Adassa’s Inspiring Story: Music, Miracles, and Making “Encanto”

ADASSA: They ran tests and blood work and CT scans and MRIs, and then they came to the conclusion that they didn't know what was going on. And I was wheeled out of there. Like I literally had to sign myself out and I thought I was dying. I absolutely thought I was dying. I was paralyzed from the neck down. I drove myself there and then I couldn't barely put an X on a piece of paper. Why did this have to happen to me? Like why this opportunity since I was like nine years old, my dream, and then all of a sudden I find myself in this situation. And that's what I was facing. Just uncertainty.

Becky Boyland: Welcome to Second Verse, the podcast that explores the often unexpected journeys of indie artists finding their way back to music—and to themselves. I'm your host, Becky Boyland, singer songwriter, StoryBrand-certified brand messaging expert and web developer.

If you've been following this show, you know that my own music journey came with plenty of twists and challenges—including a vocal cord injury that threatened to shut the door on my voice for good. But like so many of my guests, I've learned that sometimes what looks like the end is just the start of a second verse.

And today's guest brings that idea to life in the most remarkable way.

Adassa is a bilingual Afro-Latina voice actress, singer, and songwriter whose music career and four octave vocal chops spans arena performances; numerous features and collaborations with artists like Pitbull, Flo Rida, Snoop Dogg, Daddy Yankee, Ciara, Missy Elliot, and Luis Fonsi; and ultimately the breakout role of Dolores Madrigal in Disney's Encanto.

But behind the spotlight is a story of incredible resilience: a moment when it all could have ended—a sudden health crisis, total paralysis and uncertainty that turned into something miraculous.

Adassa didn't just return to music—she returned with deeper purpose, greater joy, and a powerful message for every creative trying to find their way.

We talk about community consistency, humility, metadata (yes, really), and what it means to create with your whole heart, even when life doesn't go according to plan.

And I have to shout out the practical tips that Adassa gives for those of us with busy schedules. So basically, everyone!

In so many ways, this is an interview you can't miss as an artist, a creative, anyone who has faced incredible uncertainty and those who love a great comeback story.

Let's dive in to Adassa's Second Verse.

Welcome, Adassa. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I'm so excited to have you today.

ADASSA: Thank you, Becky. I'm glad to be with you too.

Becky Boyland: I know that you've got many years that you've had in the music industry, but your music story is just so interesting and so many phases, I think to your story. So let's start though, like I start with most of my guests.

When did you first fall in love with music?

ADASSA: Oh man. I started singing with my mom when I was a little girl at church. So I started singing when I was about four or five years old, and then around nine is when I started learning how to harmonize. And I had my first solo, which the song was "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," it's a hymn. And when I watched The Little Mermaid, now that was the moment I knew I wanted to be "part of that world." Like I knew it, that's what I wanted to do. And so since I was nine years old, my mind was clear I was gonna be an extra at Disney, 'cause like that was my thing. I didn't have, like, huge goals. I was like, I'm gonna be an extra, I'm gonna be that girl going, "Hello, welcome to Disney. How may I make your day even more magical?" Like, that was my dream and I could never have ever dreamt of having the life and the career that I have had now. Looking back, I'm going, Wow, this is amazing.

Becky Boyland: Oh, that's incredible. But I love your realism. " I'm just gonna be an extra." I think that's so cute.

How young were you when you, when you stepped into professional music?

ADASSA: The first time I ever recorded was a Christian album with my mother and I was about 16 years old. And then after that I got my very first record deal when I was, uh, 16, going on 17 years old. That was my very first, like, "Whoa, this is really happening" moment. And actually it came about because my family and I moved from Florida to Texas and I had always been like top of my game in my school. Like I would pass all of the choir competitions and I'd be at least top three, you know? And when we moved to Texas, I didn't even make it past the first round, and, like, I was devastated. Like, my heart was so broken. And what I didn't understand is that my life was leading me into the best parts that I could ever imagine through something that I considered a tragedy. So sometimes our adversities are actually leading us to where we're supposed to be. It just feels so wrong because you had this picture in your mind of how your life is gonna go. And then when you really step into the reality of things, you're like, "Wait, this isn't at all where I thought my life was going," but it turned out to be an even more incredible and blessed path than I could have ever written for myself.

Becky Boyland: That's amazing. And we do have those, stories. We have that picture. This is how it's got to be or it doesn't count. And of course when we're very young, everything's a tragedy. It's all over now. It doesn't matter anymore. Um, but it's so hard to look ahead and see just what is to come and that it's all going to be okay. And so then expand a little bit on, your story professionally for the first time around.

ADASSA: Oh, well, so I got signed to that record deal and it was with a group of girls and at that moment, I had just stepped into like really understanding my own thoughts and wanting to write my own stories, but I wrote poetry. I didn't understand that that's pretty much like a song without a melody, you know?

