Hello, and welcome to And youw, How Did You Make
It, the podcast in which we explore each step
that has built the career paths of various professionals
through the discovery of their habits, passions,
and interests over the last few decades. I'm
Yosra, your host, and today we meet Emma. Emma
has been to more music festivals and DJ sets
performances than most of the people you know,
from Glastonbury, Tom Holland, Coachella, and
many more across the world. Why? Because she
chose and worked tirelessly to become a brilliant
creative in the music industry for the past nine
years. Born and raised in Malta, she walks us
through every opportunity she seized before becoming
the creative mind behind the brilliant content
you see on the social media of the artists she
worked or is still working with, as well as her
own account. While her work didn't stop at the
music industry, She also covered sports events
and other global events. She gives you insight
on what it takes to make it where she is today.
But wait, wait, wait, wait. She doesn't only
wear the creative hats. She also is a cybersecurity
graduate. And now you're asking yourself, how
come? Didn't I just say that she has been working
in that industry for almost a decade now? How
is she also a cybersecurity graduate? Well...
She managed to study while building her own professional
path in the industry and she tells you everything
on how to manage it all. Her openness might change
your perspective on how capable you can be. And
she will invite you to work as hard as you can
to be able to live your passion as well. If the
music industry is not your calling, Emma will
inspire you to pursue what drives you nonetheless.
Let's learn from her. Hi Emma, I'm so excited
to have you on the pod today. The busiest season
of the year is about to start as we record this
episode, so before summer 2025. So I'm letting
you explain how come, as I'm handing it over
to let you introduce yourself. So hi guys, I'm
Emma Trante, I'm a content creator from Malta,
I'm currently 28 years old. Oh god, how to explain
myself, I kind of do... A million things in one.
I love, for a living, I create content for artists,
music artists. I work a lot in social media and
marketing and I do everything in between. But
yeah, that's sticking from a bit of a different
background, a tech background. I graduated in
business and IT at the University of Malta. And
then I continued doing my master's in Birmingham
in the UK in cybersecurity. So actually, by profession,
I'm an ethical hacker. But life took a different
part. I'm more into the creative route at the
moment. Yeah, just taking life one step at a
time. I can't wait to share your story with the
people listening to us. Let's first start with
your definition of success. That's a very interesting
question, to be honest. Definition of success
for me can be split into multiple, you know,
factors. In my line of work, it's to create some
authenticity. So to create your own work that
when people look at it, they say that's Emma's.
You know what I mean? To be well known in the
industry for the work I produce, you know, and
that's these little things count for me for success.
Also the growth that I get. you know, from starting
from zero and growing along the way with different
artists, being with different people, being,
you know, surrounded by like -minded individuals.
I don't like kind of consider success in monetary
values, but more in stages of life, you know,
when I managed to accomplish something I've been
dreaming of doing. You know, a little example
is I recently shot a photographer show in London,
one of the most iconic UNESCO sites. um called
the royal albert hall which is a historic building
where loads of artists have got famous and whatnot
and It's been on my bucket list and recently
I managed to go and shoot it with an artist,
you know. So these little pieces for me are like,
yeah, the definition of, I would say, inverted
brackets success. And, you know, getting involved
in different projects and obviously seeing they're
being involved in the hard work and then seeing
the outcome of it, you know, these little projects
are a little success to your, you know, your
career, your history for everything in the future.
