Reflections & What I Want In 2016

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Lately I’ve been finding myself comparing my twitter/instagram/facebook page to others in this world of country fan sites/blogs. I’m noticing how many followers they have in comparison with me, and I know this is partially due to the fact that they are on top of the latest news stories that fans want to hear. I swore in the beginning that I would not be one of those sites/blogs, whose purpose is to relay the latest gossip in the country music industry or keep fans with the most up to date information. Nothing against them, because clearly they have hundreds of thousands more followers than I do… but I want my blog, my brand, Country Heartbeat to be a bit more personal. To tell a story. MY story. I want to introduce you to this life that I lead, that yeah, happens to be immersed in country music. It’s the thing I’m most passionate about, and much to my boyfriend’s dismay, comes first above everything. I want to inspire people to chase their dreams, to step out of their comfort zone, to grab hold of something that they love and take a leap of faith, to do things they never thought they could do.

I had a talk with a close friend recently that helped me realize that out of our group of friends, or even out of the people in this local area… heck, even in all of Maine… don’t love the industry in the same way that I do. One of my best friends since early childhood, God love her, once commented on my new profile picture with Lee Brice on his tour bus and asked, “Is that your new man?”. Oh, sweet Jesus. These people around here just don’t get it.

That’s why I’ve got to get to Nashville, and soon. That’s why I love every minute of “The Week Vegas Goes Country” aka ACM week, where I can surround myself with those friends who are as passionate about country music as I am. I’ve got friends from California, South Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Ohio… all these people come together in Vegas and are as crazy about it as I am.

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Fangirl Moments

Oh you know, just a typical 24 hour period for @country_hrtbeat on twitter

Sam Palladio (Gunnar on ABC’s Nashville) favorites your tweet, Austin Webb follows you and THOMAS RHETT favorites your tweet about the video in your prior blog post… no big deal. #fangirling

PS. Sorry in advance for the vulgar language, intense moment on tonight’s episode of Nashville.

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Making IT Happen – Productive Day!

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Hi guys! I have spent most of today trying to #makeIThappen (and all the while D. Jenks [@donaldsjenkins] retweeted and favorited my tweet about that!) Anyway… Chase Rice’s manager (@John_Lessard) responded to me on Friday about what he majors in and what colleges in the Nashville area offer them. He is an Entertainment Industry Studies major and a Music Business minor, and he met Chase at an industry party and they hit it off. So yes, you DO need an education background in the music business, but it’s also all about connections and who you meet!

With that being said, I have spent the past couple days on my LinkedIn profile, trying to “make connections”. It’s difficult because people have to accept you, and although I know who all these people are (Like Jessica Northey, Jenny Driessen, Jamie Vess, Justin Mrusek, etc) THEY don’t know who I am. I’ve been writing up a little something every time I send a request, and luckily Rich Redmond (@RichRedmond/@crash4success) accepted me, most likely because this connection-who-you-know-thing is one of the things he passionately teaches about in his CRASH Course for Success. Which I was grateful for the opportunity to attend this summer. I’ve spent the day browsing record label CEO’s and printing out inspirational people’s resumes who have jobs I would enjoy in the industry to try and see what I need that would help me. Unfortunately, most of these people went to school for it and have a TON of experience, and I feel like I am starting out so late in life! I just turned 30 and now I finally figure out what I want to do with my life? Luckily I have an advantage in the “Tour Photographer” dream with my Associates Degree in Graphic Design and Photography.

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