And um, that's when I met Gabriel during that experience of being in that group. And then I decided, you know what? I wanna write my own songs. And so I left that group even though that was my very first record deal before they even made their release. And then I went to the stages of Mexico and just, that is where I really got my chops.

Like really knowing how to perform, how to get a crowd going. Like it's you and the crowd and you got two hours to just entertain them and make sure they're jumping, they're screaming, they're singing, whatever it is, but they stay there and enjoy a good show.

Then, um, my husband was like, I think you're ready to, you know, like really do this professionally.

We moved back to the United States and that's when I was signed as an artist with Universal, uh, Latino in Florida, and my life just changed. We started doing features with like Pitbull, and then from there I started working with Luis Fonsi and then went on tour with Daddy Yankee and Ciara and Missy Elliott and I traveled the world.

And so that was my career for almost 20 years. It was just traveling and singing and then at one point I was like, you know what? I'm ready for us to just dive deeper into our family. And at this point it was like the height of our career. Like anybody else would've been like, "What are you thinking?" And that's when I decided, you know, I wanted to take a step back.

After doing all of those great things and traveling and going to Japan and Korea and going so many wonderful places, I was like, nah, it's time for family.

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And so a lot of people might be thinking, Becky, what are you doing? She's the reverse of what this podcast is about! But she's not. So if you know a little bit about Adassa's story, and if you don't, then you're gonna have a wonderful surprise.

So you took this time, you said, it's a good time to retire, build your, wonderful family. And of course, Gabriel, your husband is an amazing producer. So during that time actually, you've provided so much tremendous support because you are a ninja at metadata, which is so important for anyone who is interested in sync music because without excellent metadata, your music does not get found.

And so that's a very pivotal, critical and maybe not as fancy, um, part of the, the industry.

ADASSA: It's the funnel part you have all these incredible musicians coming together, writers, singers, and then everything stops at metadata. Like if you don't have the metadata ready to go, no label can put your stuff out there. And so while I took a step back, I just went to the paperwork side of his label.

So my husband had had so much success with library music and then when, uh, my career took off, he kind of took a step back from that so he could manage my career. And then when I took a step back to be mom and just be a, a housewife, then I did his paperwork for his label and his label took off. And so it was really nice to be able to watch him in action and see our catalog grow and then finally be in a place in music where I didn't have to be on the road to make money. Like money was just coming because royalties were there. That's the greatest part of film and TV music, especially music libraries. It's that you put the music out there and if it's good quality music, it's gonna get picked up. So I would do the paperwork and I'd be completely on that, but during that time, we would always do music and just release it. Even if it was just for us. Like it was like my excuse to get back into shape after every single baby. I was like, okay, I need to lose the baby weight. Let's do a single. And we would throw it out there. And one of those times, uh, we made a single called "Porque Ella Y No Yo," which I was like exploring like this little dark and like sultry side of my rap style.

So I had like a little bit of speed and I had like intimacy and we just put it out there. And then, um, I remember during that week I had just upgraded my phone and then when I put in all my passwords, one of those emails was the YouTube channel. You know, like, you know, you have your like Google and I'm like, ah, I had to reset the password 'cause I can't remember the password.

And then hundreds of emails popped up and at the top of that... that was the pivotal moment, me thinking I was retired. That was it. Film and TV music, we're good.

That's where we got this email saying we'd like to get ahold of Adassa for an opportunity. And little did I know, that would open the doors to Encanto and to Disney asking me to be a part of that incredible film.

So I was just so excited after that.

Becky Boyland: And I love that you, you did it for fun. And there's such a tremendous message in that too, because not every song has to have its own final destination. And some of those songs that we create may never see the light of day outside of our own studios, but they may be a gateway to something else, whether it's literally because they've been heard or because of the skills and the opportunities and the relationships and all of those things that can come into play.

And so I've always loved that about your story, that you guys did that for fun.

ADASSA: Oh yeah, absolutely. Like that video probably had just a few thousand views. It wasn't like, oh my goodness, like millions of views like any of my other videos. It was just us having a good time. And that's the thing, and I'll recommend that to anybody who's working on their music. And you may think, But you know, I got 50 views, I got a hundred views, I got a thousand views. It's not really making any difference.

It's not about how many. It's about the who. What do I mean with that? The who is watching, the who that is looking at your stuff or listening to it and goes, this is what I'm looking for, and then goes out of their way to get ahold of you. So make sure that your social media has your handles, has a way for you to be able to be gotten ahold of, because you never know who's listening.

In my case, it was Jamie Sparer Roberts and Grace Kim, which was her assistant that had taken a listen along with, um, Lin Manuel Miranda to the things that we had been releasing. And yes, I had this career in music, but mind you, I took a step back for a few years, so it wasn't like I was top of the charts anymore like I used to be when I was out touring and working with artists every single weekend.

And so that's the power of social media and that's the power of good work. Don't ever think that any song that you make that you know you followed the math that you did, everything right is completely dead. You could put a, a song in a music library or a collection, and later on it could be a year or it could be two years from now or even six months from now.

