Find Your Passion
This week’s blog is from Ashley Ambos, dream maker, not dream chaser! No more intro needed here as Ashley’s blog tells her story in a way that will make you stand up and cheer. Read on for great advice from a sharp mind. FYI – – The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map…
Having a passion gives you something positive to focus on and helps you set goals for the future. I hope that everyone can find their passion! Mine is country music. I enjoy every aspect of it. I’m particularly fascinated with the songwriting process. I love the fact that most country songs are honest and written about true events, usually very personal ones. A great song speaks to everyone, but not necessarily in the same way. I have so much respect for this type of talent.
Creating a record and getting radio stations to play that record isn’t always as easy as it seems. Then there’s the public relations side of things; getting this new artist to become a household name. It’s the artists themselves I admire most. It’s amazing what they’ll sacrifice just to be able to do what they love and get their voices heard.
I’ve been listening to country music for a long time. I can remember going fishing with my Dad when I was three or four years old. We’d be waiting on something to bite while listening to Toby Keith and Alan Jacks on. Later, I found a connection with the lyrics of artists like Jason Aldean, Kacey Musgraves, and Eric Church. My parents exposed me to the legends of country music, and I introduced them to the “up-and-comers” of the industry.
Like anything else there are always life lessons to be learned, but I think “follow your arrow” and “the world’s wide open” are pretty great ones. At the end of the day country music feels like family to me. It brings us together and takes us to a feel-good place. I want to be a part of this family.
My way of being part of that family, for now, is to express my passion on apparel. My company, Fiercely Burning, is named for my fiercely burning passion for country music.
I have many thoughts and sayings in my journal, but I started to develop a design for one of my favorites “country music purifies the soul”. I’ve put the phrase on t-shirts, hats, and bracelets because I think you should “wear your passion proud”.
I’ve set up Facebook and Instagram accounts and launched a website www.fiercelyburning.com. I hope to attend Belmont University’s Curb College of Music Business to learn even more. So here’s to hoping this is just the beginning of my relationship with country music!
What I’ve learned so far from this experience of starting my own business – TONS! I’m not sure I had actually even seen a checkbook prior to 2015. Now I know how to write checks, balance a checkbook, and reconcile a bank statement. I’ve learned you have to protect yourself (trademark, copyright, etc). It’s easy to get carried away, but you can’t. Things can get expensive!
My strongest advice for anyone would be to find your passion, and don’t give up until you do. Everyone needs a sense of purpose, direction, and goals to shoot for. Finding your passion gives you these things. It lets you know what you’ve always been meant to do.
And for any parents out there – expose your children to the unknown. How do you know if you like something if you don’t even realize it exists! You don’t have to travel the world and spend thousands of dollars to do this. Start small until you uncover an interest. Let the internet be your friend. Take a field trip, maybe even as close as your own backyard. Show your children what you do for a living, and tell them about your friends’ and neighbors’ jobs. This gets them thinking about what they might want to do one day.
Most importantly, be supportive. Your child may not have the same interests, goals, and dreams as you do, but you should support what makes him happy. Knowing your parents have your back makes all the difference!
Ashley]]>