And so I would say it's a bit of a difficult
question to answer, but I'm just giving you like,
you know, what comes to my mind straight away
when you ask me that question. Oh, there is a
great insight here. Learning. You can break down
your milestones, which leads you to your own
success. Exactly. So it's like, you know, it's
about consistently creating and like. impactful
content on my end you know that resonates with
that type of audience with the music audience
with different types of age groups you know growing
my influence in my work and you know influencing
people around me and obviously while whilst earning
living in the sense you know because this is
my work but at least I create my creative voice
You know, so I create my stamp in my type of
work, in whatever industry I'm working, where
I'm working, how I work, you know, and that's
my level of, I would say, success. It's all about
like, you know, the authenticity of your work,
you know, the engaging, the engagement of the
audience or building a community around you of
like -minded, creative individuals, you know,
and then at the end of the day, reaching new
audiences. So it's about being, about the growth
and impact, you know, of inspiring others. You
know what? After all these years, almost a decade,
right? I always, always, always recognize your
work. Whether it is shot by the artist, not even
shot by you, and you're not even tagged there,
I always recognize your work. And I'm sure I'm
not the only one. Okay, let's get people on the
line right now. Thank you. Then that's my definition
of success. Let's deep dive into your teenage
years, your middle school years. What kind of
student were you? What kind of interests did
you have? Did you have any passions? Were you
involved in any extracurricular activities? What
can you tell us? Yeah, middle school years where
I was growing up as a kid, I was very active,
very supportive. I always wanted to be involved
in everything. no matter how good or bad I was
in it. I always wanted to be involved in every
sport, in every kind of like drama lesson, you
know, I was very into that creative world and
music. I would say my favourite classes were
physical activity and the art classes, you know,
because I always had that little creative vision
in me. My habits were... Oh, what were my habits?
I can't remember what my habits were, but I'd
say my extracurricular activities were football
dance, tennis. But I would say my least favorite,
I think, were the languages or the history classes.
I was more of a, you know, touch and go type
of person, you know, social interaction, these
type of classes where you get time to discuss
as a group, work with others, come up with ideas
and concepts. So that's what I would say my childhood
life was at school. I would love for us to discuss
a little bit more of what you just said. You
said that you did go for an activity, whether
you were good or not. Can you tell us a little
bit more about it? Can you tell us a little bit
more about your mindset at the time? If you still
have it. For me, it was also like a learning
curve, you know. I could have not known anyone
in the sport or in the group, but I was like,
I wanted to try it. You never know who you can
meet in terms of joining a sport. You obviously
join a group, you join a team. You become part
of a community. You can be good or bad at it,
but as long as you enjoy it, that's the most
important thing. But if you never put yourself
out there, you never try, then you never know.
I wanted to start tennis. And I was like, oh,
should I start? And I just said, you know what,
I'm going to start. And to this day, I still
love it. I say like, yes, of course, you should
try these things, try everything, you know. That's
when you learn more about yourself. And obviously,
creating these little communities from when you're
young, you know, besides helping you physically
and keeping you healthy, you never know what
that could lead to in the future. Very one of
those who, you know, if who needed to speak in
a group, you know, if I went abroad on a podium
or something, I would volunteer. You know, I
was always the person who'd be like, yes, no
worries, guys, I'll take the lead, I'll take
the lead. And I think it's helped me a bit in
my type of line of work later down the line today,
you know. I always say, if you never put yourself
out there, if you never try, then you miss a
lot of opportunities. You miss the networking
section. And yeah, I mean, these little values
translate in everyday life, basically. You shared
three important elements there. First, you talked
about the proactiveness. to either build or join
a community. And if you're still a teenager or
even a young adult and you feel like you have
not found your community yet at school, at uni,
wherever you are, joining a sports club or an
art group will allow you to find like -minded
people. The second point is that you might like
the sport and play it throughout your life for
fun. And the third point is that even if you
think you're not mastering the sport, whatever
it is, no one was born great. At any kind of
sport, everyone has been learning and trying
hard despite all the challenges. Because you
know what? Sports help you disconnect from the
craziness of your day, wherever you are at school,
uni or at work. You have to try. If you don't
try, you never know. Honestly, in anything, in
sports, in learning a new subject at school,
learning a new language, in work, you know, getting
involved in something. If you try, you never
know. That's what I say. There's so much to experience
out there. There's so much to get involved in.