All of a sudden, boom, it gets picked up and now you have this ad and or it's on this show or it's on this movie. So that's the thing about music. As long as it's done well and you put your passion into it and not too much expectations, you just put it out there and let it go into the universe, you'll see the fruits of your labor coming back to you better and growing in a way you never would've expected it.

Becky Boyland: Exactly, and it's so easy to get so attached to every little thing that we do when we don't have much. And so when we make a lot and keep it going, then we can still enjoy and obviously put that same level of quality and care and passion into it. But then just let that thing go out there and fly and, and do its thing.

And I know for myself, when I listen back sometimes to songs or I'm sharing them with a music supervisor as I'm listening with them, I, I almost am like, Oh, yeah, I remember this one now. This is pretty good! You almost forget because you have, you have all this other stuff, and so it, it isn't quite as, as precious in a sense of you're not just so dedicated and devoted to that as if you are never going to make another thing.

So the more that you make, the lighter you can hold to it so that you can have those wonderful opportunities. So then obviously moving into Encanto, everything was just wonderful and amazing directly after they reached out to you. Right?

ADASSA: Oh my goodness. Well, I was ecstatic, but I was like, you know, they could really have anybody that they want, you know, and so I kept focusing on our Production Music Masterclass, where my husband, you know, helps other producers be able to get into the film and, and TV industry and be able to place music.

And so I, I kept focusing on what I needed to do and not get a hold of it, like have so much hold over this opportunity. And at first we did the demo. They had given us only 24 hours to turn it around. And there was like, in case of emergencies only, dial this number. And as the hours passed and we hadn't heard back, my husband's like, we should write to them or maybe we should call them.

And I was like, you don't call them. Never. That's like, if you don't hear back, it's a no. Just take your no and walk away. And he's like, "No, we should call them." And he did. And they were like, "I'm sorry. What demo?" And we're like, " Well, we sent it." And then, laughs later, we figured out it was in the spam folder and so they were just... it was just funny, but not funny. Like, if I wouldn't have let my husband take charge in that case and uh, let my own fears and insecurities take over, I wouldn't be even talking about this. But you know, they, they fished it out and it became a running joke for the first 30 days 'cause we weren't whitelisted with them. But yeah, so then after all of that, I got the callback. I was so excited.

Becky Boyland: That is so amazing because you're absolutely right. You, you just know, you never call. So I'm so glad. I'm so glad you did.

ADASSA: Me too.

Becky Boyland: Um, that's amazing. That's amazing.

And then you started the process, And was it before or after that, the start of the process that everything just took a turn, personally?

ADASSA: Oh man, I got so ready for that audition and at one point my husband's like, "You know what, maybe you should just speak from the heart. What do you wanna talk to them about?" And I was like, "You know, I think I should just tell 'em about my family story." So the day of my audition, you know, I have the directors, the producers are there, um, the casting directors there, and then I just thought, You know what? I just need them to listen to my family story. I told him about how my father started working when he was 9, 10 years old and helping bring money, and he would sell arepas and bollo and anything his mother would cook door to door just so he could have money for his family. And I started telling him my family story.

And then they were like, "Great, are you gonna sing for us?" And so I was like, "Yeah, oh yeah, it's an audition, I should sing." And so I sang and then it was over. And then I was like, okay, great.

But I had been feeling a little sick. Um, so I thought I was pregnant. And so I told my husband, you know what? Lemme go to the store. I'll get some pregnancy tests. I know it's so much information, but you'll see where I'm going with it. Um, so I went to the store, got the pregnancy test. They we're all negative. But with our second girl, um, with our second baby, the same thing had happened. Everything was negative and we went in for a blood test and it was positive. And so thank goodness, 'cause otherwise she would not be with us. And so I, uh, decided to tell my husband, you know what, I'm gonna just head over to the ER. I'll go to urgent care, have a blood test drawn and you know, we'll be good.

And so he was like, "Oh, if you're pregnant, we're gonna have to upgrade the car. You know, we're gonna have to have that Amazon truck, not a minivan," 'cause I mean, at this point, you know, we have seven kids. It's a lot of kids.

So I went there and within minutes of arriving I started feeling funny and like my toes started feeling like they were falling asleep and my hands. They gave me something for my nausea, 'cause I felt very, very nauseous and like I, I just felt like very dizzy and I, I didn't know what was going on. Mind you, that night before I gave the audition of a lifetime, like, I was just like, oh, everything. And then all of a sudden, I couldn't feel my legs, then I couldn't feel my hands, and then I started getting paralyzed until I was just stuttering and I couldn't put two words together.

And so I called my husband with what my hands could hold, and he immediately drove. 'Cause I was like, "I, I, I," I couldn't even speak. He's like, "What's going on? I'm gonna go right now." And they wouldn't let him in because during the COVID, you know, times during the pandemic, nobody could be let into the hospital unless you're a patient.

