Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Babbler

Most people, when they hear us, make connections to 90s rock and grunge bands like Nirvana or Primus – but we consider ourselves more of a jazz trio. We are heavily influenced by jazz icons Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, and Yoko Ono. Our sound derives directly from the bebop and Big Band era of the 1930s and 1940s. For some reason, we’ve had a significant amount of trouble breaking in to the local jazz fusion scene in Atlanta. We’ve mainly been playing at local dive bars and heavier venues and this really gets us down. We consider ourselves on the cutting edge of free-form post-rhythmic acid jazz and that’s what we wish people would understand. Read more>>

Jeremy Squires

Ever since I first started pursuing a career as a solo artist or “singer-songwriter”… I feel like over the coarse of the last 25 years that I get boxed into certain genres or get misrepresented as to who I am as an artist and what I am trying to convey. Read more>>

LOREN MICHAELS HARRIS

This was a huge learning curve for me, early in my career as an influencer. There were just so many times that people that I would either be collaborating with, or creating something or the other with, would mistake my passion, my fiercely protecting my vision(s) with anger or either they would consider me ‘difficult to work with’. I may have been a bit of both, but primarily those situations were usually driven by my ‘knowing’ what the vision clearly was, as it was my vision, wherein the other person/people had a different vision altogether. Read more>>

Derrek Jensen

I don’t think I’ve ever been fully understood. I don’t fit the bill for your typical artist in the rap industry. I’m humble, hardworking, kind, and I really enjoy helping others live their dreams. 9/10 if you look at my history, you’ll see I always brought people with me and put my friends on. I paid people to live their best life and chase their dreams!! Because of this, people tend to use me and then slander me if they don’t get what they want. I never let that stop me from helping people though. Read more>>

 Jessica Wachter

Ever since a young age, I knew that I learned differently than my peers, and it wasn’t something that was temporary, instead, it was something that was part of me growing up. I feel like I always accepted it as part of who I am, and at the time it would have also been nice to have that understanding from others. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with dyslexia that my outer world began to also shift, as well as how others treated me. Sure, in school some people were accepting and tried to understand what it was, while others simply didn’t give it the time of day or even accepted it. Yes, at times it was hurtful, but with my own acceptance of it, it started to matter less. I knew it wasn’t something that was my fault, but something I had to work around and through, and that could be a positive exercise. I think people just didn’t understand that not everyone has the same learning path. So for me, I used art as my way of self-expression and way of showing what is in my mind and heart. That ease of expression comes through in a more authentic way for me through painting, than say, words do. So it was my catharsis to something bigger that helped me to uncover another side of myself, while always encouraging others to fuel their dreams in a way that makes sense to them, without having to conform to certain standards and by just being themselves. Read more>>

Briana Jean

I was raised in a family of athletes, so I learned how to play sports quite well. Soccer was my personal favorite and it actually took me as far as playing professionally and with the NCAA. I was always a sporty girl with a hidden dream of creating. It started with entries in my diary the eventually turned into songs. I didn’t have much of a musical influence for many years, so it was always something I did privately. I never thought I would pursue a career, especially being looked at as an athlete. There were times I was looked down upon for even trying to go the music route, which is why I struggled with confidence. Eventually, I was introduced and influenced by friends in Hollywood pursing the career in writing and performing. I had the privilege of demo singing, writing and finally releasing original music supported by people who believed in me more than I believed in myself, shout out to Rousseau, Chad Albers (Chid Mike), Dennis Dodd and Brigg Sterns. I knew God gave me something, I just never knew what to do with it. So of course there are many roads in the music business, especially in Hollywood. I ended up going down the wrong road that led me to a dark place. Long story short I found the light. My life was completely renewed and transformed, all Glory to God. I married my best friend, Dennis Dodd who I met doing music. He is one of the most skilled musicians I know and helped me produce a new sound of original music. Together we pursed Jesus and Christian music. We are now the Praise and Worship Directors at In His Presence Church where I found my purpose. Recently, we released a new original called “Breathing” available to stream on all digital platforms. We are currently working on releasing more music and look forward to spreading encouragement, love and light! For so long I felt misunderstood by those around me when in realty I misunderstood myself. Read more>>

Matthew Behum

In the DJ world you get a lot of “book cover judgment” by managers or even the general public. One thing I take great pride in is since my immersion into the DJ world, I have truly become a student of a multitude of musical genres. I enjoy curating a cocktail of multiple genres during a set. And often that eclectic mix catches people off guard who initially may think you don’t have the “look” to play a certain style of music. Then when you show how you can dabble into those genres people have grown to love, you immediately sense that level of respect from them by their reactions. I remember after finishing a set early on in my career at a small venue in Odenton, one of the patrons came over to me and told me how much he loved my set, going further admitting that he thought I would never be able to play the music that would relate to the crowd there. It goes to show that judging a book by its cover in the DJ world can be a foolish approach as music is a universal communicator — various genres of music destroy cultural barriers and can impact anyone at any time. Read more>>

Stephany Ficut

I grew up in a country where success is viewed almost always in the job title that you have. If you’re a lawyer, doctor, surgeon etc you’re well respected. Photography was almost always viewed as a hobby; you can’t really be that smart if all you do is push a button all day, right? In a way this fueled my journey as a photographer because I wanted to make it in the industry and be more than just average. I wanted to show everyone who misunderstood what I do that you can be successful and photography can truly be a career, and a great one in fact! Read more>>

Krista Goebel

I’ve forgotten a lot about my high school years, but one memory I have was from freshman year theology class. The whole class sat in a circle, and we were each told to go around the circle and name one accomplishment we’d like to work towards in our lifetime. For most of my life, questions like this made me anxious. I had so many different dreams about fun jobs and an array of exciting hobbies to try–but nothing felt serious enough to mention in front of my class in the presence of God, who surely watched theology classes more closely than other classes, right? Read more>>

Kyle Congdon

I think in my short tenure as an art therapist, there has been a lot that’s been misunderstood and mischaracterized about what I do for a living and the nature of the work in general. As many art therapists will tell you, this work involves a constant amount of self advocacy, confidence, and a strong personal definition of the work we provide. Read more>>