Ali Handal: Music, Mastery, Meaning and Money [live performance]
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 19 September 2016
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Quick note - be sure to listen to the end, we've got a live, acoustic performance by this week's guest that will rock your world!
Ali Handal grew up loving music but packed up her guitar and dreams of becoming a professional musician in order to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology. Eventually, though, music called her home.
She spent years mastering her craft, becoming a lead-guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, and entrepreneur, eventually co-founding Triple Scoop Music which helps artists license their projects. Ali has also released three albums, toured across four continents, and worked with artists such Neil Young, Janet Jackson, and Paul Williams. Her training book, Guitar for Girls, was written to help students at all levels gain the self-confidence needed to master new challenges so they don't settle for less.
And, a little more than three years ago, she was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer.
In this episode, we dive deep into her remarkable journey from student of human behavior to student and eventually teacher of music, performer extraordinaire, successful entrepreneur, author, then patient and wholehearted embracer of live as it comes.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- The multiple streams of income Ali can leverage which allow her to pursue an authentic career as an artist.
- Why performing for free can be a valuable experience and expose opportunities.
- Alternatives for starving artists to earn a living while developing their craft.
- How intentional practice can improve weak areas.
- Why her diagnosis of a rare form of incurable Lymphoma has not stopped her thriving career and pursuit of goals in life.
- Tips to stick with your passion while you suck.
Mentioned in This Episode:
- Connect with Ali: AliHandal.com | YouTube
- Guitar for Girls by Ali Handal
- Gutsy Girl by Caroline Paul
- "Not a Pretty Girl" by Ani Difranco
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When you know that you suck, it is so painful and I quit playing guitar several times. |
| 0:07.2 | And I just didn't think it was possible for me to get good until he said that to me. |
| 0:10.6 | And I was like, he's like, you have to be willing to suck and you have to play through it, |
| 0:14.4 | play through it and you're going to suck and you're going to hate it. |
| 0:16.9 | And eventually all of a sudden you're going to be good. |
| 0:19.4 | And he was right. |
| 0:22.8 | Today's guest, Alejandro, grew up loving music, particularly guitar. |
| 0:26.9 | And she kind of got in her head that she was never good enough or gonna be good enough |
| 0:31.5 | to make it her life. |
| 0:32.4 | So she went the academic path and ended up almost pursuing her PhD. |
| 0:38.6 | She went through college and was about to go and get her PhD in psychology and become a therapist. |
| 0:44.3 | When she realized that actually the thing that she had to do was play music. |
| 0:49.2 | She had to dive back into her guitar and songwriting and make that the center of everything. |
| 0:55.8 | And there was a moment where somebody kind of said something that snapped her into the realization |
| 1:01.9 | that just because she wasn't as good as she wanted to be now didn't mean that she never would be. |
| 1:07.6 | And everything changed. |
| 1:08.9 | And that story and where she's landed now is what we dive into in a really powerful way |
| 1:14.7 | in this week's conversation. |
| 1:16.6 | We also walked through some pretty big awakenings in her life. |
| 1:19.8 | A couple of years ago she was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. |
| 1:23.8 | And we explore how she's been moving through that window, how it affected her, |
| 1:28.1 | and how she sort of lives and how it's changed her and also not changed her in certain ways. |
... |
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