And so they ran tests and they ran blood work and CT scans and MRIs, and then they came to the conclusion that they didn't know what was going on. And I was wheeled out of there. Like I literally had to sign myself out and I thought I was dying. I absolutely thought I was dying. I was paralyzed from the neck down, like I could not, I drove myself there and then I couldn't barely put an X on a piece of paper and so I thought it was, I thought it was over, so I was... leading up to this, I had really gotten into my scriptures and like I was reading, I was feeling faith in a way that I never have before and getting just close to my spirituality. And then I thought, you know, all of these things lined up and I've been trying to be a good mom. I'm like bakin' bread from scratch and I'm doing all these things and I'm, I thought I was on the right path.

Why did this have to happen to me? Like why this opportunity since I was like nine years old, my dream, and then all of a sudden I find myself in this situation. So that's what took a turn. In the middle of like the biggest audition of my life, in the middle of trying to make this leap of just faith growth that I was having, I found myself completely unable to even put two words together.

And we had our baby was like two years old during that time, and that's what I was facing. Just uncertainty.

Becky Boyland: Yeah. And you, even know what's going to happen and whether you're going to leave all these, these kids and your husband behind. And, how long did it take you to recover to a point where you could actually move forward?

ADASSA: That was the thing. We had a friend of ours who was a paramedic and he came over to our house and he told me, you know, let's go to Vanderbilt 'cause we live in Nashville. Let's get a second opinion. 'Cause it, you might be having a stroke maybe. And so we went in there, got a second opinion. Were there for 14 hours running more tests, more scans, more blood work.

And then a neurologist came and told me, there's so many uncertainties and unknowns with COVID. We don't know when or if your symptoms would pass. So we can run a spinal tap and see, what else it could be. But as of right now, we have no solutions. We can give you some pain medication in case you are in pain.

So, really from that moment, I really didn't think that I would make it through, because every day when I would become paralyzed, I could barely breathe. So I thought, what if I get paralyzed when I'm sleeping? Maybe I'll just, I'll just die in my sleep. Like I, I didn't know what was happening. And so Gabriel and I started praying and fasting.

So it wasn't like it was over in a couple of days. It was quite a few weeks of uncertainty of waking up, can I move my toes? And like I would wiggle my toes and ask Gabriel, "Do you see my toes moving?" And some days would be yes. And some days would be no. And I would just lay there and I felt so useless. I felt like, I think in life sometimes we put value in ourselves based on what we can do.

Our talents, our effort, our knowledge. It's like, well, I'm a singer, I'm a mother, I'm a player. I don't know, like, whatever. And at that point I was nothing but a head and a bed. And so I felt useless. I felt like I was just a waste of space. And um, I remember looking up at my husband and he was just like, if this is our reality, you know, we're gonna face this together, it's okay.

And he never looked at me as less. And so it took, it took a lot of days for me to realize that this may not pass, and the biggest question that I had to shift was instead of asking why is this happening to me, was, What can I do? What can I learn from this? What is the thing that I'm not getting from this existence that I need to learn? And if I learn it, can this pass?

And during that time of questioning was when I started regaining my strength. We started doing things like changing the way we were eating, what I was eating, what I was drinking. You know, what if I put this in my mouth, what it would, what would it do? And so we started finding things that were working.

And during the moments where like some days were good, some days were bad, we got the call.

"Congratulations. You got the part!" Like that was in the middle of it. So in total, from the moment of getting the call of "You got the part" and my husband saying like, "Oh my gosh, you can't take this. Like, we don't even know if you're gonna be alive."

And I was like, " You call him if I'm dead, like I'm taking this." That's what I told him. So he stalled. We got the date. It was like three weeks from that call that we needed to be recording. So literally three weeks later it was like a miracle. I was there recording with Byron Howard and Jared Bush, Encanto, you know, as Dolores Madrigal, so it honestly was a miracle and no, it wasn't like every single day was great. It felt like I was, I was training like Rocky, but in slow motion. So I would say my life did change. And I know that you, Becky, went through your own situation, 'cause we've chatted about this and I think, I think in life sometimes when there are lessons to be learned that we may have been taking too long to learn, sometimes the universe gives you this shift in like high gear. Like you need to go faster, you need to learn what you need to learn. And I had to learn humility. I had to learn that my community was there for me and I needed to lean on them. I needed to be less prideful in thinking that I had all the answers and I could do it all, and I can, you know, cook the dinner and do the homeschooling and do the session and, and the house would be squeaky clean.

Like that was not true. And my kids could do more than I was allowing them to do. So I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about my community and the love there is there. and then I learned not to take life so seriously, to just give my heart to whatever I'm doing at the moment, and then let the river lead me where I needed to go. So just put the sail and let it go, and just stop worrying about directing my life so much.

Becky Boyland: Yeah, there's, that perspective too when you look back and it doesn't seem like anything took nearly as long as it really did, at least from the front end. And that was the hardest thing for me and my experience, with, a paralyzed vocal cord after spine surgery was that I was very early on told, "Oh, I know someone who had, not the same thing, but something similar. And it took them a year to recover." And at that point I said, stop talking. I can't hear that. But it did take me closer to two years, and even just in the last couple of months, I've noticed some improvements and now I just get excited.

