Meet Mariano Mallia

We were lucky to catch up with Mariano Mallia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mariano, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My name is Mariano Mallia, and I’m a singer/songwriter and music producer originally from Delaware, and currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.

It’s no secret that the music industry is notoriously competitive, with an incredibly narrow success rate, and a journey often filled with a thousand “no’s” before you hear a single “yes”. Out of any industry in the world, the music industry demands some of the highest levels of resilience.

In the four points below, I will outline how I’ve built resilience over the last nine years of being in the music industry, including overcoming a four year long vocal injury that almost ended my career.

1. The Power of Purpose

For me, resilience starts with passion and purpose. It is much easier to be resilient when we’re fighting for something that we love and believe in. Having a deep understanding of what drives us, a strong vision of who we want to become, and a strong belief that our contributions can make the world a better place is imperative to our resilience.

For me personally, it is only my deep love for music and my unyielding vision to make the world a better place through my art that drives me to continually persist in the face of hardships and failures. Even during a devastating vocal injury, it was my strong sense of purpose that made it possible to endure those challenging four years of recovery.

Once we come to realize our God-given purpose on this earth and learn to believe in it with all of our heart, it will make it that much easier to be resilient.

2. The Power of Discomfort

Just like a muscle, resilience is a trait that can be strengthened with time and discipline. It requires us to continually engage in actions and activities that feel uncomfortable, or may end in failure. It requires us to face adversity that will knock us down, yet forces us to rise back up and adapt.

In my world, that means reaching out to one more artist that I believe in to pitch myself as a producer for their project even though the last 50 said no. It means reaching out to one more publisher or agent even though the last one didn’t open my email. It means releasing one more song even though the last one didn’t get the traction I was hoping for. It means putting myself into rooms that I don’t feel comfortable being in.

The more we fail, the less the next failure seems to burn. Our brains physically begin to change when we continually engage in activities that bring us discomfort. And rather than seeing each failure as ultimate, we begin to see each failure as a detour on the road that leads to our ultimate destination.

It is important to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and I remind myself on a daily basis that growth will only occur outside of my comfort zone.

3. The Power of People

Studies have shown time and time again that we are stronger, happier, and live much longer and healthier lives when we have a strong community around us. If we surround ourselves with good, hardworking, and positive spirited people who genuinely care about us, we will be much more resilient for it.

It is when we feel alone that we can become most susceptible to pessimism and the heartache that comes with facing serious challenges. On the contrary, it is much harder to break a person who has the support of a strong community behind him.

In my journey, I am continually trying to surround myself with people who have qualities, values, and skills that I admire. I recently have been spending extended time in Nashville for the purpose of surrounding myself with like minded people in my industry. This has allowed me to grow in ways I could have never imagined. Having the support of friends, family, and peers in the music industry has pushed me to go further than I ever could have gone alone.

4. The Power of Faith

The ultimate and most important aspect of resilience lies in faith.

Leaning on a higher power has allowed me to do things and overcome obstacles that I wouldn’t have been able to overcome by myself. When God is the cornerstone of your foundation, there is nothing that you can’t persist through; not because of your own strength, but because you are leaning on His strength. As a Christian, I believe that God has placed me here with a specific plan and purpose for my life. Through His Holy Spirit, I can go outside of my comfort zone knowing that I am never alone in my hardship, and knowing that even if I don’t have all of the answers, there is a plan that is much greater than mine that is unfolding.

My faith was especially imperative to my resilience during my vocal injury. In a period of extreme uncertainty, I was able to lean on God to find peace and ultimately recover from an injury that had a negative prognosis.

Conclusion

Resilience isn’t something we’re born with. It’s something we build, brick by brick, by having a clear purpose, a willingness to expose ourselves to adversity and failure, a strong community around us, and a firm foundation built on a trust in God.

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 as a piano and trumpet player, but never thought about writing, singing, or producing music until I was 18. When I moved out, I took only a guitar and a handed down laptop with me. That handed down laptop had a music recording software on it. One day I opened that software, and I never looked back.

I believe strongly in the power of love, faith, humanity, and self-belief, and these are the core values that I write about in my music. In addition to my own artist career, I work with artists and songwriters from across the US and across the world to bring their visions to life through my production, mixing, and mastering work.

In addition to just producing, mixing, and mastering, I try to educate new artists and songwriters with as much industry knowledge as I can offer. Some artists and songwriters come in not knowing how to register their songs with a PRO, how to collect all of the royalties due to them, or how to distribute their music. I also provide guidance to artists on the materials and deliverables they need to prepare in order to pitch their music for sync licensing opportunities in TV and film.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Patience has been extremely important. The skills that I’ve built up took years and years of daily action to hone. There was a long period of time where my voice didn’t sound good and the quality of my recordings didn’t sound good. I had to tough that out and keep working every day. On top of that, I had to have a lot of patience through my vocal injury. I didn’t release music for four years while I was recovering.

Self belief has been really important. At first, no one is going to believe in your dream. You have to believe in it and see it even if no one else can. And even if you’re not where you want to be, you have to have the belief that you can get there.

Lastly, learning how to produce music has made a huge difference in my journey. It was definitely the longer road, but for me, it was totally worth it. I now am able to produce all of my own music whenever the inspiration strikes. Music production has also allowed me to monetize my skills and turn music into a career by helping artists and songwriters bring their visions to reality.

For anyone early on in the process, my biggest advice is to have a growth mindset and to keep your blinders on as your forge forward. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t pursue an artistic vision that you have. And most importantly, don’t tell yourself that you can’t do it. Sometimes the biggest thing that stifles our own creativity is ourselves and our own limiting beliefs. Know that it won’t happen overnight, but always remember that you can get there with hard work and patience.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents have done for me is support and believe in my dreams. They are truly my biggest fans.

The music industry is such a crazy industry that often times doesn’t seem to make any sense, lacks stability, and can seem nearly impossible to break into. But that never stopped my parents from offering their full and unwavering support.

I know people whose parents did not support them in their wild dreams. My parents never questioned it, they never doubted me, and they have always been all in on my music career since day one. That is the best thing that a parent could ever do for their kid.

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Image Credits

Matthew Hoey

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