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

Hi Penelope, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

For as long as I can remember my life has revolved around music. My dad is a music producer and I used to fall asleep in the recording studio with loud dance beats bouncing around in my head mysteriously becoming my form of comfort and meditation. At age seven I recorded my first song after much persistence, even though I think my dad would describe it more like I drove him crazy. I wanted to do what I watched every day through that studio window. I wanted to sing and write amazing songs, and so it happened. At the early age of seven I began a musical career journey that took me all the way to performing in theme parks all throughout the United States, summer camps, girl scout clubs, and festivals. I even had the luck and honor to open up a festival for the incredibly talented artist Karol G. Things were going really great and calls were starting to come in with gigs and opportunities. But then the pandemic hit, and things drastically changed.

During the pandemic my music career was put on pause. I was only thirteen so my parents thought it was a good thing that I take the time to just be a kid. I did some of that, but most of all I focused on writing my songs alone without any help and wrote, wrote, and wrote some more. Most of the songs never seeing the light of day as they were a bit depressing, but the love for music only continued to grow inside of me.

Towards the end of the pandemic my mother decided the time had come for a change and for me to learn Spanish. This meant selling our house in Miami and moving to an entirely different country I had never even visited before. I was excited and petrified all at once. I didn’t know anyone in Bogota, Colombia. My parents aren’t even Colombian, and here we were uprooting our entire lives just so i could learn a new language. I was sure my music career, or whatever was left of it, would come crashing down. I didn’t think the risk was worth it. I could not have been more wrong.

Upon my arrival in Colombia my life as I knew it abruptly ended. I had no friends, I didn’t know the language, I felt very much alone. So once again I turned to music for comfort and with the help of my parents I started recording again and releasing music. There I was, a non-spanish speaking foreigner in a strange country trying to connect with people through songs in english, doing interviews in my broken spanish, and somehow it all made sense. The Colombian community welcomed me with open arms. They embraced my music and most of all me.

Today I reside full time in Bogota and love exploring all of Colombia. I am working hard and finding ways to continue growing in my career and every day another door opens. I don’t know, actually, I am pretty certain I would not be as confident and excited about my future if I had stayed in Miami. Sometimes taking a risk means accepting change and in most cases it pays off, because change gives you a whole new perspective and just that can be huge.

Penelope, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Penelope Robin. I am a 16 year-old singer songwriter from Miami, Fl but I am currently living in Bogota, Colombia. I am extremely passionate about music and songwriting and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

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

As an artist I can’t express how much it means every time someone reaches out and tells me that they connected with my music or how I inspired them in some way. That is truly the most rewarding and fascinating part of being an artist.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is all about being honest. connecting with your fans by just being yourself. I find that my posts that get the most engagement are those that don’t have too much frill and are just down to earth and let people into your life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.peneloperobin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepennyrobin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peneloperobinofficial/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIsUxyK4nLcqJPCkJ74sxRQ
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepennyrobin

Image Credits
Photography by: Arturo Borda Courtesy of Wyster media LLC