the bossbabe podcast - 83. How I Made My Big Break in the Music Industry

Episode Date: March 4, 2020

We’re joined by Lauren ‘KITTENS’ Abedini, LA-based DJ turned non-profit founder and multi-passion entrepreneur. KITTENS has been named a ‘Rising Producer/DJ Shaping the LA Club Scene’ by Mixmag and The Hundreds, and Source Magazine’s '25 Women To Watch.’ Turn up the volume as KITTENS shares how she broke into the music industry and built up a personal brand, earning the support of some of the most influential artists of our time; Usher, Kid Cudi, Skrillex, and more. An advocate for female empowerment, KITTENS also reveals why she created her non-profit organization, PWR, which provides education and support to women through charity DJ workshops. Whatever your passion is, KITTENS’ story will give you the courage to go after your dreams. Get that glowy, dewy skin for yourself. Learn more and take the quiz to find your ultimate Glossier skincare routine. Plus, all new customers will get 10% off their first order on glossier.com/podcast/BOSSBABE

I never want to see an open door and be like, no, that door's not good enough. I'm going to go through it. I'm going to see what's on the other side and I'm going to see if there's any windows I can climb through and maybe I can build a ladder. I don't know. That's really important to stay in tune with what is you and what's real to you because people will always connect with that. Welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, a place where we share with you the real behind the scenes of

building successful businesses, achieving peak performance and learning how to balance it all. I'm Natalie Ellis, CEO of Boss Babe and your host for this week's episode. Focus, determination and action taking. Three things that set apart the people who achieve their goals and the ones who don't. Every success story is filled with a series of challenges and at each point along this journey a decision is made whether to push on or not. If you know anything about me you know I really believe that we can design our own reality. I mean if I look at where I was five years ago compared to where I am now there's a pretty big difference. I was leaving university in debt in the north of England and I had zero clarity about what I wanted to do with my life but I had those three things. Focus, determination and a willingness to take action. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the

other, figuring out as I went along what felt good and exciting and what didn't. I took every opportunity even if I didn't. I took every opportunity even if I didn't know where it would go or if it'd be wasting my time and I truly believe this mindset helped me to get the stage I'm at right now my journey. So here's a quick story time for you. I remember I was at university and I was on Twitter at the time I was scrolling through and I saw that someone had tweeted saying Richard Branson was opening a bank nearby and I didn't really know what I was going to do with my life and I was like okay that's interesting I love Richard Branson he's so inspiring what if I just go and ask him for an internship or something

so I hurried out of university and I headed for the city center where I knew this bank was and of course I seen tons of paparazzi, cameras, everything outside this bank because Richard Branson was in there opening it. And there was a rope so people couldn't get in. But I knew that if I just got a chance to go in and talk to him, then I would be able to tell him how passionate I am about entrepreneurship, maybe ask him for an internship or something. So I walked up and I just took a big deep breath and someone said, can I help you? And I was like, yes, I'm here with Bloomberg. And to my surprise they were like oh come on in and they just let me walk on

in there I had my backpack on I looked very young so I waltzed on in and I seen Richard and so I made a beeline right for him I asked if I could have an internship with him and he actually said yes and he gave me a contact to reach out to and it ended up turning out I didn't go and do that internship I did something else which then resulted in him again though and actually selling him a product he ended up paying me for that product because I pitched to him and so it really just goes to show that if you are willing to take an opportunity I'm not saying we should all lie and say we're journalists with Bloomberg I'm just saying if you're willing to take an opportunity I'm not saying we should all lie and say we're journalists with Bloomberg I'm just saying if you're willing to take an opportunity and really put yourself out

there you really never know what might come of it I remember walking outside of the bank and then someone asked me to report on what this opening of this bank was going to do for the city centre and I was so caught left field but it's a great story to tell and you know I didn't get in trouble it all worked out in this episode we're hearing a similar story to tell. And, you know, I didn't get in trouble. It all worked out. In this episode, we're hearing a similar story. So I'm sitting down with Kittens, an LA-based DJ. And in this interview, we discuss how she went from being a personal assistant to a resident DJ all in less than two years, as well as how to build an authentic personal brand and the realness of imposter syndrome.

She really goes into detail about her personal journey and just talking about how she was willing to take opportunities, say yes, do the hard things and just see where they would go I know this conversation is going to leave you feeling so inspired and able to conquer your goals head on and so with that let's just dive straight in and as always take a screenshot and share your biggest takeaways on insta stories tag me at I am Natalie and at bossbabe.inc a boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise, keep going and fighting on. She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas. It's just believing in yourself. Confidently stepping outside her comfort

zone to create her own vision of success. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you. So I want to dive in at the very beginning because I feel like a lot of people listening are so curious as to how you got to where you are now. I think you have a career that a lot of people really aspire to have, but probably don't even know where to start. So where did this all begin for you? Basically, I've always had music as a really big part of my life.

