We recently connected with Corinne Ladymusicc and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Corinne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

It’s really simple. It’s so simple and obvious I really wish I had thought of it myself. But I didn’t.

Years ago, as a young, bored teenager, I found myself chatting with a guy in MSN instant messenger. He was a friend of a friend. We had nothing in common except a mutual friend. I invited him to chat and he was willing. I wish I could hug him today. That awkward, seemingly pointless conversation launched my career forward.

While chatting about quite nothing, I mentioned the nicknames between me and our mutual friend. I called her “blondie”, she called me “lady boo”. Honestly, I felt the nickname had no effort put into it. But I appreciated having a friend and a nickname. But in this moment that seemed so stupid, Sebastian (the guy I was chatting with) said something that changed my life and my future business. He said “Lady Boo? You should be Lady Music. Since you love music so much.”

My jaw dropped. It was so simple and mind blowing.

I had been searching for an alias name that would represent my art and photography. Something to call my website and eventually my business. [Ladymusicc Artistry] I didn’t want my real name, I wanted to use a nickname. I tried several names, but nothing stuck. But in this moment, I gasped and inhaled the new identity. I felt as though Sebastian knew me better than I knew myself.

I immediately ran with his suggestion and created a website. However, someone was already using the name. Forcing me to add an extra “C’ to the end of “music”. And eventually the stylizing of “Ladymusicc” became a permanent trademark.

I’m so grateful for Sebastian taking the time to entertain a 14 year old girl. He has no idea the difference he made in my life. It was truly an awkward conversation that I was about to hang up, but we ended the conversation on an explosive note.

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

Where to begin? I suppose the beginning.

Growing up, I always told people “when I grow up, I’m going to be an artist!” In my small, child mind, that meant drawing and/or painting. That was before I discovered the world of graphic design, photography, filming, website design, creating music, creating merchandise and being a content creator. Suddenly, my little artistic mind expanded and shifted. My artist world blew up and was reborn.

It started with teaching myself graphic design.
In October of 2005, I had joined a fan forum and discovered graphic design. I had no idea it was something you could do. I didn’t know this medium existed. Seeing art on a screen was mind blowing to me. Capturing light and movement. The possibilities were endless. And I determined in myself to learn how to do this.

Christmas 2006, I received my first digital camera. It was something my mom thought I “might enjoy”. I remember her telling me as I opened my present. I was confused and looked at it like “what am I supposed to do with this?” After all, there was no other photographers in our family. Photography was an unknown world to me. She [my Mother] simply encouraged me to take pictures. And so I did. And I never stopped.

Shortly after teaching myself to make graphics and now branching into the world of photography, having a website to display my creations on, was a no-brainer. But now I was having to teach myself how to design and code websites. This was November of 2005, which continued for many years. It was a fascinating addiction. As a home-schooled teenager, I had all the time in the world to teach myself these things.

In 2008, I began dabbling in making videos. But it wasn’t until 2010 that I started to learn how to edit those videos.

Unfortunately, in 2010, I died.

No, I’m kidding. But it felt like my dreams did. During a severe thunderstorm, lightning struck a tree by our house, ran in through a phone line and fried my computer. I was devastated. I lost well over 5,000 graphics. Songs and poems I had written, and countless pictures I had taken. My Dad took my computer to a guy to see if he could retrieve anything off the hard drive. It was a year later before it was returned to us.
During that time, I had to start over from scratch and keep creating. Keep practicing. When I finally received my hard drive back, I had the wonderful news that not all was lost. My newest creations were gone, but older creations from my early years were still there and were retrievable. Which was wonderful because I was able to see how far I had come.

I was finally able to move forward with creating again.

2012 & 2013 were my busiest years of creating. I received my first, professional Canon camera for Christmas. (2011)
All through out 2012 I was photographing and filming. Editing and creating. It was an incredible year for growth.

Ever since 2012, I operated in all the mediums I had learned. Creating graphics, photography, filming and editing videos, and website design.

In 2023 I began pursuing making my own music. I had been writing songs for almost 2 decades and thought, “why not pursue this?” It is so refreshing to my heart to have created something I have waited so long to pursue.

My newest pursuit is creating merchandise and art to sell, and creating an online course. Which I am hoping to release in 2025.

Being able to create content for myself has always been a pleasure, but to create art for others brought a fulfillment I didn’t know existed. I’ve been a part of beautiful moments. Wedding days, baby births, celebrating family members, or creating something to help someone as they embarked into their career.

I know how to chase my dreams, but I want to help others to be able to do it too.
That’s what I do. That’s what I will strive to continue to do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Living my dreams and having control over my life and schedule.

I didn’t want to have a job just to make money, I wanted to love what I did. Even if it meant not making as much money as other people my age were making. I wanted to live a fulfilling life. I didn’t want to be like some of my friends who looked miserable but made a lot of money. It wasn’t worth it to me.

I also hated the idea of not having time for my family. I have family members that live 2 hours away from me and are in a different time zone. Having a flexible schedule is crucial for being able to visit them, or drive to them on a whim, if they should suddenly need something.

It also has been rewarding in the sense that I have proved a lot of people wrong. Doing what I do allows me to stand on my own two feet and defy the odds.

