An Inspired Chat with Tora Woloshin of Banning

Tora Woloshin shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Tora, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day usually begins with my self-care routine. Then I tend to the garden. After I clean up, I usually apply for gigs and work on any remote projects I may have. If I’m working in the field, there are no normal days.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I was born in Canoga Park, and when I was four years old, my mom moved to Tucson Arizona. I started singing and dancing when I was four years old, and started performing in front of a live audience all over the state of Arizona with a nonprofit youth organization, that did musicals and showcases. I spent 10 years in that program , but I started having a little trouble in my early teens when my virginity was stolen from me by a boyfriend I trusted when I was 14 years old I didn’t tell anybody about that until I was 21 so it affected me and my emotional state. When I was 15 I did American idol but Simon Cowell did not think America was ready for me yet. I got my GED when I was 15 in order to work on my music career full-time and I got a job as a cook, and quickly became a chef at the same time. I first got signed when I was 17. The manager put his hands on me at a very important meeting in front of record executives, and a couple of those guys help me get out of that contract after they saw him do me like that. I got into a contract with that company and six months later they stole my music that I wrote in their Studio… 60 songs.
I moved back to Arizona and went to school for automotive technology and became a racecar driver. Then I audition for the voice and made it but during that time, I was with a boyfriend, who got violent and broke my arm. I had a cast on, and the voice said that I couldn’t do the show with a disability. so then when I was 21 I audition for X Factor and Simon Cowell thought America was now ready for me and he put me on the show and mentored me for a few months. After that, I got signed by an independent label in Miami and moved there for a year. That is when my music made it to top 40 radio and I toured the US that was one of the very few very good situation’s lol people seem to want to take a vantage of me and. After that, I signed onto a tour with BOB for $5000 and he betrayed me I went on tour with him around the whole US and when we were done, he ripped up the contract and said it was a privilege to be able to tour with him. But I think it’s because I turned them down when they wanted me to do sexual shit. I didn’t like him like that and I said no.
right after that I got signed onto a tour internationally in China for three months, and I hired two dancers and choreographed the whole thing and hand made all of our costumes.
When I returned to America, I found out my father had a heart attack and had to have heart surgery, so I moved up to the bay area with him to take care of him . I was offered a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute for Film and photography so I accepted and went there for 2 1/2 years until they shut down during Covid, reopened, and then shut down again. After everything opened up after Covid I move back to Los Angeles to try to pursue my acting, modeling, and Music, Alongside my Film and photography. I discovered that my stepdad‘s mother was sick so I returned to Arizona to spend time with the family and my uncle ended up getting sick as well. He was like a father figure so I decided to stay in Arizona for a while. I quit drinking June 5th 2023 and lost my love for cooking for other people’s restaurants. So I had to dive back into my film, photography music modeling, and all of that because that is what truly makes me happy. So now I’m here, trying to make all that worth something.
https://torawoloshin.blogspot.com/

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Although the world tried to tell me who to be, I still remain who I am. I started out as a kid who sang louder than the noise around me, who stitched melody into defiance, and who saw art not as an option but as oxygen. I was the girl who didn’t just dream outside the box, I never even acknowledged it was there, in fact, the box angered me. Segregated my cultures and distanced my soul.

And when the world tried to press me into its shape, I didn’t listen — because I know boxes are for storage, not for people with fire in their chest. I chose instead to stay dangerously myself: fluid, unpredictable, uncontainable. That refusal became my signature — not rebellion for rebellion’s sake, but a declaration that I would rather fail as myself than succeed as someone else’s idea of me, that doesn’t even exist.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There are numerous times I almost give up. Probably multiple times a year. Life isn’t easy but my passion pushes through the pain.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Making the world a better place.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Not sure if I’d stop anything but double or even triple what I’m doing. lol

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Image Credits
Roadtrip Sideways Eight

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