Starting Over (Again): How Faithfulness Leads to Favor with Jalisa Faye, Singer / Songwriter

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I see you. You're being faithful ight where you are. You're serving either in a local church or a creative circle or location where you've been for a long time. But there's also a pull on the inside that maybe God wants something wholly new for you, maybe to work with people who have big names or to travel to new places. And you're not sure what to do with that tension between faithfulness to where you are and the transition to new levels, where our guest today is going to help you navigate that and understand what it takes to have the right foundation so that if God elevates or transitions you to a new level, or to new people or to new relationships, how honoring where you are will be the catalyst to great blessings in the future. Our guest today, Jalisa Fayee, is going to explain that, but first, let me welcome those of you who are new to God and gigs, and then we'll get right into this fascinating and inspiring conversation.

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Artists, musicians and creatives of all kinds looking for help bAllencing your passion to create with your everyday life? Not sure if your faith can coexist with your profession? Welcome to a place where real artists discuss real life. You're listening to the God and gig show. Visit godandgigs.com for show notes, links and more information.

00:01:21
Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. If you are new to our show, I am so grateful for you for giving us a chance. You are in the right place at the right time. If you are a musician, artist, entrepreneur, freelancer, anyone in the intersection of the arts and entertainment space, but also with a heart for ministry, with a heart for God.

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And you want to know how to thrive as an artist without sacrificing your faith? You're in the right place. My name is Allen C. Paul. I'm the host and founder of God and gigs, and this is where we help you to make those decisions, to figure out the lifestyle, the tactics, the strategies, and the mindset.

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You need to be the creative that God created you to be. And I am so glad that you picked this episode to join us because we have such an amazing guest who's really going to show you what it takes to build the right foundation of relationships and faithfulness to ministry, even as God transitions and elevates you to whole new levels. Now, our guest today is Jalisa Fayee, worship leader, singer, songwriter, artist and vocal coach. And you have probably heard her singing alongside such award winning gospel artists like Travis Green, James Fortune, Jonathan Nelson, and Ty Tribbett, as well as a host of other gospel artists. But she is not just a solo artist or professional background vocalist.

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She serves as a worship leader at the world overcomers Christian Church in North Carolina, but she's a proud native of South Florida. And what you're going to hear today is not just her heart for ministry alongside these amazing artists and building her own solo career with her albums and her releases. You're going to hear how her faithfulness to ministry and to relationship and how she built up the character to handle the transitions was the thing that made all of this possible. You see, Jaleesa had to overcome some struggles with relationships, with leaving behind everything she knew to pursue this goal that was on the inside of her without sacrificing her faithfulness to those who helped her along the way. And you're going to find out how doing the same thing in your life will set you up for obedience and blessings for your creative life, whether that means staying put or traveling to a whole new location like Jaleesa had to do, you're going to find out this is the path to true creative and spiritual success, following God and staying committed to the relationships that you have right where you're at.

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Without any further delay, let's listen into this conversation with the wonderful singer songwriter and worship leader, Jalisa Faye.

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Ladies and gentlemen, when I say I am so blessed, so happy that we have made this interview happen. This young lady had to move away for me to finally get out of my own way and get her on the podcast. We are South Florida border bread together, but now she is a resident of North Carolina, but she still has so much anointing, wisdom and insight to share with us. So the amazing Jalisa Fayee. Welcome to the God and gig show.

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How are you, my friend? I am doing amazing. I am so happy that we are able to get this episode out. I'm excited to be here. I can't wait to dig into all the great things that we're going to talk about.

00:04:56
It's amazing. Okay. Yes, I appreciate you so much. And yes, I'm going to start with the repentance, right? We got to come to God first as repentance.

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I'm repenting for the years and years we were together in so many other venues. And I'm like, I'm going to call you. I'm going to get you. I'm going to clutch up. And sure enough, my yes was not yes, and my no was not no.

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The Bible says you select your yes be yes it was not. I failed miserably. Yeah, we're going to do it. We're going to do it. And then it was like, it's not happening.

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It was both of us. It wasn't just you. Thank you. Thank you for taking half of that. You didn't have to.

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Thank you. That was very christian of you. So here's the thing. I love the feeling already. The thing about it is that you really do is life that has taken you in so many different directions, but yet it was like that for us.

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We both have the same friends. Some of your best friends are my best friends, and yet you are doing so many amazing things. And God was lifting you, and it was like, I can't keep up. That's the way I felt. Honestly, I felt like I can't keep up.

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You're doing this. You're doing this. And so now for people who are just meeting you, we got to give them all of it in, like, 30 minutes. So I don't know how we're going to do that, but we're going to try. We're going to do the best we can.

