Life & Work with Samara Donald

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samara Donald.

Hi Samara, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started performing at the age of seven in a dinner theater in Fresno, California. I studied music and voice through high school and won a scholarship to study at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. I completed university at the University of Washington with a minor in music but pursued a career in Marketing. I’ve always done some form of music on the side, but it wasn’t until the pandemic of 2020-22 when I began songwriting. That led to learning music production and in 2021, I started releasing music independently through SoundCloud, Spotify, etc. I now have two artist projects: Mara Sol (Americana/folk) and Aurielle (electronic/experimental).

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life has never been easy, but it’s the fodder for great songwriting. 🙂 As a child, I grew up in an unstable home with abuse. As one of eight children, we were low-income and had little material possessions nor a home to be proud of. While we saw higher education as a path out, all of my siblings had to find a way to fund it ourselves. Through hard work at school, we got some scholarships, then held multiple jobs to fund the rest. I never saw music as a possibility for anything but a hobby since I needed an income to support myself. But I always did find a way to keep music in my life, despite various adulthood challenges of divorce, job layoffs, and pervasive PTSD and anxiety owing to my childhood. I’ve been relatively successful in my “day job” which has allowed me to continue keeping up with music as a hobby.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
By day I’m a marketer but my passion is songwriting, producing music, and performing. In the past two years, I’ve written over 100 songs and produced over 30 now on streaming platforms. Through the pandemic, I started doing live concerts and now perform at local art shows just for the joy of it.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
A bit! I’ve always followed my heart and have had the experience to travel to India, Bali, Manila, etc. I lived in London for a year. I’m married to a British citizen with whom I have two stepchildren. I competed (and won!) two body-building contests. I’ve run several 5k, 10k and a half marathons and two triathlons. I’m a certified yoga teacher. I completed my Master’s in Sociology at the age of 42. And now a published musician.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/marasolmusic
• Instagram: Instagram.com/marasol_music
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/LcMBuo6BAe7wfSe88
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UDswthm0YlfCrzJ488cJG?si=IFxyyTrXQruA1Tw9UCs92g

Image Credits
Alan Donald