We were lucky to catch up with Tina Parol recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I am the daughter of immigrants who came to America for a better life with only $75 and one suitcase between them. My father fled then Communist Poland for Sweden at the age of 21. In Sweden, my father worked on a farm picking cauliflower while sleeping next to cows in a barn. What was then West Germany considered the part of Poland my father was born in to be Germany, so they let my father into Germany. It was there that my father lived humbly while seeking political asylum in the United States and where he was interviewed by the American military on a weekly basis for two years. My parents met in (then) West Germany and in 1983, both my parents came to America. They worked in factories and lived in a shelter. Within five years, I was born and my mother had earned a Bachelor’s degree while my father worked as a fire inspector for the local government in New Jersey. To this day, my father works six days a week despite having chronic leukemia. Quite simply, my father is my hero and a huge inspiration to me. His determination to come to America with a greencard and to work hard for a better life inspired me to go for and achieve my wildest dreams. His work ethic and dedication to providing for his family inspired me to work diligently to support my own family. I know that without his example, I would not be the businesswoman, or American, that I am today.
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 am a professional recording artist, songwriter, publisher, and business owner. I wrote my first song at the age of eight and by age sixteen, I signed my first publishing deal and moved from Buffalo, New York to Sleepy Hollow, New York, (Go Horseman!) so that I could be closer to New York City, where my publisher was based. I attended the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for one year and dropped out after I signed a record deal with Universal Motown Records at age nineteen. I then released a Billboard Top 40 Pop hit called “Who’s Got Your Money?” which I co-wrote. After touring the entire country, I decided to sign another publishing deal with Bug Music in Log Angeles and focus on writing for other artists. I wrote songs for artists such as Britney Spears and Jessie James Decker and then signed to Disney Music Publishing, where I wrote for Celine Dion, The Disney Princess Franchise, Disney Channel and more. In 2019, I started my own publishing company and record label called G23 Entertainment. since starting G23, I co-wrote a three week #1 Billboard Country song called “Champagne Night” by Lady A. This means that I was not only a co-writer on “Champagne Night” but also a publisher of that hit song. I also won the Canadian Country Music Award for Songwriter(s) of the Year two years in a row: one in 2020 for “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking)” by Tenille Townes and one in 2021 for “Champagne Night” by Lady A. I am constantly releasing my own artist music under my name, Tina Parol, and my songs have been licensed in television shows such as Riverdale, Legacies, Selling Sunset, Love Is Blind, and in promos for Grey’s Anatomy, Wheel of Fortune, and more. You can also hear my music in ads for Maybelline, Peloton, Kohl’s, Target, and more. I also wrote “The Gift” for Celine Dion (and got to sing backgrounds!) which is the opening title song to the movie “Love Again” starring Celine and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas. What I hope to get across with my brand is that as a songwriter, I can write any genre. I have had music executives tell me in the past that songwriters should “pick a lane” and I wanted to prove that wrong. I love all kinds of music and have always wanted to write pop, country, and synch music for films, television shows, and advertising. And now, I have proven and continue to prove that it’s not only possible to do that as a songwriter, but it’s what I do well.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Two years after starting my business, I had a 10-hour, fourteen level spinal fusion surgery to correct the scoliosis that plagued my life since I was a small child. I knew the recovery of my spine would be brutal, but I was not prepared for the complications I endured. Two days after my surgery, my lungs collapsed and I needed an emergency chest tube. Ten days in the ICU later, I was released home and fainted the next day, only to take an ambulance ride back to the ICU. It was discovered that fluid was building up on my spinal cord and I needed to drained and to be observed for sepsis. I spent twenty nights in the ICU and when I finally got home, I had to rehabilitate not only my spine, but my lungs. I am a singer and singing is my business, but for four months, I did not have the lung capacity to sing a song, let alone create new material. I leaned heavily on the catalogue of songs I had diligently and strategically created to work for me and by the grace of God and my management teams hard work, despite not being able to work due to my recovery, my business doubled that year. I stuck the course, listened to my physical therapists and pulmonologist, did the breathing therapies, and eventually, my lungs and voice came back stronger and better than ever.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe my reputation in the music industry has been built on consistency and proving that I can write and sing in many different genres as an artist and as a songwriter for other artists. When I was told to “pick a lane”, I didn’t fight back verbally or get discouraged, I just stayed the course that I plotted in my mind. I created a vision for my career and believed in that vision. I showed up. I worked hard and I worked smart. I studied the craft of songwriting. And over time, I built my cuts in country music, pop music, EDM music, and synch licensing for television shows, films, promos, trailers, and commercials.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tinaparol.com
- Instagram: @tinaparol
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-gemza-parol-49b0a529/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0abNl7aAeR6OBa0ohZL9nw
- Other: You can find my music under “Tina Parol” on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream music!
Image Credits
The main photo with black turtleneck, jeans, and red lip is by Amy Allmand Photography. The red carpet photo is Getty Images. “Champagne Night” owned by Big Machine Records. “Love Again” is a movie by Screen Gems (Sony Pictures) and soundtrack by Columbia Records/ Sony Music.