We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Powe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Overcoming imposter syndrome is something I am constantly working on.
During my time at college, I felt that I wasn’t accomplishing all the goals I had set for myself when I first got there. One of the major goals was to create and perform my own original music. For the longest, I didn’t believe in my musical ideas, or have trust in my creativity. I viewed myself as a subpar musician and that I needed to be further along in my musical journey in order to create something meaningful. That held me back from following through on writing tunes, and putting myself out there as an artist. It wasn’t until my senior year I forced myself to apply for an on campus performance opportunity. Within a couple of weeks after applying, I found out I got the performance slot and was given a date and time. From there everything started falling into place. I realized that I absolutely had to finish writing the music I had started but never completed. After I finished writing the music, I got a band together and rehearsed the music. I quickly found out in the rehearsals that changes had to be made to the music and adjusted accordingly. Alongside rehearsing with the band, I had to get the word out about the performance. I had professional photos taken of myself and used those photos as promo for the performance. I created flyers and posted them around campus and on social media.
Once all the prep work was completed, it was time for the performance. I was a bit nervous about turnout, but was pleasantly surprised to a full audience. And then the show started. I wasn’t nervous at all on stage, I was just having a good time playing music with my friends.
Overall, that experience taught me believe in myself and to trust the process. I learned how to change my thinking from “I wish i was” to “I am” a capable musician, artist, and bandleader.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I started playing the alto saxophone in middle school. I continued playing in my high school jazz band at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles and at the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in Leimert Park. After high school, I attended and graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.
Now, I am focused on the completion of my debut EP. I started recording it during this past summer and it has been an amazing process thus far. I am excited for it because the project represents all of my life experiences up until now as a person and musician. I plan to release the project early 2024 so make sure to keep a look out for it!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Consistency, perseverance, and discernment are three skills that have helped me thus far in my journey. In order to achieve your goals, you have to go after them consistently. There will be days when you don’t want to go to the gym, send that extra email, practice for that presentation/performance, etc. The ability to be consistent even when you don’t feel like it will quickly close the gap between where you are versus where you want to be. Perseverance kicks in when you have to keep that same level of consistency even after you are met with adversity. There may be times when you apply for something and don’t get accepted, when you don’t immediately see the results of something you have been putting time and effort into, or when you miss out on an opportunity, but you have to continue moving forward and not get stuck in that moment of rejection, disappointment, failure, etc. Finally, I use discernment to determine what gigs/projects I commit to, what workload I can take on, etc. You cannot say “yes” to everything otherwise you will spread yourself too thin. It is fine to say “no,” and focus on what you can manage comfortably.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I usually become overwhelmed when I think about everything that needs to get done at once. To combat this, I break down large tasks into smaller, more achievable ones. That way, I am able to prioritize what needs to be accomplished immediately, and what tasks can wait to be accomplished another day.
Breaking down a larger task also gives me clarity on the dependency of the tasks. For example, if the goal is to have a live music performance, there are multiple steps that need to happen beforehand. One major task is rehearsing for the performance. In order to rehearse, you have to already have musicians confirmed for the performance, and you need to have their availability so you can schedule rehearsals when all of them will be present. There, we can see the task of having rehearsals is dependent on (a) confirming musicians for the performance and (b) knowing everybody’s availability for rehearsal scheduling.
When I have longer periods of free time (mostly on the weekends), I take time to rest, relax, and do something I love that isn’t work related, goal oriented, etc. For example, I like to go on walks. It gives me time to take my mind off of whatever is causing stress, anxiety, etc. You have to recharge so that you are able to give 100% to your work and achieving your goals.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrispowemusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-powe-a34898246/
Image Credits
Matao Aric