So growing up, I was a dancer. I competed and did ballet, jazz, and all that stuff. And then I started going to college, which I wasn't trying to be a professional dancer, so that kind of left. And I was focusing on getting my business up right outside of LA, I was coming out here all the time just to go to clubs and go dancing and listen to music and go to shows. And I got to see DJing happening in a really different way than I knew existed. So it was like during the whole DJ AM time where there was all this blog house happening. And so there was that little moment of it. And then there was also a different moment happening, which was much more like underground and DJing and beat making and production as a performative art where people were just going to watch you versus being in a club and the DJ was in the background. So I got to experience all these different facets of DJing and music and nightlife. And so I wanted to do that. I wanted to play around with it. I was like, this stuff seems so fun. And it took me a few years because I was really scared and in my

way and I didn't see anyone who I could identify with doing what I wanted to do. It was literally like all dudes. So it took me a while to just get the courage to even buy equipment, which is very expensive. It's a big step alone. Yeah, because I've been DJing for almost 10 years now. So just one piece of equipment getting started was like $2,000 just for a mixer. And then you had to get turntables and all this other stuff. And so it's a big investment up front. But I was like, you know, I don't want to do this. And so I was still in college and I was learning how to DJ just kind of messing around. And then at the time, I was also a makeup artist. I thought I was going to do my life just kind of messing around. And then at the time, I was also a makeup artist.

I thought I was going to do my life plan was to do marketing for the beauty industry. And I was working for Mac at the time, which was very convenient because I never have to pay a makeup artist now. Yeah, I got in a car accident. And when I was off of work in that time, I was, I don't want to do this. This is not my direction in life. So once I was done being on my leave from my accident, I quit my job and I found a job in LA. I was like, I know I like in the city proper. I was like, I know I just need to be in nightlife and I don't know what I'm going

to be doing in there or why. I just know I need to be in that space. So I hit up all the people I knew and was just like, can somebody help me get a job? I didn't know if it was going to be in that space. So I hit up all the people I knew and was just like, can somebody help me get a job? I didn't know if it was going to be bartending or what I was going to do. And somebody got me a job being an assistant to a marketing director for this club called Dre's. So I started there and I was helping him with everything. He did all the talent buying, all the DJ bookings, all the programming for the clubs, all the promotion, all the dealing with agents and managers and artists liaisoning when some big DJ was booked and they came to the club, making sure you take care of them, understanding all their equipment, all this stuff. So I was really blessed to be hands-on in that way. Through doing that, I got a bit more confidence and I was like,

you know what? Can somebody just let me open? Can I be the opening DJ at the club? And finally, after months and months of begging, convinced them to let me do that, I started ground up there. And it was like DJ boot camp, because I was used to just playing whatever music I wanted in my bedroom or like around friends. And this was like bottle service, high pressure club with people spending thousands of dollars and wanting to hear certain things. And so as difficult as it was, it was really, really great experience. And through that, I also got my DJ experience and I also got to really understand the music industry because I was dealing with agents and managers and booking people. Then one day I had convinced them to let me take over Saturdays at the pool because it was

like nightclub at night, dayclub during the day, like by the pool. And like our off day was a Saturday and they let me just do the pool on Saturdays. And this is at like the height of Calvin Harris and Rihanna and Avicii and like all that type of house music. That was so not my vibe at all. And I would actually get in trouble for playing the music that I played. But I was playing more like hip hop and throwbacks and like more, I guess, cutting edge new electronic music that was hybrid of hip hop and electronic. And someone who worked for Kid Cudi happened to be at the pool one day when I was playing. And they're like, hey, Kid Cudi's throwing a small house party. He's looking for a DJ.

Would you do it? I was like, sure. Ended up doing it. Then a month later, I get a text from Kid Cudi being like, hey, I need a DJ for a festival show this weekend. Are you available? Can you come to rehearsal right now? And I was like, yeah, I'll make it happen. Yeah, I literally dropped everything I was doing. I was there like 15 minutes later. And I was on stage with him in front of like 40,000 people a week later. And through that, obviously, there's so many

opportunities that came like just meeting people like I met Usher through him, or like at one of his shows, who's been a huge like supporter and mentor for me, like since I don't know, 2013. And just being around the industry in that way was such good experience. Mind you, I was still in college, I was in my last semester of university, and I was still working for this nightclub doing all the promotion and marketing and stuff. And I was touring with Kid Cudi. Wait, so what timeline was this from you starting as an assistant to this starting to happen? This was about two years.

