Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Kennedy Michelle

Kennedy Michelle shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Kennedy, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
In late November, I won YoungArts, a national competition, which I won last year for singing, but this year, I won for writing, which is a hobby that I have done for years, but have never really talked about with anyone other than immediate family. It made me feel very proud because it showed me that I am capable of succeeding in talents other than singing.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an 18 year old singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. I’ve been singing for my whole life, but started taking it seriously in my freshman year of high school. I decided to create a social media account for my singing on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and made a posting schedule for myself. After a few months, I began gaining traction and now I have over 50,000 on Instagram and Tiktok, and over 20 million views on all platforms. I’ve recently started recording music so that I can start my music career, but currently do not have any music out. Hopefully that will change soon!

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a very loud and energetic person. I was the kind of kid who was always on a tree and had scratches all over my body constantly. I loved to speak my mind and talk to anyone that I could. I loved storytelling, and making little stories with my dolls, making my parents suffer through my hour long puppet shows. Honestly, there’s a lot of times where I wish I was still that rambunctious little girl who wasn’t afraid of showing herself. I think that if I wasn’t told that I was being too loud, or to stop being so dramatic all the time as a child, I wouldn’t be this shy now and afraid to show my true self to others, especially new people. It’s definitely a struggle now, being told that I’m too quiet, or kind of boring, so now, I’m just trying to find that little rascal hidden somewhere and try to let her out, so that I can be who I really am again, and start to feel like that girl who wasn’t afraid to show the whole world who she was.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell her to not listen to the people trying to dim her light, no matter how hard it may be. My younger self would be shocked to see the shy person I have become. She would be extremely proud of me for everything I’ve achieved and all the beautiful friends I’ve made along the way, but I think she would be confused why I’m not walking through the halls saying hi to everyone and trying to get the lead or solo in every show.

I would also tell my younger self to enjoy life while you have it. To enjoy every day, and be appreciative of what you have. I would’ve never expected to not have a normal life. To be so close to death at such a young age. I thought that the worst sickness I would ever deal with was chicken pox in fourth grade. Being diagnosed with Lupus at thirteen, being hospitalized for about four months, and having moments where I didn’t know if I was going to need a new kidney or even make it out of the hospital taught me to appreciate every moment. You don’t realize how many little things you take for granted until you’ve lost it for a little. So, if I had the chance to talk to my younger self, I would tell her to appreciate every little detail. Be appreciative that you have strong lungs to breathe, a heart that’s beating, limbs that support you in moving around. After my legs atrophied and I lost 90% of my kidney function, I realized how many things that I don’t ever think about in my body that are helping me stay alive. So, I’m grateful that I can go to school, I’m grateful that I have food every day, I’m grateful that I wake up every morning. We only have one life, so it’s important to live it all to the fullest and be appreciative that we can.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
One belief that I am committed to is that my music career will be successful. My whole life, even as a little kindergartener, I knew that I would sing as a career and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I honestly don’t care how long it will take, although I don’t think it will take long, I will do what it takes to guide me to my dream.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that people will remember me as someone they could relate to, and someone who really tried to help others and cared for others. As someone who has felt like no one really understood them for most of their life, my main goal has always been to be that one person you could go to if you felt like no one understood you, even if I don’t personally know you. I hope to achieve this through my music and my platform.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @kennedymichellemusic
• Youtube: @kennedymichellemusic
• Soundcloud: kennedy michelle
• Other: TikTok: @kennedymichellemusic

Image Credits
Steven J. Lawrence
Santiago Orellana