00:06:05
Okay, so here's the first question that everybody hates, but you got to do it because you're in a podcast. So now everybody has to do this. When people meet you for the first time, they're hearing about you or seeing you for the first time, they may. Not listen to your music or know who you are. So now you got to get in that 32nd elevator pitch of trying to.

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Give them at least a piece of. What Jalisa is all about in the first 30 seconds. So when people meet you for the first time, what are those few things that you want them to know about you if they don't get a chance. To learn anything else? I want them to know that I love the Lord.

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I want them to know that I am friendly. I want them to know that I am a people person. I want them to know that really crazy question that I love music. Not necessarily that I'm a singer, but that I do love music. And, yeah, I think that's a good group of things that I want people to know when they first meet me.

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And I love that you didn't focus on the industry part. Right. You didn't go right to the I'm a worship leader artist. And I'm not saying those things aren't important, but it says a lot about you that you didn't start there, because it shows that when you do get to your talent, when you do get to what you do in worship, what you do as a believer that has a gifting. But you don't lead with that.

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The first thing you want people to know is that you're a real person, that you enjoy life. And that's the thing that I got right away, even when you were. Again, I'm trying not to do the old man, I told you at the beginning before why I'm doing like the Lord. When I was, she was a little girl. Yes, I'm trying not to do that, but I have been.

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Yes. Now, I've been South Florida 30 years now, so I can now say I was around. And I used to, like, where is this huge voice coming from, this little person? And even though I wasn't really running with the same circles because I had just gotten to South Florida, so you got to give me and the listeners and watchers a little bit of background. Tell me, what was those first formative years like?

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Did you start singing in church? Was it the first time you got on the pew? The first time you got on the choir stand? Like, where did the love of music that you just mentioned, where did that start? So my mom is a singer.

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My mom is a worship leader. She's been that since before I was born. And so I literally grew up. I was born into watching her lead worship as a baby, as a toddler. And I was literally, I think, really, the thing was, I was always singing, but in public I wasn't.

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I was a dancer first. So, like, three years old, four years old, like five, six. Those formative years were really more so heavily concentrated on dancing. So I was dancing in church, and then maybe around seven years old, I had my first solo because my mom found out I could sing. My sister discovered first.

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She will always say she discovered me. And she told my mom, like, hey, she could sing. And so before I started singing at my home church, my mom would kind of take me to different services that she would have to sing at and have me harmonize with her when she would do, like, the harmonic selection and things like that. But my first solo at my home church was around seven years old for the Christmas program, and that was kind of when everybody really found out that I could sing. And it was like.

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And so then I kind of moved into being a part of the worship team in a youth group when I was in middle school and stuff like that. But I had always been surrounded by music. My mom sings, my sister sings. She's even more focused on musical theater. And then my aunt sings, and my cousin sings, and my dad, he can carry a note.

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And he was a musician. He played trumpet in high school. So music was just kind of in my blood, really. So that's kind of how I fell into it. Fell into it?

00:10:08
Well, you obviously fell into it, but because you had the gifting, and I know a lot of us, I will say, myself included, when that musical family, that kind of just what we do thing falls on you and you realize you do have gifting, sometimes the first thing that happens is everybody starts to put that pressure on you to either be something. And again, it doesn't mean that you don't welcome it. But sometimes in those formative years, it can get kind of tricky, because now the thing I'm about to pivot to is, when does it become your thing? When does it become your sal? When does it become.

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I'm not just trying to please mom or make the church happy, now. This is something I want to do. So was there a moment I should. Ask when it said, okay, no, I'm. Not just doing this for the family because I have to be in the choir now.

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It's something I feel God either called me to or that is really something that I want to choose to pursue. What was that moment? Or what was that? Motivation. Yeah.

00:11:05
So, honestly, I am a church girl to the core. So I loved going to church. I wanted to be at church for anything. And my mom honestly did not have to force me to do anything, even when it came down to music and singing. I loved being at choir rehearsal when I was a kid.

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I love just sitting and watching, listening to the choir learn parts and listening to the band and all of this stuff. So I kind of always had this dream, I guess, to even just be in a choir. It wasn't even really about leading songs and stuff, like. But, like, when I was at redeeming word, me and my mom, I would just watch them. And then at one point, when I was in middle school, our minister of music at the time, Kathy McClary, she said to my mom, she was like, do you think this was a Sunday morning?

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And so she's know. You think your daughter will be good if she came up and sang with us? And my mom was like, yeah, she knows all the songs. She know everybody part. It's whatever.

