We were lucky to catch up with Joana “Jam” Cruz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joana “Jam”, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’d always loved artistic outlets since I was young. I loved drawing, acting, singing, dancing, poetry, music, all the things. But I first knew that the artistic path was where I wanted to be sometime around 13. That’s when I had my first existential crisis, LOL. I can’t tell you why I had it that early, but I did! As a child of immigrant parents, I think it’s very common for us to be hard on ourselves as we never want our parents’ sacrifice to be for nothing. Even at that age I thought about being top-ranked in my class, going to a great college, climbing the corporate ladder, being filthy fucking rich, and showing my parents how much I loved them through my success.

But when I thought about the typical grown-up / adult job that would “get me there,” all I could imagine were grey cubicles that stretched for miles. Sitting in front of a computer for hours. People telling me what to do. Wearing boring clothes. It made me so sad and fearful. Nothing resonated. But at the same time, no one in my family was doing an unconventional whimsical job so it must be impossible, right? Why did becoming an adult seem to come at a cost of my joy and creativity? Though these memories were over a decade ago, I can still remember them so clearly.

When I thought about becoming an artist, however, I got so excited! I thought about all the times that I performed at Filipino parties, entered poetry recitation competitions, sang in choir and reminisced on how it made me feel so alive. I knew that I wanted to be a creative to some capacity in that moment, but I just didn’t know how. Years and years later, I found myself in the midst of a lot of tears, big arguments, forcing myself to like things that I really didn’t, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, doubt, doing what I had to do to get by, etc. You know, ~ Character Development ~

Now at 26 years old, I feel like I’ve reached a place where I can say I did it. Every day I’m living my artist fantasies and working on projects that bring me so much joy and satisfaction. I have a lot more that I want to accomplish, but I would say I’m doing pretty alright.

I look back often and get emotional because I realize I’ve made Baby Jam so proud! Wow, I could cry right now.

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

Hi, friend! My name is Joana “Jam” Cruz and I’m a creative based in Atlanta. I work as a freelance social media strategist + content creator on top of being a professional dancer and choreographer.

Though I frequently use my skills in these fields for both career paths, the journey in cultivating these individual careers have been somewhat separate. Since dance came first, let’s start there!

Journey as a Dancer:

I’d always loved dancing. I started off by learning K-Pop dances in my room from middle school to high school and did color guard (marching band, not ROTC) for 4 years because I loved dancing and performing, but especially to live music! I feel like that’s when I really fell in love with competition and team-centered sports.

During my freshman year of college, my older sister told me to join our school’s Atlanta Filipino Student Association. They hosted dance practices as they rehearsed for their annual competition in Gainesville, Florida called Def Talent Jam. Since watching America’s Best Dance Crew, being on a dance team had always been a dream of mine, so I knew I had to join.

2016 DTJ season was very life-changing for me. I’d met such a wonderful community, fallen even more in love with dance, and was exposed to all of the possibilities that came from doing something like this. From 2017-2019, I switched from being a dancer to assisting in choreography as well. My first year as a choreographer was when I realized how much I loved teaching. One of my greatest achievements was helping lead my team to 1st place in 2018.

In the midst of my college years, I was also part of Movement as One Dance Company, HomeGrown Dance Crew, Groove2Musik Company 2019, and started booking my first gigs. These were such formative years for my dance career. I was training tirelessly and found my style as an artist.

After graduating college, I immersed myself deeper into the studio scene and found myself collaborating with more artists and booking more jobs. Concept videos, music videos, background dancing, teaching slots, choreographing for performances, etc. I also started hosting free community workshops during this period, which later evolved into teaching at my first studio – Divine Dance. Though I don’t teach a regular slot anymore, I still like to host free dance classes if my jobs permit! I’m actually stepping back into the dance scene after taking a little over a year off to focus on my freelancing business.

Which brings me to my next origin story …

Journey as a Social Media Strategist + Content Creator:

I graduated GSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing in May 2020. I felt like marketing was the perfect blend between being creative and being a businesswoman. I loved being both so this path felt safe and didn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out.

But, alas, I graduated in the middle of a global pandemic which put myself and countless other people in such a challenging situation. Here we are, ready to take on the world only for it to literally shut down on us. It was such a fight trying to find a marketing job. No one was hiring, and if they were, there were hundreds of other applicants trying to land the same exact position. At that point, I was committed to scoring *something*. All I could think about was how it didn’t matter if it was a marketing job or not, I just wanted the means to feel like I could survive! Even if it meant learning a new trade for the time being.

After several gut-wrenching interviews, I ended up landing a job in tech sales! I was so grateful to have gotten a job at all that it didn’t matter if it wasn’t related to my field. To my surprise, I realized that I was actually pretty good at it. After just a few months of working at my job, I was even recognized as one of the Top Sellers for my quarter.

I worked this super stable 9-5 job by day and took dance class by night for about a year and a half. It was great! Working this job wasn’t as terrible as Little Jam imagined it to be. I was working from home full-time and taking calls in my pajamas. Got paid and treated well. My co-workers were super nice. I was able to clock-out and do all the things I wanted to do after I wrapped things up for the day.

All of this was manageable and chill .. until it wasn’t. My managers were phenomenal and I even got a raise, but I found myself feeling so uninspired. I dreaded making phone calls. I didn’t care to close deals, meet metrics, or evolve in my role. This wasn’t what I wanted to do, it’s just what I *had to do. I felt the workdays really wearing down on my spirit and sometime in between is when I decided it was time for a “pivot”. Ew, such an entrepreneurial buzzword.

