THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

Fast Facts:

Pursuit: Grammy winning composer/recording artist

Definition of success: “Setting a well-defined goal and achieving it.”

In the few months that The Secrets of their Success has been live, I have to say it’s been somewhat overwhelming to witness such a willingness to open up from so many prestigious guests. In a short space of time it’s been my honour to host MBEs, best-selling authors, multiple Olympic gold medal winners, award-winning designers, actors and entrepreneurs, to name but a few. What’s been so rewarding though is the number of ‘firsts’ who have come here to share their stories. There was the first Olympic medal winner, then the first Olympic gold medal winner; the first MBE; the first world-record holder; the first award-winning fashion designer; the list goes on – or at least I hope it will, because it’s given me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to keep bringing something new to the table and to give you, my valued readers, something dynamic. So it gives me please to say that we’re continuing that happy trend, because today it is my great privilege to announce another ‘first’, this time a Grammy winning artist: Please welcome, winner of the Grammy Best New Age Album 2014, Laura Sullivan.

First things first, what exactly is Laura’s contribution to the music industry?

“I am a composer and recording artist,” Laura explains. “My original music is used in a variety of television and film productions including the hit show So You Think You Can Dance, On the Case with Paula Zahn, 48 Hours, two Emmy award winning documentaries, and advertisements for Hyundai and other national commercials. My music is represented by BMI, which holds more than four hundred of my compositions from my catalog. My latest album, Love’s River won a Grammy award in January 2014. This album was produced by Will Ackerman, founder of Windham Hill Records, and also produced by my husband, Eric Sullivan. My recent collaborations include a project with internationally renowned bestselling author Dr. Wayne Dyer, as well as many other wonderful artists, titled Angel Blessings. The entire proceeds of this album go towards the benefit of Hospice organizations. I also perform on the 2014 release “Omkara – The Sound of Divine Love” produced by Guinness World Record Holder, Rupam Sarmah.”

A Grammy award, prestigious collaborations, charity commitments – and to think it all started at the suggestion of a friend.

“I am a classically trained pianist. As a teenager, I enjoyed creating my own arrangements of classical compositions, including adding new sections to the pieces. This was my beginnings as a composer. At one point a friend mentioned that I may want to record my arrangements and that led me to put together my first album of music.”

If Laura’s life all sounds a little fairytale to you, make no mistake: intertwined between the harmonies and melodies of her musical vocation is the rhythm of a down-to-earth lifestyle most of us can relate to:

“My typical day begins by a quick work out, a scramble to prepare lunches and breakfast and walk my daughter and the neighbor children to school. I then scurry home and get the chaos left in the kitchen and the rest of the house down to a dull roar. At this time I prioritize practicing and composing, which will get pushed to the back burner if I look at the computer before that begins. After attending to all musical pursuits, I go to the computer to get to urgent emails as well as social marketing and other music business tasks.”

Hectic but worthwhile, surely. I mean you don’t win a Grammy without learning how to multitask. Having said that, awards, no matter how sought-after, aren’t Laura’s key motivator:  

“My achievements in creating recorded music give me the most satisfaction. Winning a Grammy is quite an honor, but the real accomplishment is in creation of original art, I feel.”

Laura seems to have found a way to fit in all the important facets of her life, but surely there must be some sacrifice?

“I don’t really consider any of it a sacrifice; instead it is quite a privilege to have the life of an artist. The amount of time per day I spend on my profession varies. My family and my community and my own health always come first. When those are taken care of, I spend all remaining hours creating and promoting music.”

No surprise, then, that Laura doesn’t envy life’s routine set.

“No,” she confirms. “This is my profession of choice and I’m blessed to have the freedom and flexibility of the life of an artist.”

And Laura’s advice to those of us looking to break away from the nine-to-five?

“Never give up. Understand your life’s purpose and commit to it for your life. Be patient and persistent.” She adds, “Success is setting a well defined goal and achieving it. If I don’t achieve it the first time, I try again.”

My thanks to Laura Sullivan for opening a window into her life and sharing some of the secrets of her success. Laura is currently working on a song composition and video produced in collaboration with the global community (yes, really) titled “We Are Love.” More than a thousand videos have been submitted for the project including involvement from more than 650 people. Fifty per-cent of the proceeds will go towards “Little Kids Rock”, an organization providing music lessons and instruments free of charge to underserved children. The final song and video production “We Are Love” will be released in 2015. For more information on this amazing project, including a video which will leave you jaw-dropped, and Laura herself, please head over to her website at laura-sullivan.com

You can follow Laura @lsullivanmusic or at facebook.com/musicbylaurasullivan

You can (and must!) see Laura perform on her Youtube channel

If, after you’ve listened to some of Laura’s Grammy-winning talents, you want a collection to keep, the album Love’s River is available to buy on Amazon:

Images courtesy of www.laura-sullivan.com