We recently connected with Zetti Carnell and have shared our conversation below.

Zetti , appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

It’s 3am in the morning in Dallas , when I’m awoke from a beckoning voice within me. I can still see the street light flickering through my blinds as ,I reach for the lamp next to me and turn the light on. Something is stirring me, as I sit straight up in bed, When I hear the words ” your best decisions got you here.” Weeks proceeding this I had been questioning my life’s purpose and what I was doing with myself and how I ended up alone , miserable, and feeling empty in Texas. It all came into focus for me at 3 am sitting up in my bed gazing at the four walls that held me in. I had been playing it safe. I had been making decisions in my life based off my fear, and not based off of my faith in myself. Sitting there I was thinking about all my failed relationships, failed record deals, failed business ventures and how I just gave up at life , and worst gave up on myself. It was mid-Covid and fear was still rampant and I am sure I was like most , questioning everything in my life.

I had built the bars to my own prison I was now living in and the only person capable of setting me free from this prison of mediocrity and fear , was myself. I realized in order to become greater and reach my full potential , I would have to start taking risks, Not only would I have to change the way I thought and felt about myself but I would have to change everything about my life. I would have to put myself in a place where I was challenged daily to be a better version of myself and a place conducive with my talents. That night I made the decision to move from Dallas Texas to Nashville Tennesse. A few months later I loaded up all my worldly possessions, and made the 10 hour drive to Nashville. Leaving behind friends, family, connections, comfort, and my past, Here I am 8 months later and it has been the best decision I have ever made.

When it comes down to playing it safe and staying comfortable , always choose the risk. The growth, the stretch, the reward, is in the risk. I know the challenges that come from such life altering decisions only work FOR me not AGAINST me. At the end of the day I will always bet on me, and I haven’t’ looked back! My businesses have grown exponentially and I’ve grown as an individual. My belief in myself has never been stronger!

Zetti , 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?

Currently I am a private chef where I offer upscale weekly food service/ events to families in Nashville, but also focus on my songwriting and Artist Management.

I’ve been in the music business since 2000, but I’ve known music all my life, coming from a church/ musical background. Food is something I just naturally fell into from being a creative and catering events for the church I worked for as a Pastor.

I am extremely proud that I am fortunate enough to work with celebrity clients, special needs clients, and cultivate specific menus and options for these families but also take on new clients and create meaningful and special events for Anniversaries, Birthdays and Holidays. I am also extremely proud that I can provide artist entertainment for clients, and work and support the Artist’s that I manage. Both of these jobs give me the freedom to be creative and enjoy serving others.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The truth is there is a myriad of ways to support artists and creatives but I think one of the most powerful tools today is Virtual Support.

Virtual Support is an incredible way to support artist’s and creatives because you can share images, purchase music, purchase services, share artist’s profiles and content , and become a part of that creatives journey by supporting their brand.

Virtual Support is extremely valuable to artist’s giving us more exposure. Leaving a genuine comment or purchasing a song, or a service is very uplifting and makes a true difference in our practice. We feel seen, heard, and needed,

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I look at my life as a whole I see a reoccurring theme. As a former pastor I fed people spiritually. As a chef I feed people physically, and as a songwriter and Artist Manager I nourish people emotionally.

My mission is simple, to best serve love. Everything I do in life should be in service to love.

How does one do that exactly?

When we see love as the gift. The gift is to be given away freely.

The talent is the part we develop as an artist. It’s our response to the gift. Its how we express ourself uniquely. When we focus on love , we allow our talents, (music, art, story telling, culinary , business), whatever the talent is to facilitate the gift. We express our love to the world around us through our talents.

The gift is why we are here, and why we should be doing what we do. The gift is greater than the talent because the talent serves the gift. The gift is what makes the world a better place, its what changes things for the better. When you focus on the gift and not the talent there is no room for competition or jealousy, envy or strife because it’s about the gift not the talent.

Everyone expresses the gift differently and uniquely one is not greater or better than the other. The gift says , “there’s room for everyone at the table”, the gift says, “there is abundance”. The gift says,” everyone is welcome” , the gift says,” everyone wins”.

SO I always tell people the gift is what God / Source gives to you – the talent is what you give back to serve the gift.

That is my mission in life, to serve love with all my talents, to leave this world better than I found it.

Contact Info:

• Website: zetticarnell.com
• Instagram: zetticarnell ( personal page) and crockerzetti (chef page)
• Facebook: zetti carnell (personal page) Zetti crocker ( chef page)

Image Credits
Kirstie Perez photo cred