Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenn Ford.
Hi Jenn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been a musician my whole life, but I spent a lot of it getting told no, to find a real job. This is the shortest version of how I made music my real job.
I spent 11 years in the US Army, starting off as a Military Police enlisted soldier, hellbent on proving to my parents and hometown that I wasn’t going to live a boring life. Pretty much like every other teenager, I wanted to travel and have independence. I had been in college for 2 years on a music scholarship when I just called a recuiter and signed up.
I spent 3 years in the military doing Military Police things before I had the opportunity to tour with the US Army Soldier Show. My leadership had encouraged me to try out because I was always singing, and once I auditioned, I was exposed to a whole different world. I never knew there were musicians in the military. I spent the next 6 years bouncing around Army bands and touring the US, Europe, Hawaii, Korea, Guam, and even Iraq, entertaining soldiers, American audiences, and dignitaries. I eventually went back to working in my original field, but will always say my time in the Army bands was the highlight.
I got out of the military in 2009. I moved back to East Texas and went back to school, trying to find a real job, enrolled in school for nursing prerequisites (even though I have never wanted to be a nurse) all while raising my 2 small children. My parents encouraged the nursing field because I’m a people person, it paid well and offered job stability.
For the first 6 months, I was completely miserable and didn’t know why. I spent hours lying awake with insomnia and started having panic attacks. I had to be hospitalized twice, had suicidal ideations, and watched my life like a movie. I knew there was something really wrong.
I started getting counseling and opened up to my family about being sexually assaulted early in my military career. I started to confront that I had PTSD. I realized that I had compartmentalized that experience and it was erupting like Pandora’s box, and I had to do something for my kids and myself.
I continued to go to school for 18 months and was accepted into the nursing program. I thought all of this hard work is going to pay off. I went for 2 semesters and dropped out.
Ironically, I knew for a fact that I would not be happy with that career. I was glad, and because of my anxiety and depression from PTSD, I needed to consider something else.
Music is what helped me start healing from my trauma. Although I still have to manage my PTSD, I realized that I needed an outlet, and whenever I was performing, I felt no anxiety. I wasn’t afraid. I could sleep better at night. I didn’t have to take as many medications for sleep and eventually was able to perform on stage again.
I started writing songs, booking shows, and using music to connect with my community. I was able to find a healthy relationship and a circle of friends that supported my desire to create music.
This is when I realized that music was my identity, and could be a career for me. I realized that job satisfaction for me came from my interests. Connecting with my community was easier when I started putting music at the front of my introductions.
I started owning my purpose. “Hi, I’m Jenn Ford, and I’m a musician,” was my mantra, instead of “Hi, I’m Jenn Ford, and I can’t sleep at night because I was a soldier and I was raped, and have anxiety and depression and am constantly trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations.”
As I healed, I gained confidence. Inner peace and joy is more important than trying to keep up with what anyone else’s expectations were, and the hours I spent on rehearsals, production, marketing, performing never made me feel anything except self-worth.
So now, here I am, with a record deal, and since 2017 have cohosted the Texas Country Music Awards 3 times, was the 2019 Texas Country Music Showdown Grand Champion, I sing session vocals for studios, my calendar stays booked almost a year in advance, I have 3 or 4 different projects going at all times and am working with other veterans who are musicians to write songs together.
Music is a gift. It just also happens to be my job, and I am lucky I found myself through it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am great at harmony. My mom taught me at a young age, and I love to sing duets with other artists. It works well for me in the studio because I do a lot of my own background vocals and get session work for other people’s music.
I’m also good at design. I make logos and t-shirts and fliers for other people’s businesses as a side job.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is such a weird term. I already talked about bad situations. I think every experience in my life has made me who I am today, so if I have good luck, I am happy. If I have bad luck, I look for the lesson I was supposed to learn and keep moving forward.
It helps me keep a positive attitude, instead of having a woe is me outlook.
Contact Info:
- Email: Jennfordmusic@gmail.com
- Website: Jennford.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennfordmusic/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Jennfordmusic
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/wd_zaxnndJQ
Photo by Ryan Roberts
Image Credits
Alondra Flores
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