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

Alright, Ryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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.

The biggest risk I’ve ever took was choosing myself. This was big for me throughout my life because I always focused on others and ignored my own needs. After a lifetime of putting others needs before my own I realized I wasn’t living a life that was authentic to me. This lead me to learn self love. This was the greatest thing I could’ve ever learned this life because it set me on a journey inside myself. It taught me how to fill my cup before I fill others. How to set boundaries with people who just wanted to take and not reciprocate the energy I gave. It taught me how to not to be my own worst enemy and be my biggest cheerleader. I also had to let go of a lot of relationships that I truly cared about but just wasn’t the best for my growth. It opened my eyes to all the things I was doing to try to get people to love me. Self love taught me to be the source of my own love and validation without needing it from anything outside of myself. I lost a lot choosing myself but the greatest thing I gained was myself.

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.

My name is Ryan but I go by Sol. I was born and raised in Columbus, OH. I started creating music around the age of 18 when I bought my first microphone. Started making music with friends and created a rap group called Black Legion. Shortly after our first performance at a festival I choose to enlist in the United States Air Force. I served 6.5 years and during my time I started creating funny skits on instagram which lead me to pursue acting once my enlistment was done. I moved to Los Angeles attended the New York Film Academy and The Strasberg Institute to learn the craft of acting. During my time there I was in a lot of short/feature films and did background work for shows like Belair, Snowfall, Black Lady Sketch Show and many more. When living in LA Became too expensive I was forced to move back home with my parents. During my time back home I rediscovered my love for music and released my first single “Raise the Vibration” on all streaming platforms and continued to release more music throughout the year. My Stage name is “Sol Star Shaman” and I create soulful music infused with my spiritual knowledge and life experiences. What I’m most proud of is that no matter what life throws at me, I never give up. I’ve had a lot of circumstances in my life that almost forced me into submission but I learned how to take that energy and put it in my art. It is my passion to uplift others and express myself through art (music, dance, acting, travel).

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the journey. I used to be so consumed with the end goal/destination and finishing projects. But it was who I was becoming while creating the art that is really rewarding. I noticed that as an artist my projects stretch me as person to get out of my comfort zone and go deeper and bigger. The deeper and bigger I go the more I discover who I am. There have been songs and albums I’ve made that have healed me as a person. It is also rewarding when people resonate with the art that you make. It shows you that you are not alone in this world feeling the way that you do.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Throughout my life I’ve had a lot of people let me down and this forced me to become very hyper independent. I lost trust in people and developed this perception that everyone will let me down. So I took it upon myself to do everything on my own and do my best to figure things out. This way of thinking became very exhausting and lonesome. Ultimately, I craved to collaborate with people but the fear kept creeping in. Eventually life got to the point where I had to let go of my pride and asked for help. The blessing of dealing with a lot of people is that eventually you learn discernment. You start to see who is out for themselves and who is actually genuine. So once I finally learned how to choose the right people I learned that there are still good people out there who care and are reciprocal with the energy that I bring. I saw a quote that resonates with this that says, “strong alone, unstoppable together”. So now I’m learning to be better at being open to receive help and enjoy collaborating with like minded people.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @iam_ryanpayne
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SolStarShaman
• Other: TikTok – @Solstarshaman
  Apple Music – Sol Star Shaman
  Spotify – Sol Star Shaman