Conversations with Whitney Miller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Miller.

Hi Whitney, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I usually start by saying I feel like I’ve lived multiple different lives in this one life. My entire life brought me to be able to pursue the only thing I’ve ever wanted which is chasing the wild dream of performing and creating music. I hear often that I seem to be fearless but I am far far far from that. My biggest dream and the biggest fear were (and still working on it) singing. The only thing I wanted to do with my life was sing but I was told by someone close to me when I was 10 years old that I couldn’t sing and I allowed that comment to dictate how I lived my life. It’s heartbreaking to look back knowing how much power I gave to that person and kept me from living my life fully.

There was nothing I wanted more but I was paralyzed by my fear of singing. I basically tried to accomplish anything else in my life in order to keep my desire for singing hidden, in hopes that it would eventually disappear and I would forget that I ever wanted to sing and write music. I was so terrified that I wouldn’t even speak it out loud. Fast forward I now live in Nashville writing and performing my own music on stages like the Listening Room and Whiskey Jam and CMT.com premiered the music video of my debut single Diamond Country.

Background: Growing up in South Texas I was playing sports from the moment I could walk and was always very adventurous. I wanted to experience life instead of taking people’s word for it. I was a big tomboy and loved to be outside hunting, fishing, or surfing so it was a huge shock to my entire family when I competed in my first pageant at 15. I won Miss Corpus Christi Teen USA and went on to compete at Miss Texas Teen USA where I completely flubbed it. I realized I was trying too hard to be something I was not and trying to mold myself into someone who I thought others would like, not the real me. I gave up pageants and became a professional wake surfer in college until a friend asked if I wanted to compete in Miss Texas United States. I immediately said hell no, but as cliche, as it sounds I had a feeling I would regret it if I didn’t at least try. So that next weekend, literally 5 days later, I was in the car with borrowed shoes, a dress, swimwear, etc. on my way to compete in Miss Texas. The only way I would compete is if I went into the competition completely myself. No inauthenticity. I won Best In Swimsuit & was crowned Miss Texas United States 2012. Later that year I competed in the national pageant, Miss United States, and won! It was a whirlwind!!!

When it was time to hand over my crown I wanted to not only challenge the normal societal narrative but also myself, so I decided to be the first national beauty pageant winner to go into MMA and boxing. I went to a full fight camp in Thailand and then again with Olympic Bronze Medalist Tony Jeffries in Santa Monica CA. I competed in countless Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and took a boxing fight shortly after which I won. From there I became a kickboxing commentator for Glory Kickboxing and started a very popular podcast called True Sex & Wild Love which we garnered over 2 million downloads.

All the while I had this music dream buried deep inside but knew I couldn’t live like this anymore. I needed to give myself the life I always wanted. Matt Noveskey from the band Blue October heard me sing through my vocal coach at the time and offered his support. I said YES, knowing this was my chance but I was so scared!! My motto now is to just simply say yes and worry about the “how” later. We have been working together for a few years now and I have never been happier in my decision to choose myself over my fear. I still have to work with my fear on a daily basis but I know this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing and I hope my story gives others permission to chase down their fears and make their hidden dreams come true

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not. If fact, now I have learned to expect challenges. I know that when a challenge arrives, I am doing something that pushes my edges and is expanding who I am as a human. My biggest challenge has been my own self-doubt. If you doubt yourself enough you will inevitably turn down or sabotage amazing opportunities because you don’t think you are good enough. I did that for so long by preventing myself from singing that I will never allow myself to go back to that. It was too excruciating to live that way.

My self-doubt will be there but I know what it’s like for doubt to dictate all of my actions. I now try my best to use my doubt to show me exactly what I need to do and go after. I now try to use fear as my guiding star. And I will be the first to tell you, I am scared A LOT, but my favorite feeling in the world is the feeling you get right after you do something you are afraid of

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Country rock singer/songwriter podcaster.

I pride myself and being open and honest about myself and life. That is something I prioritize in my music. I am not here to be like everyone else. I’ve learned that does not make me happy. I am proud of my over-the-top, fun debut single and music video Diamond Country because it represents more than just a song to me. It’s an accumulation of every time I told myself I wasn’t good enough, or I can’t pursue music. I decided to do it and have fun while doing it & I think that is something portrayed in Diamond Country. I will be releasing new music every month starting in January 2023. My music is the place I get to say all the things I never said out loud and the next few singles coming are a look into my heart that I never put words to before.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My dad was a competitive sailor so we were constantly on the water.

Every weekend, we would be sunburnt and sea-soaked. I was on my first boat when I was 2 weeks old. We would go to his sailing competitions in south Texas and camp out on some secluded beach. I would help my Aunt Cindy hand out breakfast to all the competitors, including my dad. Once they crossed the finish line we would host a huge crawfish boil (still my favorite food).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whitneymillermusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitnlove/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/whitnlove
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@whitneymiller1838
• Other: https://linktr.ee/Whitneymillermusic