There's so much to see, so much to learn. So
I'm a person who was very like that from a young
age, you know, where at the moment I'm still
like that and I've grown old. You know what I
mean? I always get excited to do something different,
to get involved, to do something more. You're
right. And to wrap up on your early teenage years,
do you remember receiving any advice from family
members, close circle, or do you have any advice
yourself for the aspiring artists listening to
us? In terms of advice like that, I, again, I
always stick by that motto, if you don't try,
you never know. Again, the relationships you
build around getting involved in these communities
could last forever, number one. and something
you don't take for granted. And again, don't
wait for something to fall into your hands or
fall into, you know, get involved, see what's
around you. Again, at school, I used to be the
person, you know, of the Senate events. How can
I be part of the organization committee? How
can I bring my two cents to it, you know? What
ideas can I share and generate? We used to have
a lot of music events, you know, we used to have
sports events, we used to have more of like the
European politics side of events. When I had
the opportunity to be part of the EU Parliament
and whatnot, when I was younger, I was the first
one to, you know, step forward and be like, I'll
speak on the podium, I'll do this, I'll do that.
Because it's an experience, you know, and every
experience counts nowadays. By trying everything
you can, and that's what we understand from Emma's...
experiences here is that the more you try and
the easier it will be for you to identify what
you like doing or not. It will help you so much
in life. Agreed, agreed, agreed. And that was
both in my middle school years and high school
years because basically those two are very well
connected. Back here, obviously you're in your
middle school and your high school in the same
school, you know, so you just keep developing,
developing, developing until you hit university,
basically. And this is a perfect opening to the
next part of your life, which is your high school
years, late teenage years. Can you tell us all
about it? Did you have similar interests? Did
you change in any way? Yes, because actually
high school years, for us, it's kind of called
sixth form. So it's like those two years before
uni. And that's when you start to understand
more about yourself and your interests and what
you want to do. Why? Because you're forced to
choose subjects, right? You're forced to understand
like, okay, what's... You might not know exactly,
but what career path are you going to take? Because
you obviously need to start studying and prioritizing,
you know, your focus on those subjects, then
develop further and pursue them at university.
So obviously things started to change, you know,
as I said, I started to get very into tech. So
obviously I was always choosing, you know, the
computing subjects, the same with the accounts.
I was very on the mathematical side. That always
kept, that was always the same. I was still never
a fan of history, geography and these type of
things. And then obviously my creative side started
growing, growing, growing. I just started to
enjoy, I had a phone at that time, not even a
camera, you know, meeting up and being with people
or being the one to be part of the media team
at school, these little types of things. And
I was, and I used to really enjoy it, really,
really enjoy it. And it's kind of where all my
photography. Passion sort of took off as well.
We were doing loads of events. We were, you know,
at school, we had some films that we did as part
of our curriculum studies for like Shakespeare
and Macbeth. And I was always on the sidelines
taking photos, you know. I was the only person
who was involved and interested in this. And
I started to spark an interest there. That's
how my, I think I would say my photography career
kind of started, ignited. This is inspiring.
So you started with the tools you had. a phone
only, and the environment you are in. You did
leave your own advice. You tried and the passion
was born. Agreed. And it's advice that I'll give
today. Get involved. Try out new stuff. You might
hate it. Done. At least you had a feeling that
you move on to the next thing, you know? You
won't miss out on any opportunities like that.
You network. And this all starts from a young
age. And can I tell you, discipline starts from
a young age. So in the sense, if you get involved
in sports, in teams, in competitions, these are
all life lessons that help you, like shaping
who you are and helping you, obviously, later
on in life. Those type of people who are involved
in sports. If they're not disciplined to wake
up at a specific hour and train every day, then
they're never going to get better, you know.
Then discipline comes in many forms. It comes
in your personal life, your work life. I can't
wait to talk more about your current life and
how disciplined you still are after all this
time. So let's wrap up on your middle school,
high school years, teenage years. What kind of
student were you? Were you working hard every
single day after school? How did it look like?