That's fast. Yeah. assistant to this guy in putting his business card information into an Excel spreadsheet and like his contact book and doing all that to then doing much more with like the club hands-on and booking and doing all of that. And then I actually ended up taking over his position. He left to go somewhere else and they just promoted me and let me do everything. So I did all the talent buying and all this stuff. And I was DJing there. The last like six months was so crazy because I took over this big position and I was DJing way more and I was DJing around town and I was touring. And I'd be like flying back from a show, studying for a chemistry exam on the plane because I had to go straight to school when I landed. Like it was probably the most stressful

my life has ever been. And hopefully it will never be that stressful again. I got in and then the club was closing. So this was, I guess, in like spring, summer. And then the club was going to be closing in the fall. And I was like, okay, well, I can either find another job because like there's always a new club's opening. So everyone just kind of like staff just kind of bounces around to the new place it's opening. I was like, okay, I can do that. Or I can take a risk and try and do this music thing full time. So I saved up enough money and I gave myself six months. And I was like, if after six months, I'm not living at least comfortably enough to make ends meet and not

like, you know, scrounging for rent money, I can keep doing this. And I've never had to have a normal job since. So what do you think really helped you? What's coming through is, and you see this with a lot of really successful entrepreneurs, is they're not afraid to do the assistant work. They're not afraid to start at the bottom. And they keep that dream that they're working towards and they're determined, but nothing's below them. And they're going to make sure they do everything really well.

What do you think your secret's been in you give yourself that six months to actually making it work? I think one thing that I've actually noticed with a lot of people, at least in this newer generation as well, like the younger generation of 18 to 23 year olds, roughly, is they kind of lack that I'll do whatever it takes thing. There's this weird entitlement. And I'm like, you didn't go to school for whatever. You don't have experience. And you're just like, you think you deserve this six-figure salary and don't want to be someone's assistant. It's like, no, you have to really do whatever it takes if you want something.

And even if you don't know what you want, starting out, just doing whatever you can to figure it out. I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew I kind of needed to be in nightlife to figure it out. And I was like, well, I thought it would be a bartender because I'd make a lot more money, but I guess I'll take this really shitty paying job as someone's personal assistant because at least I'll be in there. And I really do trust that the universe puts us in places that we need to be. And I never want to see an open door and be like, no, that door's not good enough. I'm going to go through it. I'm going to see what's on the other side. And I'm going to

see if there's any windows I can climb through and maybe I can build a ladder. I don't know. I love that so much. And I agree. And I think social media sometimes maybe creates that feeling of entitlement in that a lot of social media smoke and mirrors, right? Totally. And people see that and they're like, well, if they're doing can go and do that and they had no experience so i don't need experience and it's because people aren't always sharing what's really happening yes no one is yeah you see that picture on instagram and you think oh they're living in bali they've got these you know when you see the breakfast where there's about 50 plates while they're obviously doing really well all these things and it's just not true yeah Instagram wasn't really around when I was

first getting started. I was barely making ends meet. I was living on cuppa soup noodles. You're not going to share that. I was living off of Raisin Bran cereal from Trader Joe's. And I think it's important to talk about that so that people feel like if they are in that stage, they're not failing. They are working towards something that's actually hard. It's scary, but it's important that they're in that phase. And for me, I mean, I've wore every single hat in my business and I'm not afraid to continue doing that. You know, if one of my team is out on vacation, whatever needs done, I'll do it because I know how to do it. Right. Some people want to skip that step, I think, just because they see that other people look like they have so they can. Right. They want all the notoriety and glamour of certain jobs and the money, obviously,

but they're not willing to do the work to get there. There's so many risks you have to take. There's a lot of faith you have to put in yourself and into the universe. And you have to really be ready to take a jump. But I think there's a way of taking responsible risks when exploring your trajectory as an entrepreneur or in any industry. If you want to make any sort of switch, take any risk, do it, but also have some kind of plan B, some kind of safety net, some kind of backup just in case, because like I wanted to do makeup. I thought like that was my thing. I was like, that's going to be my life and I'm going to do this. And then eventually I'm going to be the CEO of this. Like I thought I was going to do it, which I totally could have done without an education for sure. I could have just like gone that route because it was so much more creative. But I was like, you know what? Just in case, let me get my degree just in case this all goes to hell. I want to know that worst case scenario, I can get a job somewhere entry level doing something and have my degree.

