Meet Kali J

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kali J. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kali below.

Kali, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever fully overcome imposter syndrome. It’s something I think we all deal with from time to time. The key is learning to acknowledge and push past it. The uncomfortable, overwhelming feeling that I’m not good enough or don’t belong is something I’m very familiar with, but if I had given in every time I heard the negative self-talk, I’d have a very short story. A helpful perspective I’ve held for years now, is that “I may not be the most talented person in the room, but I can outwork anyone.” You’d be surprised where sheer resilience and stubbornness can get you. By simply refusing to quit, we can often find ourselves ahead of those more talented.

I also find comfort in the saying “if you’re the most talented person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” With that approach, you’re naturally going to have to get comfortable with imposter syndrome. Find peace and confidence in the understanding that they wouldn’t be working with you if they felt you didn’t have anything to add. Imposter syndrome simply means you’re growing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Kali J and I’m an independent Pop/Hip-Hop artist based here in LA. I specialize in a style of writing that caters to the world of sync (more specifically, writing for advertising). My journey as a songwriter began 5-6 years ago, and since then, my music has been licensed over 400 times, including spots with Coke, Pepsi, Comcast, Google, Samsung, Motorola, United Healthcare, Royal Caribbean, Chase Bank, Bumble, Bose, Target, Nordstrom, Peloton, and more. I’ve worked really hard at learning the business side of the industry, honing my craft, and not only building a brand, but building a sustainable career. I’ve been blessed enough to get to work with some amazing collaborators and flown around the world to write custom music for some awesome sync projects.
Lately, I’ve also challenged myself with the goal of releasing a song every 28 days on Spotify. Almost a year in and going strong, I’m always looking for new exciting projects to work on and new ways to grow and challenge myself in an ever evolving industry. Check out my Spotify “Kali J” or my Instagram, “@Kalijmusic” to follow along.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Strong Work Ethic- My parents instilled a strong work ethic in me from a very early age and emphasized the importance of giving 100%. My dad always said, whether it’s school, looking for a job, or starting up your own small business, if you treat it like your 9-5, you will succeed. To this day, one of my favorite quotes is, “If you treat it like a hobby, it’ll pay like a hobby.” That mentality has made a huge impact in my life and achieving my goals. Like I said earlier, I may not be the most talented person in the room, but I can definitely out work them.

Appreciation for the Business Side- I’ve always enjoyed the business side of the music industry and tend to put more of an emphasis on that than the actual creative aspect. It’s no secret, you could have the best song in the world, but unless you know how to shop it, promote it, negotiate the best deals for it, and present yourself in an organized, professional manner, it’s going to be hard to monetize. It’s unfortunate so many creatives aren’t into the business side of music and end up in terrible deals because of it. I think we could be a real force for change if we challenged ourselves with the business side and educated ourselves as a community.

Willingness to Mold My Art to the Needs of the Market- A lot of creatives make art for the sake of art and that’s a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always necessarily translate into a stable paycheck. I entered the industry as a blank canvas. There wasn’t a particular “sound” I was committed to and wasn’t locked into a specific brand as an artist. All I knew was I loved writing and I wanted to be able to support myself with music. And thus my journey began. It’s actually pretty funny looking back on all the different sounds, genres, and vocal deliveries I played with until I found something the market was interested in. Once it clicked, I leaned into that sound and began building my brand around it. Some may view my willingness to mold to the needs of the market as “selling out,” but remaining flexible until I found a sound I could monetize literally changed my life and I wish it was something more creatives were open to.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Obviously, as independent creators, we have to learn how to wear multiple hats, but at the end of the day, I believe it’s better to play into our strengths. When you’re able to build a team around you where everyone is playing into their strengths, not only is a higher quality of product achieved, but we’re able to accomplish it more efficiently, increase our productivity, and open ourselves up to more opportunity with our brands. For example, there have definitely been times when I’ve seriously considered learning how to produce or do graphic design, but when I think about how much time I would have to take away from my business (and my strengths) and how much time it would take to get these new skills up to par with what I expect for my brand, the numbers quickly fall apart. I’m simply more efficient by playing into my strengths and taping into other’s strengths when the time is right.

Of course, that is not to say we shouldn’t seek to improve and grow as individuals, but I also think improvement is a natural side effect of working with others that are good at what they do and who push us to be our best as well. Collaboration is key.

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Image Credits
Maxine Bowen

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