Meet Erica Almquist

We recently connected with Erica Almquist and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?

One of the hardest things as an artist with an artistic brain is to practice self-discipline. Left to my own natural devices, I am all over the place, scattered and basically incoherent and unstructured. However, with age and practice, I have come to understand that self-discipline is the highest form of self-love/self-care and in the long term pays off, even if it’s really uncomfortable in the moment. Whether it’s pushing yourself out of your comfort zone stylistically, networking, living and building the lifestyle you want, working a job you don’t want to support your art… it all comes down to how much love and respect you have for yourself. I haven’t always been open to self-love or acceptance so this is something that I’ve cultivated for decades and while sometimes I can be overly structured and have a hard time taking a break/rest when I need it, I think I have grown into a very disciplined and resilient person and that reflects in my art.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Well first of all…hello, my name is ERICA. I’m a music artist based in the United States, but I travel often so you’ll probably find me in Europe one day, Asia the next and then back in midwest Ohio. I make R&B/Pop music and just released my first music project, Salty the EP, this year in May. My background is in classical music, I grew up playing violin for 13 years and starting writing my own music when I was 13 years old. I’ve struggled with crippling performance anxiety, which is slowly weaning off as I get older and more confident in myself as an artist and a person. Additionally, I am fashion/product photographer. I work with brands on marketing campaigns and website imagery. I lived in Korea for two years where I really dove into my love for fashion and imagery and learned from some of the best photographers in the world. My long term goal is to create a label/collective where I, and a team of like-minded creatives, build other talented folks up. But I could yap about what that looks like for hours, so I’ll just leave that little teaser there. By day, I am a Marketing Specialist for a law firm. Because I get to do a lot of social media and video work, this has trickled down into everything else that I do artistically and I’m super blessed to work with the team I do. I’ve also worked in PR and marketing for a large company, I feel like I’m just completing side quests to later form my own business. I also went to university for International Studies and believed for a long time I would be a diplomat, that is still a possibility, but I think my form of diplomacy is via art at this point in my life and career.

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?

Determination, smart/hard work, networking

Determination goes hand-in-hand with self-discipline. I suggest anyone going into this crazy arts world find what they are most passionate about, learn how to do it well, and find out what drives them to get up everyday. You have to be willing to work jobs you don’t like, put in your 10,000 hours, and be uncomfortable for your art. If you’re not, it may not be for you, or it may simply be a hobby! Which is totally great by the way…

Smart/hard work means you are willing to work hard and put in those hours and study, but you also know when to work smart. When do you lean on others for support or help, knowing when that time is, is crucial to your development as an artist and a person in general.

Networking. As much as we’d all love to believe we can be lone wolves and figure this thing out on our own, that’s just not what art is meant to be. We are meant to connect and relate and build with others. Bouncing ideas off people and just broadening our horizons in the form of who we talk to/keep company with is unbelievably important to an artist. The minute I started expanding my network and getting to know more artists/people in general, the better my art became. I was able to tap into emotions I don’t frequently encounter and I started writing (be it vaguely) about other people’s life experiences, because it’s relatable.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m always looking for artists of different disciplines to photograph. Currently, I love working with actors/actresses, I think they can display a whole range of emotions that perhaps everyday models don’t. I’m really into expression, so screaming, anger, sass, sadness, power… love that being in my images.

I’m working on my next music project so I am also open to connecting with music producers/composers as I’m trying to focus on lyric writing on this next project. So If you like R&B/Pop music or make those style of beats please reach out!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Erica Almquist Artistry

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