People see the music now, but they don’t always see how many times life gave me a reason to walk away from it.

I grew up in Lincolnville with five sisters and a house full of sound—Caribbean music, R&B, Latin music, church. Basketball was my first plan. Then a knee injury changed the direction of my life, and music became more than something I liked. It became the thing I could not ignore.

My first real performance was at church. I was supposed to go up with a friend, but he backed out. I went up alone anyway. I was nervous, but once I got on that stage, something clicked. The stage called me, and I answered.

That did not make the road easy. I’ve been through divorce, job loss, surgeries, and seasons where the money did not match the vision. I have questioned myself. I have had to rebuild. But I never stopped.

My daughter is a big part of why. I want her to see that a hard chapter does not get to write the whole story. You can take a hit, be honest about it, and still keep moving.

That is the biggest thing about my journey. Not that everything worked out perfectly. It’s that I stayed with it. You only really fail when you stop. I truly believe that.