Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I’m so thankful to be able to share with y’all a little bit about me!
My name is Caitlynne Curtis, I grew up with really hard-working parents and two siblings. My father had given up his dreams to go to work to support our family as soon as they knew I could sing and they spent every dollar they had to move us to Nashville to pursue my dream of becoming a country star. My family was middle class living check to check never giving up to push me to where I am.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
When I was 6 years old I had taken voice lessons and had a recital. I got a solo part and remember how it felt like it was yesterday. I walked towards the front of the stage everyone was silent, the lights warm on my skin and I sang my part. When I felt that adrenaline rush and heard those cheers it was like I knew that I was supposed to be performing and singing for the rest of my life and now here we are!
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One night I had a lot on my heart and this hook idea came to me immediately without thought. I made a quick voice note and a year later it made it to number 1 on Billboard.
It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started I was super impatient and thought everything would happen over night! Haha! jokes on me! you gotta grind and put in the work to earn it and deserve it and I’ve been working my ass off since!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m so grateful for Struggle Jennings. He has given me the opportunity to be a part of his independent label “Angels and Outlaws”. I actually met him at Dj Paul’s birthday party without even knowing. My friend was a photographer and invited me to go with him and I went and remember him saying “let’s get a picture with Struggle”. I posted the pictures of that night on my Instagram and tagged Struggle’s page not thinking he would even see it. At the time I was posting videos of me singing cover songs. Well, he ended up seeing the tagged pictures and saw that I could sing and he sent me a message asking if he could produce and album for me and I was like, hell yeah!… so here we are!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Just keep swimming”. I would not be where I’m at without perseverance and never giving up even if I felt like giving up a hundred times.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m working on my new album right now and it’s so amazing. I’m also getting to help write some of the songs on Struggle Jennings’ new albums as well. We have a great team!
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
The reality is there are so many different people in this world with different races, religions and cultural backgrounds and I feel it’s important for everyone to be not only represented but to have a voice and to have someone they can relate to. And it gives us all the inspiration to know that regardless where we are from it is possible to chase our dreams.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Never give up because I had put my music on the back burner so many times before.
Believe in yourself because if you don’t no one will.
Have faith and work hard because nothing comes easy.
Don’t compare yourself to others because your timing might be different and don’t try to be someone else. What makes you unique is what makes you iconic!
Don’t listen to the haters because if I would have listened to people telling me I’d never make it, well… I would never make it!
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Just always have fun and don’t over think your creativity. Stay grounded in gratitude because if you are thankful and appreciate the fact you are getting to do what you love you won’t get discouraged if things don’t go as planned right away.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would love to inspire people into seeking self-love. So many people are caught up in social media and what they think they are supposed to be and not accepting themselves or loving themselves for who they are. We are all so unique and embracing what makes us different while finding the beauty in that I feel could save so many people from being riddled with insecurities, dealing with depression and feeling less than. Strive for the best and reach for the stars!
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Celine Dion — because she is one of my biggest inspirations with music!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