I'm like, oh, neat. This is even better. It just feels better.

And all of the tools that I had to accumulate while I tried to work around what I could do, and I know that we've talked about this too, that you did a very similar thing where you develop new skills and that actually has tremendous advantages that I now can continue to use. I would never have had those before. And so now I have the benefits of the skill and the healthy voice and all those other things combined with here's all the stuff I learned in the meantime. And, it's tremendously helpful and does give me a, a perspective I know I would never have had if I hadn't gone through, "Oh, surprise, we didn't expect this complication."

ADASSA: Exactly, and I think that's where the biggest lessons lie. Like you really truly find your voice sometimes in those dark moments of adversity and, and the challenges that you have to go through.

So I had to also get used to my new instrument. I know you had those moments of like, "Oh, okay, I didn't know it could sound like that," you know, because it's like a trumpet and then your placements are no longer in the same place.

And for me it was a lot of clarity that I didn't have in my mind. And so just to relearn how to retain lyrics, where the right placements were for my voice, where my breath was now, you know, where my, my whole body was weak from all of that that I went through. So I had to relearn so many things and be patient with myself.

It took a while to be at a hundred percent. But I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of the film. I gave it everything I had every single time I would go in that booth because I wasn't gonna let this opportunity go by and if this is the best that I could do that day, then that's what I would give.

I think sometimes we have such a hold into the mindset that we had of our best moment. You know, it's like we see that best moment person and then we wanna achieve that every single time. But when you go through an injury or a trauma of any kind, you are not that person anymore because you've had this other experience.

And so your story does become a lot more grounding and as well as colorful. And so when you learn to paint with the colors that you now have and not just with the few that you had before, and you understand, oh, I'm painting a bigger picture. It's not that I don't have red, it's just now I have red and purple and green and blue and, and I'm gonna learn how to use all these other colors.

I used to just work with red, you know, but now it's not like that.

Becky Boyland: Now I, I give equal opportunity to these other things.

ADASSA: Exactly.

Becky Boyland: I love that.

And I think it's very clear obviously from the way that you even share your own story, that you truly are a mentor alongside of, of Gabriel and the impact that you have on this community that you have built around not only production music, but also giving space for the musicians and artists in your community to pursue whatever flavor, whatever color palette of music that they're working on. And, it's just so very obvious by the, the way that you speak, that you are actually imparting so much, wisdom and experience and doing that with a tremendous amount of compassion and care. So talk a little bit about your community.

ADASSA: Oh, our community's amazing. I just wanna, we always give thanks to Kris Bradley from Produce Like a Boss, because she opened our eyes to just another way of having friends, you know, especially during that time in the pandemic that she was like, "You guys, you know, you should share what you know." And Gabriel has been such a great teacher and a pivotal person in so many lives of being able to get their music out in film and television.

And so that's when we started Production Music Masterclass. And then he got his own label, Sky Urbano. And so through that and then, being a part of Audio Active and being able to search for musicians and music, you know, we got to do all of that. And then we meet these incredible musicians who are just like us, just like free spirits, looking to just ignite the world with their creativity, with the sound of their hearts.

And it's so nice because we got to just collaborate and talk and just be a part of something greater than what we had been in our small community before. So now it expanded to, you know, 200 and plus people that we can just share and speak to and Gabriel just, he just flourishes in that because he is one to want, he always wants to share what he knows because it wasn't easy for him getting into this industry.

And so...

Becky Boyland: Right.

ADASSA: He always wants to pay it forward and make sure to open doors as quickly as possible and to teach people the easiest way to get to the objective, which is do you really wanna have a placement or do you really wanna have a placement and then have a catalog and then have like multiple sources of income out there ready for you so you don't have to have your nine to five, or you can complement your income.

And it's because of the fact that he had to knock doors and walls and windows for so long and then he had those amazing people during his life that helped him get there. So he just wants to pay it forward and we just are so, so happy to be part of a community of people who feel like there's a safe space here.

We can share what we're going through, our trials, our ups, our downs, our, "You know what? I didn't do anything today, and I'm gonna just say that out loud and I need y'all to support me on this." Or someone who's like, "I just placed my 4th song. It's like, woo, you know, this is great." So community is so important, not just the tangible community around you on your day-to-day, " Hello. How you doing? You know, can I borrow a cup of sugar?" But also the one that is out there in the whole entire world, and they can be in England and you can connect, or they can be in, you know, New York, and you can connect with them and then make something beautiful together by combining talents and visions together.

So I think community is very, very important because it helps you keep you focused when you're just falling off the rails or even open your eyes to, Hmm, I didn't think I could do this in a different way, but this looks like a really cool way of doing things. I never thought about it that way. Awesome. Thank you for sharing.