Yeah, I really relate to that. I feel like I could be doing what I'm doing without a business degree. I feel like it's totally not necessary. But my past is similar to yours in that I kind of knew the industry I wanted to work in. I knew eventually I wanted my own business, but I didn't know the how or what. I had no idea what it was going to look like. And so for me, honestly, university was that kind of safety net that I would have a few more years to explore. Yes, it's an expensive exploration, but you get support and it's not the path for everyone. Maybe that path instead of going to university is getting a job. Maybe it's volunteering. It's doing something that, like you're saying, gets you in the door somehow. Yeah. And saying yes to opportunities that might take you nowhere

and might take you everywhere. I think another thing, too, with when it comes to school is most people I talk to have a degree of some sort unless they have their master's or PhD. They're like, what I learned didn't really help much. But I think my father's actually a professor. He's an engineering professor. And one thing he's always told me is like your undergrad is learning how to learn. And that resonates so much. And I think it's not about like, oh, you need to go to school because then once you go to school, you have everything. It's like, no, you learn how to learn.

You learn how to adjust. You learn how to work under pressure. You learn discipline. You learn how to work under pressure. You learn discipline. You learn respect. You learn so many valuable life lessons that aren't necessarily like tied to what you're learning. It's just the act of like training your brain to know how to problem solve and know how to figure stuff out and succeed. And nothing will be as valuable to me as like knowing how to write some 50 page paper and make a presentation the night before when I had all semester to do it. Like I'm really good at

procrastinating and working under pressure now because of that. I can relate to that. Okay so I want to pivot slightly because you've been able to build such an incredible personal brand. Thank you. How have you done that? You have a really great audience. You have people that really care about and respect your work and want to know what you're up to. Where did that all start and how did you learn about building personal brands? Honestly, I have such major imposter syndrome. So this is so nice to hear. Don't we all, I feel like. It's nice to hear that because I'm just like, no one cares about me. Honestly, though, like it hasn't really been a conscious thing. I'm just really, really, really shitty at not being myself.

Like I can't. If somebody is like dress this way and speak like this and do this or like try that, I can't do it. If you gave me an Instagram of somebody really successful or a business model of some personality and you're like, this person's doing great. Copy them. I can't. Or if I do, it'll be so different that it's still me, like, which is great. It's a blessing. It's also frustrating when you just want to be able to like follow a formula. I can't. And I think in a lot of ways that's worked to my benefit because I can't not be authentic. And I think especially nowadays when everything is so smoke and mirrors and heavily curated and heavily contrived, I think people respond to authenticity. I feel like authenticity is such a buzzword now, honestly. So it's almost annoying to say that.

I wish there was a different word. But I think people are consumers of anything, not just people who are shopping, but like consumers of media and life are smart. We can see when something is fake for the most part. And maybe we don't know why we don't connect to it, but we just don't. And it's so much easier to connect with things that are just real. And so I just try to be myself. And sometimes I have moments where I'm just like, I'm not feeling like myself. I feel like I'm trying too hard. I have times where I really feel like I'm trying too hard.

And I actually had that recently and I sort of pulled back. I was like, you know what? I just need to step back, focus on myself for a bit. I like took a break from posting online because I'm just I don't feel like I have anything authentic to share right now. So I'm not going to force myself to do things and I think that's really important to stay in tune with what is you and what's real to you because people will always connect with that. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place. So it makes collecting data, creating pages,

collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students. So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering boss babe listeners a 30-day free trial go to kajabi.com slash boss babe to claim your 30-day free trial that's kajabi.com slash

boss babe i think there's a lot of and especially creative people listening to this who are like yes that is me i feel like i can't follow a specific formula and i think that's right and i've felt the same at times when i'm just in the office working all I'm doing is looking at my laptop I am do not want to put my face on stories at all I feel like I have nothing valuable to share and I don't just force myself to post for the sake of posting because it's the same I want it to be real and authentic and I've really tried to keep to that and I think that's where we're at right now in social because when we first joined Instagram these Pinterest perfect pictures were everything people wanted to see it was like wow I can go to a feed and see something perfectly curated and that's what they wanted and it's changing now to be the realness and people

want to hear that we lived on cup of noodles like they want to see the behind the scenes which I love you mentioned getting into this industry it was all dudes and you felt really different. How has that been for you? It's been an interesting journey because now there's so many women and I see so many more coming in and so many who are interested and feel like excited to get into it. But at first it was scary. I was just like, I don't belong here. And my whole life I've had a sense of like not belonging. Like I didn't really have friends growing up. I always felt like outcasted and weird. So I was like, great, more of that. But yeah, like thankfully I had a lot of really great friends who were men and I adore them. And they were really, really supportive and helped me along the way. But seeing somebody and connecting with someone and having a mentor or something that you can identify with.

