We were lucky to catch up with Faith Rivera recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Faith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes I made a full-time living as a vocalist, musician and touring singer & songwriter for 14+ years in Los Angeles (before I moved back home to Hawaii to raise my kids). Even though I had so much stage fright from early childhood and even into my professional career, my passion for music really kept me moving forward, kept me learning and hustling no matter what.
I went to Cal State Long Beach for their Commercial Music Program but found out the focus was not pop music, which is what I wanted, but instead the program was focused on jazz and to get to jazz, I had to learn classical music. It definitely felt like a curve ball especially since most students were taking 7 years to complete the Commercial Music Program, so I decided instead to go a shorter route and got a BA in Music with vocal performance and a minor in marketing. That way I’d be out in a few years and could start working in the industry.
Out of college, I auditioned for everything! And thanks to my training in school, I had a range of different skills that helped to widen the kinds of jobs I could get. I started as a choral singer in church then became a youth worship music director all while getting small recording jobs here & there as well as wedding gigs. I continued auditioning for bigger jobs while I also started writing songs for what would become my first album. Thanks to my marketing & business classes, I knew how to put a business plan together and actually found investors to help launch my own record label..
Shortly after the release of my first album, I got my first big professional job being flown to Taj Mahal in Atlantic City to sing one song as part of a girl group for a huge Vietnamese concert. From there I booked a national tour as a keyboardist and background singer with an artist signed to Interscope record label and eventually landed my first job with SAG-AFTRA, as a union singer, on a TV show backing up Luther Vandross and other artists.
To look back now, it seems like the jobs and opportunities kept rolling in but back then, there was doubt along with persistence, faith and passion that kept me showing up, trying again and again. Like Tom Hanks said, he attributes his success to the fact that he just kept going where others would give up. I feel the same way. And even when I faced “no” after “no,” I couldn’t help but keep showing up.
My efforts paid off in so many amazing ways, including being nominated and then winning an Emmy for Outstanding Original Song on a daytime series. A friend I met in one of my cover band jobs, passed my CD on to a composer for a TV show and that connection led me to co-writing a song that would win us the Emmy. As my career in the industry was starting to bloom, I listened to my gut and took somewhat of a left turn but that left turn led me to what was ultimately mine to do in music!
I discovered my tribe and my audience by taking that “left turn” – a community of positive-minded difference-makers that I could serve with empowering, inspiring music. I successfully toured the country & world, releasing 11 albums and performing my songs with bands and ministries for fans that have become my friends and family!
I value every part of my journey that has led me to where I am now – back home in Hawaii, now writing music for TV & Film while continuing my positive music artist career as much as I can doing events & gigs virtually as much as possible so I can stay home with my kids.
If I could have changed anything about my journey, it would be to have more confidence early on and to value my talent and my worth as an artist and musician, That kind of belief in myself would have sped up the process and probably drawn in even bigger opportunities, though I am extremely grateful for the music path I’ve had so far.
Faith, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As a singer & songwriter, so much of my early experiences at my all-girl Catholic school, from playing for weekly mass to helping the seniors write their class songs, I saw the power of music to inspire others and to bring people together. Though I’ve had some success as a session singer and songwriter for TV & Film, my heart really called me to write songs that were positive and empowering. To witness audiences from Tokyo to Rome, kids to seniors, all different faiths and walks of life come together through a song and feel the difference we can make by choosing love, peace or making a positive difference – that is the greatest high and I know, my unique purpose.
So in recent years, I have been helping individuals to businesses and non-profit organizations create their own unique Signature Song. It’s a musical logo that shares their core message in an exciting and memorable way and heartfully connects them to current and new clients, customers and supporters. My songs have been used by non-profit organizations to celebrate and honor their members, by life coaches to share their teaching, by businesses to increase brand awareness and by individuals to help them through challenging times or to cheer them on to the best life yet!
Though recently I do enjoy stretching myself with different music projects in different genres for TV & Film, my passion continues to be to uplift people through a song, to support their growth and expansion with meaningful music!
At youtube.com/faithrivera, on spotify and anywhere there is streaming music, I have a large catalog of positive music that many folks use daily as part of their self-care, self-empowering routine. Please use it and share it! And reach out, if you’re feeling the inspiration to create your very own Signature Song filled with the “medicine” you were meant to give the world. I’m here ready to support you!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn the accepted notion of the “starving artist” – the idea that pursuing art meant not making money, living a life of sacrifice for the art and basically the belief that doing music meant being poor. It also felt like having a career in music was not really seen or accepted as a career by most “normal” people who had 9-5 jobs, a boss, and medical insurance.
