Meet Teona Zak

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Teona Zak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Teona , thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

I love this question, because as I got older and started chasing my dreams, I realized my willingness to take risks became much easier.
Honestly, my Mother and Grandmother played a huge part in why I am able to take risks.
I come from a Russian/ Georgian family, and I am the first generation. Being raised in an immigrant family, I saw how resilient my Mother and Grandmother were. They would not stop till they got what they wanted, nothing was impossible to them. They constantly pushed for a better life, and to make sure we had everything we needed.
Knowing they moved to a new country, and started over, was something that inspired me and gave me the willingness to take risks.
They made huge sacrifices and took so many chances for my family. My mother especially, being a single mom, went back to school at 38 for nursing, to be able to support three kids. She went back to college having to learn in a language not native to her, yet, graduated top of her classes with honors and Cum Laude.
She was juggling so much and still never gave up, and is now working almost ten years as an RN in the emergency department. She really instilled into my brothers and I that anything was possible if you pushed for it.
My mother also had this saying “Just do it” (Nike sponsor her), that she would always tell me when I was in doubt or scared. That simple saying changed my perspective in so many ways, because it reminded me that I am the only one who can hold myself back, so to take the risk and “Just do it.”
There are two moments that I will never forget where I not only took the biggest risks of my life, but also shaped me to become who I am today.
The first one was deciding that I was going to attend Berklee College of Music and truly pursue singing.
Prior to auditioning, I was interested in pursuing law, however, it wasn’t just cause I was good at it, but because it was a safe career choice. Even though my mother was proud of my music, at the end of the day, she raised me to be independent and always be able to support and rely on myself. Being that music isn’t stable, she wanted a career that was.
However, my passion always came back to music, and I decided to audition for Berklee just to see if I would get in.
When I got the acceptance, the only thought that came into my mind was “Am I going to settle for being comfortable?”
I went back and forth with this idea because I was terrified of taking the risk.
Anyone who is in the entertainment industry knows that it’s not an easy career, and it’s also not a stable one. Even my brother, Lasha, told me that if I was going to pursue music, then I had to be fully in, not one leg in and one leg out.
Then there came a point where I told myself that I need to live with calling over comfort. It truly scared me more not pursuing what I love and seeing the outcome, then choosing to be comfortable and always wondering “What if?”
Being that I am also religious, that helped me to take risks, because I realized that I needed to do everything I CAN, and God will do the rest.
I wanted his voice to be the loudest in a room because truly everyone is going to have their opinions and that hinders you from taking the risks needed to get you where you’re supposed to be.
I realized by taking that leap of faith and making the decision that I was going to Berklee to pursue my dreams, it meant that it is okay to be scared, but you have to feel the fear and take action anyway.
Four years later, I graduated Berklee College of Music. I soon was then faced with another risk that I had to decide to take for my goals.
My bestfriend and producer Carson Ezell, was moving to Los Angeles after graduation, and I knew I had to do the same. Even though I have never seen the West Coast.
Again, I was going back and forth and even was faced with job opportunities that would be amazing, but would only delay or even stop me from my dreams and goals. I kept reminding myself that the goals I want means taking risks, but of course, fear will always try to keep you from doing anything.
However, like I said, there was one moment that caused me to fully jump…
I was at a friends birthday dinner in Staten Island, where I am originally from. I was looking around the restaurant and something in me broke. It was as if everything went slow motion and even with all these familiar faces around me, and being in the place I called home for 22 years of my life, became scary to me.
The only thought that came to my mind was “It scares me more staying here, than not leaving.”
It was in that moment I decided to move across the country and continue to work on my dream.
I also felt how once you take one risk, it becomes easier to keep taking risks that are meant to better and grow you.
Almost a year later of being in LA, and I saw how much that risk shaped me.
Not only am I still working on new music and releasing an upcoming EP, but I also started a podcast called “Talks with T,” and just had my first live show at The Mint LA on November 15th!
I also met one of my best friends Kezya Riley, who became my manager, and is helping me get to where I want to be. If I never took the risk of moving to LA, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Taking risks will never be easy, however, when you start moving in faith, you notice that the things around you work out in the way they need to, because as cliche as it is, what’s meant for you will be yours, you just need to go out and do it. The talents are there, but you need to have tenacity to chase what is yours.
People will always have something to say, but that’s the thing with risk, it’s YOUR risk, no one else’s. The ability to take risks becomes easier when you decide the life that YOU want.
Bold people do what they know they SHOULD, not what they feel like doing.
One thing I want to leave off with, is to constantly have the strength to be diligent in your obedience to Gods plan, even when nobody else understands it.

