We recently connected with Totiana White and have shared our conversation below.

Totiana, appreciate you joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?

Being a business owner we are consistently figuring out ways to make our lives easier. Social media has been a great tool for me and as of right now I am in full control of my business account. What content is being posted and who I allow within my social media space. But I do plan to have my personal assistant/manager of the business eventually take over some aspects of my social media, so I can focus on other parts of the business and expand in different areas.

When operating any business, the lessons I can share is have a passion for it. There will be challenging days and there will be achievement days but the goal is to not give up. So choose a field that you’re willing to sacrifice your energy, money and time into daily. If you plan on being a sole proprietor, it’s best to have all your financials in place or an adviser that can assist you. Take any courses relevant to your business so you can be the expert. No matter if you have a team or you’re doing it on your own, make sure you look into all the resources you have around you and at your finger tips. You will need all the positive assistance you can get.

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.

As for me, I’m Totiana White but my stage name is MS. WHITE 1ST LADY OF FRISCO. I’m a Hip Hop/Pop Music Artist, Director, Producer, DJ & FOUNDER/CEO of BAY AREA HIP HOP & R&B MUSIC SHOWCASE. I’ve been entertaining since the age of 5, at family dinners that then grew into a professional career in the music business for 15 years now. I opened my own entertainment business in April 2022. Within my music business I specialize in recruiting artist for my live performances platforms and providing artist development. I travel from all over the Bay Area, Las Vegas and Los Angeles doing this work and have worked with almost 80 performing artist. I’m continually discovering new acts. I enjoy giving artist opportunities to showcase their talents, since the entertainment business lacks supporting emerging artist mainly in the Hip Hop & R&B genre.

I’m most proud of being an Afropean woman that does this line of work. The type of job I do is not given easily, so I had to create it. For me it was hard trying to be a performing artist and put my career in other people hands to get me to the next level. I had to deal with a lot of untrustworthy individuals and with that gave me ambition to create a business myself where artist could be treated equally, properly taught and given opportunities to grow and build a entertainment portfolio. I will continue to be an advocate for artists, a teacher and a leader. We just don’t have that in San Francisco Bay Area, so I’m happy to do my part in this industry. My three core values is to Impact, Inspire & Engage, with artists, other similar organizations and the communities we serve in!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’ve been entertaining since the age of 5. I became a professional at the age of 21. For a little over 10 years I always put myself first in my music. I focused specifically on writing, creating and performing. But once I began to really understand how the music business works, I shifted my thinking and transformed the way I conducted myself as a music professional. I stopped competing and started passing the mic. I noticed that a lot of performing artist were stuck like me, never getting those life changing opportunities and getting the exposure they really deserve. So I changed the narrative and got in the mud and recreated my approach. I not only advocated for myself but for artist all over the world. And because I took this avenue I began to earn trust within others, partnerships and a green light that I didn’t have before. Reputation to me means trust from others. Not always thinking about yourself but of how you can assist others along your journey.

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

For a long time, I thought that if I just create music that eventually I would land a record deal. For a decade this was my approach because that’s what the celebrities on TV would demonstrate. That if you just work hard on being perfect and the best that you will end up on TV. This wasn’t the case! I had to unlearn everything the media had showed me because in reality they’re not showing the challenges, the hardships, the business deals, the vocabulary and business mindset needed to be successful. I don’t watch celebrities on TV anymore, I barely watch music videos because I want to stay original and true to myself. Everything we see or watch isn’t true and I had to learn that when making my way in the entertainment industry. You have to have knowledge of how it operates and sometimes it’s who you know not what you know. You need to understand business to be successful in the music industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bayareahiphopnrnbmusicshowcase.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msswhiteofficially/?r=nametag&fbclid=IwAR0C7_Qwn4rgegbs0CoZqNUUmmBks_oqqyCH8XXlFtKepZQGg0eLW47PKyQ
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mswhite1stladyofvevo653/videos
• Other: https://linktr.ee/mswhite1stladyoffrisco

Image Credits

Marcella Sanchez