As I mentioned previously, I am self-taught. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t have all these youtubers back then, telling me what to do and holding my hand along the way. In fact, I even had people to crush me. People I admired and was intentionally trying to learn from and gleam from, would tell me I wasn’t a “real” photographer. Or I wasn’t good at what I was doing and I should just quit.

The very people who were inspiring me, stepped on me. It was so discouraging.

But fortunately, I’m a rebel. I would feel heart broken before setting something on fire. I would remove them from my life, stop following them, looking at their content, etc., and I would move in my own direction. I was determined to prove the naysayers wrong.

To be able to push past that kind of rejection and criticism and keep chasing after your dreams, is empowering.
But to look back and say “I made it”, is a feeling of magic I can’t really describe.

You might be in a situation where people have told you (or are telling you) that what you do is stupid or worthless. Or in my situation, not “real”. I HATED hearing that word. “That’s not a REAL job.” “You couldn’t possibly understand anything about responsibilities because you have it easy.”

If you are in a situation where people are saying things like this to you, speaking death to your dreams, being negative about your efforts, then friend… don’t let them.

Don’t listen to them. Turn a deaf ear to them and keep marching forward.

I promise you, the view is worth the climb.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think non-creatives don’t realize that my brain (and I’m sure other creatives brains) are wired differently.
We must live our lives differently. We can’t help it. It’s in our nature.

Which brings me to point #1.
– I have a physical need to create.

Creating art is not just a hobby or something I enjoy. It is something that fuels my heart and soul and mind and body. I notice when I am too busy to sit down and work on projects or too busy to create something, I feel depressed. I feel stressed. I feel anxious and sometimes I get cranky.

When I was working multiple jobs just to pay the bills, I often found myself sacrificing sleep just so I could stay up and edit pictures for clients. Or work on a wedding video. Or add new content to my website.

Creating art is just as important and vital as eating or exercising or sleeping. Sometimes when deep in a project, I would forget to eat. I was so fulfilled in creating, food didn’t seem as important. But don’t worry, I always keep a full bottle of water close by.

#2. Just because I don’t have a “typical” job, does not mean I don’t know what hard work is.

I’ve had people in my life, even in my own family, speak down to me because I was not pursuing a typical 9-5 job. I’ve had people speak to me as if I don’t understand the responsibilities of life or paying bills, because I don’t answer to a manager or boss. I am my own boss. So there’s this misconception that I have it easy. I’m spoiled, and clueless and I don’t know about “real life”.

On the contrary, being an entrepreneur or small business owner, stepping out on your own, going off the beaten path, however you word it, is a terrifying move to make. It is not for the faint of heart. There are many risks involved. And there are many, many times when I do not know how I am going to pay my next bill.

Being an entrepreneur as terrifying as it is, is so fulfilling that I gladly accept the risks.
I work hard to make sure my bills do get paid. Even if it means taking on a part time job, or multiple part time jobs, as I have done in the past. I have worked at “typical” job places before. It would only be for a short season, but it was enough that I knew it was not what I wanted to do permanently.

In the end, I rely on God to help me use wisdom to see what it is I need to do. I work hard and diligently. The rest is up to Him to meet my needs. And I find rest in that.

#3. We “creatives” find joy in so much more than a paycheck. That’s why it’s easy for us to do other things instead of the typical way of life.

As I mentioned in the previous sections, I think because creating is so fulfilling we are able to say “yes” to things other people cannot say yes to. And we say “no” to things people say yes too. We know there is a better way of life, and we will strive to find it and die to hold on to it.

Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, sang these words in her song “26”…

“Hold on to hope, if you’ve got it.
Don’t let it go for nobody.
They say that dreaming is free,
but I wouldn’t care what it cost me.”

I held on to these words as I was walking away from a toxic relationship.

I loved this man and saw a future with him. I wanted to be a wife. But when we started to talk about marriage, he was demanding too much from me. Asking me to change everything about myself just to be with him. I was heart broken and furious that he spoke to me like I was an embarrassment. I couldn’t believe the audacity he had to ask so much of me, as if he deserved it. But what was worse than not being good enough, was the fear of losing my freedom to pursue my dreams.

I had always wanted to be in love and to be a wife, but I had tasted freedom. I lived there for such a long time, and now it was being threatened. I looked into my future and was miserable. I thought, it’s not worth giving up just for the sake of having someone.

So, I moved on.

A few years later, I photographed and filmed his wedding to another woman.
It hurt me at times, knowing how we were and thinking “that could have been us”. But I felt such peace in knowing that my dreams still belonged to me and still had the chance to live because I was not willing to let them go.

I share that song (which is so dear to my heart) and that story to give hope to others who are fighting for their dreams. It’s worth the sacrifices. It’s worth the tears. And even if it means being alone, it’s worth that too.

For those who don’t understand, maybe this story has helped you to see that for us “creatives” there is no better way to live life, than to live it to the fullest.

We will not stay in a box. We will not color in the lines. We were made for more.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://ladymusicc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladymusicc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ladymusicc/
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/ladymusicc
• Other: http://tiktok.com/@ladymusicc

Image Credits

The first image of myself (white sweater, holding camera) was taken by Morgran Driver. Owner of Little Blush Photography. I have full permission to use this image. All other images were taken by me. Including the self-portrait of me on the beach. (black skirt)