We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cori Elba a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cori, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I was 33 years old, I bought a drum kit. I knew absolutely nothing about the drums. All I knew was that I felt like I wanted to play them. I ordered the cutest pink drum kit I could find. I had no idea I had to order hardware and cymbals separately and was devastated when my drums arrived and I thought they had forgot one of them (I later realized one drum was stored inside the bass drum for shipping purposes). I signed up for drum lessons at the local music shop and once a week, every Tuesday at 1:30, time seemed to no longer exist, and I had the most fun ever. I devoted 90% of my time to learning how to play. Whatever my drum teacher taught me in our 30 minute lessons, I went home and practiced over and over and over again. I watched drum covers every night before bed and was constantly reading articles on drumming and how to be a good drummer. On my 34th birthday, just 2 months after I started playing, I finally played one full song on the drums. Once that achievement was unlocked, I felt that everything I have ever done in my life was leading up to this moment. I LOVE music, music has always been a huge part of my life since birth. My dad is a really great musician (he doesn’t consider himself a musician though) but he’s a singer, songwriter, and plays guitar. It was a regular part of my childhood to hear him practicing all the time and to go to smelly dive bars and be surrounded by live music. It wasn’t until a couple months into playing that I realized I must have picked up a thing or two without even knowing it by just being in that environment. Learning how to play the drums wasn’t necessarily easy, but it was always FUN. And I swear if you’re having fun, then success & breakthroughs are bound to come. I listened to every single word my teacher said and wrote down any piece of advice or any positive things he said about my drumming. I also surrounded myself with as many musicians as possible and inserted myself into seemingly uncomfortable situations in order to get better. I went to open mics every week to play with people because my teacher said the only way you’ll get better is if you actually play music with people. After overcoming foot tremors and overall fear of sucking and ruining the song, I became more and more confident behind the kit. Within 6 months of learning to play, I was invited to play drums on stage with a full band and the singer told me I was in the pocket the whole time. I didn’t even know what that meant at the time but judging by his overall enthusiasm, I assumed it was a good thing. I just wanted to get better and better so I reached out to one of my favorite drummers that I saw on YouTube, Brandon Pertzborn. Within a week I was taking lessons with him! He was playing with Suicidal Tendencies at the time (now he’s with The Offspring). I remember thinking that if he chose me as a student that I must have a chance at being good. That was huge for me, I now had two lessons a week with two different teachers. I was learning songs, fills and grooves at a much quicker pace now. Within one year of getting my pink drum kit, I had formed a band and we played our first show on the exact year anniversary of when I got my drums. It’s been 2 and a half years since I bought my first kit and I am way beyond anywhere I ever thought I’d be. I am so proud and so grateful for all of my teachers, bandmates, and fellow musicians who have supported me and been nothing but kind and welcoming. Learning how to play drums has been so beneficial to every single area of my life.

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?

I grew up in South Florida and went to the University of Central Florida and got a degree because that’s just what you were supposed to do, but truly I was clueless on what I wanted so I just decided to become a flight attendant.

I moved to California in 2012 and was flying for a couple years until I started exploring drawing again. I’ve always loved arts and crafts and drawing, but I went full send with it in 2015 and never looked back. I started On Planet Weird when I was living in Berkeley and created a bunch of original cartoon characters to be in my little world and I am so proud of how everything has evolved.

I started sculpting with polymer clay and selling my charms on Etsy. I am lucky to have had so much support from friends and family from the very beginning. It has become pretty apparent that if you surround yourself with good humans and people who believe in you, good things will come. I’ll never forget the first negative comment I got on my art from someone who was seemingly a friend “I would never buy that” I was offended for a minute but knew that I really wouldn’t want them buying my art anyways. Your people will always find you!

The thing I am most proud of is when Miley Cyrus recognized and supported my art. I have always been a huge fan and was truly just creating art from the heart so for her to notice it and share it with the world was pretty life changing for me. She helped me reach millions of people and I still have devoted customers and fans from my Miley era.

I am also proud of how I have been able to integrate my art into music. I’m now able to design album artwork and band merch with ease. I love making zines and stickers and literally anything I can get my hands to make. My art is not going to resonate with everyone (like obviously that’s just part of life) but my art is very much all me. It’s always reflected how I am feeling in the moment and I really only choose to work with people and projects that truly speak to my soul. I’ve learned my lesson with making art when your heart isn’t in it and there’s nothing worse to be honest. It’s all or nothing with me so if it’s not made out of love, I don’t want to do it.

It’s also important to note that I am still a flight attendant after 13 years, and that this job gives me tons of freedom and the ability to create whenever I feel like it and have a stable income. Living on art alone is challenging and I wouldn’t want that pressure because making art is so sacred and the pressure to make money from it is a major buzzkill for me.

I am currently starting the very grueling process of writing and illustrating a graphic novel. This will be the biggest and most challenging project I have ever done but I finally feel ready for it and most importantly, very excited about it!

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

Almost 4 years ago, I thought I had it all figured out. I decided I wanted to illustrate a graphic novel and started brainstorming ideas and went full send with my art and everything was really starting to take off. Then out of nowhere, my sister got sick and my entire life changed overnight. I ended a relationship of 6.5 years and moved in with my sister and became her caregiver. For the first time in my life, my focus had to be on someone else and their life and wellbeing. I put everything on hold but I remember feeling like there was never any other option. I would do ANYTHING for my sister. The one thing that stayed constant during my darkest moments was my daily drawing habit. I drew in my sketchbook every day. My entire art style changed and has evolved in the best way since then. I’m so grateful I pushed through and all of this love and light I currently have in my life from music and art would never have been possible if I didn’t go through such difficult and dark times. I may have had to put my dreams on hold for a moment but now my dreams are even bigger than I could have imagined. Persistence really does pay off and showing up for yourself everyday is truly the best thing anyone can do for themselves and for others.

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 HATE the term “non-creatives”. We are ALL creative beings. That is literally why we are here! We are designed to create. I can’t recommend the book The Artist’s Way enough. That book completely transformed my life and showed me that as long as I show up for myself every day, all of my art will flow out of me effortlessly. I believe that we are all capable of this magic. It’s does require a lot of work and a lot of uncomfortable realizations until you reach a state of creative bliss but I promise it’s worth all the struggle. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the horrible things going on in the world but I think a lot of people seem to forget that you are of service to the world every day as long as you are creating from an open channel. It’s when you are being your truest and most authentic self that the world becomes a truly magical place for you and the people around you. Another book I want to recommend which is less intense but equally as enlightening is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Contact Info:

• Website: onplanetweird.etsy.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/onplanetweird
• Other: Band Instagram: Instagram.com/pinxlaundry Graphic novel instagram Instagram.com/wednesdaysanxiety