We were lucky to catch up with Jourdan Blue recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jourdan, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I started my music career as a street performer on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but I lived an hour and a half away in Baton Rouge at the time. Being that it was my only source of income, I had to grind in order to provide for myself. Often times, I would drive all the way out there only to find that another musician had already set up in my spot, so I either had to find another location or wait them out until I could hop in and do my thing. This taught me that I had to get up early if I wanted to secure my spot. I started getting up at 6am to get there for 7:30 and I would then just wait until a crowd slowly started to grow. Although it may not seem like it, street performers face a lot of hardship and adversity, whether it be cops trying to shut us down, or people trying to steal my money while I’m singing. These set backs taught me to keep pushing, rather than giving up. That’s what gave me the work ethic I have today.
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?
I am an all around creative, with a focus in music. I’m also a social media influencer and model, and my goal is to grow my platform to be able to advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention, amongst other ways that I want to positively influence this world. I’ve gone through a lot of hard times in my life, as most people have, and I feel that through my music, with the right platform, I can help others to get through the hard times we’re all facing, rather than having to figure it all out on their own. Life is hard, and at the end of day, it helps knowing that you’re not the only one going through it. I’ll hopefully even be able to offer some guidance through my testimony, because I love helping people.
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?
Looking back, being in musical theatre throughout high school definitely had a big impact on my journey into the music industry. Back in my freshman year, a friend convinced me to audition for the school play, and I somehow managed to land the lead role of Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid! Throughout the production, I discovered my passion for performing on a stage which led to my desire to take this route into music full time. Secondly, both of my parents sang for fun, so growing up I would always hear them singing and it peaked my interest. I can remember going to the grocery store with my dad and he would openly sing while walking down the isles, which helped me to have no shame when it comes to singing in public. My mom also sang in church, and she got me started with it as a kid. I always got positive feedback from fellow church-goers and I loved how it felt to bring people together with my singing. To anyone who is early in their music journey, or any journey for that matter, my advice to you is to keep working towards your goals day by day, and progress will come. Nothing good comes easy, so the harder you work and the more time you put in, the better results you will get. Just be persistently dedicated.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
A book that has helped me a lot in life and played an important role in my development would have to be “The Five Second Rule” by Mel Robbins. The concept is that you have 5 seconds to act on a thought before your brain begins to self-sabatoge. If you think to yourself “I should go to the gym”, count down from 5 and GO! If you can’t go at that moment, then set an alarm for a few hours later and do it all over again. When you sit and think about doing something productive, your brain will try to convince you that it’s better to go easy on yourself, but we all know that’s not true! Using sticky notes as reminders is always a helpful tip. The next time you’re struggling to be productive, think of what it is you need to work on, and 5..4..3..2..GO!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Jourdanblue
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jourblue?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jourdanblue?_t=8fzjTWLIbwA&_r=1