I had to work. I mean, I wasn't like the ace
academic student. I did very well, but I used
to have to work for it. I used to have friends
who just used to read a textbook and be like,
we'll get 100, you know, whatever they do, because
they have naturally that. you know, that beautiful,
intelligent instinct in them. But no, I definitely
had to work. I was the person who should start
studying from a month before, you know what I
mean, or two months before, that type of person.
And obviously the subjects that I took, you know,
in the sense of computing, coding and stuff,
it's not something you can read by heart and
reapply in an exam. It's something which you
have to understand, understand the logic behind
it, and then apply that into the exam, basically.
But to answer the question, it was more about
the discipline aspect in the subject. Yes, I
was one person to definitely work hard. I never
got anything easy. For studying, I had to work
hard. For any sport, I got involved and I had
to work hard, you know. And obviously, you get
better at things, but you have to put in the
time and the hard work because if you don't do
that, then you're never going to progress. Here
you have two takeaways from Emma. First, nothing
comes easy. Remember one thing from this school
experience, you have to put the work in. The
second thing is, if you are remotely interested
in anything, give it your all and see what happens.
Exactly. And there's a lot of competition out
there, you know, so there's a lot of people hungry
for what you want to, you know, so if you don't
attack it, you're going to be left on the sidelines.
And if you start to like something, then you
ignite a passion in you and say, okay, this is
interesting. What can I do next? How can I get
more involved? How can I do more things related
to it? So that's why I say, but if you never
try, you never know. Exactly. And if you don't
know where to start, ask everyone around you,
teachers, family members, family members of your
friends, friends, anyone you can see around you,
ask them. And if none of them can help you, go
on YouTube, look online, see what people have
shared and see where you can start. It's also
a case of don't be shy to reach out, you know.
Get involved, reach out, ask questions, ask if
you can be part of something. And it's okay to
be scared. A lot of us are shy. Life is all about
getting out of your comfort zone, as you always
end up having to learn something new. How to
ride? How to ride a bike? how to swim, and much
more. Agreed. You said it perfectly, Astra. Emima,
did you receive any advice yourself on how to
manage your challenges of those teenage years?
Or did you receive any advice on where to go,
what to do, how to navigate this transition towards
higher education, which seems like a mountain
we need to climb at that age? Obviously, my parents
always directed me and provided me advice. I
had no idea what I wanted to do. I was into tech,
but looking at my life now, I'm like, I took
a different line. There's so much you can get
involved with and this stress of life where everyone
needs to know what they're doing, what they want
to become, where they want to live. You figure
it out. This is a journey. It's a process. Life
is a process. Life is a, there's no start and
end. Just take it as it is. Exactly. It's a journey.
It's okay to have doubts and not knowing what
to do or where to go. And to this day, I'm surrounded
by 20 plus, 30 plus years old friends and colleagues
who are either lost or don't know what to do
or change their minds about their next steps
consistently. And that's okay as well. But if
you want to have some say in it, in your career
path, give yourself the strength by investing
in yourself. Working, studying, volunteering,
anything that makes sense where you are and given
your own situation. Agreed. And as I say, if
you're hungry for something, you go for it. Try
it. You might not be good at it, but at least
you said you tried it. Move on to something else.
Spark your second interest. Again, we are conscious
that each financial situation is different. Each
country offers different financial support and
access to cultural events and opportunities.
That's why we are sharing more mindset approaches
rather than actual steps. And we want you to
ask yourself the following up questions. How
can I make this happen given my situation? What
is my local city council or other structure offering?
