Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Olivia DeToma. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Olivia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had started sooner?

That’s a tough one. I really am one of those people who believes everything happens for a reason, but if I had a chance to start again I definitely would have pushed to start my career sooner. As a younger person, I was so sure of what I wanted to do, but I let the insecurities and opinions of others keep me quiet about it. If I could give advice to that version of myself, I would tell her to kick, scream, and cause trouble about it. I would have told her not to be afraid of what people would think of her if she was loud about what she wanted to do. But in the end, I’m grateful I was able to have the life I did before I started taking music seriously as a business. It gave me so much time to just experience life without having to work on a career at the same time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into singing and songwriting more seriously after I graduated from college. I had gone to Oberlin for the cinema program, and walked out loving film and production but still craving music. As I worked in the commercial industry, I joined a band of four guys who I knew from high school named Delko as a collaborator, where I helped provide lyrics for music they’d written, and helped flesh out their live set and recordings with female vocals. It was in these moments and performances I knew I had a place in the industry long-term.

After a couple years, I decided it was time to move to LA to pursue my career further, as well as continue to work in production and media. My work is quite visually inspired, and often connected to my past as a resident of one of the sleepiest suburbs in Massachusetts. I’ve played guitar since I was 9, and have been writing songs ever since I learned how to play chords. I’m not afraid to be playful, and my music gives people a chance to join me in that.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I actually started building more of a presence on Instagram via micro influencing in the beauty and lifestyle space right out of college. As I began to play and record with a band and we were having gigs, I got more into using my page to promote our music. I would say rely on organic connection over everything, the most successful people on social know how to bring their media savvy and their personal charm into one strong brand.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

To be honest I’ve had a lot of job ups and downs, and have struggle a lot financially, But I’ve always stuck to my belief that I’m supposed to be doing what I’m doing right now, and that working two jobs in order to stay in LA and keep working is worth it. And I’m starting to see that pay off, which is really cool.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: liv_detoma
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/livdetomamusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@livdetoma?app=desktop

Image Credits
Justin Ogden, Lisa Gallo, Nikki Rodriguez