Counting blessings and moving forward in 2016

In April 2015, I made the decision with my family to go full-time with music and to focus on building up my presence back on YouTube. I had the goal of creating and releasing 3 videos per month plus 1 blog post. I also told myself I wanted to work with the multi-channel network Maker Studio and did my research to get linked with them, eventually signing with them within 3 months of quitting my job. In 9 months released 36 videos (both music & non-music content) on my main channel, while releasing 14 videos on my vlog channel! That's approximately 5 videos per month - a total of 50 videos in 9 months. The year before I decided to focus just on music and YouTube, I released merely 3 videos in 1 year. I had lost my vision and motivation. I didn't carve out the time to make creative content because that part of my soul was neglected and covered in dust. It was time to revitalize and get back into the groove of things. Getting to have a flexible schedule and being open to trying new things (collaborations with other artists, brand deals, etc.) allowed me to relaunch myself into a creative space. We all know that it's supposed to be about quality over quantity, but the quality of the experiences and relationships I built through uploading and letting out into the world 50 videos meant that I was being productive in a special way. This year I don't know if I'll be releasing as much content, but I can guarantee you it'll definitely be more than 3 (hehe :p) , and it'll be worth looking out for. I'm so grateful I was able to try different things, work with new people, and take some risks.

A few collaborations with artists & videographers I worked with for the first time:

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One of the risks included potentially losing subscribers because they may not have liked the new things I was releasing.

Some out of the ordinary video content I released:

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The 'scariest' tangible risk was finances. I really couldn't have gone this long without my husband's support as well as my Patreon supporters. Joules had a lot on his shoulders working his day-job, on top of working on his own music, but he trusted I would use this time wisely. It stretched me in so many directions and really made me question where I stood with music and my presence on YouTube.  God was good (as always) to our family so we never had to go under, but I can't tell you how much of a strain it put on us. Faith pulled us through. An example, one month winning a pair of Yeezys helped with raking in some extra dough on the side. Thank the Lord! Joules and I decided that in 2016, I'd embark on a new journey with working full-time again (this time with a new company) if God so opened the door, and learn to juggle music and YouTube with this newfound creative push.

I'm happy to announce I got news this week that I was hired full-time with a start-up in Atlanta and I can't wait to share with you more about it as I get more plugged in. It'll be Monday through Friday so nights and weekends will be dedicated to music and building up our household's purpose.

My time will definitely be more scarce outside of work hours to create, but I'm sure my community here in ATL will be understanding of my grind and spend time with me in coffee shops or in my home as I edit videos :) I'm confident that I won't lose the genuine support I've been getting from wonderful friends.

With that being said, I'm going into 2016 ready to focus on my original music and continuing this fearless mentality of what my channel(s) mean to me. I also have more fun business venture ideas I plan on exploring. The month of December I was able to release two original songs which was a foreshadow to me dialing into more songwriting and I gave little glimpses of what type of videos I want to release for my platform - my canvas for expression!

The original songs I released in December - very festive!

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I'd like to give a special thank you to the following folks who have absolutely been a helping hand in 2015 for 'Jennifer Chung' and 'Songversations with Jennifer.'

• Joules: my rock, my husband, the man who pushes me the most
• Daniel Pae: my new writing partner in crime and brother in Christ
• Chloe (As It Seams): my sister from another mister who's so talented, gracious, and reliable
• Kato on the Track: brother from another mother who's kept it cool through the grind
• Roark Bailey: the talented guy who does it all - guitar, production, vocals, engineering
• Josh Fu: my friend who I want to have here in Atlanta forever - so talented and giving - true brother in Christ who's blessed me with honest friendship and workmanship
• Denver Bailey: a videographer friend who's been down to create some random work while hardly knowing me - in it to win it.
• Daniel Young Kim: for helping me produce the fastest turn around for "hello" (which is doing pretty good still!)
• Will Gittens: A talented friend I met through the Voice and collaborated with me on one of my favorite tracks this past year
• Lacy Q: My channel manager and new friend who's been super supportive during my transition back and celebrating my little wins.
• My Patrons: Tony Chou, Alysha, Jeram Hyde, Kim, Asa Ellison, Simon Liu, Daniel Lee, Brian O'Dowd, Jenny, Michelle Park, Stephanie Chang, Mel Tajon, Judy Lee, Rowena Tue, Sam Kim, James Ro, Steven lin, John Longawa, Cass Song, Ellen Shen, Jaime & Eric Cho - for having their hand through the process step-by-step. The music & videos wouldn't have happened without you.