Is there any scholarship I can apply to? Is there
any part -time volunteering opportunities I can
seize on site or remotely? Are there anything
I can use at home to start? Are there any charity
shops, second -hand stores I can purchase equipment
to start my own journey? Ideally, it's for you
to not see your situation as being a blocker,
but seeing opportunities everywhere you start
looking into. It's about also wanting it, wanting
it starting off from somewhere and not just sitting
to wait, to wait until whatever happens, you
know what I mean? And so you ended up wanting
to pursue two paths at the same time. As you
reached your higher education path, you answered
your creative calling and you were studying at
the same time. First, can you tell us why you
chose cybersecurity? I studied tech. I was always
fascinated with the digital world, always on
my phone, had started to use the digital camera.
Every little piece of... the equipment which
was digital i was very very interested in and
so obviously i i ended up doing my first degree
a bachelor of science in business and it which
touched both the business side of things and
the aspects of technology within the business
you know so i had had a little bit of background
of coding then the background of community management
systems for operations so i got a big big feeling
from the front end and the back end and i loved
it And when I finished university, I wasn't quite
sure what I wanted to do. I had obviously been
doing photography, but it was just a side hobby
since then. And I did a bit of research online
to see what was hot at that time in terms of
job wise, in terms of topics. And I kind of started
to read more into the cybersecurity world and
understanding the security of individuals' devices
and everything online. And when I was doing some
research, it was quite prominent. They were saying,
oh, it's the next big thing, next big thing.
And I'm like, you know what, it's the next big
thing. I want to be part of the next big thing.
I want to learn. I want to study. I want to know
more. And that kind of then sparked my interest
in understanding how ethical hacking works online,
how easy it is for someone to access your information.
And I decided to pursue a master's in the UK
in cybersecurity. It wasn't easy at all. It was
a very difficult and demanding degree. And I
was possibly one of the youngest because people
had work experience before they went in. But
it was more about understanding the landscape
and saying, OK, what am I going to do career
-wise? What's available? What jobs are on the
market? Then obviously, once you start to read
into a subject and you start to like it, then
why not go for it? And how was your experience
studying that? My experience studying was a very
difficult course, I must say. That for sure,
nothing compared to any other course I did. Why?
Because, again, I was surrounded by people who
are tech nerds, a lot of people who have had
work experience, whilst I went directly from
my university degree into my master's degree.
which had its pros and cons, you know, but I
was surrounded by people who had already worked
in the industry, which made a massive difference,
you know, because they encountered situations,
they had more experience, they knew what to do.
Once I went there as a newbie, but you know what,
it was something I was interested in doing, I
wanted to study straight away. And I said, let
me give it a try. You know what, at the end of
the day, I have a degree on my name, a master's
degree on my name, and if I never use it, then
that's another case. I used to say, I'd be like,
oh my God, everyone's 10 steps ahead. They know
when we used to have coding exams and stuff.
They already know the language. And we used to
be like, oh my God, I have to learn the language
and then answer the questions. So it was always
a bit way more experience. So things that took
me 10 hours took them one hour. But I never gave
up. I never was a person to just give up and
drop off. Number one, I moved country for this.
I'm paying a university fee, which everyone knows
how difficult that is. And I always wanted to
have a degree to my name in something I'm interested
to, because if I took a different line of work
or changed up doing, I can always say, oh, I
think I could fall back and do it. And plus it's
so heated at the moment, you know, it's such
a hot topic that I chose a topic that will last
forever in reality with the more and more with
the AI changing landscape, you know, the security
and the protection online for. personal identity
theft and all this stuff is so important. So
in reality, if I had to go back now, probably
the salaries are even higher than they were when
I came out. Absolutely. Tech is a high -paying
sector and a degree in cybersecurity is still
a crucial degree to have. And going back to your
passion for photography, I would love for us
to talk a little bit more of how it started.
