2. Shouldn't I have a Grammy By Now?!

In this episode, Cinnamon Denise shares some encouragement for anyone navigating their music career. 

She reflects on her journey, achievements, and challenges - including maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships and mental health. 

Despite the struggles, Cinnamon Denise emphasize the importance of resilience, learning, and never giving up on what you love. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Birthday Blues
• 1:49 Reflecting on Career Expectations
• 3:46 Navigating Challenges and Staying True to Self
• 5:20 Encouragement and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Hey, music executives. It's Cinnamon Denise, that's Cinnamon like the spice. Denise, like Denise, and it was my birthday last week. I am a Leo. I am an August birthday person and you know what? Because I sing, at least I think this is kind of a speculation because I sing, no one ever sings me. Happy Birthday.

No one ever sings me. Happy birthday. Only one person sing me Happy birthday this week. And I feel like sometimes people feel like. I don't want people to sing to me, but that's not true. I love people singing Happy Birthday to me, and so I am gonna sing. Happy Birthday to myself. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Birthday. Happy birthday.

Birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to.

And with that happy birthday to me, uh, this episode is just insight into what I went through with my birthday and how kind of perplexed I felt and still trying to celebrate it as it relates to music. So. I thought by this age I would've had three Grammys, uh, Tony Award. I'm kidding. I didn't think I would have three Grammys, at least one.

Um, but I will say that there is a lot to learn that I have learned in the past decade. I remember this one day I worked as a digital marketing specialist at a, um, small business for about three years. And, um, someone, that, uh, I've known for some time came up to me and was like, well, where do you work? You know, kind of in this like snarky voice.

And I told them I was a digital marketing specialist and they were just like, is that what your degree is in? And I was like, no and they kind of made it really weird and made me feel really bad about it. Now I will say that now I totally use both my degrees. I have a Bachelor of Music in media writing and production from the University of Miami, and I have a master of music in music technology innovation from Berklee College of Music, Berklee, LEE, not LEY.

And for a while I thought, I'm never gonna use these degrees, like it's too hard to do this full time and et cetera, et cetera. Stuff that all of us go through as musicians, even just as people. And I realize now that I had to learn how to follow myself and by follow myself. I mean, follow what is true to me and I.

I have no regrets. That's really what this episode is about. I have no regrets. I promised myself I would live a life without regrets. I go through all the motions all the time. I have felt discouraged. I have had vocal and hand injuries. I struggle with keeping up with my physical health. My relationships have suffered because I'll stay up late working on music or I'll just be focused on whatever work I have to do because I work as a freelancer and that's one of those things where when the money comes, you just have to get it. Um, I struggle with my mental health. I now have a dog. I have let my kind of family relationships suffer. So I just wanna say like, all this stuff is normal.

If you ever go through this, I. I am proud to say that the bottom line is I'm still in the media, music and entertainment industry. I do this full time and it is scary at times. You know, it is lonely too, and it's also frustrating when people that you're working with that are real promising come and go.

It's frustrating when you have an amazing project and it stalls and therefore usually ends. I will say the bottom line and what I'm proud of is that I haven't given up on myself. I haven't given up on what I love, what I know to be true, which is that I love what I do. I just want to quickly encourage you that the motions that you're going through are normal.

The financial things that you're going through are normal. The frustration that you're going through is normal and it's all part of the process. And this is something really, I'm talking to myself also, just keep at it. And I felt like by this age, my birthday, I would be further along than I am. But I will say the lessons that I've learned, the resilience that I built will be

amazing for this ne next decade of my life. And keep learning, keep learning, keep learning, keep learning. Never give up. And I hope you found this episode as short as it is in encouraging in some way, shape, or form. I would love if you would follow me on Instagram at Cinnamon Denise, or follow me on TikTok at Cinnamon underscore Denise, again, this episode is really quick, but feel free to send me a DM telling me happy birthday.

It makes me feel good. It's just nice to know that I'm still here. I'm still grinding, and you know, I get tired too. I take breaks, you know this podcast, we took a long break, and you know, you just hop back on the wagon when you're ready. So stay in the fight, stay in the fray. Keep pushing, keep pushing.

Just keep enjoying what you do. All right, music executives, I'll see you on the next episode.