Meet JaaLa

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JaaLa. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

JaaLa, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
According to KeKe Palmer, “It’s God baby!.. God!” lol!

But seriously, it really is God and the relationship I have with Him (Father, Son, & The Holy Spirit) and the track record He has of coming through Every…. Single… Time!!! (Insert praise dance here!)

And because of the time I’ve spent with Him through church, ministry work, Bible study, and my quiet time with Him, I know too much about His goodness to NOT be optimistic. This isn’t to say that I don’t have difficult times and moments where my mind plays tricks on me and I have to fight to remain optimistic in certain situations. I go through it, but it doesn’t last long BECAUSE I know I have God on my side! And because He’s on my side, I can overcome ANYTHNG! My faith in Him gives me peace that sometimes, doesn’t make sense! And I’m grateful for it.

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?
I’m so grateful to be able to do what I love and have it be shared to the masses. Singing has always been a part of me from as long as I can remember and the songwriting wasn’t too far behind. So it was only natural that performing became a lifestyle. As an independent singer, songwriter, I get to spread love, light, and inspiration to whoever gets the chance to listen to my music. I wholeheartedly believe in love…. Real and true love…. And because God IS love, I get to spread that love to the world. I mainly perform around the Atlanta area, being as this is where I reside, and I’ve been blessed with gigs from private parties, weddings, to corporate events. I frequent a well known Vegan restaurant in Southwest Atlanta, called Life Bistro, and I’m there every first Friday of the month. Hope to see you all there! It’s a pretty stripped, acoustic set with just me and my guitar. I love the intimate setting because I can include the audience in my performance and we get to create a joint experience together. I love to perform, I love to sing, I love to create!

I’ve recently released my Christmas cover to kick start the holiday season and I couldn’t be more excited! I decided to cover the classic Christmas tune: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and teamed up with some really great people to bring the vision to life. It’s out and available on all digital platforms for your listening pleasures. The music video for the cover can also be viewed on my YouTube channel! I’m very proud of this work so I hope you all check it out! I appreciate and thank you in advance!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three skills/qualities/areas of Knowledge that I’ve learned and kept throughout the years is first and foremost, professionalism, professionalism, professionalism! Being on time and sticking to what you say you are going to do is so integral to continued success. Coming into each experience with humility and grace will take you a long way. This is not to say that you shouldn’t know the value you bring and you shouldn’t require certain things, but if you show up, do what you said you were going to do, and perform well?… you’ll go far! And that’s a universal skill, not just for music. Do what you say you’re going to do! That says A LOT about your character and integrity.

The second thing I would say would be communication. Knowing what you need to show up as your best self (equipment set up, room & board, schedule with call time), and communicating that effectively upfront will ensure a successful partnership. Communicating effectively will either show you who’s serious or who isn’t. And that’s good to know upfront. You also need to communicate if you’re running behind and be sincerely respectful in your apology for being late, or if any changes occur. Effective communication (on both parties) will ALWAYS go over well.

And lastly, the ability to remain who you are and being confident in that. The reason the opportunity came to you wasn’t by chance (I don’t believe in that), the reason the opportunity came was because there is something in you that qualified you to be there or to be desired to be there. So own it respectfully and humbly, but own it. Know that you’ve got something special and just because you live in a world where there are a lot of “something specials” in it, doesn’t mean that your “special” isn’t essential and valid. YOU ARE ENOUGH! And you got there by just being YOU, so don’t change for anyone! Growing and changing are two different things. You can grow, but remain who you are at the core.. know your why and you won’t change.

What has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
The most helpful thing in overcoming challenges is… trial and error! Man oh man will you try and fall down, and get up, and try again. Aaliyah wasn’t wrong in her song “Try again”. “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again…”

In whatever journey you are on, you’re going to have highs and lows. I believe both aspects of life are so important. With every high moment, you get the time to relish in the hard work it took to get there and you get to celebrate the victory of overcoming. In the low moments when you experience set back or “failure” (also don’t believe in that), it’s an opportunity for you to self reflect and re-strategize. It also can show you a strength and determination in you that you didn’t even know existed had that struggle not presented itself. So going THROUGH the journey grows you in a way where you learn what to do, what not to do, how to do it, when to do it, and reminding you of your why. That force within you that doesn’t allow you to stop or stay stagnant for too long activates in you and you must keep going.

So I say all that to say, what has been most helpful for me is to keep on going… no matter what. To not focus on the challenge itself, but to see it as a stepping stone for what’s coming on the horizon. I see challenges and obstacles as a lesson that I need to learn to be my better self. No failures, only lessons. We’re ever evolving and sometimes we need that friction to spark the fire in us.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Chris Montgomery of Montyangelo Productions Jasmine Thornton of She Shoots Photography FeelsAtl

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