Like we're always blown away with our tribe, our community, you know, just the knowledge and just the work. Sometimes we hear the collections and we're like, oh my gosh, that was amazing. Like, wow, I, you know, he took it there or she took it there and it's like, incredible. And the growth, oh my gosh, the growth is amazing.

From like year one to now year, like we're in four, year fives, and just to see where someone started and where they are now and see their catalog grow and see the placements, it's just so fulfilling for us.

Becky Boyland: Oh, it's amazing and it's something that independent musicians really can't take for granted that having mentorship and community are two of the most important pillars because of the fact that now you can make music anywhere. We don't have to move to centralized cities, but at the same time, you're not guaranteed to find that community around you, and you're certainly not going to find the quality of community around you just by the law of averages. And so no matter where you live, all of those people that you need and that are just, you know, custom made for you that you may not even know about, can be found by being able to connect with people online. And, um, that has just been beyond my wildest dreams of how important that has been for me to be able to connect with people all over the world.

And it's just amazing. And obviously that's how we're doing what we're doing right at this very moment. So, that's just so powerful and the fruit is so obvious.

ADASSA: Oh yeah, absolutely. I think that when, uh, Gabriel came up with the idea of the ECO System: education, community and opportunity, you know, to be able to offer all three for those who just wanna learn and that's what they're there for and that's what they're ready for, great. But if you're also ready and open to have a community fulfill such a spot in your heart and keep pushing you and, and keep also bringing ideas to your plate, and then when you're ready, there's the opportunity to also get placements or at least know, hey, I'm talking to somebody who lives and breathes this thing. Like I can get accurate direction. Even if he's not the one to necessarily place it, if you wanna take it to somewhere else, it's there. So I think that definitely having a community of like-minded individuals makes you feel less lost, more seen, and ready to take on whatever it is that you wanna take on as your next project.

Becky Boyland: And I like how you said the free spirits, because I think I've come to realize, I always knew that I kinda looked at things a little bit differently and had interests that a lot of people around me didn't have. And while they could appreciate and respect that, they didn't really get the way that I thought. So that's so, so important sometimes to just be able to go through a conversation and know that the other person completely gets it. That's why musicians really do need to flock together and be free spirits in the same space of some sort.

ADASSA: Exactly, absolutely, couldn't said it better.

Becky Boyland: You are still, you're touring, you're, you're back to doing that, but you have this, very, very wonderful way of making sure that you have a good balance so that you are taking these opportunities but also have reserved certain days and spaces for your family, for your tribe, and are very careful to protect that, which is so wise. And so share a little bit about that and, and about some of the performances and, and travels that you've had recently.

ADASSA: It is very, very important to me to be able to leave space for everything that I find of importance and value. So to me, I work more on like good, better, and best, and I try to live in that best place. So I try not to travel more than twice a month, unless Disney calls, and then I'm like, "Ooh, we gotta make a little exception there."

But they're very, very understanding. So then, like right now, this last week I was in Texas and, um, then I'm, I'm back here. I also went to Peru this month, so those were my two. Like I went to Peru and then I went to Texas. And so after that I'm like, I'm a mom, like. My nails aren't done and that's it 'cause I cook, I do everything at home, and then as soon as it's time to get on the road, I get all the do done. You know what I mean? To be able to do that. And when I'm there, I'm present. And when I'm here, I'm present. And I still homeschool my kids and I'm still doing the activities at church, and I'm still being part of my community at the same time as spending time with my family because that's who I do it for.

So if you understand what your why is. And you don't lose focus of what is the priority. And so my life works on priorities and like you can hear right there, my little kiddos already starting to make rounds. So my kids are my priority, my family, the joy in my home, that is the top-notch priority in my life.

And so I. Being able to do something that fulfills me and my dreams of music and sharing. Um, it, it could be my faith or it could be my ideas, or it could just be my fun with the world. That's also important to me because sometimes you can become so much into one thing that you lose track of who you are and resentment — that's an ugly thing. Let me tell you, when you don't live life fulfilling also a personal purpose, a personal goal or dream, then you resent what you gave up the dream for. And so it could be your kids, it could be your job, or whatever it is, and you're just like, oh, if I only had more time, I never got to do, you know, that whole shoulda, coulda, woulda, is like, I never wanna live there.

And so, I know that if I got to wash all of the dishes of my day, I won the day. But if I also wanted to work on music and all the dishes didn't get washed, then I'm okay with that. So it's like, I know I can't do everything 100%. That's impossible.

So what I do with my day is I prioritize my day, and when I get up, I'm like, I pray, I read my scriptures and then I go, all right, what is it that I wanna achieve today?

And I write my list and then I'll see at the end of the day. What did I get through? How many things did I get to accomplish? But I always set my first three, and I had, I know, I'm like, I have to make sure I get these first three, and if I get these first three, I won the day. If I get anywhere past that, that's okay too.