In the midst of brainstorming my next steps, I ran into an IG Stories Ad promoting a course (please stick with me, I swear it wasn’t a scam). It was a social media management course and highlighted how you could get paid to work anywhere in the world just from making and managing someone’s content! I know ads get thrown in our faces all the time, but there was something about this one particular ad that stuck with me. It was the exact industry I was hoping to get into post-graduation and it found its way to me right when I needed it.

Long story short, I bought the course and got to work. I learned the basics of social media management and found my first client off of an ATL Scoop job posting on Instagram. I worked with this client for about 6 months as a side hustle all while working my full-time job and saved every penny I got. Once I felt like I had enough saved up, I took the leap of faith and quit my job in November 2021. I haven’t looked back.

It’s almost been 3 years of freelancing and a lot has happened in between! I’ve gained some amazing clientele, helped them achieve life changing metrics, and helped curate such fun, engaging content. I’ve also suffered from some pretty devastating losses and humbling reality checks. I’ve had to juggle working at the restaurant, meeting client deadlines, and packing my bag for a dance gig all in the same weekend. Last year, I traveled to Tampa for my first ever work trip which was just … wow. I’ve learned and experienced so much in just 3 years and I don’t regret a single decision.

After working out the kinks of my freelancing career, I’m happily working alongside a social media agency as a content creator, doing marketing and event assisting for an art museum, and tending to some amazing clientele on my own. It’s a lot of work, but it’s great work.

Journey as a Creative:

If you ever considered working with me in any capacity – whether it be hiring me as a dancer, choreographer, strategist – I’d want you to know that my goal is to always be of service to you, your visions, and to exceed expectations.

Inviting people to help you with your dreams is like inviting people into your home. It is such a vulnerable thing to do and not something to be taken lightly. Whether it be for long-term contracts or one-off jobs, it’s a mission of mine to leave a positive long-lasting impression.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being in community with like-minded individuals! There’s so many opportunities to collaborate, learn from one another, and bond over such vulnerable aspects of our careers.

I wouldn’t have made it this far in my journey as a creative if I wasn’t surrounded by other people walking in similar seasons of life. In almost every aspect of my journey, I knew someone who could relate to some capacity. They understood what it felt like to be stuck in a creative rut for countless months and not knowing how to get out. They knew what it was like to be juggling so many gigs at a time to struggling in finding one at all. They understood the uncomfortable feelings that came with the question: “So, what do you do for a living?” They understood what it felt like to lose love for something that you’d been pursuing relentlessly.

I remember being a little girl and feeling so isolated when it came to the idea of pursuing my artistic dreams because nobody else around me was! Now that I’m older, I feel witnessed and supported by such an amazing community of artists who just get it. I’m very fortunate.

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 feel like “””non-creatives””” (tbh, I feel like everyone is a creative!) may view people like me as directionless, irresponsible, and unstable because of the unconventional paths we’ve taken. Especially if their art isn’t their full-time gig. They may hear me say “Oh, I do this, this, and this” for work and think, “She doesn’t have her life together,” or “Could never be me”.

Judgmental comments and unsolicited opinions like this used to bother me, but my personal truths are this: 1.) I’m happiest when I honor all aspects of myself and 2.) success looks and means something different for everyone! Growing up, we’re all led to believe that the path to success is getting good grades in school, being a part of the best internships, curating the perfect resume and boom! You achieve your 9-5 dream job and are now drowning in money.

This isn’t to say that people who have stable 9-5’s aren’t successful or happy (please be drowning in money and happiness 🥹🫶🏼). I know countless 9-5 baddies who are so unbelievably fulfilled. It’s just that that model of success didn’t work for *me. It never did. I knew this for a very long time and I harbored a lot of guilt and restlessness for not aligning with this mentality.

To me, success means being in control of my time and committing myself solely to projects that excite and fulfill me.

I do not subscribe at all to the “starving artist” narrative nor do I believe that I can’t have my cake and eat it too. I’ve done it. My peers have done it. Our paths just look different! Rather than our paths looking like a culmination of 2-3 full-time jobs in our lifetime, ours looks like little side-quests, hahaha.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t creatives out there that aren’t facing the challenges of choosing art as a career path. We certainly do have our struggles. Fuck, just a couple months ago I was struggling with my own means and mental health. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that this perception that we’re barely making it by or being Super Frugal Franny or are all severely depressed and desperate for our next big break is harmful, discouraging, but also … not true. I have several creative friends that do their art full-time. I have friends who have 2 part-time jobs they adore and pursue their art as another side gig. I have friends that have a full-time corporate job they’ve been at for years and can’t wait to work on their art business after work and do the same thing the next day. Like I said, success just looks different!

Once you start listening to your intuition and being courageous enough to shift your perspective on what you thought life was supposed to be, you really open yourself up to so many possibilities and connections!

I don’t care if my life looks chaotic compared to the next guy. I don’t care if people don’t understand it. I don’t care if my timeline looks a little different than yours.

I know that at the end of the day what matters the most to me is being able to look back at my life and say that I did all that I said I would and that I truly lived my life for myself and claimed it as my own.

The dancer. The strategist. The actress. The athlete. The spiritual sides of my identity and the parts left undiscovered all deserve a chance. There’s room for all sides of me and you! We’re all so complex, it doesn’t make sense to choose one path and call it a day. I’ve learned so much from “””non-creatives””! After this, I hope you’ll take the chance on championing and learning from us, too!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joanacruz.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanaandjam/

Image Credits
Tina Somphone, Kavi Vu, Bread N’ Butter