HOW CREATOR'S CLUB EMERGED

If you've ever gotten the chance to talk to Abby Sarabia about her plans for Creator's Club, you realize quickly, they're extensive. Her plans are to make this space way more than just a platform for musicians. The club will provide opportunities for career growth, discounted rates for professional services, access to what the pros know, and much more. Dig deeper into the journey of Creator’s Club with founder and developer, Abby Sarabia.

Q: How’d you come up with the idea for Creator’s Club?

A: Wow. Well, so many combined influences ultimately resulted in the creation of the Creator's Club. I think it's easier if I break down each facet.

My network and influences.

One of my very good friends, who is also an artist and producer, paved the way with his incredible vocal presets. His name is Baywood. He went from making music in his parent's basement to creating and owning the #1 rated vocal presets within a year and a half. Baywood has always been big on community and education. Watching him use his skillset to create something that could help artists at mass inspired me. He taught me to think bigger. Think digital. And support artists at a macro level.

Olivia Shalhoup, the owner of Amethyst Collab, took a chance on me in late 2020. When I say she took a chance on me, I mean she opened the door to incredible opportunities due to an Instagram DM I sent. That DM led to me interning for her and working on content projects for many artists, including Trippie Redd and Quavo. One of my proudest projects is our Women's History Month Documentary that highlighted women in the music industry and their experiences.

They say seeing is believing. Working closely with these two influences and seeing their success made me believe it could be possible.

2. The Digital Age

2020 rocked everyone's world. I knew it would open the floodgates to opportunities when this happened. Which is the core reason I reached out to Olivia. I loved her work and what she was doing and wanted to help. 2020 gave me the confidence to reach out because, at this point, this was how everyone was connecting.

The internship was great, and I was doing really cool stuff for really cool artists, and I didn't move an inch. For so long, I knew the location was a barrier to why being an indie musician was so difficult. But if digital resources, events, and education become the new normal, that will level the playing field for all musicians. This realization really encouraged me to build something in the digital space.

3. Education

In college, my final report was on the discrepancies between minority-owned and white-owned businesses. I wanted to understand the factors holding minority-owned companies back from the same amount of success white-owned businesses had accomplished. The number one discrepancy was capital. There are many factors, but mainly the lack of money resulted from a lack of education. Lack of education can mean anything from not going to college to not knowing how to access and obtain resources.

With this understanding of how education can affect one's success, especially minority's success, providing education became a core mission of Creator's Club. In my mind, if education is holding an artist back from achieving success, we will be where they can find it.

As Creator's Club develops, it will encompass education on the whole entire life of the artists. We will provide resources and e-courses on everything that directly relates to music and the artist's life, including mental health, professional development, and financial development.

4. Community

I dove deep into my music career at 19 in Toledo, Ohio. Completely clueless, completely lost. It wasn't until I found Baywood years later that I realized what I was missing. COMMUNITY. Do you know the feeling you get when you create something incredible, that fire, that motivational rejuvenation? Finding your community feels exactly like that, times 10.

I knew the reason it took me so long to find my group was because Toledo, Ohio, had very few opportunities for me to discover these people. So I thought, isn't this probably how every musician in every small town feels ever?!

Inspired by the discord model. I wanted the club to be that for artists, no matter where they are. This is why our networking by location feature is so incredibly powerful. I don't want musicians to feel like they ever have to do this alone.

5. Philanthropy

I won't get into my background too much here. But people need to know that outside of music, my entire career is dedicated to serving others. I work at the largest school-based mental health provider in northwest Ohio. I am co-founder of The Sarabia Family Foundation, a scholarship program for adverse youth. I have always been a philanthropist at heart and will always advocate for others' welfare for the populations I serve. These populations currently are the youth and the musicians.

I am so incredibly fortunate the club is a place where I can continue to serve individuals and provide spaces and resources to promote their wellness and fuel their passions.

Conclusion

SO YEAH. The development of Creator's Club was an accumulation of knowledge, experience, personal passions, marketing research, influence, networking, and so much more. It is cool to have the opportunity to explain this because it visualizes the Club's colossal purpose.

Creator's Club is up-and-coming and very powerful. I am thankful, to say the least.