Meet Christina Martin

We were lucky to catch up with Christina Martin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christina, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Initially it was the greatest losses in my life, being abused by my father, then later my father dying when I was 19, being cheated on, cheated on others, loosing my older brother to an opioid overdose… these dark times have somehow led me to shed inhibitions at pivotal times in my life. In my lowest lows, I’ve always found solace in work and following what I call my own path with heart.

For whatever reason, the tough experiences in the first half of my life led me to build resilience, and toughened me up I suppose.

But I recognize that true confidence and self-esteem have really come for me in the second half of my life so far, from really practicing what I love and continuously putting myself in challenging situations. Every album I make brings with it new opportunities and challenges. Every performance brings an opportunity to hone my skills as an entertainer, and also just remembering to be myself with audiences.

I suppose thinking about my own death has also made me realize that even if something frightens me, I don’t want to have regrets on my deathbed or in my old age.

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’m a singer-songwriter based in Nova Scotia, Canada. What feels exciting about my path is that I own 100% of my repertoire, and I’ve been an independent self-managed artist my entire career. Though I’ve found support along the way to help me achieve my career goals, I rely on the support of fans on my Patreon, and also the artistic collaborators I choose to work with. I believe my music has always been a way for me to learn how to figure out the complicated emotions, and as I evolve I write more about love and a healthy and happy existence. The other part of my mission to write and sing songs that connect, is that my job is to just try and be myself, and to stay healthy while doing what I love and sharing it with the world. I also really love hosting my podcast A Chat With Heart, where I have chill chats with people that inspire me.

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?

Discipline: I believe I owe my discipline to being involved in organized sports when I was growing up, as well as music lessons. Without a strong sense of what needs to be done, setting goals and priorities, and consistent work ethic, I don’t think I would have been able to achieve what I have as an independent artist. I think anyone can become more disciplined, but it comes with sacrifices and requires habits to change.

Organization: I love being organized. I probably spend more time organizing my work and personal life, and as a result I feel like I can stay on top of all the demands. I probably inherited this skill from my mother and grandmother, who were incredibly hard working women. Even during chaotic times, our home was always organized, and my mother was able to juggle a full time job with maintaining a household.

Writing: I am grateful for excellent teachers throughout my youth and University days. Not a day goes by that I’m not required to write a pitch for a show, grant proposal, or project plan. The ability to write strategies and budgets has allowed me to dream up and then follow through with multiple recording and tour plans.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

A current challenge I’m facing is transitioning from the folk/roots/pop world into collaborating with classical musicians and symphony orchestras. My approach is to be patient and start small. In recent years, I’ve focused on understanding how to arrange strings, collaborate with string players, and prepare charts to make hiring string trios or quartets really easy. I’ve also been connecting with artists who have experience in performing with symphony orchestras or are already immersed in that world. I still have many unanswered questions, but recently my band has performed our first shows with a string quartet. And this month I’m singing at a theatre, backed by a youth orchestra, My dream is to perform my own songs backed by a symphony orchestra, and to have this recorded.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christinamartin.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/XtinaMartinMusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaMartinMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CHRISTINAMARTIN

Image Credits

I think the files have the name of the person to credit. If not, let me know.