the world and yourself a disservice by withholding it from us.

Contact Info:

• Website: Sidehustleandflow.net
• Instagram: Instagram.com/cliffbeachmusic
• Facebook: Facebook.com/cliffbeachmusic
• Twitter: Twitter.com/cliffbeachmusic
• Youtube: YouTube.com/cliffbeachmusic
• Other: Cliffbeachmusic.com