Music Stars Making A Social Impact: Why & How Sam Pio of ‘BE BLESSED’ Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
I feel that the youth need to stand up for their beliefs and I love inspiring them to do so. Next, I will be speaking at a youth organization for a back-to-school charity event. We will be handing out free back-to-school backpacks to children getting ready to go back to school in the Fall and they have asked me to speak and sing. I am always looking for ways to inspire others and to serve God with the gifts and talents He has given me. Sometimes it’s partnering with large youth organizations and other times it’s just a daily practice of serving my local community.
As a part of our series about music stars who are making an important social impact, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Sam Pio.
With 50k + followers across her social platforms and a growing fan base, nine-year-old singing super sensation Sam Pio is using her music and voice (Literally) to make the world a better place by singing about faith and hope. Having performed alongside the Goo Goo Dolls, John Rzeznik on Amazon Prime’s first augmented reality movie musical called “It’s Christmas All Over with the Goo Goo Dolls,” her first over album, BE BLESSED (Available on Spotify & Sound Cloud), is making big waves in the Christian music world, creating music that brings peace, love and hope to her every growing fan base. Not only is this young Christian based powerhouse making huge waves in the music world, but she also will appear in the independent film, “Little May,” which is out at award-winning film festivals, all while using her talents to perform LIVE to raise money for the Los Angeles Food Bank and the families in need.
Still in the works is her solo album, BE THE LIGHT (release date TBD 2022), which will feature originally written Christian songs by the young artist. Sam studies with some of the leading coaches and trainers in the industry and although she works hard at developing her craft, she still finds time for her favorite activities — play dates, baking, swimming, board games and reading the Bible.
Sam booked her first baby modeling job at the age of 1 with OshKosh B’gosh and later with Vertibaudet Fashion Kids which inspired her to become a rising star and pursue additional passions. By age two she was singing, making up her own songs, and if there was a stage in sight, she wasn’t shy and made her way to perform. Sam has appeared in commercials, theater production, television series, independent films, and has graced main stage events across the country.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
I grew up traveling between Florida, Texas, Chicago, and LA working in the industry as a baby model doing commercials and print ads for big companies. My parents finally decided to retire in California so I really grew up outside of LA. I just love all the great things in Southern California: the beaches, mountains and how the weather is so nice all year round. My mother noticed I also loved to perform as early as 2 years old. If I saw a stage or people singing, I would reach out and just pull away from my parents and run to the stage. I just had to be on the stage or anywhere there was an audience; the mall, farmers market, zoo, just anywhere! My parents couldn’t believe I would just run right up there and start singing!! So finally, my Mom took me for voice lessons, but no one would take a child! Then when I was five, we found a coach who taught children and I started to study seriously. I even performed a classical art song in a video at the age of 6! I took classes in Los Angeles each week and dance lessons all while I performed in children’s musical theatre performances. I have been training really hard ever since.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was auditioning for all sorts of wonderful projects but I found myself going into my voice lessons and I was always talking about Jesus. I would be so filled with the messages of Jesus that it would just spill out of me. I had already read the Bible about 50 times! I have always had a strong faith and strong conviction as far back as I can remember. At about 4 years old, I just started reading the Bible out of nowhere and I fell so in love with Jesus that I read it over and over! I would say, I have always felt God’s presence. Interesting my first professional Concert was a Christmas concert, and I was the youngest performer who sang “Happy Birthday Jesus” and “Mary Did You Know”. It was then that my vocal coach noticed how I delivered the song with so much emotion and conviction. Then I did a big solo concert at the Ventura County Fair, it was just me and I changed costumes twelve times (right on stage behind a screen), and “shared God’s Love” the whole time with the audience for an hour-long show! I never got tired, and I just loved every minute! So, by then my parents knew I was really serious about performing and I was just born for it! I was also feeling a strong desire to be Baptist because she himself was Baptist, so I started asking my parents to take me to church. I went to big churches and Cathedrals, all sorts of churches, but I fell in love with a sweet little church in my little town that felt like home. I started to sing at the services and study the Bible with my preacher and God just opened the doors for me right there. I was introduced to Christian producers, and I started recording wonderful popular worship songs and filming beautiful Christian videos for my first album BE BLESSED ever since and I just wrapped the whole album and all the videos!
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or take away that you took out of that story?
