We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pepe Valdez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Pepe, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I knew I wanted to do music professionally at an early age but I had to fight with the stigma of being a musician. Most of the times musicians and artists are seen as lazy or as people that spend their time aimlessly and I had to kind of wrestle with what it meant to be a musician full time. I started studying Psychology in College but after my first year I had a long and honest conversation with my parents about what I wanted to do and I started pursuing music.

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

I am a guitar player, composer and teacher based in Dallas, TX. I was born in California but my whole family is from Perú and we moved back to live in Lima when I was 2 years old and grew up there so I sometimes consider myself more Peruvian than American due to my cultural background. I moved to the DFW area in 2013 to pursue my Bachelors and Masters in Jazz Guitar performance at UNT and since then have been living and working in the area.

I got into music very naturally at a young age. My dad plays the guitar and piano and I have a very musical family where everyone loves to listen to music, sing and talk about music. I am the first professional musician in my family and I am very grateful to receive a lot of support from them.

I currently work as a professional guitarist and as a private guitar instructor. As a performer I work with various projects, some of those that I lead and direct and some others where I am part of as either a sideman or just as someone they call to sub in. I am currently primarily focused on my own original projects. I lead a trio of all original instrumental music inspired in the sounds of Latin America and with a high emphasis on improvisation. I also perform as a solo guitarist performing either Latin American music, Jazz, Classical and pop music. Last but not least I am the Musical Director and Guitar player of El Chanclazo, a group that performs Bohemian Latin Music and that has a lot of work in the area. I am also the Musical Director and Guitarist at Parkway Hills Baptist Church. As a private instructor I teach guitar to a small group of private students that range from teenagers learning the instrument for the first time to professional musicians that are wanting to dive into the music of Latin America and study some of those rhythms.

I have been able to work a lot in the DFW area and I believe I solve 2 problems very well for different clients. The first thing that I can do very well is provide live music for a private or corporate event. I have played in multiple situations and I am not only very professional, respectful and flexible but I also can provide a wide array of music. The other problem that I typically solve is for bands that need for a guitar player, either to record or to play live. I believe that I have a very unique musical voice in the area and I am capable of aiding with bringing a specific sound to the table.

I am very proud of my commitment to the music and my track record. I am always very professional and trying to work to the highest degree of professionalism.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I recently had to quit my full time day job. I worked as a guitar teacher at a Charter School for the last 5 years. A couple of things happened in life and I had to step down from that position. Although it was scary to be a freelance musician without a steady salary, I think that the decision to step down was one of the best decisions I’ve taken in my life. I now have a lot of work and much more control of my free time which I get to spend with my family and working on my own art.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There are many books that I could recommend but I was highly impacted by a book called Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. The book teaches you how to use technology in a positive way and how to create a personal work flow that is organized and efficient. One of the main ideas is to have multiple folders of past, current and constant projects so it is easy to organize whatever you are working on and most things are easily accessible and well organized. This has really helped on my daily life since I spend a lot of time writing my own music or arranging music for some of my projects as well as for other artists and this helps with organizing all of my ideas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pepevaldez.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pepevaldezmusic/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@pepvaldez