I’m grateful that my dad was an entrepreneur and had his own landscaping business, actually many businesses that I learned of now as an adult. He hustled alot and also had a cleaning business on the side, he was a realtor, sold insurance and even knives. He had his Tony Robbins book out and other self-help, entrepreneur kind of books that I’d always see at home.
His example helped me believe that it was possible to be my own boss, to do music and to make a living at it. Thanks to the fact that I got to perform and work with many influential self-help authors at conferences, I really got to shift the “starving artist” mentality to dreams of living a really rich life. For my early years, I might not have been earning full-time pay yet but the adventures I had around the world, the amazing cruises, hotels, exotic locations and beautiful, diverse communities made it feel like a success to me.
Though it would sting a little when folks would ask “How’s that music thing going?” as if it were just some hobby I did on the side, I felt good that I was building a future with my music. Again thanks to my dad, I think that’s why I became a marketing major and why I read books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” that put in my mind early on that I needed to think about passive income that would come in even when I wasn’t actively working.
So with that intention in mind, I started building my residuals which is ongoing pay from union jobs I had done for tv & film and also my catalog of 200+ songs was signed to a music licensing company that brings in income every quarter. Not to mention with CDbaby and Distrokid that distributed all my albums, I have ongoing royalties coming in from that as well as from songs that have licensed to TV & film. And to this day, I’m always on the lookout for more passive income opportunities.
It also helped to be surrounded by a community that believed in thriving and that actually tithed to me as an artist for the inspiration that my music brought into their lives. So it definitely took and still takes effort to re-write that long-held belief in the starving artist, but it’s one of the most important things I’ve done that has kept me happy in this music career and always excited about the possibility of making even more money to fund more art and the outreach I continue to do to empower others through music – meaning I volunteer alot still and don’t get paid very much for classes or certain gigs here in Hawaii, but I do it truly to serve & share with others and that fills my heart!
I live in Hawaii now with my kids and cost of living is pretty high. I’ve definitely had to recreate myself. I’m no longer a touring artist but I do write & pitch music for TV & Film and also create custom songs for clients. Along with that, I have a few ongoing virtual gigs via zoom and interesting projects and opportunities that continue to pop up. For instance, I have a podcast I’m currently building with two other co-hosts that I completely love and most recently, accepted an offer to do a weekly class teaching others how to sing and dance my songs, not to mention a recent job as an emcee at a fashion show where they used my music. So long story short, I totally know that we can thrive as artists – just have to be open to the possibilities, keep showing up, and bring your best to be of service! In that way, no matter the dollar amount, it can be a rich experience and we can finally upgrade that “starving artist” mentality. to thriving creator!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’ve mentioned this some already but definitely leaving Los Angeles, my touring career and occasional union jobs for tv & film as a session singer was a big change. I knew I had to pivot when I moved to Hawaii and committed to staying home to raise my kids with our extended family. One of the first things I did was sign up for an online course called the 6-figure Songwriter and started learning more in-depth about licensing to TV & Film. I had a number songs already licensed for shows through connections I had in LA, but now since I was in Hawaii, I thought I could focus on pitching music remotely to get more licenses and passive income going through royalties.
It’s amazing once you make a decision and move whole-heartedly in that direction, the universe will show up to support you. A year later after moving back home, a friend told me about the Hawaii Songwriting Festival on the Big Island and after connecting with all the amazing staff there, I discovered there was a state run program that hand-picked artists to support them with mentorship with industry executives. I was lucky to be accepted and soon found myself in hotel rooms at a conference in Hawaii writing with top producers and artists in the sync licensing world for some of the leading music supervisors in the industry that were flown in to coach us and give us hands-on experience.
This journey continues and I had to pivot from focusing only on my artist career creating positive music, but now I discovered I could rap and sing in genres I’d never even heard of before, from trap to swagger and retro soul and more! The full-time income is slowly building, I’m not there yet but definitely this pivot has been exciting and I know it will pay off even more one day soon.
And amazingly during COVID, where all my touring friends stopped just as I did with my move, my career actually pivoted again! All the spiritual communities & organizations I used to support with live music, now all went virtual! So it was actually a thriving time for me filled with so much remote work – both live and doing lots of pre-recorded videos.
I think most of all it helps that my brain is set to always look for the opportunity and maybe the naive, yet eternally hopeful optimist in me who believes the best is yet to come. So though it was a challenge many days to feel my worth as a music artist those early days moving back, my commitment to creating music and supporting others carried me through and I’m truly excited for what’s next including the next pivot!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.faithrivera.com
- Instagram: @faithriveramusic
- Facebook: @faithriveramusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-rivera-15b90784/
- Twitter: @faithrivera
- Youtube: @faithrivera
- Other: For Licensing: https://triplescoopmusic.com/music-licensing?artist=14
Image Credits
Crysta Chambers Nolan Hee