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Heidi Rojas has spent her career giving her gift away — writing the songs that made other people stars. Two UK number one hits. Collaborations with Pitbull, Kelly Rowland, Natasha Bedingfield, New Kids on the Block. Music on Pitch Perfect 3, Glee, American Idol, and Good Morning America. And for a long time, she stayed behind the curtain — because that's where the work was. This week, she steps into the spotlight on Behind The Work.Heidi is a platinum-selling, number one hit songwriter, solo artist, vocal and performance coach, published author, co-founder of an artist development company, and the founder of Madre Creator Collective — a community built to prove that motherhood and creative fulfillment don't just coexist, they deepen each other. She is a proud first-generation Latina, raised in Chicago by a Cuban father and a Guatemalan mother, who wrote her first song at eight years old and has never stopped.In this conversation, we get into what it actually feels like to be the architect behind someone else's number one — and what finally made her say it was time to tell her own story. We talk about the nearly ten years of therapy and healing that shaped her solo music, what it means to write from the most vulnerable corners of your heart, and why sharing that publicly takes a different kind of courage than anything she'd done before.We also get into motherhood — what it looks like to be deeply present for two toddlers while building a creative life that refuses to shrink. We talk about the bilingual children's book she wrote with Con Todo Press, born from her song about reconnecting with her heritage and her ancestors. We talk about the most common block she sees in talented artists — and how she helps them break through it. And we talk about what it means to carry the weight of first-generation expectations while still insisting on becoming fully yourself.This episode is for you if:- You've spent years showing up brilliantly for other people's dreams and you're starting to wonder when it's your turn.- You're a creative who has put your artistry on the back burner — for your career, your family, or just because life got loud.- You're a first-generation Latina navigating the tension between who your family needs you to be and who you actually are.- You're a mother who doesn't want to choose between being present and being ambitious — and needs proof that you don't have to.- You're in a season of healing and you want to hear from someone who turned that process into art.- You need a reminder that it is never too late, and never too early, to tell your own story.Connect with Jessica:- Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio- Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana- Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow- Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide- Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.
Jessica Santana is a business and leadership coach for entrepreneurs and executives. She specializes in teaching founders, entrepreneurs and executives how to build strong businesses, careers and lives they love.
Behind The Work is the podcast show for ambitious executives and entrepreneurs looking to build businesses that scale and careers that leave an impact. Hosted by Jessica Santana, each episode features in-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and executives who are building companies from the ground up and are succeeding in their career fields. Discover the real successes, honest failures, pivots, and the vision behind the most successful people reshaping industries.
Some episodes, we’ll sit down with some dope guests and hear about their journeys. Other times, it’ll just be us—breaking down the lessons, strategies, and real talk that I have learned as an entrepreneur and executive – It will be everything you need to keep pushing forward and you’ll always walk away with something tangible and practical.
This show will provide answers to questions like:
- What does the real journey from zero to success actually look like—beyond the highlight reel?
- How do I turn my business idea into a profitable, scalable company?
- How do successful founders navigate failure, pivots, and setbacks without giving up?
- What's the difference between entrepreneurs who scale to millions and those who stall?
- How do you secure funding, and what should you know before approaching investors?
- What does it actually take to build product-market fit?
- How do you build a high-performing team and company culture from the ground up?
- What blind spots do first-time entrepreneurs have, and how do you avoid them?
- How do you balance growth with profitability and sustainability?
- What's the real behind-the-scenes strategy that successful founders use?
- How do you stay motivated and resilient through the tough seasons of building?
- What's the path to building a company that can scale beyond you?
- How do you know when to double down on your vision versus pivot?
- What does leadership actually look like when you're building something from scratch?
- How do the most successful entrepreneurs think differently about risk, money, and opportunity?
Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Behind the Work, the show for the very ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their careers, and their businesses. I'm your host Jessica Santana. And if this is your first time tuning in, I wanna say welcome to the show. So today, I'm so excited because we're gonna have an amazing conversation with the one and only Heidi Rojas.
Jessica Santana:So Heidi, welcome to Behind The Work. How are you feeling today?
Heidi Rojas:Thank you. I'm so excited to be here and I'm really happy. I'm just sitting next to my new beautiful friend and I'm just excited to have a conversation.
Jessica Santana:Yes. Me too. So when I was looking for a guest for this season, I was like, I really want artists and people who just have this beautiful way of like looking at life and folks that have shown resiliency. And so obviously our friend Susie was like, I got the right person and I wanna introduce you to Heidi. And so one thing I really loved about you and your story was that you grew up in Chicago.
