Meet Elaina Yvonne

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elaina Yvonne a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elaina, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My work ethic comes from the examples I grew up with. I come from a bloodline with several business owners including my late grandfather, and a few of my uncles and aunts. Both of my parents are hard workers, my dad worked 3 jobs when I was a kid just so that he and my mom could build the lifestyle they have now. My mother was an educator, and retired after 26 years in the school system. While my dad was at work, me and my brother were with my mom at night classes so that she could further her education and achieve her goals. Once my mom finished classes, my dad went back to school to be a school administrator. Both of them hold double masters in their fields. I started working my first “job” painting houses with my uncle when I was 11 years old. I was motivated to work because I wanted to purchase a cell phone, and my mom wasn’t interested in the extra bill at the time. Since then, I have continued to work for the things I want in life. I grew up watching people who never made excuses or took no for an answer. If they wanted it, they worked hard to get it. I have adopted that same mentality. Nothing is impossible with hard work, vision, prayer, and a little patience.

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 grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Music has always been a part of me. My dad is a musician, he plays the saxophone, piano, and had a funk band when I was growing up that I used to sing with on occasion. I grew up around music on both sides with my mom having singing sisters and brothers, and my maternal grandparents both being active choir members. I spent a lot of time in church as a result and sang in the choir briefly as a child and adult. As far as.I can remember, I have always felt like I was supposed to be on stage. My dad has a recording of me singing and performing a Brandy song when I was 3 years old. I remember being in elementary school and on the way to school my dad would play iconic artists like Erykah Badu, Michael Jackson and Jill Scott. He would ask me “what instruments do you hear” and show me how to harmonize which helped develop my musical ear. I started the “Suzuki” method of piano which is a method that encourages playing music by ear. When I got good at playing by ear, I began to mimic things I heard on the radio and play them on piano while singing along. In high school, I would go in the band room and play the new songs I learned. Eventually it became a thing where my peers would come in and listen, sometimes giving me requests of what to learn and play for them. I started writing poetry at 10 to express myself because I was an introverted kid growing up. Eventually that turned into me writing my own songs, singing and rapping over beats on YouTube . As a child, I was a concert pianist winning “Superior” ratings at piano guild competitions in elementary and middle school. I was auditioning for concert orchestras, often winning slots and being featured as a soloist in my school’s orchestra throughout middle school and high school.

After several years in orchestra, I decided to audition for my schools show choir “Legato” and was selected. Imagine “Glee” in real life. My sophomore year, I auditioned for our marching band and was selected. I transitioned out of orchestra at this point and was only doing “Legato” and Marching Band. Because of my background I piano, I was able to transition into marimba, snare drum, and timpani as part of the drumline/pit. Later I became the section leader and this led me to a college scholarship. I attended Meredith College under a percussion scholarship from 2010-2012. I played auxiliary percussion as part of the Meredith Sinfonietta. Due to my singing ability, I was also part of the c/o 2014 Bathtub Ring, an audition only acapella group at Meredith. I started at Meredith as a double major in Music Performance and Fashion Design. Although music had always been a part of my life up to this point, I changed my major to business in my second semester because I was told it was a “pipe dream” to major in music and jobs were limited. Naive, sheltered, trusting, not fully understanding my purpose, I listened. Coming from a small town with dreams as big as mine, it was hard for people to comprehend my creative majors. Despite changing my major, I still dropped my first mixtape in 2011. It consisted of me rapping, singing, and reciting poetry over YouTube beats. A local artist from Durham heard it and I became part of a music collective. Unfortunately, after a few months the group disbanded. Later that year, my grandfather passed and without music in my life, I fell into a depression and dropped out of college in 2012.

For several years I worked different jobs not doing anything with music during this time. In 2015 I finally was reunited with music after a 3 year hiatus. This was short lived. Life became hectic and another 5 years went by with no music in my life. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was a divorced, single mom of 1 living back home. I felt lost and unhappy. I knew that music was the missing piece. I started researching how to make music at home and discovered Garage Band. I got an iPhone as a gift and started experimenting with making beats on Garage Band in 2020 during the pandemic. I created the beat for “Let You Kno” on my phone and recorded it in my bedroom closet. In March of 2021, while on my way to work, I was involved in a bad car accident that required an almost 2 year recovery. Unable to walk, I had nothing but time to work on music. I created several songs during this time.

After that experience, I had a clear vision of what I truly wanted in life. My unhappy and lost became motivated and determined. I made a full recovery. I went back to school, graduated with two degrees in business, moved out of my mom’s and got my life back on track. In 2022, I released “Let You Kno” to the public. I wasn’t sure of how to present myself as an artist, so I didn’t. I performed one time, badly that year. Although I grew up performing in orchestra and band, approaching music as a recording artist was a different perspective. It was a hard transition for me at first especially since it had been so long since I had even considered music. The next year I started researching and learning about performing and content creation for music. I shot the music video for “Let You Kno” in March of 2023. In March 2024, an opportunity to perform in Austin, Texas came around and despite my fear of performing and planes, I decided to go. This was the moment that changed everything. I began touring, performing in several states and cities. In July 2024, I dropped my second single “Soul Partna”. I have collaborated with artists as both a writer and singer and accompanied as a violinist. I make all of my own beats and compose for others as well. Music is no longer a dream forgotten, but a vision realized. My goal as an artist is to inspire others. I make music that speaks to the soul. I pray that my story stands as an example to never give up on your dreams. What is meant for you will always find you!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think my resilience, work ethic, and vision have been most impactful in my journey. My resilience has led me to do things that people didn’t expect me to do. I have always been a fighter, even throughout all of the adversity in my life. Once I get an idea in my head, nothing will stop me from achieving it. I will work as hard as I need to to fulfill the vision.

The best advice I have for people early in their journey is focus on the VISION. You have this dream, these goals, this talent for a reason. DO NOT allow ANYONE to deter you from what you see and dream about. Stay focused on the vision, that final product, your version of success. If you believe its possible, things will start aligning to ensure you achieve it. No matter how it looks now, stay focused and always remain grateful.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

The person that has helped me most throughout my life has been God. Even when I didn’t understand why I went through certain things, God gave me the peace of knowing that these things were temporary and that everything is divinely aligned. When I feel overwhelmed I start thanking God. I thank God for challenges because that means I’m closer to my dreams. I thank Him for the small things that people take for granted. I center myself in gratitude when I feel challenged or overwhelmed. I am a firm believer that if not for my faith and foundation in Him I would not be here. I’ve had many near death experiences and God has kept me through each one. Every opportunity that comes to me is a result of my prayers and the belief that God will provide. I’m just getting started as an artist, but I know God has great plans for me.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Shanita Dixon
Darrell “Invisiond” Alston
Katherine Gomez Vaquero
Vandell Jackson

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