And I think I would have taken risks earlier and gotten out of my own way a lot earlier if I saw somebody who had already done it and made me feel like, okay, she did it. I can do it. Okay, let's go. Yeah, I think it's so important to have mentors who you can relate to. And whether that's sex or whatever it is just seeing someone that's been able to do it from a similar place is really powerful you use your platform a lot to talk about things that really matter to you female empowerment being one of them you also have some amazing workshops why you've decided to use your platform in a powerful way and what's really inspired you to start these workshops as well i honestly like don't see the

point of having a platform if I'm not going to use it. And honestly, I'm a very introverted person. I'm not flashy, like love my face on camera and let me make all these YouTube videos. Like that's so not me. I'm like perfectly happy just having one-on-one with one person, being at home body. And that's why I started DJing too, honestly, because I'm like, cool, I can be at a party in a little booth away from everyone and I don't have to talk to anyone, but I seem like I'm being social, but I'm not. Like that was so great for me. And then it got to the point where I had to like perform a bit and connect with people. And I was like, oh, okay.

That's interesting though, because I would have assumed the opposite. I'm not the kind of person that goes to a club because I love to go to bed early and I get really overwhelmed by a lot of people. So I could imagine that for you getting getting started in the industry had to be a social butterfly. No way. No way at all. It honestly has really been helpful for me because most musicians, producers and DJs are nerds. We're all nerds that will sit at home and play with frequencies on our computers alone

for hours on end. Everyone's weird. So it's perfect because you can connect with each other easily. And so for me, I got to kind of skip that because I was working at this club. I got a shoe in through this back door to DJ and I didn't have to go rub shoulders with people and be in this. It's really hard for me to go out to parties now unless I'm DJing or someone else I know is because I'm like, what is my purpose here? I don't know what I'm doing here. I can't just like hang out and have fun. I'm like, I need to be here doing something or else I feel like really overwhelmed. But yeah, so for me, this platform came into my life and I was

like, well, let me do something good with it because there's no reason other than that to have it. So I wanted to, at least starting out, try to empower other people who felt they couldn't do something they wanted to do because they didn't see somebody or they didn't have a mentor. They didn't have that representation. So for me to offer resources and one-on-one help and connection and community building, that's another thing that the workshops are basically. They are all women's femme-identified DJ DJ workshops and they're non-profit so basically all of the money that we raise from ticket sales gets donated to a local LGBT or women's center and I basically just teach a day-long DJ 101 here's the basics of what you need to learn musically here's your basic business info, like tips and tricks, how to negotiate

rates and how to be your own fake manager because someone else has to negotiate for you and all these little things. But it was really important for me to pass on the information I knew and had learned over the years throughout my trial and error, help kind of create a bit of community and just really make people feel empowered to try something new. And one of the biggest things that I always teach in the class is that you're gonna suck for a while. And I think a lot of people don't really take that into account when they're trying anything new. There's such a learning curve for everything. Unless you're just like randomly super gifted, everything is a new skill and there's going to be learning. So if you're just like randomly super gifted, everything is a new skill and

there's going to be learning. So if you're prepared to suck for a while, then you can just pass through that. So I'm like, you can't go into hour one and be like, I suck, I'm giving up. You just have to keep putting in the time and keep trying. And if you're passionate about it enough, keep moving forward. Or if not, at least you tried it and realized this isn't really for me and it's no more time wasted. And then there's no what ifs, no resentment, not resentment, regret. But what made you want to start doing that? Like giving up your time for free to raise money like that? So at first they started out not free. So in the very beginning, I was, I just wanted to make some extra money and I was DJing full time. So I started teaching at a music school. I started just teaching DJ classes and they were co-ed.