I'm like, I'll take it. But if I just get these three, that's it. And so I spend time with my husband. I love our tribe. I, I have, you know, the metadatas that I do during my day. But then sometimes I have like, okay, we're gonna go do the Hollywood Bowl. I need to prep for that. Or now that I was in Peru, I was there for a week with the Tabernacle Choir and we did a venue, it was 30,000 people in a stadium, so I needed to be prepared for that and doing the press rounds and all that.

And then I have the goals of like the tribe that Gabriel and I wanna release a certain amount of records per month. So it's like we're gonna do 8 to 12 releases between both labels. And we wanna make sure that, you know, the albums are there and they have the sound. And so we have our personal goals there because we love to see our tribe thrive and see them getting those placements. And so we make sure that every production is just right. So I have many things and then with my kids, my 15-year-old just graduated from high school. I'm so excited for her ' cause she wanted to do it at 14.

She did it and it's done. Now my son is finishing his school, so everything in life to me is an adventure. I wanna ride all of the rides this life has to give, but I don't wanna throw up along the way. So.

Becky Boyland: That's perfect. That's absolutely perfect. I, I love that as much as we could listen to all of the things that you have going on and think that's incredibly complicated, that key takeaway of prioritizing those simple three things, which is so important, particularly for artists, because it's really easy for us to get overwhelmed by the shiny object. And so if we have those very simple three things set and then these need to happen but don't have to happen right now is a very, very helpful way to, I think, calm, especially for those of us who are neurodivergent, which happens to be a lot of artists. So a lot of us will find that, that that is the case, but that is so affirming because you do have so many things going on and you still make that happen because of keeping that practice. And of course keeping your faith and keeping that very grounded. And, uh, I think that's all so important. And I love the spoiler that you have a book coming out. I'm very excited to hear that. Um, so you will have to keep us updated so we can get that out to, to the listeners. So how do we keep up with what you're up to and where to find you online?

ADASSA: You can find me @adassaofficial, A-D-A-S-S-A official, and that's on all social medias, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and also @adassayloslocoz for any of our Latin friends out there. That's the Latin project that we have. And I finally convinced my husband to do something Latino with me. So that's why it's not just Adassa, it's Adassa y Los Locoz, which is "the crazies."

Because to me he is like 10 people in his mind. He can be doing so many songs at once. He's like, "I'm working on this salsa, but I'm also working on this hip hop and this orchestral thing," all at the same time. So like he'll literally be in one piece and then he is like, I'm gonna take a break from this one and move to another one.

And within one day he finishes like three different pieces. So he's like my crazy, just like scientist, musical scientist. He could just do everything. And so I finally convinced him to do something, just us together. And we're having so much fun just producing music. We are working with our musicians in Colombia and, it's just a together thing.

Like, you know, some people like, have like a sport that they do. They're like, I play golf, or I play tennis. We play music. Like that's what we do, like our mom/dad time. And so we get up around four o'clock in the morning, 4, 4:30, and then I'll read my scriptures, we'll do our prayer together. He'll read his scriptures as well.

Then we'll come home, well to our studio here. We come home downstairs, so we come downstairs and then we just spend our time together and then we'll have breakfast together, then I start the day with the kids and then we'll do homeschool and, uh, so that's our day.

And I will say that one thing that I do work on is like absolute deadlines. So from my three priorities of my day, I make sure that I put my absolute deadline for a thing. So let's say that for me, my absolute deadline for metadatas this week to have those completed is Friday. So I know absolute deadline: Friday. So if by any chance, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday go along, and they're not part of my first three things, I know that Friday 100% is nothing but that.

So that's like my one and only thing. So if for any reason I have a thing that it's like ASAP, this is the last day, you have to do these things, turn these in, then everything else stops because then I know this is my absolute day, which means this is my only day. And so it only becomes about that. So I do that a lot with different things.

It could be a song that I'm producing and writing, and I'm like, absolute deadline: it's gotta be done by Saturday. So if I know Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it wasn't part of my three, I'm like, come Thursday, Friday, I better be laying down some vocals. So, um, I like working that way because it gives me a little bit of a goal push as well.

Like if my days have been like the same, three things seem to be falling into my pattern, and sometimes it could just be doing the things with the kids or I'm doing so many metadatas that I forgot that I needed to do this other project or, if I have interviews or anything like that, I have to be like, okay, right now this is the bubble.

Like this is Becky's time. And so like, my kids know. They came in through the door, but they know this is Becky's time right now. It's like, this is what it's about. And if they have a problem, they can go get their daddy. He's upstairs. But I love being able to do that. And my husband's 150% in my court. So it's so much fun to be able to be his sidekick when it comes to the things that he's Batman and then he's my sidekick, he's my Robin whenever I'm on stage.

And then he's like fighting and doing whatever, or negotiating contracts and I never hear about it 'cause everything looks awesome from this stage. And I don't even know how many fires he's putting out. Well, he's so good at making it seem seamless. I always try to do the same with him as well. So

Becky Boyland: We can tell with the collaboration, just, there's not only so much love there, there's so much respect and that is just so, so valuable and so important and it, it really does come across and is, is incredibly inspiring. I can see, you know, like with those, those projects that end up getting pushed, that really resonates for me too, because that's my time to hyper focus. It's like, don't anybody call me, don't anybody text me or don't expect me to communicate back. I'm really embedded in this project. So I totally get that.