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So they literally pulled me up there, threw a robe on me because we were wearing robes at the time, threw a robe on my little self, and I got up there and I started singing. And I think the first time, they just had me lead a song one random Sunday. I don't think I realized until then that I actually had the ability to lead, worship. Leading with young adults and youth was one thing, and it can be daunting or difficult because kids will just stare at you. But I was a very friendly person.

00:12:41
And because it's a great training ground. Though, you said something. Wherever you find yourself professionally, I don't think there's a better training ground than Sunday mornings. And especially if it's youth, if you can get through that crowd at 08:00 in the morning, then you can sing for anybody. Yeah.

00:13:01
So, like, doing midweek services with them kind of like, it definitely helped train me. And when I got up in the adult choir and I was like, oh, wow, this is something that I'm actually gifted in. It kind of stirred something in me because I love worship. I love singing prayers and worship. I love leading.

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I just love being able to point people to Jesus. That's a really strong passion of mine. So I think from a child, it really just became my own thing without any real forcing or prodding, know, pumping. I think it just happened and it was like, okay, lord, this is what I'm doing. Cool, let's do that.

00:13:46
I feel like when I was watching, like, in high school, around maybe middle school and high school, when Tod trivet came out with the life album, and then we started seeing more videos of him, and when he came out with victory and I had that dvd and then I had standout dvd, it was like he made everybody want to be a background singer because he had.

00:14:21
It was kind of like the coolest club in. Yes, that's how it felt. It felt like that for sure. And so he was the reason that I ever had a dream to sing background because it was like, oh, my God, that is cool. I want to be in Ga.

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And then did I think it was going to happen the way it did? I had dreams of it. No, but the way my life just kind of took a turn in that direction when I was in college. Yeah, in college. And so it just happened.

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Literally, stuff just happened in my life. And I was just like, okay, lord, this is it. This is what we're doing. Sure, let's do it. I love that feeling of number one, seeing.

00:15:09
Okay, so there are so many different directions we can take this. Number one, obviously, I'm giving away the ending. If they already read the bio, they know where you ended up, but you just kind of teased it there. So I have to ask then, if there was something in terms of seeing Ty seeing that you love. So, and I want to point out quickly your love for the local church.

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That is a huge deal that I got a gigs I will not. The very beginning of the first chapter of the book is stay connected to church. There's so many artists creatives in our area that get disconnected from that. And then they want the big stage and they want to be on these big things. And then when they get there, or if they never get there, whatever, they still don't have the character because they haven't been formed by that because they don't have the mentorship and the discipleship.

00:15:58
So I want to ask you, other than your mom, because you just mentioned. That, who were some other people in. Your life that have helped you to see and be ready for the stages that you were on? Were there any mentorships, any other pastors, any other people in your life? Especially when you talk about that professional right?

00:16:15
Because now you're shifting and you're thinking about the artist side and becoming this person that actually has to be out. There doing this as well as in ministry. So were there any people that helped you make that transition? So definitely I give credit to my home church redeeming word Christian Center International Fort Lauderdale, Florida Apostles ed and Yvette Brinson, Pastor Lonnie and Jarell, Kathy McCleary, Bonita and Mark McClary Senior. They were the ministers of music that I was raised.

00:16:53
Taught me home taught me so many things. It taught me how. I think what home helped me realize was that I had the ability to adapt to a lot of different sounds, I guess you would say. Back in the day, of course, we had a lot of guest preachers that would come in for conferences and things like that, and we would have to sing and flow with them. And so that helped me sharpen that gift of being able to adapt to whoever is leading the moment.

00:17:23
And it translated to now in my career as a background vocalist, when I sing with different artists, I have the ability to go with whatever direction each artist is going in. It definitely taught me. I mean, I got my first opportunity, honestly from serving at home in was I started singing as a professional background vocals with Travis Green. And Travis Green was a guest for apostle. She used to do like fashion shows.

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She was a designer, so she would do fashion shows at the church every year. This particular year in 2011, I believe the fashion show was off site, it was somewhere else. And he was a special guest. And I was a huge fan. I was a super fan of Travis Grant.

00:18:12
So I just would like. He came out and I was literally, me and my friend were literally the only two people standing up singing along with every song, every word. Everybody's sitting down looking at the models, and I'm like, I don't care about none of this. So I was thinking along, this was a Saturday, and then the Sunday, he led worship with us, and he knew my name because I guess he had asked somebody, like, who was that girl that was, like, singing along every song? So we kind of built a relationship from there.