Jessica Santana:You know, you're Cuban, you're Guatemalan, and you just had music really inform your life at a really, really early age. Can you share a little bit with us about how music has really shaped you even when you were really, really young? And what made you say, I can't live without this?
Heidi Rojas:Oh, gosh. You know, my mom always tells people that I started singing before I could even talk Mhmm. Driving them crazy. And then I started singing at church when I was really young. My abuelito was, in, like, a group called, like, Los Tenores.
Heidi Rojas:Mhmm. And so he was one of the singers in that. So it's just, like, been in my blood. And then my parents used to play Luis Miguel and Alejandro Sands and I got the first Shaquira album and was like when I was like seven and and we just like music was just in the house. It's like, and so I I just started writing my first song when I was eight.
Heidi Rojas:And it's just been my only thing. I mean, I didn't play sports. I didn't I danced, but otherwise, it was just singing and writing songs since I was little.
Jessica Santana:Yeah. And with that, you know, you mentioned that when you were eight years old, you wrote this song and at some point you graduated, you took yourself on tour. You know, I always say that people who place really early bets on themselves are like my favorite kind of people. Yeah. So when you think back to that time, what were the decisions that you were taking into consideration about why you needed to do that at that time?
Heidi Rojas:Okay. So when I was in high school, I, yeah, I graduated early. Like, I was 17. I graduated six months early to tour, with an an EP that I had written of songs, like, they were Christian songs. And it was funny because I went to like a pretty much like all Jewish school, but I was like, here's my songs about Jesus.
Heidi Rojas:Like just singing about God and like knowing that ultimately I wanted to make a difference. I wanted music. I believe in the power of music to make you feel good, to make you feel better, to bring you closer to yourself. And so I was just like, I left and and thought maybe I won't go to college. Maybe I'll just like go to Nashville and like be a famous singer.
Heidi Rojas:But my dad was very adamant as a as an immigrant from Cuba that I was gonna go to school. So I did. I went to school, and I'm so grateful for that. But the the desire, the drive just came from like genuinely wanting to make a difference. And, know, at the time, like my religious upbringing, like really gave me a message to share.
Heidi Rojas:And obviously that has evolved, but like, it was just something that I felt like was more important than like learning math in high school or going to prom or anything that I missed out on, you know.
Jessica Santana:Mhmm. Yeah. For sure. And it's so interesting that you talk about the the parent your parents and their like force not forcing you but encouraging you, right, to go and pursue education. I know thinking about my very Puerto Rican parents Mhmm.
Jessica Santana:Like for them education was a way out of poverty and us Totally. Being able to be economically mobile. And I remember thinking like, well, what if I wanna dance? You know, because they haven't been dancing for a long time. Yeah.
Jessica Santana:And thinking back at it, there were moments where like I resented them a little bit. And I was just like, why didn't you invest? You know, why didn't you invest? I could have been, Misty Copeland. Looking back at it looking back at it looking back at it, like, I actually don't think that was my path.
Jessica Santana:I think what I'm doing now really is my path. But Yeah. You know, parents just play such a pivotal role in the decisions we make. And so When you think about the fact that you were like, okay, let me listen to my dad, let me go to pursue my education. What were some of the things you were thinking about at that time about why you wanted to listen to him and why that was important for you to do so?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. I mean like, so I wanted to make him proud. You know, I wanna make my immigrant parents proud. They came here from my dad was seven. He left like the Cuban revolution.
Heidi Rojas:My mom was from Guatemala. Her family was all from Nicaragua. They escaped the war there. Like, I mean, these are people who've like sacrificed a lot. And so I wanted to make them proud.
Heidi Rojas:And like, the chances of me get you know, having a successful future because I went to college are significantly higher than me going to Nashville and being a bartender or host and like trying to make it in music, you know? Not that I didn't believe in myself, but I did see that I could have both if I just went to college and then pursued my career as an artist. And it really helped me to, gosh, the cognitive thinking, the ways that I have problem solving, so many different things. I don't remember what I learned in quantitative business analysis, but I am a business woman every day of my life. And I think that those skills, something was ingrained in me that has made me the entrepreneur that I am now through taking those business classes.
Heidi Rojas:So I don't regret it. It was a great experience, and I made my dad proud. So Yes. Well, shout
Jessica Santana:out to making your dad proud. And, you know, when you talk about business, you all you're graduating. You also went to WB. You spent some time at Warner Brothers. And so tell me what it was like to be a very artistic person and what seems or could seem like a very structured corporate environment.
Jessica Santana:What were the things that you had to learn and unlearn during that time?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. So when I was so I left I left '20 in 2008, I graduated from college and I went and did an internship at Warner Brothers Records. And I got a job offer there, so I moved to Nashville and worked there. And that was kinda crazy because I was like Hannah Montana. Like, I was like an artist at night, but I was like a business, you know, like sitting in the taking notes in the in the boardroom like during the day.
