We were lucky to catch up with Jose Arce recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jose, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Being part of the LGBTQ+ community myself, there have been times when I was afraid to be my authentic self because I was unaware of how others would treat me. While working in multiple studios in the Los Angeles area, I experienced and observed numerous inappropriate encounters between staff/clients and female/LBGTQ+ artists in the workplace.
GRL SND’s mission is to provide a positive, safe, and respectful environment for female and LGBTQ+ music artists to create.
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?
Pursuing a creative career was something I always knew I wanted to do from a young age. I began dancing at the age of five. Growing up with a speech impediment, being creative helped me express myself and build confidence in ways I could not do with speech. I have warm memories of my childhood, watching my mom dance and enjoying music while cleaning. I would often join her and have a dance party anywhere in the house. Those experiences made me realize that I wanted to make others feel the joy I felt during those times. I was often told pursuing a creative career would not bring me success because it was considered a hobby. Still, nothing gave my life more meaning than expressing myself through music; it helped me escape from reality during life’s toughest challenges.
Once I started college, I decided to pursue a career in health care because I believed I needed a stable job to live a happy life. I became a certified nursing assistant and began working towards nursing school. In 2011, I got accepted into a nursing program, but I also had the chance to move to Los Angeles. It was a difficult decision, but I followed my heart and moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream. Today, I have no regrets and genuinely enjoy being a part of the creative community.
In January 2021, my partner and I decided to develop a recording studio that caters to female and LGBTQ+ talent. After months of hard work, dedication, and challenging obstacles, in November 2021, we finally opened the doors to my recording studio, GRL SND.
What sets GRL SND apart from other recording studios is its focus on female and LGBTQ+ talent. Most studios aim to bring in as much business as possible, regardless of genre, talent, or sound. At GRL SND, we specifically cater to female and LGBTQ+ artists seeking a safe environment to explore their creativity or realize a project they have conceived. I am incredibly proud of the GRL SND concept because, throughout my experience working in other studios, females and the LGBTQ+ community have been given second priority to male artists or artists with the most money. At GRL SND, our primary focus is ensuring the artist has the tools and resources to realize their vision. I’m proud that it took only nine months to build GRL SND fully.
I want the world to know that the most crucial part of GRL SND is our focus on female and LGBTQ+ artistry. We aim to create a lane within the music industry where females and the LGBTQ+ community are empowered to stay true to themselves and become authentic, unique, and empowered artists and entrepreneurs.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
At the beginning of building GRL SND, we had an investor interested in working with us to realize our dream. Unfortunately, because of the uncertainties related to COVID-19, our investor elected not to move forward, which was a devastating blow to the development of GRL SND. Even so, we recognized that we have a meaningful brand that can positively impact the world, so we elected to continue developing the brand without the investor. From then on, developing the studio was quite challenging in so many ways: location, space, and budgeting, to name a few. We found an intimate space in a prime location and are very proud of the space we have created for artists to feel comfortable in a space that allows them to work free of distraction. The road to where we are today has not been easy, but it has provided us with many lessons for the future, and we are excited and grateful for the path forward.
When the studio’s investor elected not to move forward, we decided to take matters into our own hands. Although entrepreneurship is stressful and challenging, we figured out how to make GRL SND a reality with what we had. We worked extra long hours at our regular jobs to make ends meet, and our parents helped us develop the recording studio tremendously. Today, our fully functioning recording space is the perfect environment for the artists we consider our niche group, females and the LGBTQ+ community.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
My Co-Founder/business partner of GRL SND is my life partner Eric. We met nine years ago, and he has been my tremendous supporter since day one. He’s the reason why I was able to attend Los Angeles Recording School because he knew the amount of passion I have for music. I am blessed to have an incredible partner behind my creative endeavors. He is also the Co-Founder of the recording studio, GRL SND, that we built together. Pursuing a creative career is a huge risk, and it comes with struggles and setbacks, but he always encouraged me even when I wanted to give up. Having a support system is extremely important to achieving your goals in life, and I’m thankful to have him in my corner.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.grlsnd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grlsndrecordsstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grlsnd/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-a-%F0%9F%8F%B3%EF%B8%8F%E2%80%8D%F0%9F%8C%88-75810b184/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrlSnd
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6mPjoKKl0uSIw0YKgAyfw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/grl-snd-records-studio-los-angeles
Image Credits
Joseph Grable