00:18:43
But this was the first time that he had ever seen me. He saw me lead worship, and he told me years later, like, yo, the first time I came and I saw you leading, like, you were singing, leading a fast song, and I literally was in tears just because of the anointing that was on you. And literally, we got connected. He would come to the church maybe twice a year. This was 2011.

00:19:05
Okay, 2015 happens. He comes to the church for a men's conference. So I'm not even at the church, but I decided to stop by after service so I could just say, hey. And he calls me maybe, like, a couple of weeks after that and is like, hey, I want you to come join me. I'm about to start traveling.

00:19:26
I'm about to go on the road, about to release this album, and I want you to sing with me. And I was like, okay. But all of that came from serving at home. That was the first time that he saw me. And so I never can forget about neglect or even I feel, like, leave or step away from the local church, because that was where I was found.

00:19:51
That was, I guess, what you would consider my ticket in the platform. So I always would say the same thing to people that aspire to be, whether they want to be worship leaders at huge churches, or they want to be gospel artists with a big old platform or whatever, or whatever genre you want to be in, you should always have a covering. That's where my covering was there. So whenever I left and traveled, I was still covered, because I'm connected, and I still do it now. I will go out of town.

00:20:28
I will sing with whoever or sing on my own or do whatever. And if I have the chance, if I am able to get back home for Sunday morning, I'm going to come back home. I would be traveling. We would have service at, what, 10:00? I will land at 09:00 and take an Uber if I didn't park at the airport, and I will Uber to church because I have a passion for the local church.

00:20:56
I have a passion for being connected to my family. That's my family, and it's my covering. I don't ever want to forget and feel like, oh, I'm so tired, or I'm big time that I can't serve at church because that's where I learned all of these characteristics to serve these other people. I love this so much. Have no idea, Julie, how much I needed to hear that as someone that's an every Sunday musician, right?

00:21:22
I don't say this bragging. I say this almost like I need to remind myself to take a break as someone that never misses, because, like you said, it's not in my dna. It's not in your dna to be apart from it. And then people wonder again, like you, like, how does she show up here? How does she have no issue when a ty tribbett or Travis Green or any of these other great artists say, hey, right now, sing this mike toss, right?

00:21:47
And you don't blink. It's because you honed it over. So that's exactly the way it is. You make it happen. So now I got to ask you this, because I love the positives that you're sharing.

00:22:00
I got to go through some of the negatives, though, because some people relating with this may say, wait, okay, it was too easy, right? That sounds too easy. So, now, I got to ask you, were there any pitfalls, any struggles? The biggest lesson that you had to learn while you were making this and Travis calls you, was it on the road? Was it loneliness?

00:22:20
Was it struggling with any other musicians or egos or anything? What was the biggest struggle or issue that you had to overcome now that God opened up this door to you? So it's funny, because I think when I started traveling, it came literally right after a personal change in my life. I did lose friends. I was going through those different, just relational changes.

00:22:48
And it was so interesting because on top of that, I'm asked to travel. And this is something that I did dream of, because this was something that I had written down in a vision book in 2012. And so, yes, I have the dream, but then I also feel bad because I'm like, oh, my God, I might miss a Sunday. That was a personal struggle for me. And then, like I said, that was on top of losing friends.

00:23:19
But God always makes up for where you lose.

00:23:26
The hard part is waiting on when it's going to be made up for. But I found that when I was losing friends around that time, as I continued to serve and as I continued to just wait on the Lord and just serve him with my whole heart and be glad about it. Literally, when that call came with Travis, I started traveling with them. And that was like a whole new family that I had know. So it was almost like, for every friend that I lost, I gained, like, three other ones.

00:23:58
So God really was doing a great work. Another struggle, I guess, on the physical side, was just learning how to pace myself in this new season of traveling. Because I'm using my voice all the time. We're singing maybe two days in a row, three days in a row, or I'm going somewhere, traveling somewhere that might be three, 4 hours away, three four hour flight. I sing for 30, 45 minutes, then take a late or early morning three four hour flight, and then come home and sing and leave.

00:24:31
Because I wasn't just coming home and sitting down, I was coming home. So learning how to pace myself, I think that was probably one of the greatest lessons, pacing myself. And also, if we want to talk about relationships, just learning that you can't take everything personal. You cannot take everything personal, because when you gain a little bit more of a bigger platform or you gain a little more influence or you gain these relationships with these people that are in higher places that you would consider, you're going to deal with weird actions from people at home and also people in the industry.

00:25:16
Because I think people think when you make it or you get to a higher place in the industry, you feel like, oh, yeah, you know this person, you know that person, it must be great. Like, you must be good. And it's like everything that glitters is not gold. And some people are really weird out here. So you have to understand that everything is not personally directed towards you, because a lot of things that happen at home and in the industry can make you question yourself.