I just noticed such a huge difference between the way men approached learning a new skill and the way women did and the dynamic of the class having men and women in there. It was just like night and day. So when the guys would go up to try whatever I taught them, everyone sucked. Mind you, it's your first class. Everyone sucks. You're going to suck. I told them you're going to suck. It's fine. Safe place to suck. But the guys would come up and their ego was just like over the top. And it was like they were overcompensating for knowing they were going to suck, right? But the girls would fall back and

be passive and nervous to try. And they're like, oh God, I'm going to be so bad. And I'm like, everyone's bad. It's fine. We're all bad together. That's the point of this. And we're going to eventually not be bad. But seeing that, I was like, this is not the right environment. So I made an all girls class, which went really, really well. And it was so fun. And like, I saw how much better everybody went as far as learning and how much more comfortable everyone was and the things we could talk about. And it felt much more relaxed and organic. So I did like one or two of those. And then my life just got really busy and I didn't need extra cash from music school anymore. And I was like, I felt so fulfilled doing that,

that I was like, why don't I do this? But like find another way to help the community because I just, I don't know, I've always cared about other people, I guess. So I was like, cool, I can help people who want to learn. So I was like, cool, I can help people who want to learn. And then at the same time, I can raise some money. And yeah, so it just turned into this thing. And it's really exhausting. We just had our biggest one in New York a couple months ago. I think we had 40 something girls in there. So me teaching a group of 40 people hands on, like we had all the equipment donated and I'm like racing around the room being like, you good? You good? Do you have a question? Do

you need this? What are you having trouble with? And like, just trying to help everybody. And but it's so fun and so fulfilling. And I'm just like, how can I do more? How can I be more impactful? How can I help more? And I fully have faith in the fact that giving will come back to me somehow. Like I'm such a big karma person. And I'm like, if it doesn't come back to me in this life, it'll come back to me in another life. But at least I am feeding my soul and helping other people. And it's just worth the effort. It just feels really good. I love that. How often are you doing them right now? And where? The last like year, we did a few little few little i guess kind of like trial run things because before i was holding them in music schools but the response i was getting was so huge like i

just posted on my social media like hey we're doing one in the city and i'll get like 200 responses i used to only have room for 20 people and then i was like okay so we need our own space like i need to be able to accommodate more people and so we did the New York one, which we were able to accommodate more. And so now we're just kind of trying to figure out the expansion for it because we want to do more of them. We want them to be bigger. We want them to be more impactful. So that's the plan for this year is to just really take it up a notch, get more sponsors who can actually help us elevate everything and just take it to another level because there's so many people that want to learn. I'm constantly getting messages like, can you come to this city? Can you come to this one? Can we do this? Please, can I come into this

class? And I'm like, I just don't have enough room. And so I guess this is where my business degree can come into play. But I do really need to like make this its own entity because it's just sort of been a passion project for me. And now I'm like, no, we got to make this its own entity because it's just sort of been a passion project for me and now I'm like nah we gotta make this one serious now yeah and you can have people helping you and and teaching it and you could start such a movement I really believe that music is such therapy as well so as well as learning a new skill and getting confidence I think that's a really big part of it absolutely and that's another thing too before I was just donating the money directly to shelters.

And then with this last one, I was like, I feel like we can do something more impactful instead of just being like, here's money. So now what I'm going to be doing, or at least like one of the ideas that I have to do is to use the money that we raised to buy a whole like music setup that can be like an LGBT youth center. And then we can come in every so often and teach the kids and they'll have a place to like play around and have access to the equipment that is pretty expensive and learn a new skill on their own and feel empowered to do that or have an escape from the reality that might be upsetting for them or

have some sort of creative outlet. So I love that. So what are you excited about in 2020? So much. I feel like I'm in kind of a funny place right now because I feel like I've sort of pulled back from everything that I've sort of had cemented as far as my music career and everything. And I'm just reformulating and shifting everything, which is so exciting, but also terrifying because it's very uncertain. So I'm switching my direction as far as music and like sound goes. And I'm taking the workshops and power as a brand like up to a whole other level. And I also have another business that I'm getting ready to start, which is terrifying because it's totally not related to any of this. What is it? Can you say? It's in the like beauty and grooming realm, but I'm like, it's a little overwhelming. Starting from scratch is terrifying.

Yeah, I do already have some partners and investors who are like, we love this, whatever you need. But I'm like, oh, gotta get going now, I guess. So yeah, I'm just gonna be the next couple months. I'm just working on an album and getting the workshops kind of mapped out for the year and gonna get a podcast started that kind of ties into the workshops and the whole thing behind that. And I have a lot to do. Yeah, I think 2020 is going to be an exciting year for a lot of us. Yeah.

So your podcast, when you say you're going to frame it around the workshops, what kind of things are you going to be talking about? So it's not necessarily like about the workshops, but it's the same. The root of it is finding ways to amplify the stories and voices of people who didn't really feel like they were represented in the industries and places that they've found themselves. So hoping that them sharing their stories can help to empower younger generations who are like, oh my God, I want to be a, I don't know, a CEO of this type of company. And, but I'm like in this level of poverty and I'm like of this racial background or this sexual identity, whatever, finding those people that represent

more marginalized groups and being like, hey, you feel like you can't do this because you don't see somebody, but here's somebody that's doing that. That's just like you. And we'll hopefully kind of bridge the gap and be like a digital mentor somehow. I love that idea. I think we could definitely all do more of that. Okay, so I want to ask you, you obviously work late. Is that right? Yeah.

