We were lucky to catch up with Amber Claire recently and have shared our conversation below.
Amber , 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?
Growing up in Australia, we are a pretty tough bunch of people who are always willing to take risks, pack our bags and head around the world. i have always been the adventurous type and always wanted more out of life -even if that meant making the hard decision of leaving my loved ones behind. Thankfully, I grew up with amazing parents who always supported me and helped me to live out my dreams. It hasn’t been easy, but the tough times have definitely taught me the meaning of resilience.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
23 years ago, I left Australia to head to the US with less than $1000 to my name and threw myself in the deep end of the entertainment industry. After I arrived in Atlanta in 2002, I signed my first recording contract, which I thought was so amazing at the time, but turned out to be one of the worst mistakes I had ever made, The contract basically had me locked in for 7 years and my record company ended up shelving me, which meant I was unable to make any music. It was really heartbreaking at the time and made me turn my back on music for a while, however, just a year or so before my contract ran out, I decided to head to LA from Atlanta (where I was based) to see about furthering my career, Surprisingly after arriving in LA, I was able to get some work in TV and movies, either as an extra or a featured extra and take part in some reality TV shows and talent contests. I was also able to get my music played on a local internet radio station as well -and they ended up hiring me as their co-host (as they loved my Aussie accent). From there, I taught myself the ins and outs of PR and submitting to cover various movie premieres, press junkets and award shows over the years. It was incredible how it all fell into place, considering I never had any training in the PR field. After what I had been through as an artist, it made me realize the need to help other artists get on their feet or gain a presence online through articles and publicity. So, in 2012, I decided to start my own PR company to help other artists called 27PR.. Over the years I have helped hundreds of artists with media services and have also been able to assist many international artists to realize their dreams in the US. Unfortunately, it didn’t always run smoothly, as I had an individual who happened to hear what I was doing and basically tried to steal a lot of my clients and plagiarize my original work, by copy and pasting my writing and reposting on other websites. Unfortunately, I found out it would cost me more money to sue the individual than what I would actually get out of the case, so I just decided to keep going with what I do best and helping others, and just letting karma take care of the rest. To this day, I am still operating my business and continuing with my music career, which has done quite well over the last 4 years. I am glad I have a fighting spirit to never give up!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Stay true to yourself, stay as unique as possible, don’t sell your soul to suit others. Make sure you are doing what you love for all the right reasons. Don’t give up and surround yourself with people who support and believe in you.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Believe it or not, I am trying to learn to love myself more and give myself the credit I deserve. Being in an industry that is constantly changing and making you question your talent and efforts can be challenging, but the more confidence and belief you have in yourself, the better off you will be. I always try to encourage others and inspire them with my story or knowledge through my experiences. I also think there needs to be more women supporting women, instead of it being a competition with each other or feeling like you’re a threat or trying to take their place. I believe there is room for everybody and it’s so important to remain unique and be somebody people want to work with and be around. Egos and bad attitudes only get you so far.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amberclaireofficial.com
- Instagram: @amberclaire1
Image Credits
Photo credit: Acero Photos
