We were lucky to catch up with Moana A recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Moana, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
I haven’t! But I am working on a kind of exposure therapy of sorts. I just keep going until I get used to the discomfort of doubting myself, and until I can convince myself that I deserve to be where I am. Hopefully by faking it until I make it, I will reaching a point where it’s undeniable that I’m not an imposter, and I actually start believing it.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a singer and songwriter from Saint Martin, Caribbean. I’ve been living in LA for 10 years now, performing, touring, teaching, and writing. In the last few years, I’ve been focusing on making songs for visual media (TV shows, ads, films, video games) and have gotten some cool placements.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I believe in working on my weaknesses. I wanted to be a singer early on, but I was missing a lot of technique and skills to make that happen, so I worked on them. It’s not a secret but people will just tell me “oh I’m bad at that” and that’s the end of it. If you work hard at something, it’s rare that you will be bad at it forever. Which brings me to the second thing that helped me have a career as a singer: I worked hard. I procrastinate a lot, but I still get a lot of things done. And lastly, I think I’ve been good at planting seeds everywhere; not putting all my eggs in one basket. That can be scary at first, because it’s a bit like being a jack of all trades and a master of none. But with patience, it allows for more opportunities and streams of income.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
Career-wise, the most impactful thing my parents did was asking me if I wanted to take piano lessons. My teacher was great. He motivated me to pursue music in college. He also “made me” sing, and gave me the opportunity to plays at shows, in festivals, to be interviewed on local TV, to be on the radio, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.moanaa.com
- Instagram: @moanaamusic
- Facebook: @moanaa
- Youtube: @moanaamusic