Did you have any mentors, someone who inspired
you, even your close circle, your family? So
basically, I come from quite an autistic family,
as in my mom is a dance practitioner and has
been a dance practitioner all her life. And basically,
when she used to run a full -time company for
over 20 years, and that means late -night rehearsals,
and I was still very young then. She had obviously
just had my brother and I, and she would be rehearsing
late for festivals that she'd be traveling around
with and taking her company, and I would always
be in the studio. and waiting for her until she
finishes rehearsals. And towards the end of the
company years, my mom had a camera like in her
case and I just used to pull it out of her case
and instead of just sitting and watching, getting
a bit nervous and whatnot, I just started to
randomly take photos and documented like the
studio process of her rehearsals. And I still
love it. I still love using those little digital
cameras at that time. You know, to zoom, you
have to hold it to the side and it goes, you
know, those like literally basic ones. Obviously,
I was surrounded by like a very creative, till
today, a very creative family, which was the
biggest support. But I also started to like take
photos, obviously in the theater and the studio,
just for my mom. Literally no professional equipment.
And then obviously when I started to hang out
with friends and going out for parties and whatnot,
I used to love just documenting the moments.
I used to love it. So I used to take my camera
out and no one used to take their camera out.
And I kind of started to get an aim for having,
you know, the next day people asking me for a
few photos that I took of my friends or stuff
like that. Then I don't know. I think it just
sparked an entire interest of like capturing
moments. For me, it was something which... I
started off playing with something small and
it grew into something bigger, you know. But
I would say being around a creative background
definitely helped because we're all creating
art at the end of the day. And you started this
creative journey at the same time you were studying.
Can you tell us a little bit more how you created
this opportunity for yourself to become a professional?
So basically I started, I was constantly just
doing tech, right? From a young age, even studying
back at home at the University of Malta, I used
to get involved. As I said, I used to take my
camera around with my friends when we were very
young, 13, 14. And kind of my friends were always
into the music scene and they kind of started
to create parties. And they used to be like,
you can come along and take some photos. I'm
like, yes, yes, yes. And I kind of started to
get to... known in the scene you know um that
the next day everyone's gonna come ask me can
i get photos of last night it was the time where
high five on facebook were at their high um and
obviously these friends of mine who started organizing
small events started organizing bigger ones bigger
club nights and all this got me involved so basically
i used to study during the week you know and
then on the weekend do my utmost to get involved
in any show that there was around the island
if there was an international DJ I was the first
person messaging the promoter hey can I shoot
your event I'll do it for free you know but at
least I was there I shot the event I got the
content I have stuff to share I used to be sharing
them to the artists directly teams myself like
hey these are photos of last night if you want
to check them out and get rejection each time
or no response which was also very difficult
but I started to I said you know what I said
I said, if I'm getting known for this stuff and
people are starting to recognize that they want
to book me for these little events in Malta,
then why not give it some extra thought, you
know? And this was all happening in conjunction
whilst I was studying technology. And I started
to do small club nights and from the small club
nights and getting involved in the bigger ones,
then I started to do the bigger festivals here
and taking over the scene and the media teams
of there were to the fact, to the point where...
I basically shot one random event. It was on
a Wednesday night. I was a student. They were
telling me they were going to pay me double because
it was such a last minute to press on the day.
And I was like, you know what, I need the money.
Let's do it, you know. I went and it was, my
surprise was these female DJs, Nervo, who were
the top number one DJs when EDM was at its peak,
you know, David Guetta, Martin Garrix and whatnot.
And I was very surprised how basically I was
asked to shoot this event, but the club wasn't
sold out, you know. And the promoter booked me
to document the venue. And you'd think a number
one DJ would set out a venue here, but maybe
they didn't resonate so much with the crowd in
general. Or maybe that music wasn't tailor -made
to what people go out to listen to. But anyways,
I did my utmost to make sure that I managed to
conquer this club and their performance and their
energy in every shape and form without making
it look empty. And obviously, I... did my work,
collect my double pay, obviously, because it
was student life times and any penny counts.
And I continued my life. And obviously, this
all started actually when Yosra and I met back
in the day when we were studying in Coventry.