Heidi Rojas:And I really was learning so much about just being a fly on the wall in these meetings where they were at the time like trying to do these three sixty deals with artists. So they were trying to get like the merch and the and touring and all the just every part of it, not just being a record label. And so I was a merchandising and branding sales coordinator, which was really fun. I got to make up, like, all the just, like, graphics for merch ideas for these artists, and a lot of these artists were living off their merch sales when they were on tour. So it felt really cool that I was kind of like designing clothing and like coming up with these cool ideas.
Heidi Rojas:But ultimately, I was at night doing, you know, writer rounds in Nashville and like writing songs with different people and like trying to figure out like how am I gonna get out of here so that I can go pursue my dreams and but it was really such an important time for me to just like take notes on what the business really looks like Mhmm. You know, when the artists are not invited to those meetings, you know?
Jessica Santana:Yeah. For sure. Oh, that's such an interesting concept. The idea of like doing things for artists and they're not in the meetings and having to advocate for them. And so then let's go a little bit a little bit into the layers of that because you do have a history of supporting artists through your creativity.
Jessica Santana:Know, from what I know about you, you wrote two number one songs in The UK. Mhmm. And I would love for you to unpack the process of what it looks like to write a hit song. And then two, how do you do that for someone else in a way that still feels authentic to them?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. Those are such great questions. So when I left I left the label, I moved to LA. And I had every intention of being an artist. Like, I wanted to be the Latina Lauren Hill and I came with my EP and I was like, alright.
Heidi Rojas:Let's go LA. And what turned out very differently was a ten year career as a writer for other artists. And I think the you know, looking back, I was successful despite the fact that I really wanted to be an artist. I kinda got comfortable writing for other people, helping bring their voice out mostly because I wasn't ready to be vulnerable in my own way. I came to LA and I was writing these love songs, and I'd never really been in love before.
Heidi Rojas:Like, I didn't do a single hour of therapy until I was, like, 28. So That's hilarious. You know? So I'm like, so what am I seeing about? What is my voice?
Heidi Rojas:I didn't figure that out until I became a mom way later. So I was writing for other artists and it was really awesome. You know, some of them were like, artists that I really resonated with. Others were, like, 16 year old boys and so which I don't really resonate with that much, but we were just writing about life. And I think if you look at my catalog and the songs that were successful and the ones that I have on my laptop, like, they're the the running theme is just they're positive songs that, you know, either hopefully make people feel good about themselves.
Heidi Rojas:And and so that is one thing that is like me, signature me about it, but helping others write songs is really fun. The crafting a song is like one of my favorite things. And I kinda became really good at it in LA because the this is pop world where like there are no rules. There it's just like what's catchy, what feels good. And so I was able to infuse my soul r and b style as an artist into pop songs.
Heidi Rojas:And I think that that's why I was most successful in The UK because they love like soul pop music. And so I got to work with so many artists that I admire. And I don't know, maybe those hours were an investment into helping me find my voice unexpectedly later. So I I'm really grateful for the time that I had writing for others.
Jessica Santana:That's amazing. You know, so can you share for those that are like getting familiar with you and your work, like what were some of those songs and who were some of those artists?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. So okay. So my number ones are with an artist named Cheryl Cole. She's like the Britney Spears darling of The UK. She was in a girl a girl group called Girls Aloud.
Heidi Rojas:Then there's Little Mix. They won X Factor in The UK and they had this song called Wings. And it's like, your words don't mean a thing. I'm not listening. Keep talking.
Heidi Rojas:All I know is mama told me not to waste my life. She said, spread your wings, my little butterfly. So, like, that song is just so empowering and so fun, and that was the number one in The UK too with Little Mix. And then I wrote songs. I got to perform at Coachella with Sam Feld because he featured me on a song and it came out that same month as Coachella like ten years ago this week, which was amazing.
Heidi Rojas:And then I worked with artists from Natasha Bedingfield and Alan Stone and Pitbull and The Script. And I mean, you name it, it just was so much fun to work with people that I had grown up listening to. Yeah.
Jessica Santana:Let me just say, I feel so privileged. I feel like I just got like a personal concert.
Heidi Rojas:No one has ever no
Jessica Santana:one has ever sang on this damn podcast.
Heidi Rojas:And so that is such a first, y'all. Oh my gosh. Such a first. Don't get me started. I'll keep going.