00:25:42
It can make you feel like, am I good enough? It can make you feel like, well, why are people overlooking me? Or why are people treating me this way? Like I'm a good person? This, that, and the third, you think that stuff.

00:25:54
But you have to remember, this is not personal. This is literally just somebody going through their own thing. Everybody is going through their own journey. Everybody is at different points in their journey. And when you realize that and you understand that, you won't take anything personal, it'll just be like, okay.

00:26:11
Because there were things that I took personally that I felt like were done to me from people in the industry and people at home. And it took me years to say, you know what? This person probably didn't even mean to do this this way. And even if they did, at the end of the day, it's all just a stop in my journey. It's just a moment.

00:26:33
It's just a moment. And I can't hold a grudge. I can't hold people to that forever because God, don't do that to me. So it's like I literally, even in the last two years, have been in this place of reaching out to people, whether I did them wrong or they did me wrong, and I'm just reaching out, like, hey, I know things didn't really end that well in our friendship, but over it. So if you're over it, let's count this as water under the bridge.

00:27:05
It's totally fine. I don't have no bad blood. I don't have no ill feelings, and it's people that. I haven't had really ill feelings ever or in a long time, but I just had to get to a place where I could say it now to them. That's beautiful.

00:27:21
Wow. Now, got to tell you, what I'm hearing is obviously right there. The Matthew 18 right. If you even think that you have an issue with somebody, and this is way beyond. This is why I love having these conversations.

00:27:33
That's why every time I think about, okay, well, what's God and Giz going to be about now? What are we going to talk about now? It's like, there's no lack of need for building relationships. There's no lack of need for building people up so that we don't let this lifestyle, especially inside church, especially in ministry, take us out of what the whole point is, which is for us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. That whole thing about the church, Jalisa, just personally, this is my own allen 101.

00:28:06
Allen. Gospel of Allen. This is not okay. I started to take that verse about not forsaking the assemblies of yourselves. And I'm like, I don't think whoever wrote hebrews was talking just to church people, right?

00:28:20
I don't think he was saying assemblies of ourselves on Sunday mornings, right? I think he was saying, anytime you and I or anybody inside get together, don't forsake the assembling, as in keep these relationships intact and then encourage each other. So now I'm realizing godly gigs is just another place where we don't forsake the assembling. Yeah. You and I finally connecting.

00:28:42
It's like, no, we need to encourage each other because you're out there in North Carolina now. You've made this big transition, but you've said so much about family. You've said so much. Like, 90% of this interview has not been about how you got on the big stage. It's been about the relationships you built along the way.

00:28:57
Yeah. So to me, it's like you're reminding me right now the purpose of this podcast. And if you're listening or watching, you're realizing, hey, this isn't about her. Gifting did make room for her, but your character is what's growing even faster than your platform. It sounds like you're saying that that's what especially.

00:29:14
I want to quickly talk about the transition that you made. Yes, it sounds like leaving and having to follow God to a whole nother church after you just said so much about family and about connecting to your church. That had to stretch you even more because now you're having to do a whole nother side of obedience. Know, like you said, building relationships for sure. So I'm at world overcomers Christian Church now in Durham, North Carolina.

00:29:39
And before I moved here, they were inviting me. They were bringing me to come lead like at least once a month, at least for a year. And I had known the worship pastor, Joshua Sisle. I had known him for a couple of years. The very first time I visited here and sang here was two years ago.

00:30:00
And so I had known him and kind of started really building that relationship for real. And then the more I came and sang, I got to know people on team. Like, I got to know the band, I got to know the music pastor, I got to know some of the associate pastors, and they always took care of me, and we would go out to eat and different things like that the day before. And so that was another way for me to just kind of connect and have those conversations and build relationship. So when it came down to leading up, to me moving, it was definitely a scary thing because I'm literally leaving everything and everyone that I know.

00:30:37
I have never lived out of state, never lived on my own. All of these things are first time things that I'm doing. But the comfort and the peace came for sure in already building those relationships over time here. So now I know I have a family here. I know that I have people that I can trust.

00:30:58
I know that I have a close knit circle here. So that while my people at home are praying for me, I got people on site that are also doing the same thing. Because like you said, most of this podcast, this episode has been about relationships. I'm very big on relationships. I love my friends.

00:31:19
I love hanging out with them. I love talking and spending time with my friends. So that's a big thing for me. So being able to find that here was really the kicker that gave me that peace in knowing that, okay, I'm going to be good. I have a community.

