Words by: Kat Friar

What has your journey with music been like?

My journey with music has been, everywhere. I started off - so I'm from Toledo, Ohio, which is a small town - and I started off as a basketball player actually, [then I] injured myself. And I've always loved music in high school. I was a DJ, involuntarily. So when I got back home, I was like, let me try this out, this is what I wanna do. Started off as a DJ, saved up enough money to buy recording equipment. That led me to owning my own studio [and] learning to engineer. I was always my own artist within that. Then as I went through college, I realized my passion for marketing and my passion for entrepreneurship, and music really became a creative outlet, so I combined those two passions and also saw the turn of events that 2020 and TikTok had made on the music industry. And I was just like, it's time for musicians from everywhere to have that resource that can elevate them and that developed me to be this person that I am right now.

Why did you create Creator's Club and what's the story behind it?

What always drives me like the absolute grittiness of Creator's Club. The grittiness of it was really just getting screwed over myself as a small town musician, who was talented, who was promising, I shouldn't say was - is. I didn't have resources. I didn't have a mentor. I didn't have community and I definitely didn't have education. I had none of these things that would've ultimately pivoted my career, I believe. So my constant inspiration is making Creator's Club for musicians like me. One of my favorite stories is we were meeting with Drew de Leon from THE DIGILOGUE and there was a 17 year old kid from the Bronx at 7:00 PM at night with his notebook, writing down notes. And I was just thinking like, damn, imagine all the other stuff he has the potential to do right outside of his door and instead because he's locked in on his art because he's locked in on his career, he's here learning things, connecting. And I think for me, Creator's Club is the fuel to those types of musicians.

Wow. I love that. How does it feel to be able to have a company that helps people network?

Incredible, because networking for me has been the absolute bridge that has gaped me with the industry, um, networking and social media, honestly.

And so. That is a huge part of my story. Like if I can do it from Toledo, Ohio behind my screen, anybody else can do it. And I think it's seeing is believing is a lot of it. And so if it's me, they seeing, you know, hopefully that sparks something else with them. And, um, it, it makes me feel really good that I was able to create something that can connect communities and professionals and give people answers.

I wanted to find out how long did it take to bring to fruition and what was the process?

Originally creator's club was supposed to be just a branding course. Branding is my specialty, that's what I love to help musicians with personally. As I was doing like my market research - which just meant I was buying a bunch of online branding courses and taking them - I was like, "dude, this is boring." Usually it's just this white guy talking to me in a screen for three hours straight and then boom, it's done. So I was looking for a course that was way more interactive and offered more than just an online course and that's it. And so amongst that I found a host network called Mighty Networks. Mighty Networks is basically for Facebook groups, but on crack. I essentially dove into that concept and created one for musicians and that's how Creator's Club came along. So that happened. I birthed the idea in January and then launched it in April. So we are only about, a little bit over one years old and we've organically grown to over a thousand members with more coming in every day, all over the world. And it's important to know and say - I think as an entrepreneur - that this is all personally funded by me. There is no capital investment. People are still buying into the idea and I'm gonna keep it that way until I feel like the time is right.

Perfect. Wow. I feel like you've grown so much in such a short amount of time, and I think it's because you came up with a really good concept that artists need. Like you said when you were growing up, you didn't have the resources and artists always need things like this. So I think it's really cool. I wanted to ask when it comes to marketing and engagement, what do you think artists should avoid? But also what do you think is something they're missing out on?

Artists should absolutely avoid feeling like they are annoying their following or that they are contributing to the oversaturation of content and music, because the reality of the fact is, you are - but this is what you wanna do. So one thing they should avoid is just that mindset of like "I don't wanna post this. It's gonna annoy them. I already posted today. I already did this. I already did that." Everything that you post shows your personality. If it reaches one person, that's all you need, especially in today's climate, so avoid the mindset. One thing I believe that they're missing out on is amazing relationships that social media can provide. One thing I really wanna push is how to network online in a digital space, 'cause I've had some of the most incredible relationships that have just been planted from one DM, one comment, one like, and the spread of the network really is what moves you levels up. So one thing most artists are probably missing out on is the networking abilities that are sitting in your DMS.

Photo by: Salvador Rivera (Poetic Python)

Absolutely. My last question is what's in store for the future of Creator's Club?

Right now we are working with a few different studios to do what we're calling Creator's Club Certified Studios, what this is is a partnership between us and select studios in select cities. Essentially Creator's Club members will have some type of incentive to go to the studio, but it is a certified studio, we've been through it, we trust it. You can trust the work. You don't have to worry about all of the weird, nervous stuff that artists go through when they're trying to find a studio. We have that coming along, we also have a financial literacy course for musicians coming along that's not only gonna help them budget their music career, but also change their lives. And more marketing, I've all done this organically. A lot of our following and members have come through TikTok. So shout out TikTok, always; but now it's time to put the investment behind the digital ads and campaigns. So exponential growth, hopefully.

Perfect. Was there anything else that you wanted to say about Creator's Club or about your journey?

I first and foremost would definitely like to thank my team at Creator's Club. That's Luna Day, Xavvi, Melissa, JT and Porter. These are people who have helped me create [and] continue the momentum when I can't always do it, 'cause it is growing at a level where I have to stay focused on other things and can't always provide that community aspect that it needs. And so my team has done an incredible job of just making it happen, so a huge thank you to them. And then to musicians, my last and final message always is that right now is your time and success doesn't always have to look like what we've seen success to be. Success is a sustainable career. It is you doing what you wanna do every single day, so right now's your time. Sign up for Creator's Club, we got you.

A Conversation with Abby Sarabia

SAUCED: Year Two

Anna Siemsen | #InFocus