Jessica Santana:I love the beautiful voice. Thank you. And so one thing that you ended the last response with was, you know, maybe the hours that you spent writing for other people helped you find your own voice. Mhmm. And I'm curious to know what was the moment where you were like, I am ready to use my voice.
Jessica Santana:Like, what fundamentally shifted in you to make that transition?
Heidi Rojas:Totally. Oh my gosh. It was crazy. So I became a mom. Mhmm.
Heidi Rojas:I have a so in 2018, I have an almost eight year old daughter named Luna, and then I have a five year old son named Santiago. And when I became a mom, I was already I had been through several years of therapy already, but I was like, holy crap, I'm holding this human being who is relying on me to teach her about the world. And I don't wanna teach her so much as I just wanna show her. I just wanna be the woman that I want her to grow up to be. And so that's gonna take a lot of work and a lot of self healing.
Heidi Rojas:So I got really serious in 2022. My dad was diagnosed with throat cancer. He's in remission. He's doing he's really healthy. But that, like, rocked my world.
Heidi Rojas:Like, the idea of our parents' mortality, the idea that they are here in LA, like they're they live next door to me, so they're like in this guesthouse, and they're just part of my everyday life. So when they left to Houston for his chemo radiation treatment, like that so did by the music, so did the Latin music, the the rice and beans, like, the, like, the just the food, the culture, my culture left with them. And it left me feeling like, okay. Why do I feel, like, so disconnected to myself as a Latina? Well, I grew up in the Midwest, and so much of the unpacking of that was just, like, what brought on this first song that I wrote called La Citroacion.
Heidi Rojas:Then after that, it was like, I was in postpartum depression. I was feeling pretty gnarly. I had just had a baby during a pandemic while having a one year old. And it was really intense, and I was really wanting to come back to myself to feel my power, so I wrote Madre Creator. And then I am enough was like a response to La Citrocion, saying like, I am Dequi and Neyal, like my ancestors fought so hard, like, I am enough.
Heidi Rojas:You know? And so every song is just kind of like a trajectory of like my healing and completely unexpected was this like creative awakening that I never ever would like not on my bingo card, like did not think would happen because I had let go of my dream as an artist. I had let go of even being a part of the music business. Because I had my kids and I'm not gonna pay somebody $30 an hour to take care of my kids so I can go write a song that like might make money someday, might come out someday and make a difference. Like I was my priorities had shifted.
Heidi Rojas:So I was just like writing for me and from a place of like deep vulnerability. And that's where these songs and I was just like, damn, like, they're really good. I believe in this in these songs. Like, I feel like they should come out. So I'm telling my my husband, I'm, like, 36.
Heidi Rojas:I've got a baby in my arm and a toddler on my hip. And I'm like, I think I need to put these out into the world just as a as, like, a practice for myself. Like, no expectation. And I I I hired, like, a 22 year old tech savvy artist to teach me, like, how to get a TikTok account and an Instagram account and, like, how to make these little videos. And and then 2023, I just started doing it.
Heidi Rojas:And it's three years later, and I have this, like, beautiful community of people who actually listen to my music. And I don't know what's going on and what's happening, but I feel like I'm aligned with my purpose because I've little Heidi has always that's all she ever wanted to do was write songs that make a difference and that help people. And through my own healing and through my own revelation becoming, I've been writing them, and it's just really fun. So I'm, like, on a wild ride.
Jessica Santana:Yeah. You know, Heidi, thank you so much for sharing. That is such a testimony. I believe that times of turbulence in your life spur you to ask you big questions that do return you back to yourself. I'm thinking about my own life right now.
Jessica Santana:You know, I had been an entrepreneur for ten years in 2024. Uh-huh. And for a really long time, I really wanted to start a podcast. Uh-huh. But for some reason, I felt unqualified.
Jessica Santana:I felt like who would wanna listen to me. Uh-huh. I felt like there was nothing interesting that I can bring to a space. And I remember I took a sabbatical that year that took me to Cartagena Colombia, and I was on this balcony. And I was like, you know what, Jess?
Jessica Santana:Like, it is time for you to bet on yourself. And so I hear so much of, like, your evolving and your development and your choosing to take these paths come from a place of pain because for me, like, it was like that. I was in tremendous pain after ten years of building something from scratch. I was thinking about all the things I had lost in that process, the time I didn't spend with my family, my parents, missing important moments. And I was like, I don't want for this to be my life, you know, continuing on.
Jessica Santana:And I took a bet on myself with this podcast. I appreciate you sharing like that because I do believe that pain also produces progress. So thank you.
Heidi Rojas:Oh, pain produces progress. I love that. Yeah.
