We were lucky to catch up with Veronique Medrano recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Veronique, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I have been able to understand how to make money in a better and more efficient way, now that I’m working in the creative field full-time. It started in 2016, when I was let go from my part time job and I began to paint and gig as a musician. At first I didn’t think anything of the money coming and going from the expenses and it wasn’t until the end of the tax season, when I got a call that I owed a good bit of money and realized that comfort and ease of the years expenses and financing my own projects. It was then that I got the realization that while music in itself is a great artistic outlet, that the business of it requires a lot more finesse and a different mindset. I didn’t promote my products well enough at the start and so I wasn’t making a lot of money at first. Self-promotion feels wrong cause it has this guilty connotation of being selfish. If I had set that aside sooner and worked on self promotion and being consistent sooner with my art, music and other little ventures then I feel it could have sped up my earning power and influence in the market a bit more. Things are moving faster now that I understand these things and because I’m investing that time into it, but as they say sometimes the right timing is when it happens not so much when it “could’ve” happened.

Veronique, 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?

I got into my industry by sheer force of will. I have always been in the arts in one way or another: as a vocalist in the school choir, painting, writing, and more as a child into young adulthood. But in my Senior year college, I decided to make a serious go of it and went into the studio to produce three songs. Try it out and see if it was something I really wanted to do. After releasing the music to a hand full of stations and getting good and bad feedback, I got to sit with it for some time and after graduating college the Summer of 2013, I let me family know that I would be attempting to make a full album and pursuing a music career. Next December 2023 will be 10 official years since the release of that album and a journey full of unexpected twists and turns in my life that lead me to this moment as a full-time artist. When I got into the entertainment industry, I thought that I would just focus on music, but after my first album it was clear to me that I could not stay idly in one field. There was so much that I wanted to explore and so instead of being ‘just a musician’ I afforded myself the freedom to be a free-lance journalist, video producer, songwriter, painter, and archivist. I think what sets me apart is that I’m an artist and I attempt to express my art through multiple mediums and not just the one that the public knows me for. I have depth and variety and so many options to tell a story. The thing I am most proud of is that I got my Master’s degree. I graduated from UNT and did it working a full-time day job, and maintaining a good pace on my music career. It was a lot, but I did it and now I am affecting change in the museum and college space to engage with equity in music history for Latino and Mexican artists. If I want to be known for something I would want to be known as the artist who looked out for the future impact of our works. I want to uplift my bordertown community and let be seen as the place it is and not how the media incorrectly portrays it.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Many people that tell me how they can’t imagine how I could do all of the things that I do. Where do I find the time, they ask? Why not focus on one thing, they ask? My journey as a creative is complex because of my skills and even further that I don’t get the luxury do one thing well. The industry isn’t throwing opportunities my way for one focused skill. I have no choice but to be resourceful and learn to film, to write, to film edit, and produce music. As time goes on, there will be things that will not serve my overall goals that I will relinquish continuing to do and others that I will foster. Being a Brown Mexicana/Latinx creator makes it clear that I have to be able to do more than my counterparts to move upward than others. I’ve accepted that this is part of the journey that others might not quite understand.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal for my creative journey is to leave something behind that others can follow or even leave the door open for others to acheive their full potential in an easier manner. My creative journey has been a marathon and many times people feel it is a sprint. Getting the awards and the fame quickly being the goal for others, but for me it is building a foundation and space to uplift other Latino(x) and Mexican creators in music and the arts. We are a smaller community than people think and so my goal is to connect the like minds for further success and growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.veroniquemedrano.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/veronique_medrano
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/veroniquemedrano
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/veronique956
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/veroniquemedrano
• Other: https://www.twitch.tv/veronique956

Image Credits
JJTheCreative Media (Image of Veronique Red Hair Looking in Mirror) Norma Red ( Additional Images)