Around fifteen, I was playing in my youth-group worship band when some friends heard me sing and encouraged me to get on the microphone. We wrote a song, then more songs, and formed a Christian hardcore band called Zaragoza.
Being the singer came with another job. I became the person looking online for venues, promoters, bills, and any opportunity that might put us in front of people. We had music we wanted to play. Somebody had to find out where we could play it.
In 2008, Zaragoza played Vans Warped Tour on the Kevin Says Stage. I found the application online and submitted the band. That opportunity came from continuing to look, then doing something with what I found. The public lineup record lists our appearance on August 11.
I didn’t think of this as professional development. I was a teenager trying to get my band somewhere. Looking back, though, the work is familiar: learn where the audience is, understand the opportunity, make a useful pitch, and follow through. The internet gave me a way to reach beyond the places and people I already knew.
Then somebody asked me to do it for them
I became a licensed cosmetologist in 2011 and worked as a hairstylist while pursuing music. When the music opportunities slowed, I spent more time behind the chair. Around 2015, a friend who managed a bar and grill asked me to help promote a concert and manage the business’s Facebook presence.
He knew I had been using the internet to bring people to my bands. People came to the concert. I followed it with photography-based campaigns for menu items. That business became my first paid marketing customer.
From there, I started finding businesses that needed social media or website help. I learned WordPress because I needed a website myself. Then I edited a customer’s site. Then I built a new one. Each job gave me a practical reason to learn the next piece.
That’s the connection between the band and the work I do now. I was already learning how to find an opportunity, present something clearly, and use the tools available to get it in front of people. Eventually, somebody paid me to keep doing it.
This is my recollection. Alternative Press’s Warped Tour 2008 retrospective records Zaragoza’s Kevin Says Stage appearance on August 11.