We were lucky to catch up with Corina Avalos recently and have shared our conversation below.
Corina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
Up In the Mix was conceptualized back in July 2019. I came up with the idea of creating a Music and Radio website to combine my passion and creativity. My Audio Production, Copywriting skills, and experience in Radio have come in handy on the Digital Content creation side, expanding my knowledge. To this day, I continue to push myself to learn a new skill so that I continue to grow as a professional. Recently, I completed an SEO course to help drive traffic to my website.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to do something in the entertainment industry. I fondly remember the nostalgia of tuning into WGCI, Chicago’s hip-hop and R&B station, late at night to catch my favorite disk jockeys; not only to listen to the hits but also to hear them speak! I honestly think that’s where my desire to pursue broadcast journalism came from. I eventually ended up at Belmont University to major in Music Business, and the rest is history.
My dreams continued to soar there as I fell even deeper in love with the industry. I realized very quickly that I had an innate talent for copywriting and audio production—both of which were courses I thought I would struggle with the most.
Ultimately, my goal is to highlight artists and creatives. I am a big advocate for creators and want to help them gain as much exposure, as well as revenue, for their craft. Without music, the world would be a boring place, if you ask me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I genuinely look forward to connecting with both established and rising artists to get the chance to pick their brains on everything under the sun, such as their creative process, musical influences, upbringing, and even their love language.
Something I feel is lacking in the media space is traditional journalism. Cue cards are cool and all, but conversations that unfold naturally are more my thing, so I’m excited to bring that back to the podcasting space.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Something I learned very quickly in the business is that it really isn’t what you know but who you know. It’s hard not to notice this when you see incompetence at the top level.
I also noticed that in the music industry, it’s very easy to get boxed into a particular field. Ironically, many of us have multiple side hustles to afford our livelihood (it’s common knowledge that the music business is notorious for underpaying folks), so having multiple grinds is almost imperative.
However, for many years, I was categorized into a finance expertise due to my accounting roles, but I am also very creative, which made some of my years a little frustrating when I tried to pivot careers. Eventually, I realized that if I wanted to make the change, I had to create the opportunities for myself. This realization pushed me to start blogging.
I’ve been able to build my brand in media not because someone gave me the chance, but because I decided to take matters into my own hands and believe in myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.upinthemixture.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cori.gunz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upinthemixture
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinaavalos/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/reverb_60dBs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@upinthemixture
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/upinthemixture/
Image Credits
Ambrie Schumacher