We were lucky to catch up with Carmen Dianne recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carmen, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I started singing sooner than I could talk — Really! Picture a kid in a car seat singing along in gibberish to No Scrubs. That was me — so I can’t say I have ever been anything but confident in my ability to sing, but it wasn’t until very recently that I could say that I am confident in my ability to be a singer. It used to be very difficult for me to imagine having a career based upon how much people liked me and how well I was able to connect with them. Being different in spaces where everyone else seems to be the same will make you feel like that. But what you don’t know is that being different is exactly what makes you so relatable — because all those people that you think are the same really feel different, just like you.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hi! I’m Carmen and I’m a singer-songwriter and bassist from Franklin, TN. I have a tendency to blend genres when I write. It used to really bother me because I felt like as a black girl I should be making good R&B, but as a Christian girl I should make gospel, and as a girl from Nashville I should be making country — but hard as I tried, I just couldn’t pin myself down to being just one thing. Now I embrace blending genres because I don’t think anybody is just one thing — and nor should be the songs that represent us. The best thing about being a crossover artist is that I’m able to get different “genres” of people together in one room, united under one sound that feels as familiar to everyone as it does new — and there’s something really special about that!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Follow your joy. 2) Enjoying every moment. 3) Take your time.
Before I started my career as an artist, guess what I was doing? You won’t guess. I was in law school. I was smart enough and got good grades, but I didn’t enjoy the material, I didn’t connect with my classmates, and I didn’t foresee my life as a lawyer as being one I enjoyed. And then I got COVID, and the decision to leave — at least, temporarily — was taken out of my hands. But the final nail in the coffin for my law career was when two of the family members I held closest, my Gramps and my cousin Olivia, died suddenly. I realized how short life really was, and I realized the life I was heading for was not one I wanted; it was one others wanted for me. So I left. And with no more student loan payments, I didn’t know how I was going to afford my apartment, or anything otherwise, and with my degree in International Studies I didn’t know what job I was going to get in Nashville for the meantime. But I knew that I loved to sing and that I loved to write, and I knew that as long as I chased what I loved, that I would be happy. And if you the strength that it takes to follow your joy instead of following the path that most take, you have what it takes to be an artist and entrepreneur.
The second thing I think I unwittingly do well is enjoying every moment of being an artist. I don’t get nervous before shows because I’m so focused on how excited I am and how I can’t wait to get on that stage. It’s all about knowing how to translate your energy — don’t get nervous, get excited. It makes it easier to complete the granular un-glamorous tasks just like it makes it easier to go out on stage and rock it. Just be head over heels in love with what you do. I also apply this principal in what some might call an unorthodox way to my discipline/work “routine.” In short, if I had to describe my work “routine” I would say I don’t have one. I have ADHD and I do not feel like fighting my biology just to be productive. Instead, I follow my joy. I write when I feel inspired for as long as I feel inspired. I write what’s in my heart that day, or in my co-writer’s heart. When it comes to art, the same principals that rule other parts of life seem to break down. If. you do what’s tried and true and routine, it works well in business, but doing what’s tried and true and routine in art just makes boring, inarguably bad art.
Third, I think I’m really good about taking my time. I have had some opportunities in the past that I am glad I didn’t pursue further because one, I wasn’t ready (even if my voice was) and two, the world wasn’t ready for me. I think as an artist it is so important that you take the time not only to develop yourself as an artist but also to develop yourself as a person. We artists aren’t technicians. We don’t just create things to look pretty — we create things to communicate. And if you don’t develop yourself as a person, you won’t have anything worth saying.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I have wonderful Christian parents who have only ever wanted the best for me, but I can solidly say the most impactful thing they ever did for me was invite me to dinner to disown me because of my sexuality and tearfully out me during prayer request at church. And if this sounds dramatic, trust me when I tell you I’m not even telling you the half of it. When people are afraid for you, or when they see you leaving *their* comfort zone, sometimes they do and say hurtful things in an attempt to immobilize you. It taught me a lot about love and perseverance. After I left law school, I did a lot of visualization and vision boarding, and on one occasion my father saw me looking at houses on Pinterest and said, “I believe in you buying a house about as much as I believe in the crackhead on the street.” Now, I am a professional artist and writer, I own a home with my girlfriend, and I couldn’t be happier — and I take so much joy in my testimony being that you can be anything you want to be, church girl, and you can always start over. And it doesn’t have to mean leaving your faith behind, because it’s your faith in yourself and in God, and the goodness and abundance in the world that will get you where you want to go. Just know that when you get there, the people that you want to be happy for you might not be happy for you. They might want to put the same limits on you that they put on themselves. But guess what? It literally doesn’t matter if you decide it doesn’t. And if anything, having people who disagree with who you are in your close circle is a blessing — that way you know exactly to expect from and how to appeal to people like that in the future. Keep pushing, you’re worth it.
Co-writing and writing people’s stories is my favorite thing in the world. To me, it’s like therapy with champagne. If you would like to get in touch and write with me, or have me sing on a track of yours, get in touch with me by email: carmendianne.mp3@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Website: carmendianne.co
- Instagram: carmen.dianne
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7arROC5pExP9MiKol457D8?si=MumEAVpARUKD21efzF0lnw
Image Credits
Bennett Thomas Winn Libby Danforth Alex Wieland