Jessica Santana:So yeah. Of course. And so one of the things you've said is that, you know, the songs and what you're creating right now come from the biggest and most vulnerable depths of your heart. And I'm always curious about how do folks actually share vulnerability in a way that doesn't make doesn't make them feel exposed. And why do you feel like you can do that and still see it as, like, helping people when there's a culture right now that I feel sometimes online is easily choosing to cancel folks when they don't like them or they do, like, one thing that, like, they don't like.
Heidi Rojas:Totally. Yeah. I mean, I've been on the receiving end of the viral hate experience. It's wild. But honestly, I I I have a prayer that I I ask God pretty consistently.
Heidi Rojas:Like, don't you know, I don't have a dream anymore. Like, I don't have this, like, benchmark of success. I don't have this, like, I gotta just get there. I have no idea what's happening or what I'm doing or where I'm going. And I think that that relieves a lot of the stress of, like, I gotta get there.
Heidi Rojas:I gotta do you know, because, like, I could close-up shop tomorrow and be happy with my life, like, fulfilled because artist is not, like, my identity. You know? Like and so that kind of, like, relieves a little bit of the, like, tension between of imperfections, like, of things maybe not going the way that I thought, or me maybe misspeaking and being misinterpreted, misunderstood. That's okay, I'm totally comfortable with that. I recognized pretty early on when I was being misunderstood online that it a lot of the time when, you know, like when we're offended by something, there's obviously like there is black and white, obviously.
Heidi Rojas:But like when when we're offended by like nuanced, like things online, a lot of times it's an opportunity for us to grow and to figure out, okay, why is this bringing up such negative feelings for me? Because love and hate are very they're very similar. Extreme feelings are very they're they're telling they're giving us information. Mhmm. And a lot of times it's like, okay.
Heidi Rojas:If you don't like me, if I I'm not misstepping, obviously, like, if I'm not misstepping, like, and you don't like what I have to share, like, okay. I'm not for everyone. That's fantastic. Because it means I'm doing something that's like ex you know, like, gonna pull out love or hate. I welcome all of that because it's they're really close together.
Heidi Rojas:If somebody, like, passionately hates me, it's like, well, wow, I'm flattered. Because it's so close to love that they just If people just examined what it is inside of them that comes alive when they decide they hate something, and heal that, Love's just around the corner. So I think it is really brave to be out there right now. What you're doing is really brave. What I'm doing, like we're brave bitches, if I can say that.
Heidi Rojas:Because like, and I and I think about that often, but I do ask God, circling back to that, like, please don't allow any level of success or any level of opportunity that's not for me, that's not gonna enrich my life. I wanna protect. I've worked really hard for my life. I have a beautiful husband, two beautiful kids. I have a home.
Heidi Rojas:I have, you know, and I want that to be protected. And so if the path to sharing my music is is not a safe place for me and my mind and my heart and my family, then just close the doors and keep me safe and sheltered. Like, if this is as big as it gets, like, I've made it. Little Heidi is already proud of me. So that's it's all good.
Heidi Rojas:You know? And I think allowing us to just, like, experience the possibilities and just kind of be in this, like, whimsical, like, I've already got what I The validation is within me, right? I validate my own art. And it just kind of relieves us of running this marathon and then always changing the goalpost and then never really making it. It's like, we've made it.
Heidi Rojas:You've made it, girl. If you could see what I see, you have made it. You're doing it. What you set out to do on that the balcony Mhmm. In Colombia, like, you're doing it.
Heidi Rojas:And what happens next is just, a crazy adventure. Yeah. I think that's the that's the way that helps me when I'm like click, post, and just let the internet do what the internet does, you know? Which could be good, it could be bad. But I know who I am, and I just, I stick with that, and I keep the conversation between me and God going, so I have the discernment to protect my peace and my my life.
Jessica Santana:Yeah. Absolutely. Shout out to God, man. I think that
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. Woo. Shout out
Jessica Santana:to God.
Heidi Rojas:Shout out to God.
Jessica Santana:I'm happy that you you brought that into this because I do believe that sometimes people are afraid to talk about faith and the spiritual world because sometimes it's frowned upon and Mhmm. Obviously things when you think about, like, the history of religion, it gets a lot of it gets really sticky. But for me, I am a Christian and I love God. And honestly, when I think about, like, the steps that have been ordered for me, like, that's what keeps me going. So I'm really happy you mentioned that.
Jessica Santana:And so, obviously, you've amassed a community, a really big following on social media of people that just love you and love your art and what you're creating. What are you hoping that that community leaves with in terms of feeling and knowledge when they interact with you?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. So the 15 of working in the music business, and just gravitating to music since I was a baby, right? I know the power of music, good and bad. Believe lyrics can wire our brain to believe things about ourselves. And as women who grew up on artists that were singing, you know what, I mean, you know what we listen to.