I end this blog post with the first musical video I uploaded on YouTube in collaboration for Roark's upcoming project #LightsintheDistance.

Thank you, and if you haven't already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel!

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There's so much to be thankful for | November 2015 Reflection

Only a few more days until December but the red holiday cups are hot in Starbucks and I'm sipping a Chestnut Praline Latte as I reflect on this eventful November!

• So what's new? This past month was exciting because my hubby Joules finally released his EP 'JOHN' that he's been working on for quite some time. I wanted to be sure to support him in every way I could, and as much as I wanted to work with him on my originals, I knew he wanted to give his all to his project. We just released the Official Music Video for "Lady Luck" which I sing on as well as his song "Occupations"
• [vsw id="voFrVxI1Npw" source="youtube" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"][vsw id="f63hl5VGWGc" source="youtube" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]You can listen to and purchase the EP at http://thefuturisticvintage.bandcamp.com

• What about your own originals you mentioned? I promise they're on the way! My friend Josh Fu & I have definitely been working a lot with fun covers for everyone, but we just finished writing and recording an original Christmas song which I'm so excited to share with all of you. We're hoping to release it soon so that everyone can hear it and hopefully sing along throughout the holidays! Now that Joules released his EP, he also told me that we'll be able to go into production for the originals I had written for the Steadfast Singles! Friday night I invited over my team of friends I've been working with: Denver Bailey (videographer), Eric Sun (Audio Engineer) and Josh Fu (Artist) as a huge thank you and bonding night.There's really nothing like having a group of people you can work with but also enjoy each other's company with. Speaking of having a team of people you can work with and hang with, I wanted to give another huge shout out to As it Seams for helping me with print designs I hope to post online for sale! They've become great friends here in Atlanta and can't wait to see what we have in store in the future. I also had the pleasure of reuniting with one of my OG fans when she visited Atlanta. She started watching/listening to me when she was in high school and now she's graduated and came to Atlanta for a job interview! There's just something about the connection you have with someone who's seen you pursue your passions from the beginning - though we may not know every detail of one another, it's a familiar and sentimental place.
• What else have you been up to? Believe it or not, photography has become a huge part of my art of expression lately as well as livelihood. I started off really from taking photos for fun, then for work when I was at lululemon athletica, then I started getting bookings by referral for photos. The holidays have been great since I've been taking photos for families at our church. If you're my friend on Facebook, you know that there was a period of time in College and soon after where I uploaded photos constantly. I didn't think much of the composition or point of view as much as I was trying to just keep the memories, but now instead of snapping away I try to capture the few moments that encompass the moments. I enjoy capturing the honesty that people are experiencing in that snapshot. It's such a treat to be able to share that moment with others. If you know anyone in Atlanta who's interested in a session, feel free to e-mail songversationswithjennifer@gmail.com
• What are you thankful for?
  • Thankful to be thankful.
    • To be aware that I have so much to be thankful for rather than wanting more.. we'll always want more, but to want what we have already is something we always have to work on. I have a wonderful family, wonderful friends, an genuine pursuit for what I believe I'm called for.. everything else is extra.

First performance in Atlanta + Fall is here!

Hey everyone! I can't believe that the past few months have gone by so fast. Literally Halloween is next week and Pumpkins are just everywhere as well as many many Uggs! (If you don't get it, you don't get it.)

Since I last updated I've:

• Visited LA: I had a week long trip in Los Angeles where I got to connect with some musician friends, discuss future projects, as well as enjoy some downtime with family. I actually got to watch my brother's duo DJing group ARMNHMR perform for the first time. You can listen to their music by clicking here.

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• Visited New York: Reunited with my old study abroad Parisian friends and also linked up with musician Jae. He just released his album so be sure to check it out. Hopefully we can work on something sooner than later!

Getting to go back to the more "popular" cities like LA and New York had me realize how much I've grown accustom to the city of Atlanta. The hustle and bustle of those two cities I've experienced, loved, but wasn't meant to settle in. Atlanta itself is a city that's thriving - there's constantly change happening and the music scene here is something I haven't tapped into yet. At first it was out of doubt - I didn't know if people would care to listen to me and I was still at the point of giving up on everything 2.5 years ago. Then as I decided to keep music in my life, I started to fear and feel that pressure of performing here. I'm finally biting the bullet with a low key show. For the first time in Atlanta next week, I'll be performing at Urban Grind Coffee House. Hope to see some lovely faces there.