Usually, auditions come up so quickly without much notice. Once it happened where I got all dressed up for an audition, packed the car with everything I needed, got into the car and was driven halfway there only to realize that the audition was the next day! So, now I double-check the date! But at least I was early and prepared!!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
I would say the greatest life lesson quote for me would be “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and Everything Will Be Added Unto You.” After all my years of auditions and working weekends on the Sabbath, I realized what was important to me was keeping the Sabbath holy, going to church regularly and trusting God with my whole life. When I started doing this, opportunities in the Christian world just came to me!! God just opened all the doors!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I couldn’t answer that. There are so many people who I am grateful for who have really helped my dreams come true. But if I have to choose one person, it’s Jesus.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
I have always used the gifts God has given me to support charity events, help the homeless and anyone in need actually. I often ask my mother to pull over and help someone in need. A couple of weeks ago we stopped to help a woman and discovered she really needed help so we put her up in a hotel for two weeks until she could get into a program. My true love is sharing God’s word and my mother says I am a little evangelist because I share God’s love wherever I go. Last week I did Vacation Bible School where I was part of the leadership team and I got to use my acting training and my speaking gifts to inspire children to be bold in their faith. I feel that the youth need to stand up for their beliefs and I love inspiring them to do so. Next, I will be speaking at a youth organization for a back-to-school charity event. We will be handing out free back-to-school backpacks to children getting ready to go back to school in the Fall and they have asked me to speak and sing. I am always looking for ways to inspire others and to serve God with the gifts and talents He has given me. Sometimes it’s partnering with large youth organizations and other times it’s just a daily practice of serving my local community.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
I always knew I wanted to have a huge stage so that I could tell the world about Jesus (mom says, I actually told her that at age 4). Mom still had me try pop, Broadway, country, rock, and audition for so many projects because I was so young, she wanted me to try it all. But the “aha” moment came to both of us when I was 8 and started directly booking non-Christian projects who wanted me just the way I was as a Christian artist! They even allowed me to tell my story and love for Jesus. That’s when both mom and I knew God was up to something more than we could see. From that point on, I knew I was born not just to perform but to sing for God as a Christian artist and faith-based actress!
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or an example for each.
First — Acting was not acting in the sense of pretending. REAL emotions are required and you really need to be feeling the actual emotion not just “acting or pretending”. You actually need to become the character and not act like the character! There is a huge difference! It requires a great deal of training and being able to get in and out of emotions quickly. I wish someone had told me to find an acting coach that I could work well with and not focus so much on all the classes because it can take much longer to really get it, if you don’t have someone that gets you! After years of taking classes, I mainly do private sessions now and go to classes for specific training.
2nd — How important it was to know who you are and what you want to do. Know your brand, your genre and your Fan Base, sometimes takes time to develop but there’s another instruction in 2nd Corinthians; “Examine yourself whether ye be in the faith.” So, know who you are, and you’ll save a lot of time, effort and money. Work on those things you are passionate about. Don’t just throw everything at a board and see what sticks. You really need to check-in and see what really brings you joy! For me, I shine when doing comedy, voice-overs, or roles that have a positive spiritual message. Staying true to my values and morals are crucial because if I don’t I lose my integrity and then I am not really offering my best self!
3rd — How important it was to put your team together. Who do you need on your team, whether it’s a print agent, commercial agent, tv or film agent? What is it that you really want to do? Find the right Vocal Coach, Acting Coach, Dance instructor, Recording Engineer, Photographer, Videographer, Music instructor, Music Producer, Attorney, Agent, Manager and more… Surrounding yourself with a positive and supportive team can make all the difference in the world. Don’t just go with big names but ensure they are right for you. Make sure they are the people who understand you, believe in you, will go to bat for you and work for and with you. I like to have my team in place before I actually need them, then I can take my time and make sure it’s the right team for me.
4th — How fast and how ready you have to be to turn things around on a dime, auditions come up fast you can have family trips or events planned, friends over for a beach day — and suddenly, an audition comes in and they need your self-tape in 3 hours or the next morning. You have to learn a script or research a product or a TV show and you have to be really committed to your craft so train, train, train! Always be ready and up for everything. In order to be ready at all times my car is a classroom, recording studio, bedroom, dining room, well anything it needs to be to get the job done. I record in the car if a VO comes in last minute, I always have extra clothes in the car, food, water, and I even homeschool in the car. With COVID our house turned into an audition room, home studio, recording studio and mom had to be a photographer, videographer, editor, computer expert, and so much more! Let’s just say, mom and I have to wear many hats. Your team also has to be able to meet industry demands and be there for you when you need last-minute coaching.
5th — How helpful it would be to find more experienced friends and parents in the business and learn from them. For instance, we kept hearing casting directors say they want “Real Kids”. But what does that really mean? Do we show up for the audition just as we were? Did they really mean wear anything that you have on and act as silly as you normally act at home? For someone like me, I might be wearing the same thing for days even if it’s dirty, my hair is most likely not going to be brushed and I am usually really goofy silly! I like to be comfortable and when I find a favorite piece of clothing, I wear it out, “literally” most likely it’s going to be dirty and have holes in it and I love telling jokes nonstop! So, I wish they would have said, be yourself, have fun and wear something you feel great in even if it’s dirty. Or better yet, here’s what a friend told me! “Know what color looks best on you, find something in that color, buy multiple pieces, and wear it for EVERY audition!” I like my friend’s advice!
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
Music Stars Making A Social Impact: Why & How Sam Pio of ‘BE BLESSED’ Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.