During my first few months of starting The TxLips Band, LLC., I was unsure about a lot of things. I was still learning myself and how I wanted to execute this complicated business model. I was (and still am) learning myself. I love hard, and I take care of people I ride for because that’s who I am, that’s how I was raised. I believe God has given me a vision and a calling, and it naturally came with aspirations, goals, and objectives, all of which I wanted to meet within a certain amount of time.
Initially, I was not sure how I was going to get there, but I knew I had to figure it out. I’m a natural-born hustler. I go for what I want, and I don’t let up. If I was going to meet my hefty goals in less than five years, I had to get my big girl panties on and boss it up.
TxLips started off as a backing band (Gurl Code) for Diamond (former Crime Mob member). I was asked to step in as a guitarist for a music video she was looking to shoot, and I saw an opportunity for something bigger. I saw an avenue that I could fill that wasn’t currently being filled as well as it should have been.
I remembered the hell I went through being in my own skin in middle and high school and even some of college. Black Women have strategically been left out of the conversation in the music industry, especially in rock ‘n’ roll. I thought back to the brave women such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who paved the way before me, and in that instance, I knew I was called to follow in those footsteps. After stepping up into the role of being Gurl Code band manager, I realized this could be more, so I started The TxLips Band and immediately had us onto a busy schedule of back-to-back rehearsals, shows, and then there was our touring schedule with Diamond.
As a result, my life quickly morphed into multiple full-time jobs of being a law student, running and developing this business, being the frontwoman, working in the world of non-profit, managing various artists in the Atlanta area (such as Chavis Flagg and Dara Carter), and touring. There were many nights I didn’t sleep due to being on the computer for one of many reasons from emailing venues to setting up tours for my band and my clients, to finishing a legal briefing assignment, to coordinating eight to ten band schedules to set the rehearsal days and times weeks in advance. Someone had to do it, or it wouldn’t get done.
Over the years, I learned what caring for myself would look like. I learned that you can give your all to people, and sometimes, it still isn’t “enough” for them. I found that being a “boss” meant things won’t always be easy, and they for sure won’t be peaches and sunshine. Sometimes, you have to say no when you really want to say yes. Sometimes you have to rub two nickels together to make a dollar and hope it’s enough to get you and your band into a last-minute Airbnb in the middle of London (after you’ve already arrived in the city).
Being an entrepreneur can be difficult at times and has a side effect of losing people you thought were friends and accepting that you may never get them back. Many times, you will have to walk the journey alone because you can’t take everyone with you, but, almost always, in the end, you land on your feet because you push through the mess and arrive at the light at the end of the tunnel.
This is the behind-the-scenes of being a boss. This is my journey.
Guitar Gabby aka Mama TxLip
@guitargabby
@thetxlipsband
www.txlips.com