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 am a contemporary pop artist whose style incorporates soulful, bluesy, vulnerable, emotive, and unique tones. I am a singer/songwriter who mixes pop music with dark, rich, emotional textures that express my storytelling. My music is heartfelt and unapologetically honest, demanding my audience to not just listen-but to feel. I have been a performer since the age of eight years old, and began song writing at the age fourteen when I wrote and released my first original “Monster.” Through my hardest times, that is when I found my musical passion. Music allowed me to express what words alone could not. My songwriting allows me to story tell my most vulnerable times, and truly show my audience who I am. Through my music I always love to demonstrate how when words fail, music speaks. It’s funny because my personality alone is very outgoing and bubbly, so the stage has always been like my own little world. I graduated Berklee college of Music, studying songwriting and performance, with a minor in Music Business.
I moved to Los Angeles over a year ago, and continuing to build my brand and release new music.
I have been working on releasing my upcoming EP , “To Be Loved,” that truly had become one of my proudest projects. I started a podcast called “Talks with T,” and just performed live for the first time at The Mint LA.
I am excited to grow my audience and have more people learn about me.
I hope through this journey I inspire people and allow my audience to find their own voice.

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?

Three qualities that impacted me in my journey was being resilient, tenacious, and having faith. Nothing in life will ever just be handed to you. You need to constantly work and be persistent to get to where you want to be. No one is going to do it for you, which means that you need the drive and confidence in yourself to get to where you want to be. It’s funny, because people are so scared to fail, yet, you need failure to succeed. It is crazy to think that things will just be handed to you. Don’t get me wrong, there’s instances that people become an overnight success, but that’s so rare, and even then they need to work after that if they want to keep growing.
I had to have resilience over and over again, to keep chasing my dreams. If I stopped at the first “no” I got, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’ve had many people make comments or doubted me. No one is going to understand the plan God has for you, EXCEPT you. Due to this, you need to have the strength to keep going and go after your calling.
Even now, I still see people saying things, and that’s okay because I don’t live for people, I live for me.
Resilience is a constant choice that you make because regardless of the setbacks, you need to chose to rise above the circumstances, no matter how hard, and go after who your meant to be.
Being tenacious is another quality that impacted me, because I saw how even with the talents I had, it meant nothing if I wasn’t firm and persistent with my goals.
If you know me, you know that I am very outgoing and wild. My personality has always been being persistent. Again, a lot of that persistence came from how I was raised. I never stopped till I got to where I wanted. What’s interesting is that when I started chasing my dreams more and more I realized that life has nothing to do with your talents. You can be the most talented person in the room, but if you don’t have the tenacity to keep going then you’re nothing, you’re just another talented person in a room.
Being tenacious will allow you to stand firm and keep grounded for the life you want for yourself.
Life is hard, and your constantly going to be thrown in the wringer, so if your not determined to make it out, then your always going to fail.
Finally, saving the best for last, faith has played and continues to play a huge role in my journey.
As I said before, I grew up very religious, but a lot of that turned into me finding my own faith journey. I realized that as I was growing in my faith, I grew a confidence and trust in myself because of God.
I started seeing my perspective shift and my fears not take over me because what was meant to be mine will be mine, I just had to have faith.
I began being content in every circumstance, and taking the risks I needed to because I had faith that God would do what I couldn’t do. The only failure in life was inaction and then the rest is trial and error.
I knew that even if it didn’t work out the way I thought, I had the faith to know it would work out the way it needs to.
Funny story, but when I first moved to LA, I was waitressing. Obviously being a waitress wasn’t my goal, yet it was the only way to financially support myself when I first came here. There were people who made comments, yet, if it wasn’t for that job, I wouldn’t have the job I have now in the music business. Like I said earlier, because of waitressing, I ended up meeting one of my best friends, Kezya Riley, who became my boss, and now my manager. Even though I didn’t want to waitress when I got here, I did it because it’s what I had to do and the rest worked out the way God intended it to.
I also started a Podcast when I moved out here called “Talks with T.” I was terrified to do it because it was new to me and another way to showcase who I was to an audience. However, I always get comments whether good or bad, but I needed to stay firm on who I wanted to be regardless of what people think or say. I realized by being persistent despite of peoples opinions that the only people that take the time to criticize you are the ones that have less going on than you. Surround yourself with people that are going to continue to build the qualities that impact your journey. You are who you surround yourself with, and I can say that the qualities that impact me, I see in so many of my close friends.
These three qualities truly shaped who I am and continue to be, and even now I’m still growing and going through the journey with these traits.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

