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Women's Empowerment Music COllaborative

7/20/2018

We women need to build each other up and continue creating positive and empowering music!

In case you didn’t already know from all my shameless plugs throughout the site, I am a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business/Management and studied electric bass at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I have worked as a music journalist for Performer Magazine, and after moving to Nashville TN back in 2010 played bass as a hired gun for various indie artists. I've worked at a music publishing company, done PA work for music video shoots and commercials, and now I work in Marketing.

Living in Nashville was great. I had a wonderful community of female musicians and creative types around me all the time. I lived with model beautiful singer/songwriters and beautiful hearted singer/actresses on the reg. That experience is the inspiration for the stage musical/book I’m working on called “Living With Models”. The time there wasn’t always roses, actually it was psychologically painful at times and opened up a lot of wounds for me that I had moved a thousand miles to get away from. But that is a story for another day.

But I miss the community I had when I was down there. Hell sometimes I even miss Berklee, with all of its crazy minded-pot loving musicians. It’s exhilarating being surrounded by other creative, passionate, driven people. I crave it. I need it.

So that’s where this post comes from.

Now back home in New York, I’m trying to build a community of female musicians. One where we can network, collaborate, and build each other up in this crazy world.

Do you need musicians for your band? A producer for you next EP? People to write songs with? Help promoting and marketing your music to build a larger following? Or just looking for some cool, like minded chicks to talk music with and empower you to keep pursuing your dreams?

Then follow me! Or rather follow The Women’s Empowerment Music Collaborative on Facebook @womensempowermentmusiccollaborative and our developing website at www.womensempowermentmusiccollaborative.com

And while you’re at it, you can also follow me Tiffany Grand on Twitter @TiffanyGMedia or email me personally at [email protected].

We women need to build each other up and continue creating positive and empowering music!

I hope you will join me.

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Getting Back In the Groove of Things (and time to let go of the baggage)

7/12/2018

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** This post was originally written one sleepless night about a month ago but I was too afraid to post it back then because I was afraid my boss would see it before I was ready. But I have since left this job I mention below and feel this post still has a relevant message to share. I've always prided myself on being authentic and open but I've been so focused on trying to build my company Femmespire Media, I haven't really been if I'm honest with myself. I also haven't been keeping up on my personal website here and it's time to get back at it! So without further ado- 4 crazy weeks later- here it is.. **

June 16, 2018

OK, so I have a confession to make. I…am a hypocrite. All this time I’ve been here working on this book about “Creating the life You Want” encouraging people to pursue their dreams, to not look back, to stop making excuses for why they don’t have what they want and just own up to their mistakes and go forward. And I haven’t even really been doing it myself.
My boyfriend Adam called me out on it. I was pissed at the time, but he was right.
Yes, I said it. I know the independent spirited, punk rock feminist bassist from high school inside of me just fainted thinking about it. But he was right.
This entire time I’ve been trying to encourage and empower other people to live their best life possible and stop settling, and I haven’t been doing it myself. Not wholeheartedly anyway.
I might be actively working on my business Femmespire Media and building a marketing career, but I’m still compromising.
See, at the time of this writing, nearly a year after having come up with the idea for this book, I am STILL working at this tiny printing company that only pays me $11 an hour and expects the work of someone paid twice as much. I’m stressed out every day, taking supplements and medication to help manage the stress and anxiety that the job induces, ruining my liver from the copious amounts of alcohol I’ve gotten into the habit of consuming after work to unwind from the stress of the day, and undoubtedly destroying the lining of my stomach from all the OTC pain relievers I take nearly daily from the physical pains of the job. All the while barely making enough to pay my living expenses, and that’s without even currently owning a vehicle or having health insurance.
That is crazy!
This should not be the accepted lifestyle of a hard working 34 year old with a college degree. Maybe it has a little to do with my Millennial status? But that’s a topic for another day.
Anyway, today I begin my first day working for a new company. A not for profit, where I will get paid to manage their social media marketing and researching and writing for their newsletters. All within the comforts of a cozy home office and minimal customer interactions. Plus, I will be making a significant amount of money more an hour.
I took the plunge and applied and got hired on the spot. I felt so empowered.
The problem is, though, I feel guilty leaving my current employer. They’re great people, a married couple, and the wife I absolutely adore. To the point, I will admit, I might refer to as a straight girl crush. She’s strong and confident, holds down the fort like a boss (no pun intended), and knows her shit. That place would be lost without her.
But I know I desire more than a job that pays me barely over minimum wage and wears me out emotionally and physically on a daily basis.
So, that’s why I have to leave.
I originally gave them a whole two-month notice. I regret the way I went about it now. Which is also a story for another day. But now it’s time to own up to my mistakes and practice what I preach.
So, I am finally giving them my two-week notice.
And I’m terrified.
It’s currently 4:26am on the first morning of my new job, and I can’t sleep because of the anxiety of speaking to my current bosses and disappointing them.
It’s Saturday. Should I call them with my decision? Can I text them? Or do I have to wait until Monday morning when I go back to my job there and hope they don’t chastise me for changing my plans?
I had just told them this week I would stay on part-time to help them because I know how hard it is to find people and they are short staffed (and the not-for-profit job won’t have full time hours for me just yet). But deep down inside I know that is a bad idea. My gut, my instinct, says it will be more stress than it’s worth even at that level. I’d just be compromising on what I really want to do with my life. Short changing myself in the long run.
I've always talked a big game about following your heart, not compromising on who you are and what you REALLY want, and basically just confidently being you. With determination and focus. But I have a hard time doing it myself because I hate to disappoint people. I have a people pleasing, approval addiction I guess. I have self-psychoanalyzed it stemming from never feeling like I could please my parents throughout my own life. Again, that’s a story for another day.
But I know this is the time I have to finally start walking the walk and talking the talk, no matter how scary it is. I need to stop being a hypocrite. I might not have it all together just yet, and maybe I never completely will, but I know I’m on the right path to getting there.
As author and preacher Joyce Meyer always says “I might not be where I ought to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be. I’m OK and I’m on my way.” And so are you. Thank you for following me on this journey.

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Author

Tiffany Grand is an author, songwriter, journalist and mental health advocate. She's the Managing Editor and owner of Femmespire Magazine and has a heart for encouraging people through the arts, media, and community service. Follow her on Twitter & Instagram @TiffanyGMedia