Heidi Rojas:I don't have to tell you. Like, Sometimes I listen back on the lyrics and I'm like, oh my god, no wonder I was so insecure. No wonder I sat around waiting for this guy to call me instead of just going and doing my own shit. People make billions of dollars on the insecurity of women and young girls. And I think music can either perpetuate those lies and those insecurities or empower us to rewire our brains, brainwash ourselves to believe that we are audacious, incredible, superhuman women, right?
Heidi Rojas:And I want my music to play in the background when you're sweating a bit, and don't know, Ugh, can I do this? Do I feel like having a little bit of impostor syndrome? And then you play one of my songs, and you're like, No, wait, that was crazy. I am exactly where I'm meant to be, and I will create this table for myself and the people that I love to win here. That's just my dream, to just play in the background.
Heidi Rojas:And ultimately, I created this Male Creator Collective, which is just a dream to have more community experiences where we can kind of because I think the the best way for I grew up being the most intimidated in a group of of girls, of women. I was made fun of a lot growing up. Girls were not very kind to me. I take responsibility for never really putting myself out there authentically and trying to pretend to be perfect and all buttoned up. I I'm not a victim in it.
Heidi Rojas:But the best way for me to heal those experiences has been to find safe spaces, to be with girls, to be with women, to be accepted, celebrated, and loved. And I wanna create those experiences for a lot of women who grew up like me, feeling really uncomfortable around other women because we were pit up against each other. Yeah. And so Madame Creator Collective is an intention of like, I have this thing called dance parties save lives. And I just wanna create these, like, women dance parties where we just save each other's lives by dancing to music that empowers us.
Heidi Rojas:And and The Songs We Carry is this workshop that I'm building to activate our voice because my other creator has gone viral over, like, 40,000,000 views. And I want everyone to know that that was a mantra that I wrote to save my life when I was in postpartum depression, when I was trying to wire my brain to believe that I made a person. I can do anything now, you know? Every time I sing it, my throat like something happens in my body and in my mind and in my spirit. So Songs We Carry is a voice activation, like a songwriting workshop that you can take to create your own mantra to use your voice.
Heidi Rojas:Because I think we are not just, like, culturally, but politically in a time where women we need women to speak up. We need women to rebirth a new world. We need women to step up in their power and claim that. And that starts right here. It starts in our minds, and then we activate our voice.
Heidi Rojas:And so those are passions of mine that transcend the music, you know, and transcend, like, me as a public figure. It's just a collective of us coming together to heal together and to create a world that we know can we can you know, that we want our kids to grow up in, and that represents us as healers, as divine, you know, beings.
Jessica Santana:Absolutely. Yeah. And for those of you who don't know what Madre Creative Creator Collective is, it translates to mother creator collective. And so I'd love for you to share a little bit about how becoming a mother has informed your artistry, has helped evolve it. And what do you wanna share with other mothers who are artists and are thinking about still balancing motherhood and their creative life?
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. Oh, man. Motherhood cracked me open. It's what I lost I completely lost myself in motherhood. Like, in just I was scared of, like, this baby, like, keeping them alive.
Heidi Rojas:I was scared I mean, in every way, I was, like, waking up being like, who am I right now? Lost. And then I found myself. It was like a breaking down to then, like, rise up like a phoenix out of the ashes. Like, I it was an awakening that I never expected.
Heidi Rojas:And a lot of women feel this, but don't know how to, like, where to put that energy, don't know how to, you know, because if we're stuck in our routine and our limiting beliefs about like, yeah, but that's just a, that's a really brilliant idea, but like, I don't have time, I can't do that, it would be taking away from my, because we was like, in so many ways, we prioritize ourselves last. Right? What I would say to mothers is it isn't selfish to put yourself first, to prioritize your own well-being, your own self love, your own time for yourself. It's actually really, really beneficial to our babies for our kiddos to see their mama doing something that makes them happy, that brings them life. And so when my kids see me writing a song or singing my song in the kitchen, they're like, mama's doing her thing.
Heidi Rojas:Mama's you know? And all of a sudden, I just become a better, more fulfilled mother in those moments when they need me because I exist too. Like, I am a person with feelings too. And I have a song coming out in June for my birthday. So I'm turning 40 on 06/2626.
Jessica Santana:Oh, don't they call this like the golden the golden birthday when
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. That Like something like that because like I was born 06/08 06/2686. Now 06/2626, I'm turning 40 on a Friday. So this song called In My Prime is coming out. I've recorded it.
