Meet Zack Hoskins

We were lucky to catch up with Zack Hoskins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zack, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I get my resilience from the world constantly chewing me up and spitting me out in my young adult life. From the mental health public system failing me time and time again. Before that I was an athlete, Pretty accomplished wrestler in high school and played Quarterback from a young age up until my sophomore year. Resilience is something that you have to let a kid develop on their own and my parents did a wonderful job at letting me discover my own threshold for resilience. I think when kids get “ambition” and “resilience” shoved down their throats as a kid there’s a resentment that grows about a concept that is super important and beneficial to an individual’s success. Hence, why you see a lot of “burnout” situations.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

-5th-10th grade band(1st chair alto sax); ensemble jazz band
-4 years of choir(multiple duet/quartet competitions)
-A few musicals through grade school-highschool
-started writing/arranging songs at 17(2013), 18-20 lots of rap/hip-hop(2014-2016) then evolved into/started fusing all my influences/styles together

As a Journeyman of a dreamer, who slowly but surely shifted his “Dreams” to a “Vision Quest”, I see myself really impacting a generation of humans that are rapidly de-valuing true human connection. Ever since I was a young child when I was watching yahoo music videos thinking to myself “I can do that, why can’t I do that?”, to life doing its unfair number on me between there and here, I plan on using my platform to:

A.) Re-configure/evolve public school special needs programs(I have a twin brother who’s non-verbally autistic)

B.) Make an impact/be an advocate for alternative treatments for mental health breakdowns(other than pharmacuticals)

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?

1.) like I talked about in the first section, if it weren’t for ambition and that “never say die” mentality that I’ve acquired defying the odds, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today.

2.) After sticking to this recording/performing arts stuff for 10 years now, and going from someone who wasn’t that good, and didn’t have a clue what they were doing(what’s also crazy is the more you learn, the more you figure out there’s more that you don’t know then you’ve ever thought), the continuing to do what you do because you LOVE IT, not because you think it’s going to earn you recognition. This level of expression should not be used in vain as an attention grab(Even though it is all the time) and you should forever take the approach of a student.
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3.) A lot of people will tell you music isn’t a competition and that “There is no race” which I partially agree with, but it is a competition. You should be constantly competing with yourself. Not in a “straining/”you suck you gotta be better” mind state but a “one day better” or a “I strive to be better today then I was yesterday, in ANY way” mind state. And to pace yourself. Don’t be ashamed of taking a day to do absolutely nothing as a creative. You need that processing time. This is actually advice im giving myself as I type this lol

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was allowed me to be me. Didn’t try to create me in their own image or attempt to vicariously live through me, rather let me go on my own journey in the development of my current character. That in itself is priceless.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Danny Stayton in the picture with the picture/guitar, and TrillyVanGo in the picture with him with the mic and me on keys.

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