My mission is to empower and nurture artists by helping them 10X their impact. My values have always been focused around personal growth and self-improvement and so I bring a lot of that into all of the work that I do. Every program, product, or service that I offer has been carefully thought out and offers something totally new to the artist, songwriter, or creative entrepreneur. I get really excited about things that have never been done before.
As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing (your name here).
Stefani Fryzel (aka DYLN) has spent two decades in the music industry as an artist, songwriter, and music producer. Her work has been nominated for a grammy, featured on the Billboard Chart for Emerging Artists, nominated for radio music awards, and appeared in film and television. She is the creator of “The Songwriter Series’’ an online event that offers 1:1 mentorship from award-winning hit songwriters and is the author of “Self-Care for The Creative: A Survival Guide for Creatives, Empaths and Highly Sensitive People’’ that offers self-care strategies for artists in creative communities.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Hiii! Sure thing. So I grew up half-Filipino in teeny tiny town called Ladysmith, located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I started singing when I was five, songwriting as a teenager, and I made it my mission to perform at every single mall, church, talent show, and small town event there was. At seventeen, I moved out on my own to Vancouver, BC, and started an internship (my version of a college education lol!) at a recording studio where I could hone my craft of songwriting and learn how to produce my own music. I played gigs with my acoustic guitar at every stinky bar there was, worked a bunch of sh*tty jobs as a waitress, a hostess, a grocery store clerk, a retail stock girl, and did whatever I had to do to pay the rent. I would even sleep at the studio sometimes just to work on recording my music as much as possible. I ended up achieving success as an artist in Canada but my opportunities there eventually peaked so I took the plunge and moved to New York City for several years and then to Los Angeles, which is where I now work/reside as an artist/songwriter, author and coach.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Music and writing is just something that’s always been a part of who I am at my absolute core. I cannot live a life of happiness or fulfillment without either of those two things embedded in my day-to-day life. I’ve always been ridiculously creative in many ways so tons of ideas are always flowing through me at all times. Because I’m an empath and highly sensitive person, I’ve always been drawn to the arts, not just for expressing my own creative perspective, but for the therapy aspect of it as well. The process of writing songs or writing a book actually heals me. For this reason, a lot of people in creative fields will tell you that their art is just something that they are born to do or can’t live without. But if I were to try to trace a moment in time that potentially could have turned the dial for me to start experimenting musically, it would probably be my parents divorce when I was 5. It was super traumatic for me and at that time I didn’t have my own voice, meaning, I had no say in the matter and I kept quiet about how I was feeling emotionally at the time because my environment didn’t feel safe. So it’s truly no surprise to me that that was the precise moment in my life that I started singinggg. Little 5 year old me wanted and needed to have a voice.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I became a self-help author and launched a creative coaching business? Haha! Neither of these things were originally part of “the plan.” My dreams (especially when I was younger) were primarily focused on being an artist and songwriter! I’ve been in the music industry for almost two decades at this point and I’ve lived through everything you can possibly imagine as an independent artist, managing and funding her own career. It’s hard in the music industry and a lot of people just straight up quit because it’s completely overwhelming to navigate all on your own. I wrote a self-care book for creatives because I suffered from severe depression at the very start of my career (at 18) for this exact reason. Artists live outside-the-box lifestyles, wear so many hats as creative entrepreneurs and have to weather the storms of wanting to quit over and over again. My creative coaching business is centered around offering up-and-coming artists, songwriters and music producers the insider education and mentorship that they need to support their career in music. The spaces that I curate are a welcoming and inspiring environment to make powerful connections not just with the leading music industry experts but with other artists and musicians like themselves so a sense of community and belonging is also a lovely symptom of coaching with me.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
My mission is to empower and nurture artists by helping them 10X their impact. My values have always been focused around personal growth and self-improvement and so I bring a lot of that into all of the work that I do. Every program, product, or service that I offer has been carefully thought out and offers something totally new to the artist, songwriter, or creative entrepreneur. I get really excited about things that have never been done before.
For example, if you’re a new songwriter who is just starting out, it’s basically impossible to get in the room with a hit songwriter. So I created The Songwriter Series, an online platform (open to the general public) that offers 1:1 music mentorship from hit songwriters. Participants get a chance to have their music heard, receive guidance and feedback on their songs, and get to be inspired and supported during the Q&A mentoring session. Similarly, I’ve created the Rewrites Masterclass, an exclusive online space where you can workshop your song with a hit songwriter. (Again, never been done). In addition, I’m curating music industry panels to help make establishing connections in the music industry a lot easier for emerging talent.
Next on the horizon, I’ll be working on developing my own self-care product line and hosting creative retreats (among other things I’m sure:)
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Yes! They are all in my book “Self-Care for the Creative.” I interviewed some of the biggest songwriters in the world as well as dancers, artists, and photographers, who are all at the top of their game. They shared incredible personal stories about their journey from struggle to success.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
My inspiration comes from f*cking everywhere. I’m always telling my husband that “My ideas won’t leave me alone!” At this point, he’s totally used to all my crazy ideas occurring at all hours of the day and night. But in short, inspiration comes from living life. So live an interesting one!
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
My book “Self-Care for the Creative” is designed to help artists and creatives to not only identify what their self-care needs are, but how to properly tend to those needs so that they can live an empowered, successful, joy-filled life in whatever creative path they’re on!
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Stop Giving A Sh*T What People Think.
2 . Validate Yourself
3 . Don’t Let Fear Control Your Decisions
4 . Make Powerful Partners, Collaborators and Allies.
5 . Don’t Forget to Have Fun!
(No stories necessary, these 5 will do you good!)
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A “Raise the 2% of Venture Capital to Women” movement. Seriously. 98% of the world’s venture capital is controlled by men. Come on guys! WTF.
We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.
Sara Blakely. I have an insanely good idea for an invention (for women) that I’m effing serious about. I need a mentor/coach for my invention. No joke. Call me.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
@StefaniFryzel on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Stefani Fryzel: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.