00:31:34
Because you're not meant to do life alone. You're not meant to be on your own. You're not meant to just pursue all of your dreams without any help, without anybody praying for you and connecting with you and saying, hey, I got your back, no matter what. You're not meant to do life without that. So, yeah, that's the comforting part here, for sure.

00:31:54
That's beautiful, and I'm so glad. You mentioned just now that now that you've shifted, now that you have transitioned, you said you're not supposed to do life alone. You've also transitioned. Not just transitioned. For the entire time, I think you've been about helping other people, and that includes in the industry.

00:32:11
So you're not just leading on Sundays, you're not just traveling with these amazing artists. You're opening up to share what you know with other people through coaching. I've seen you do these. Your live streams were like you were killing it. It was like people were just going left and right.

00:32:28
Okay, jaleesa, break this down. Break this down. Do this. So tell me a little bit about that heart for you to now serve others, not just in the local church, but serving other artists. Like, where does that come from?

00:32:38
What are you trying to do to help other artists, background vocalists like you, to navigate this world? Yeah. Because I was serving at such a young age, and I was, like, running rehearsals and teaching songs and stuff, it really made me happy to teach somebody something, and they get it. And that confidence and joy that they get from that, that made me happy. And so people would ask me over time, like, oh, jaleesa, like, when are you going to start giving lessons?

00:33:09
Like, you should give lessons. And I'm like, oh. And then when I graduated from college with my degree in music with a concentration of vocal performance, it kind of was like, okay, I can kind of start doing it a little more seriously because some people, they don't take you serious unless you have a degree. True. They want the paper.

00:33:31
True. So I started taking it a little bit more seriously. I was coaching people here and there, but then once I graduated, I took it more seriously, and I really just realized how many singers, entertainers, worship leaders, all of the above lack that confidence in themselves. And these are people that will have amazing gifts. I coach some of the most unknown, but most gifted people that you will probably ever hear, and they're not confident.

00:34:02
And so it's like, I want to speak to that thing. Yes, of course, I want to help you learn how to do runs, and I want you to be able to do the vocal things in the technically correct way, but I want you to be confident, because if you don't have confidence in what you have, you're not going to use it properly or you're not going to use it at all. And so the passion that I have, I think it definitely grew over time, because I've always loved it, but in the last, maybe three or four years, it really grew. When the pandemic hit put on, she started doing this school, like, this business school called Empire University. And so I was a part of the first cohort, and she had us all going through this thing.

00:34:48
She's teaching people how to get their business license, their llc. She's teaching people all of these basics of business and helping them go as far as they can go. And so in that school was where I kind of came up even with the idea of, like, mimic Mondays, where I used to go on live and break down runs to different songs and stuff. And during that time, I purchased my LlC for find your voice coaching services, and I named it find your voice, because that's what I help people do. I help people.

00:35:17
I would be helping my best friend, sarah. Sarah Grisell, who is the owner of the candy girls. If y'all do not know about the candy girls, go get some. But, yeah, she. She's also an actress.

00:35:29
She's a singer. Okay. So I would be coaching her. Like, whenever she had a show, she would call me and be like, I need a session. We need to get together.

00:35:35
And so we would get together, and I would help her sing songs, but I would help her sing them like her and not like whoever else wrote the song. And so when I came up with the name find your voice, she was like, yeah, no, that's perfect, because that's what you help people do. I want people to sing songs like them. I want them to find their voice within a song that may have been written by somebody else, or if it's their original song. I want them to sing it the best way they can do it.

00:36:01
Yeah, I said a lot, but, yeah. No, you said the perfect, and this is why, like I said every time, I really do think that these episodes are all about not what I think or what you think, what the person that's listening or watching needs. So the fact that we went so seamlessly from be connected to your local church, which, again, is my heart. Like, it is the heartbeat of everything I do, is this is why we survive in this gig world, in this. Crazy world of traveling.

00:36:31
This is why you're able to build those relationships and go back to people. That was huge. Somebody's going to listen and forgive someone. And let them go, and that's going. To do way more for their career than any particular entrepreneurial or, hey, little.

00:36:46
Thing with your music career. So I feel like you've covered it, because this is really what it's all about, all the facets of your life. I do want you to give one highlight moment, because I know a lot of people are looking either at the tiny desk or they're looking at this and they're like, okay, jaleesa, you got to pick one. Tell me the highlight moment that you were like, whoa, not. I know you could do all things, but I could not believe I'm right.

00:37:13
Here doing this or singing this or with this person. So just give me one of those moments so that people can see all the work you did, or pick one out of five. I don't know. I don't have top ten. One of the top.