How do you do that? Give me all the tips. Because if I stay up past 10 p.m., I'm exhausted. I feel like you must have some really good tips, routines, tricks. Give me it all. Oh, my God. Well, I take a lot of naps for sure. I'm a big napper.

I love coffee. It's hard because I'm a very sleepy person in general. Like I've gone to my doctor and been like, why am I so sleepy my whole life? And especially say I have to DJ one night. Once nine o'clock hits, I like how am I gonna do this I just get so tired but then all of a sudden my adrenaline kicks in and and then suddenly I'm awake till four in the morning and I don't know and have you had to do anything specific to make sure that when you come home at that time you can like get to sleep I go to sleep pretty easily I

meditate every day or at least I try to sometimes I forget for a few days and then I'm like, why do I feel like shit? Oh, because I haven't been taking care of myself. Meditation has really helped me and I'm like a psycho about skincare as well. So I have to shower and like deep cleanse my face and do my whole annoying skincare routine, which is actually really therapeutic. Tell me your routine. I want to know the specifics. I do adjust it depending on what my skin is doing. But like if you walked into my bathroom, it's really next level. The amount of products I have is kind of obnoxious. But yeah, I'll always take a shower before bed. My body won't let me even if I pass out because I'm exhausted. I will wake up. My body's like, no, get your ass in the shower. So I'll always shower. I double cleanse my skin. So I'll do like a gel cleanser to get all my makeup off. I need to exfoliate every day, which I know most people don't, but my skin just gets congested. So I'll do a wash to get my makeup off. I'll do another

wash that's like, whether it's with my Clarisonic or some kind of like gentle scrub or some kind of chemical exfoliant, I have to exfoliate my skin every night. So I'll do that. What brands do you like for cleansers? I use CeraVe foaming cleanser to get my makeup off. It's just like nothing works as good as that for me. And then when I'm doing my exfoliating in the shower, I'll either use, I really love SkinMedica. I've been using a lot of their stuff lately. They have this AHA BHA one that's really, really gentle and it's great for acne prone skin. It's great if you're congested often. I also have a glycolic scrub from them that I like. I'm all for like, just give me the strong acids and just peel my skin off, make me young forever. And then sometimes I'll use just a Neutrogena salicylic acid, like grapefruit gel cleanser with my

Clarisonic. And then i really love the sk2 essence stuff i forget what it is but it's just like it's like a sake protein it just feels like water but i don't know i notice my skin feels different if i don't use it so i just throw it on so i'll use that and then depending on what my skin is doing if it's irritated or dry i'll use the cbd serum and hyaluronic acid to just kind of calm it. If it's being problematic and like acne-ish, I'll use either a glycolic acid. SkinMedica has a really good one. It's a renewal cream. It's like 20% glycolic. So it really, it stings, but it's a good sting. Like, you know, it's working.

Yeah. It's like a satisfying. Yeah. I'm like, yes, get in there. So I'll either use that or Sunday Riley's UFO oil. And then I also have melasma, which is like nobody talks about, but it's actually really, really common. And it's like 90% women are the ones that are affected by it. And it's a hormonal chronic hyperpigmentation. So it looks like sunspots. But even if you go get a chemical peel and take it off, it can come right back. Yeah, I've had it. I got it through using birth control. Yes. Yeah. A lot of people get it through birth control, pregnancy. Otherwise it's like hereditary stuff. Or if you have extreme like trauma to your skin from sun, it's really annoying to deal with.

So I have a bunch of different products I've been trying to deal with keeping that under control. So I don't have to wear a ton of concealer every day, which if anyone has melasma, like it's just such a difficult one to treat because everyone's skin responds differently. But I'm actually in a Facebook group for melasma. Really? Because I was like, I need to know who's using what. And it's like thousands of women from all over the world. And everyone's like, have you tried this? What are your results of that? So most people get prescribed some sort of three pronged skin lightening thing with hydroquinone, which is a

skin bleaching agent and hydrocortisone, which is steroid and then retin-A or some type of retinol. So it's peeling your skin off and then it's calming the inflammation and then it's bleaching it. It's really aggressive. And a lot of people's skin just is like really irritated by it. So a lot of people use that. A lot of people use all these different things, some expensive, some not. But this one line that you can't get in the United States, you have to order it from overseas, has been incredible results for people all over. Like this is, everyone's having great results like really quickly from it. And it's from that brand Eucerin. And they have an anti-pigment line. They have like a, it's a spot treatment and a serum and it's like 20, 30 bucks.