In other music news, I've been recording a lot and haven't released them yet. I collaborated with producer Roark Bailey on a track - you may recognize him from my Tori Kelly - Paper Hearts cover playing the guitar:

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I also just shot a cover with Josh Fu again which will be released this weekend! He's seriously one of the most chillest guys to work with and I love the way our voices work together.  In the mean time, check out our "Drag Me Down" cover here:

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You also should all be looking forward to my hubby Joules's project coming out. I feature in one of the songs and we shot the music video for it a couple weeks ago.

It's so funny how it works with going music full time. When you start you're terrified and then you get into the groove and can't imagine doing something else. At moments you feel uninspired but those quick surges of energy just flow through you and all you want to do is create and share with the world.

I finished listening to Sara Bareilles' audiobook for her new book "My Life (So Far) in Song" and it was so awesome being able to hear the back stories and also her journey to where she got to where she is today. She's definitely someone who not only moves me in regards to music, but influences me as well.

Hope I continue to be fearless.

coming soon :)

Cheers to new beginnings again and again!

In a couple weeks, Joules & I will be moving into our 4th place together in the 2 years and 3 months we've been in married & in love! That's a lot of change, but it's only gotten better with every move and we really see how the Lord's been sovereign through every step forward.

Moving is always so tiring and overwhelming, but I'm more excited for going into a new space that can inspire more music and writing. Our new space will have a balcony which I hope to sit out in and write, and the space will give me more options to film more for creating videos and covers. I definitely want to snap pictures once we're all settled in to share with you!

Joules is stoked about it all.

On top of my move preparation, I've been meeting up with PaeDay (Daniel Pae) a lot writing new originals and coming out with covers more consistently. I'm really aiming to release an EP sooner than later but time is always of the essence! I can't wait to share with people what we've been cooking.

More recently I did a cover of Tori Kelly ft. Ed Sheeran's - "I Was Made For Loving You" featuring my friend Will Gittens that I met while auditioning for The Voice. We both didn't get onto teams, but can't say we're complaining because music is always a part of us and we're able to proudly pursue it with God by our side. Plus, Will is doing extremely well with his success he found through Vine!

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I know not many of my supporters and friends are familiar with Atlanta, but the city continues to develop and I feel extremely privileged to be living here at this moment. The film industry has been booming in the area and with the development of the city of Atlanta, it encourages people to unite and feel like a tight knit community at the same time.

We're actually going to have a roommate in our new place - Kato on the Track is a longtime friend of Joules. You may recognize him from the cameo he made in the "Bad Blood" video I uploaded. He was the awesome beat producer.

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Being away from friends and loved ones gets hard, but the challenge of making a new place your home and getting out of your comfort zone is not a gift a lot of people get to experience. I'm definitely someone who's consistently moved and maneuvered around, but it's always humbling. You never really get used to it. But I think with life, you never really do. We should constantly work towards sharpening ourselves and be fluid with change. Staying sedentary may cause us to stay complacent and stunt our growth, preventing us from unlocking our full potential.

So cheers to new beginnings again and again <3

June came so soon - music & them thangs.

Korea was awesome. It was the first time Joules got to go since he was 12 and it was also the first time for him to meet my dad, grandma, and other family members. While it was a great vacation, it was also a fresh after I left my job and had to set the mindset of how I was gonna go about doing music full-time. It was a much needed detour for the both of us, a clean slate to prepare us for our journey back home.

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You can catch more vlogs on my other channel so be sure to subscribe!: http://youtube.com/SongversationswithJ

But it wasn't all just food and fun, music was definitely there. I got to record at a studio for a cover I collaborated with Tony T. on as well as an original track for Joules' upcoming project.

Since Korea I've especially been getting back on my YouTube grind. Posting regularly on both my channels is something I've been getting back on the groove of and with great timing I was invited to speak on the panel for YouTube Creator Day at Google HQ in Atlanta. I was so thankful to meet other creators and also meet the faces of YouTubers not just from Atlanta, but different places of the South.

Being from California, there definitely is a certain camaraderie and understanding on the YT life which I honestly got overwhelmed by when I was younger, but taking time for myself and figuring out life has really helped me appreciate what I have back at "home"(cali) It was just a great opportunity to know that I wouldn't be alone on my grind here in ATL.

Shout out to Andrea for the invite and having us!

As of now, I'm in the workings of writing, writing, writing...

In the mean time, have been singing songs that I've been digging.

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I grew up singing covers by the musicians who influenced me and singing covers helped me open the doors of opportunity. Hope y'all will ride with me through this whole process and look forward to my upcoming original work!

So. much. love.