So for independent musicians, artists, um, anybody who's saying, "You know, I'm a creative and I think, I need to pursue this but I might be scared," what is your advice for that person?

ADASSA: You are never too old and it's never too late. That's number one. I think it's very easy for us to talk ourselves out of the best thing that could happen to us because we don't have time, we feel too old, or maybe the ship has sailed. It's not true. I think that if you truly want to have fun and do this, go for it.

If you're pursuing this for money, you will be disappointed very quickly because sometimes the money takes time to come, and I'm not saying it won't. Trust me. I took my years of hitting the ground and doing a lot of free shows before I saw my very first paycheck. But when it did, it kept rolling in.

But would I have stopped because I was already two years in out of pocket, you know, a hundred grand. This is getting too hard. It's like, no, like as an artist, this is what I wanted to pursue. So I found it as my fun. It's like, no, this is what I do. Like if I were playing tennis, I'd buy rackets and shoes and tennis skirts. So this is the same thing. So see it as something fun. If you truly, truly just are passionate about it, then you will never quit because you love it, because it brings you joy. So why wouldn't you wanna have joy? Everything else will come as it comes, but be consistent. Say if you're an independent artist and you're just like, look, I just wanna put out my music, then be consistent.

If you expect one song that you did six months ago to like pop off, and now the whole world's supposed to just kind of find you, that's not gonna happen. But if you have a game plan of saying, "You know what, I'm going to be consistently releasing two songs a month. They're gonna be originals and I'm gonna do them and they're gonna be great, and I'm gonna have a lyrical video that I'm gonna post," great. Or "I'm gonna shoot my video on an iPhone and I'm gonna make it a thing. 'cause you know what? There's filters for $3.99 that look really awesome." Then do it. Just be consistent because the biggest thing that could go against your goal is to not be consistent. So whatever it is, if five is the pace you wanna go at, just keep that five, but don't go, I'm gonna run at 25 and then I'm not gonna run ever again because people forget about it.

So it doesn't matter how fast you go, it's the pace. So just keep a pace, even if it's a jog. Keep the jog and then understand, "I'm just having fun. I'm enjoying myself. This is my me time. I'm not about to give up my me time because I don't see money rolling in. It's my me time. I need this to like go to work on Monday and know I'm gonna have my me time after that."

So just get your stride and enjoy the ride.

Becky Boyland: Those are amazing words. That's absolutely true.

This has been so delightful. Thank you so, so much. I'm so glad we got to do this. And yeah, I'm just so grateful for you.

ADASSA: Thank you. This was wonderful. I'm glad we got to sit and, and chat. I think it's just wonderful to see your growth and, and even seeing your challenges and being a witness to feeling like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know who I am right now." And then figuring out, "I like what I'm hearing, but hello, new me. You're looking pretty good and sound pretty good too."

So to see that change, that shift and that also the education that went behind it and the humility in which you needed to take it. And, um, so many tribe members were so inspired by your story and also by your journey. So thank you for sharing it with us during our, you know, empowerment sessions.

And I'm just grateful to have you as a friend and part of this community as well.

Becky Boyland: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. You're the best.

ADASSA: You're the best. Thank you, guys!

Becky Boyland: What an unforgettable conversation with Adassa. Whether you know her from Encanto or from her decades of work in music and production, what shines through most is her heart and her wisdom. Here are just a few takeaways I hope you'll carry with you.

Your second verse may look different than you expected, but it might be better. I smiled at Adassa's sweet childhood dream of one day working as a Disney extra, only to one day be part of a Disney movie that was, well, pretty extra special. But she never could have imagined she'd get a call from Disney in the midst of her greatest health challenge, wondering if she'd ever sing again. Her comeback was her calling.

Then don't chase virality. Chase excellence and consistency. A song Adassa and her husband Gabriel released for fun while raising kids and running a label landed in the right hands. Why? Because they showed up, stayed ready, and made great music in an authentic way.

And it can't be overstated how much your community matters, whether it's helping you get back up when you fall, or celebrating that fourth sync placement, community keeps us going.

So now it's time for you to take action. In StoryBrand, the guide shows empathy and authority and Adassa embodies both.

Here's your challenge this week. Think about how you are showing up. Are you chasing numbers or showing your heart? Are you clear about your why in your messaging? Are you giving people a way to connect with you? Make sure your content, not just your music, reflects your heart, your value, and your contact info, because as Adassa said, it's not about how many, it's about the who. And if you need help dialing in your message and online presence, that's exactly what I do through Attitude Creativity.

If this episode moved and inspired you, please take a moment to subscribe, leave a review, and share Second Verse with a friend. It helps new listeners find the show. And maybe even find their own Second Verse.