Like mine isn't that bad, but I've seen people who have, it looks like a dirt mask on their face. Wow. It can get really bad. And there's in two weeks is cleared up when like nothing else worked. So if you have melasma, I would check that out. I love how we've pivoted the conversation to this is great. I'm like such a I love I love like beauty and skincare stuff. It's fun. I had a peel a couple of days ago and it's peeling but I'm like, let it do its thing. It's great. I need to get a peel so bad, but I

don't have time to be peeling right now. Yeah, i always get peels when i'm filming or speaking which is just the worst timing but yeah it's kind of when you've got no time you just make whatever time work and just get kind of get over it i've been doing them every two weeks and it's been such a game changer for my skin what kind of peel do you do tca oh yeah that one's really good it's amazing yeah i go to a place in la called spa Sophia. It's the best place I've ever been for facials ever. Oh, wow. Because I have such hormonal problem skin. Yeah.

And Sophia just works wonders. But yeah. That's amazing. I love appeal. One of my friends actually owns and she takes care of my skin and everything. My friend Vanessa owns a spa called Things We Do. And it's so incredible. It's in downtown LA.

It's a hybrid of like eastern like holistic beauty health stuff and then also like you can get botox and stuff there too but they do like vaginal steaming to help regulate your hormones i've done that really i hear so many good things about it amazing yeah it's so crazy i do it like maybe once a month really i haven't tried it i'm just like that sounds so cool it's great and you get like an infrared light. Yeah, it's great. It's so cool. So they do that. They also do acupuncture instead of you can get Botox, but they do like the acupuncture replacement for Botox, which is so cool. Like people's faces before and after look crazy. But I go there for my peels and like micro, microneedling and all that junk. Do you like microneedling? I do, but I also have

to be careful because it can flare up melasma, which a lot of people don't know. They think it's like a, this can fix everything, but it can, any trauma to the skin can make melasma worse. So I have to be careful with it. And I just kind of go around my eyes and like laugh lines and wherever I get more texture. What about things like laser? I can't do laser. Laser is actually the worst thing for melasma. Ah, interesting. Yeah. So melasma is triggered by heat and light. So laser is in both of those and it gets real deep. I did laser once and I literally looked like a leopard. Wow. For a month, I looked great and I was like, oh my God, I found a solution. And then you get, it's called post- post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. So it comes

back like a million times as strong. Like what did you do to me? Good to know. Yeah. So I would love to just end this conversation with some advice for someone who really wants to get started in the music industry, but might feel like it's so hard to break into or it's super overwhelming. Where should they even begin? In my opinion, making friends and finding community is going to be your best friend because there are so many talented people out there and they're just sending their music to everyone, just trying in that way. Or like my DMs always full of like, please listen to my song. But at the end of the day, connecting with real people and being very clear about your passion is going to be the best thing for you at the end of the day, connecting with real people and being very clear about your passion

is going to be the best thing for you at the end of the day. Like if I want to work with somebody, which I still do this, to me, networking isn't, hey, let's work together. I'm like, hey, let's become friends so that working together comes naturally. So we can be like, we're hanging out, let's work on something now. Because I think it's so obvious when people are being opportunistic and that's such a turnoff. So being willing to take any risks, start at whatever level, whether it's just being friends with somebody or maybe you just want to intern for someone, that's great. Like offer your assistance, get in those rooms, get around the people that you want to be like or connect with. Just really having the human aspect in mind versus your main business dream. That will come. Always have that in mind. Like that will come along with it. But really just doing whatever it takes to connect with people

because people will help you. Like your friends will help you and people want to see you win. And at the end of the day too, people want to to even if it's like more of an ego thing but like if somebody is above you in some way it's going to give them satisfaction to be like oh i discovered them or i helped them or whatever like so everyone sort of wins and just don't be too good for any job or anyone i love that and i think you can apply that to so many different industries as well. So where can everyone find you? And also where can people find out about the workshops that are obviously going to blow up in 2020? Yeah, I'm so excited. So Instagram and Twitter is I am kittens, like I am baby cats with an S at the end. Then my workshops, I have the tag in my bio, but it's at Power PWRX Kittens. And yeah, we do all the workshop announcements on socials for now. So it's a good place to stay updated.

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