This year has truly been something. I have faced so many ups and downs, yet there has been so much growth in so many areas.
As an artist, this year has caused me to grow tremendously in my songwriting. When I moved to Los Angeles, I was faced with a vocal injury. I wasn’t able to sing and I felt like everything I knew and wanted was over. I came here for music and it felt like such a major set back because I couldn’t sing. However, my songwriting became one of my main focuses during this time. My whole life I wrote music for my voice. Since I couldn’t sing, I was forced to write without it, which allowed me to focus on every detail. This entire year I wrote my first upcoming EP, that tells a story like no other. Prior to this EP, I was always proud of my music, however, it wasn’t till I released my songs and got the gratification from others on it. Every song I worked on there was this constant fear of “what If it’s not good enough?”. I would beat myself up constantly in my songwriting and recording. Yet, with this EP, I saw a shift where I didn’t care what people would think of my music. For the first time, I was so proud of this EP that it didn’t matter to me whether someone liked it or not because I was IN LOVE with it!
Every song has a meaning to it. Every detail is so thought out. There is a story being told from song to song that digs deeper than any of my past releases.
Having this vocal injury caused me to really grow in my songwriting because it forced me to change the way I normally wrote and dive in my vulnerability in a whole other level.
I am so excited for people to hear this project because it’s something I am beyond proud of and can say is my best work yet.
Aside from my music, personally I believe my resilience was challenged in so many ways. I found myself being faced with many obstacles and setbacks. From health to relationships to just life in general, I saw how even though there was so many blessings around me, there were so many trials that forced me to either give up or keep going. When I came to Los Angeles, I went right into it and was nonstop. Regardless of the circumstances I just kept going and did everything I could.
Don’t get me wrong, I had moments where I needed to just be by myself and let it all out because at points it just felt like so much, yet I always said that unfortunately life doesn’t just stop when things get hard. I saw a growth in my strength to keep going because of how never-ending things kept getting.
My perspective changed on life and people. I started taking things day by day and still remaining positive regardless of what the situation was. I kept going despite the trials, and focused on the things I knew I could do. If you asked me 4 years ago how I would have reacted to some of the situations I was faced with this year, I probably would go insane. Yet, now there is a strength that has grown tremendously to take life day by day and keep doing what It is I called to do, and the rest will fall into place the way its supposed to. I have never seen God not turn something around for me, and this year truly has shown me that more.
Again, this year has been a lot, but it has shaped me in so many ways, and allowed me to grow and find new traits and versions of myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/teona_zak
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teonazak/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teona.zakariashvili/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@teonazak5981

Image Credits

Carson Ezell