00:37:24
You don't have to pick the top, but one of the top where you were like, this is why it's worth it. Oh, man, there's so many great moments. I would probably say, okay, the big things are great. And, of course, tiny desk was like, tiny desk with Ty is crazy. I think one of the bigger things, though, was with Ty when we recorded the first all things new album in 2021.

00:38:07
We recorded literally the week of. They were like, okay, hey, we're doing a recording, and I had been singing with him for maybe a few months at the time. Getting the call itself is already, like, crazy. Yeah, we didn't even get into that. I was like.

00:38:23
If you want, I can do, like, a really quick two minute story on how all of this happened. Yes, you could do that, but we'll make them come back and have to do a part two. But, yeah, if you want to give the cliff notes. Okay, so the call was crazy. So back in 2011, the faith center used to do this thing called the impact night.

00:38:41
And so they would have, like, ty come and preach, and people would do praise and worship. The youth choir would sing with him. And this particular year, I wasn't able to come to the youth choir rehearsal. So I went to the event, and he was calling all the young people to the front. So I went down to the front of the stage.

00:38:56
He needed a soprano to sing. Tell me who can stand before us? If y'all have followed me, y'all know that I'm not a soprano. But anywho, the youth choir director knew me and pulled me up on the stage to sing. That was my first real encounter with Ty tribute ever.

00:39:11
Right? Sang in front of all those people, blah, blah, blah. Years later, okay, I meet Ty while I'm singing with Travis Green. So we kind of have that connection again, right? 2017, he comes back for impact night to South Florida.

00:39:24
I actually open up with praise and worship. And then five minutes before he gets on stage, he asks for me and my singers to sing with him. Wow. Okay. Another connection made.

00:39:32
Boom. 2019. He reaches out and he tells me, like, hey, I got some things coming up. I want to keep you in mind. What's your contact?

00:39:40
I give it to him, right? 2021 happens. Okay? And his manager calls me and says, hey, we got this coming up with Ty. Da da da.

00:39:52
He really wants you to be a part such and such and such. And that is how it all started. I was in the middle of a coaching session when his manager called me and I didn't answer the phone because I didn't have his number. He texted me, and when I tell y'all, I had to hurry and breeze through that session so I could call that man back. It was crazy.

00:40:11
But, yeah, that's a highlight. I think another highlight for sure is my album release. My album release happened in January 2023. If you don't have it starting over, go get it. I think that was a highlight for me because I was getting calls from and, like, tags and mentions and stuff from artists that I have listened to my entire know.

00:40:34
I'm getting calls from Anthony Brown. Anthony Brown, a group getting, you know, messages from Ty and his daughter actually drove down from Orlando and was at the album release and she went back and Ty told me, legolai, man, she was nonstop talking about it. And I'm super grateful. Just everybody that I have listened to, tod Delaney, Jonathan McReynolds, like, all of these people are texting me and messaging me and commenting on, like, man, this is such a great album. It's a wonderful body.

00:41:04
Marette Brown's clock. Like, all of these people that I have heard since I was a, like, I think that was a real highlight for me because it's just like, wow. I think this about y'all music and y'all are turning around and telling me you are being blessed and you're enjoying listening to this stuff. On top of, of course, all of the people that were in the room, everybody that played a part of the record, like, just feeling like what I felt in the room that night, it was unspeakable. Like, you could not even imagine how electric that room was for the album release.

00:41:42
So, yeah, those are like a bunch of highlights merged into one. Those are great. And what you just described is the last little part. I love that you finished with your album, with you sharing. And in my head, again, this is.

00:41:54
Just me going, my add, I'm just. Seeing the little girl that stepped up at seven, eight years old, and it's like, see what happens, how if you. Stay connected and you stay into your. First love and you don't, you and. You mend those relationships, see what's possible.

00:42:13
So with that, this is a perfect way to finish. What would you say to the person who is where you were, in other words, if you were talking to your younger self? But we're really thinking about that person who is, like, dealing with the same. Thing you were dealing with. She's at a local church.

00:42:28
He's at a local church. He's got dreams. He's written down, I want to perform with such and such, and he thinks God's calling him. But right now, it's just every Sunday, every Sunday, every Sunday. And nothing's really changing.

00:42:38
And people staring at you while you're leading work. Yeah. What would you say to that person. Who is where you were so that you can curse? I would say it is always wonderful to have dreams.

00:42:49
Right? Always wonderful to have plans and goals. The Bible says that you're supposed to commit your plans to the Lord. So what you want to do is commit that to the Lord. Leave it before him every day that you think about it.

