Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Zilba.
Hi Paige, 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?
It all started with a passion for creating and a determination to never give up on my dreams. Starting at a young age, I found myself creating art in every way possible. My superhero of a mom drove me everywhere around town to theatre practices and shows, piano lessons, voice lessons, orchestra and choir rehearsals; you name it! I never got tired of the arts, not even for one second.
When I started taking piano lessons in elementary school, I immediately began writing music. “Chaos” was the first original piano techno album I wrote and produced myself that featured six original songs. Remembering back to this tedious process, I simultaneously live recorded the drums and piano on my keyboard onto a CD-R. After creating this album, I had a desire to write more.
I continued writing music in various styles, including folk, pop, orchestral symphonies, and R&B. I also enjoyed creating original a cappella arrangements of top 40 chart pop songs. For every school project, I chose to write an original song about the class material. Songwriting was my first love! I was also at an early age when I discovered an unusual skill that allowed me to make my very own drum kit by using only my voice.
It was in 5th grade when I first learned about beatboxing from a group of boys in my class who were accompanying somebody rapping. Something inside of me lit up when I decided to try it myself. I practiced every single day. I was beatboxing while doing my math homework, practicing piano, and making silly home videos. However, I always beatboxed in private because I was worried people would not approve of a female beatboxer in a male-dominated field. In high school and college, however, that all changed.
My choir teacher in high school introduced me to a cappella. To me, this was the perfect home for my craft in beatboxing. It quickly became my passion. When I arrived as a freshman at Baldwin Wallace University, there was only one established a cappella group, and it was for men only. Without skipping a beat, pun intended, I started my own competitive coed a cappella group that became an official organization on campus at Baldwin Wallace.
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music and specialized in music therapy. Shortly after graduating, I moved to Los Angeles where I began working in music therapy with adults and children with disabilities. I started making TikTok videos in my car during my 30-minute lunch breaks for fun. Little did I know that it would change my life. One video of me beatboxing into Starbucks straw went viral reaching more than 500,000 views. Humbly, that one video has now turned into over 8 million followers on TikTok.
In 2020, I was let go from my music therapy job due to Covid-19. I quickly took action to make social media my full-time job. Social media has allowed me to professionally produce music and video content, write music and teach many fans how to beatbox. I even had the privilege to find my way back to the schools by giving beatbox master classes and being a part of school lesson plans. I could not be more grateful to be involved in social media.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Although I am grateful to have a presence and an influence on social media, it has come with certain personal challenges. One being how much I initially underestimated the amount of work that goes into it. When I was laid off from my job, I immediately had to step into a CEO and entrepreneurial role within social media. I’ve had to learn how to file taxes differently, record invoices, manage various email and social media accounts, read legal contracts between myself and companies I partner with, write scripts, learn how to produce high-quality music and video content, negotiate content creation rates, and more.
On a more personal note, social media and the arts require a lot of confidence and vulnerability, which can sometimes be challenging. It is easy to get into a cycle of comparing yourself to others, trying to create a better video or song than the last one, attempting to ignore and not take personally the hateful comments that sometimes really hurt. Your fans and audience expect a lot from you, and you expect a lot from yourself. However, I have learned that it is most important to do what you love for the only reason being that it makes YOU happy and to not place other people’s opinions of you above your own. Life is too short to not love your life and love who you are!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 2017, I was working in music therapy with adults and children with various disabilities. Essentially, music therapy is a from of therapy where different musical techniques and interventions are facilitated by a music therapist to help a client achieve non-musical goals. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the schools in Long Beach and help facilitate grant-funded research for music therapy.
However, I now work full-time as a social media content creator. I have made many different video series ranging from beatboxing emojis to voice-over skits. I would say that I am most known for beatboxing on TikTok.
I am very proud of how far I have come. It seems as though all these years I have invested in the arts have now come full circle to being my full-time career. I have made my way to becoming one of the most famous female beatboxers in the world, and it has been hard to wrap my brain around that! I am very humbled to have had a positive impact on people’s lives. Many kids have developed a huge passion for beatboxing, and I am beyond happy to hear that much of their inspiration came from me. At the end of the day, my main goal is to inspire others to authentically create with their whole heart.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
No dream is too big. No adventure is too small. Be confident in who you are because at the end of the day, you’re the only one who knows how to be you. This life is yours to authentically create it however you want! If I could go back in time and tell my younger self a piece of advice, it would be to never underestimate your own power and how much you can achieve on your own. Hard work, persistence, self-love, and passion will always result in success and happiness.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMd3uK3c9/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMd3uK3c9/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigezilba/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaigeZilba/about
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlP0SRGdj_Opm4eu4uZ1vA
