Meet Jillian Valentin | A multi-hyphenate creative- VoiceActor/Singer, Artist, Author/illustrator, & Creative Marketing Director in web

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jillian Valentin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jillian, how do you think about risk?
Since I was a little girl I never followed the norm. I went against everything I was told I should follow when it came to a career. If I wasn’t happy somewhere, I left. I never wanted to just do the “9 to 5” & follow the same “normal path”. At that time it was risky chasing dreams with no real fallback, but even in the non plan I knew what I was doing. If you don’t take risks you end up with regrets & that scared me more than having a real 5 or 10 year plan. Everything I’ve ever done even if it was a mistake lead me somewhere great to help build/push me to the direction I needed to go, even if I didn’t know it at the time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
This will be a long story, so I’ll try my best to summarize it while keeping in the good parts.

I’ve been a creative my whole life, a singer and artist. Painting and drawing were beloved hobbies I learned from my dad, who was a painter. My creative view of the world and need to make things came from my mother. Singing was something I just did; I don’t know where or why I picked it up, perhaps my love of musicals and Disney cartoons. Music was the path I thought was my destiny, and I pursued it professionally since I was 15 years old. I performed in choirs, bars—you name it. At 18, I declined a stable government job to intern at a major record label instead. I wanted to learn the backend of the industry to be deserving of it and feel confident and smart within it. It led me to years of working at a few major labels (under the same umbrella), management firms, and booking agencies. I went from intern to assistant to artist promotions, while still pursuing my music career. After a few different routes in music, a TV show, and a radio show, I ended up in a dance music duo with a close friend. We were eventually signed and had the greatest few years. Here’s where things started to take a turn.

I ended up in a car accident that left me with some disabilities and changed my ability to not only perform but also hear properly, which made a lot of the music we made extremely difficult for me. I sadly kept this struggle to myself while trying to push through as hard as I could. Long story short, for many other reasons, eventually my partner decided he didn’t want to pursue music anymore. Our break broke me, but I had to let go and respect his decision.Toward the end of our partnership, I ended up in a second freak accident that exacerbated the injuries I already had and added new ones. This time, I became semi-deaf in one ear, developed brain cysts, re-broke my jaw, suffered severe head injuries, lost the use of my dominant hand, and experienced nerve and ligament damage, chronic pain, and a pile of other injuries. I thought every single one of my dreams was over. I went to seven different specialists and was told I’d never use my hand again and that I should “learn to use my other hand to sign my name”. I’m slightly ambidextrous, but the lesser side didn’t sign my name the way my dominant side did, and that didn’t sit right with me. So, the stubborn, ambitious, dream-chaser part of me took over.

I decided not to feel sorry for myself and used what was once my hobby to heal myself. I used my left hand to teach my right hand to hold a spoon, and in time, to hold a brush and paint without a vision, just color to canvas. I pushed through the pain and started to use my hand again. Before I knew it, I had a collection of paintings and decided to turn my pain into a series. I submitted my art into a competition to be featured in a gallery, and I won. I had my first show as a disabled artist. I thought, “This is it. This is how I use my voice—through my story, through art.” I started to work on illustrating and writing a children’s book with my sister and on a full art series. Just when I was offered a full solo show, the pandemic hit. My dreams stalled once again.

In early March 2020, I used a bit of my radio background to take voice-over classes and booked commercials and animation shorts. While stuck at home, in between voice-over gigs and learning the trade, my sister told me about this app called Clubhouse, and every lonely and bored soul was there. I went into rooms every day and ended up connecting with people I worked with at record labels, and making new industry connections. I spent days hosting rooms with known names and artists, and somehow I was in a different world, a different timeline. This is where I first heard “NFT.” I was fascinated by this “new” wave we were learning about, as everyone was on this app. Soon, artist after artist came to place their art on the blockchain, and I wanted to do the same. I started to learn how to draw digitally, which led me to joining the Bored Apes rooms before they minted and talking to other crypto enthusiasts. I eventually gained the courage to tell my story and ask how I could be an artist in the NFT world. This is where I met a crypto investor who told me he wanted to invest in me because of my story. He showed me the blockchain and all its potential. But here I was again, feeling the way I did when I started in music—feeling like I needed to learn the backend to be deserving of being an artist here. So, I went to work for an established NFT project.

The world opened up again. I continued to record voice-overs, and Clubhouse folks turned to Twitter (now X). There, I met like-minded friends in the art and crypto world and built a name for myself in Web3. Through this, I met the powers that be which led me to where I am now—working on NFT projects within the music and entertainment industry as a creative marketing director and project voice of Megadeth Digital, the artist lead in Wild Wolf Witch, and another project yet to be made public, while also creating characters in voice-overs and books.

No matter where things went or how bad or sad it became, I found a way. I never doubted the path or where it would lead me. It may look vastly different than I thought it would, and my body may not work the same but my dreams are still realized. I’m here. I’m working as a full-time creative.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well I’m a New Yorker though I travel back and forth to LA, FL and Puerto Rico. When I’m home in nyc I’m more of a home body honestly. I work from home and tend to stay there as boring as that sounds lol unless there’s an event. I spent so much time doing the party scene when I worked at labels that I’m still exhausted today lol. So I don’t know many places to go. However if my best friend came for a week I would take her to some good eats!

We’d go to my old stomping grounds in Williamsburg BK and have some food at Vanessa’s dumpling house, a drink and some games at Barcade, then a walk by the water or maybe travel to LES to have desert at Rice to Riches followed by some vibes and a drink at Beauty and Essex. Both options are a cute vibey night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The 3 people in my life who build me up in every aspect of my life! My Mother Elisa, my sister Lisann & my fiancé Alex. They never let me give up & are my biggest hype men/women. I’ve been extremely
fortunate to have them support me in every decision I make. They are my inspiration and my hero’s whenever I feel I can’t save myself and even when I can.

Website: Coming soon!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillianvalentin

Twitter: https://x.com/jillianvalentin

Other: Most if not all of my socials and ways to connect are my name: @Jillianvalentin

Image Credits
Art by Jillian Valentin

All photography is owned by me and still shots credited to the nft msp conference.