00:43:00
God, this is what I want to do. I pray that it aligns with your will. And if it doesn't, Lord, help me to desire your will. That's one. Because a lot of people want to do things that they're not necessarily called to.

00:43:12
So make sure, like God, make sure that this lines up with your will. Change whatever you need to change so that my dream and my desires can line up with your will. Two, ask him to keep your heart pure. Okay. Even in those frustrating moments, because Sundays can be frustrating, too.

00:43:29
Every Sunday shouldn't be frustrating, but there are always those times and those moments where you can be frustrated at your local church. But always ask God, Lord, help me to do this with a pure heart and clean hands. Lord, increase my love for this. Increase my passion for this, because that's what kept me when I get frustrated. Lord, help me remember why I do this.

00:43:51
Because it's not just about me. I don't do this so I can get a platform. I do this because I love the Lord and because I love his people. Okay. So always pray for the right heart.

00:44:00
Always pray for the purity of your heart and continue to work towards the goals that you say that you want. If you pray about it and you see those things and you want to do those things, but you're not working towards them, once you get an opportunity, it's either going to pass by you or you're going to blow it because you weren't necessarily prepared and you didn't do the work beforehand to make sure that you were ready. I was giving my all at church. That's why when I go out with these artists, I can give my all there. It's not like I just turn it on when I'm on a big stage.

00:44:31
No. I could be in a storefront church and still giving 110%, because at the end of the day, my heart is pure. I want to do this because I love the Lord. So, yeah, I think those would be the main things that I would say. Commit your plans to the Lord.

00:44:47
Always ask him to purify your heart. It's a constant daily ask of the Lord to just purify your heart. Give you the strength to continue to work towards your goals, but also serve where he has planted you. If he has truly planted you where you are right now. My goodness, my sister, I cannot tell you.

00:45:05
See, this was why it was perfectly timed, right? If we had done this five years ago, would have been like all this. Look at God. Okay, so for those people who are still old school, who are going to write it down, I know it's in the show notes, it's in the description. They can click the link.

00:45:23
They should have already clicked the link, followed you. They should have already been connected with you. But maybe this is their first chance. So just tell them how they can stay in touch with what's the best contact social media channels. Just tell them everything so they can stay in touch with the amazing Jalisa Fayee.

00:45:37
All right. Instagram, you can find me at Jalisa Faye. Facebook Jalisa Fayee. No space in between TikTok. I want a little better.

00:45:45
I need to do even more better on TikTok, but you can find me at the real Jalisa Faye. And yeah, those are my socials. Did you want me to give email and things like that, too? If you want to follow your coaching, if they want to connect with you, yeah, that's the best way. Boom, coaching.

00:46:01
Follow my coaching page at FYV coaching, that is at FYV coaching on Facebook. Find your voice coaching services awesome. This has been perfect. I'm telling you again that you've helped so many people find their voice. And you also, again, for all these years, I say this to everybody that's in my circle of God and gigs in southwest.

00:46:24
If you weren't doing what you were doing authentically, I couldn't do what I do. You made you and all of our friends really just made the community where it's like I can feel comfortable being. Who I am even in this space. And so I appreciate you. Thank you for so much of your inspiration over the years and God comes even more.

00:46:42
But thank you so much for this time being a part of the God and geek show. Appreciate you so much. Yes, thank you.

00:46:54
My friend. I know you were absolutely inspired by that interview with the amazing Jalisa Fayee. Her commitment to her calling and her family and her relationships, even as God transitioned her, proves the power of relationships. It proves the power of you doing the right thing for the people right where you are, then knowing that God will cover you when and if he moves you to new locations or even a higher or a more expanded platform. I'm so grateful for my sister for giving us time.

00:47:31
You should have already followed all of her links, but just look for them in the description of this episode. You'll be able to follow her, connect with her services, and be able to find out how you too can find your voice. Well, my friend, this has been an amazing episode. I just want to remind you to stay connected to everything God and gigs is doing so that you can get more of this. Whether it's in our free Facebook group or in our membership, God and gigs 360, or just staying connected with our newsletter, the creative checkup.

00:48:05
We are here to help you to continuously build the relationships that we just talked about with creatives who know what you want to know and want to grow the way that you want to grow. So make sure that you have subscribed, that you're following, that you click the notifications if you're on a video app, whatever it takes for you to stay. Connected with these kind of creatives, it's. Going to bless you throughout your creative life. Well, my friends, that's all for today.

00:48:31
So until next time, continue to become the creative that you were created to be. God bless and we'll see you next episode. Thanks for joining us here at the God and gig show. Please leave us a review on iTunes, like our Facebook page, or visit godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show.