Heidi Rojas:We're working on the production, and I'm so excited to share it because it's just about how, like, no one can tell me I'm not in my prime. I am right now, and moving into this new decade, forties, in my prime, I feel like I've never been more awake, I've never been more spiritually connected to God, I've never been more just aligned with my purpose than I am now. And that's like a controversial message when you think about how I was in an industry for fifteen years. The music business tells you, you're inching your way to your late twenties, you are irrelevant. You've got nothing to offer after motherhood, because you should stay in the kitchen, and you should take care of your kids.
Heidi Rojas:You've got I mean, the messages are really loud, and they're really clear about where women, as they get older, belong. And I am I follow, like, women on Instagram, that I see them every day proving that lie wrong. For sure. And I'm just so inspired by them because we are saying, actually, no. I'm wiser.
Heidi Rojas:I am more relevant into this world. And it's funny because most animals, like, as the woman gets older, their role actually becomes more important. And we're the only, like, being in on this planet that really just, like, just complete like, turns the lights out Mhmm. On women as they get older. And we need to reverse that.
Heidi Rojas:And so, yeah, In My Prime is gonna be this anthem for all of us to be like, actually, you just counted me out. That was that's on you. That was foolish because I am only getting better. Mhmm. And just wait because it's about to get crazy.
Heidi Rojas:So I'm really excited about that one. Okay. Period, Heidi.
Jessica Santana:I always told myself that my twenties were gonna be like my roaring twenties. But actually, I will say that as I've gotten into the deep ends of my thirties, I think this was the best decade yet, and I imagine that I'm probably gonna say the same thing in my forties. I feel like people that when women get older, we're like disposable, and I'm like, no. I'm aging like fine wine. Okay?
Heidi Rojas:Yes, you are.
Jessica Santana:And so one thing I would love for you to share is a little bit about, like, your singing, songwriting. People don't always get to see, like, the other side of the artistry. I think we see, like, you know, the actual, like, output. But I'm curious if you could share a little bit of, like, the inner workings of, like, your worldwide endeavors and how you go about doing all of that in the background.
Heidi Rojas:Yeah. So the so the singer the songwriting, honestly, when I had the my kids, I stopped writing for other artists. And I've just been supporting them on the sidelines. I have friends who are on tour, and and I I love the idea of being, like, a multifaceted, multi hyphenate entrepreneur in my artistry. And so early on, a couple years ago, I met this amazing, amazing, now close friend, Nayibi Reinoso, and she has Contolo Press, which is a beautiful bilingual children's publishing company.
Heidi Rojas:And she was like, you know, I've always been I've always wanted to write a book that's based on a song. And so I was like, wait. That's crazy. Because over the last month before I met her, I had been feeling like I really wanted to write a children's book. Like, I just desperate like, really wanted to present to my kids, like, look.
Heidi Rojas:This is mommy's an author. Like, I wrote this book. And so this song, I am enough that I mentioned a little bit earlier, is this song about this little girl discovering her ancestral power and really being proud of how far her family has come from different homelands. And and and so she and I teamed up to create you know, make this song a book. So twenty end of twenty fourteen, I became a published children's book author through Press.
Heidi Rojas:I am enough is a bilingual story. And honestly, like, when I think of, like, worldwide success and I think of myself as a singer songwriter kind of pulling out of the box and really becoming all of these things, like a founder now of Madre Creator Collective. And who knows, like, you know, I've spoken on panels. I've done podcast interviews. I've I'm leading workshops.
Heidi Rojas:Like, that has all just come from the music, the songs. You know? I'm writing these songs that I truly believe in that are not just songs in my opinion. They're anthems. You know?
Heidi Rojas:Like, even the feeling song that I wrote for my son because he was having this massive tantrum like, these massive tantrums all the time. I mean, he's two, so obviously, like, it and I wrote this song to help not just him, like, regulate his feelings, but for me to regulate. Because when somebody's, like, throwing, like, something at you, your reaction is to protect yourself, he's like, do. So I'm not gonna punch him back. I needed to regulate myself too.
Heidi Rojas:So it was this like and so I post that, and I'm just like, oh my god. 40,000,000 views total, like, worldwide. Like, it's I'm about to have a million streams on Spotify Mhmm. Which is crazy for, like, a 39 year old independent artist just, like, making music while her you know, while my kids are at school. Mhmm.
Heidi Rojas:And and so I see so much more even just for that song. Like, I can I see that song being a part of, like, curriculum in schools? I see just this whole, like, movement around that song alone. My The Creator, I believe, is just at the beginning phases of its impact because I see that as an entire movement for mothers. I have other songs that I feel passionately just like that, where they're movements.
