Self-Motivation Leads to Musician’s Success

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

Finding a job at 15 for most kids means trying to get on with one of the fast-food places near their homes or they might take an entrepreneurial path, picking up service jobs for friends and neighbors.  

But not Tanya Nolan, she went her own path. 

“I called about a vocalist position with a band listed in a local newspaper,” shared Nolan. On the phone she auditioned for the leader of the band. “He said he needed to get permission from my mom since I was only 15,” Nolan explained. 

Her mother has no regrets on granting permission for Tanya to join the band. “I have always loved her music. She could really sing,” said Evelyn Nolan Turner. 

Thus began Tanya’s path as a vocalist. She brought to the band her music skills which she gained through being a percussionist at Ball High School, where she played in the marching band. 

Becoming a percussionist was part of her destiny, “I had a huge overbite and buck teeth so I couldn’t play the flute or other wind instruments,” Nolan shared. Yes, she did sing with the church choir for a while as a young person but her lead role as a vocalist came from her phone audition.

She loved her time with the high school band and remembers those years of her life with fondness. “The band coaches were great, I loved it and loved being a part of the band,” said Nolan. 

Tanya is the oldest of three sisters; she grew up with a huge extended family in Galveston and never got bored, nor did she ever have a shortage of friends. “With so many cousins, there was always something to do and someone to hang out with.,” said Nolan.  

Writing her own songs and music was a task she started just after she became a lead vocalist.  She has thousands of songs she has crafted and so far, and has recorded over 100 original tunes. 

Getting gigs on her own with her own work was a challenge she took on as she matured.

Her work started hitting the R&B top 20 charts back when she was just getting started. Recently her release of “Good Woman” is bringing her back to the top 20. She focuses on R&B because that’s what seems to be bringing her the most success, but that isn’t her only specialty.

I kind of consider my work to be a musical gumbo,” explained Nolan. “I write words and melodies according to how they come to me. The energy and feeling of my music are what I am experiencing at the time that I come up with the words or melody,” Nolan shared. 

With the quick tap of the audio app on a smart phone she can document melodies and lyrics in the moment as they come to her. “If I wake up in the middle of the night now, I can use my phone to record an idea,” she shared. In the past, a pencil and paper or a tape recorder were her tools for keeping track of her ideas.

Music is her passion and her love. She’s been getting her own gigs for a long time, but with music as a job, meant she was living paycheck to paycheck. Nolan wanted more financial security, so she stepped into the world of real estate. 

“There was a seminar out of state that covered real estate investing that I attended. I learned about buying real estate as an investment for either flipping or holding. After that, I started Googling to learn all I could about buying real estate,” said Nolan. 

She estimates that she owns just over 200 total units of real estate located throughout the nation. She owns two childcare centers, one in Galveston and another in La Marque.

Nolan is no longer living from one paycheck to another; she has reached a financial level that affords her the opportunity to help her family and live her life’s dream. 

“She is very generous and kind but what I love most about her is that she’s living her dream,” said her mother. 

Tanya doesn’t wait around for a motivational speaker or feeling like she can do something. No not her, she motivates herself every day with personal affirmations. “I try to stay true to me. I expect the best and I try not to be influenced by others,” Tanya shared.

This summer Tanya will be on tour with most of her stops being in Georgia and other Southern states.