Heidi Rojas:They're these little movements that, I don't know, I think the writing is a part of my healing, the recording is a part of my healing, the releasing is a part of my healing. Now these songs are birthed into the world, and they're still babies. And so to watch them grow into these little movements for someone else to say, that's my song. I wrote I sing that with my son now, like my kid now. I sing that when I feel really, you know, nervous going into an interview or driving in the car.
Heidi Rojas:I sing this song. I get hundreds of messages a week, like, of people who are just integrating my songs into their life. And so I think that's what I call worldwide success. I think that's from all over the world, people messaging me, you know, saying that my songs have impacted me, and the ability to dream up, I want to be a children's book author, I want to write a book, and then a month later, serendipitously meet my new friend who published one of my you know, my first ever book. To, like, being able to say, wanna you know, who knows next week when I'm gonna be like, I wanna do something else.
Heidi Rojas:And the fact that social media helps us to connect with people all over the world to create is worldwide success. To me, like, that's what I think that that means for me. So
Jessica Santana:Yes. Absolutely. First and foremost, you got me sitting here thinking I'm a slacker because I thought I was supposed to write my book already. I was supposed to take this book on tour, but you're out here with songs and books and collectives. And I just wanna say, like, shout out to you for balancing it all.
Jessica Santana:I think that that's phenomenal. Obviously, I know, you know, on the back end, they're probably we're seeing, like, the highlight reel. You probably have a lot of things to share about how all of this came to fruition and the hard parts of it. And we don't have to go into that.
Heidi Rojas:I won't ask
Jessica Santana:you about that. But I'm curious, you know, with all the things you have moving right now, you have, you know, your songs, your book, the collective. You also just have this energy about you that I feel like more things are gonna come. What would you wanna tell your community who might be listening into the interview today about what's next for you and what they can expect from you? Yeah.
Heidi Rojas:Oh my gosh. So I think gosh. I'm kinda messy. I'm not strategic in the sense that I don't have a marketing plan. I don't have a team.
Heidi Rojas:I don't have it's just me. I wake up and I'm like, what do I feel like sharing today? And I just do it. And then if I don't get to it, the goals of the day, it's okay because school, my kids get out at 02:30 and then I become mom and that's as much as I was able to get done. I'm not pressuring myself farther than just to show up.
Heidi Rojas:And so if you I'm so grateful to my community for giving me that grace and that acceptance to just show up like that. And what can they expect more of me doing what I feel passionate about, what excites me, and with no other expectation than just like, God, yeah, worked out. I mean, every time that I think of like, oh my gosh, I would love for Pink to record this song, or I would love to meet beyond the Drew Barrymore show, or I would love how cool would it be to be to sing with Kelly Clarkson on her show, or how cool would it be to, like, all these different, you know I'm not, like, sending out emails and being, like, please, you know, pick me pick. Like, I'm literally just, like, doing my thing and trusting that as a sacral generator, like, and I don't know if you follow human design, like, they energetically, like, just come to I'm I'm I thrive when, like, energy and, like, just things just come to me, like, opportunities come to me. So I'm just gonna, like, do my thing over here in and I just believe that like, I'm only 39, I'm about to be 40.
Heidi Rojas:Like, oh my gosh, when I think of like what 50 could look like or 60 could look like or 70, like, it's so exciting because I'm here for the long game. I've got over 30 songs I've written in the last three years that I am recording and working to release over the next, like, all the time, right? Mhmm. And so I'm just gonna have fun. And if you wanna join me and have fun with me, you know, be careful because I might inspire you to go and try like, you know, start that podcast or start that new line of of soaps or floral arrangements or, you know, look a set.
Heidi Rojas:And so I I think we're just gonna have fun.
Jessica Santana:Yeah. Well, thanks for being here. I really appreciate your story and you just sharing so much of yourself on the show today. For those who are listening and they wanna keep in touch and they wanna listen to your music and purchase your book or even get involved with the collective, like how can they be in touch?
Heidi Rojas:Yes, please. So I'm at Heidi Rojas Music. And then through there, you can get in touch with I Am Enough My Book and Malay Creator Collective. We all have our own little I have all of my Instagram accounts just all linked onto Heidi Rojas Music. If you want to listen to my music, it's on most music platforms under Heidi Rojas, like red, feminine plural.
Heidi Rojas:And and, yeah, this is gonna we're gonna do fun stuff. We're gonna heal together and cry and laugh and dance and please join me. I would love that.
Jessica Santana:Yes, everyone. So make sure that you follow Heidi and all of her endeavors. If you like the show this week, make sure to give it a thumbs up, subscribe on YouTube, and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on social media. See you next week.