I think it was maybe four or five months into
the little studies and I was studying in the
university in my course. I was an Erasmus. they
assumed exchange and um yeah i received this
random call from australia saying hey we're nervous
we loved your photos of the event we did the
multi please know this event was like in june
you know so it was a long long time ago out till
when they called me and they said we loved your
photos they still don't know this stuff we want
to try and take you on tour and at that point
i had no idea what tour actually meant like tour
And they were like, yes, yes, where you can take
photos of us and help us around logistics. I'm
like, OK, that sounds cool. And they offered
me Mexico and Costa Rica over Christmas period
and New Year's. But because I was on Erasmus
and living away from home for six months, I was
very, very like I just wanted to go home for
Christmas because it's a very special family
occasion for me. And I have a good, like for
me, family values are very important. So I said,
I said, no, I rejected them. And as soon as I
got that phone call, I'm like, oh, my God, I
just lost. a bloody good job, you know. But a
week after, they came back and they said, listen,
we'd like to try you. We're going to try you.
Locality, you know, where they were booked. And
before I knew it, they said, can you come to
India? And I was like, what? India? I never even
left Europe. And I was like, yep, I'm in. I'm
in. And, you know, that same day they sent me
the flights. I was like, oh my God, I'm going
to India alone. Like, that has never even happened.
Can you share the impact of that event on you,
on your creative journey? On how you approach
the content that you're creating? Honestly, from
that event that I do them all the way till today,
which is approximately maybe nine years down
the line, it was all like my work in the sense
I document the artists of the journey. And when
I document the artists of the journey, I don't
just document the shows of... like 50k people
each time I documented behind the scenes where
the artist eats where the artist hangs what dressing
room look like and what are the hobbies you know
so I do all this little backend stuff whilst
shooting the show and once I was with Nerva at
that same time they said listen we see you very
capable in kind of what you're doing can you
also be our tour manager and tour manager was
another level because you get involved in sound
check light check you know all the things pre
the actual event and then you get before the
events, when you're looked in with promoters,
you approve artwork, you do logistics, you know,
you send them the flights, the times we're arriving
and whatnot. The role tour manager covers a lot
of different instincts, you know, but then I
was doing this on top of social media and content.
So I was doing so much, which was crazy. And
I was traveling with two female leaders at that
time, which obviously helped, you know. And after
doing that for four years, from one experience
to another, I then got scouted by Sagala. I did
one year with Sagala. I did one year with also
Luciano, the house DJ. I moved to Jamie Jones,
who I'm with currently for seven years. And recently
I've been involved in Paul Cox's Ginger DJ team,
and I do a lot for them. And, you know, what
I say, it was one opportunity that I shot on
a Wednesday night and look at the array of people
that have opened up their borders for me, you
know, to work with. First, thank you so much,
Emma, for summing up countless hours and years
of work, dedication and passion under five minutes.
This is brilliant. And yes, that single step
changed your path and you seized an opportunity
that made the difference. It was an interesting
part. I look back and I say, wow, if I didn't
take that step, I would have never met these
people or been involved. Wow, if I said no, then
I would have never gone to that event back at
that time. And I say, wow, I made the right decision.
But it's because it's not easy to go to India
for one day. 16 hours is all I did. And I flew
there 16 hours and I flew back. I was young.
I was finishing my degree. It was something which
was evolving. And from one show in India, it
turned into a summer tour, Easter tour, you know,
three weeks, then it turned into a summer. And
things kept on going and going and going and
going. So I must say it's been quite all right
to give you that in a bit of a nutshell. You
faced a certain amount of rejection and it didn't
stop you. What can you tell our listener who
is currently facing the same challenge as he
or she is trying to have their own breakthrough?
Listen, rejection is never easy, but you must
take it to digest it and move on to the next
thing. There's a lot of competition out there.
Why me? Why would they pick me? Why would they
choose me over someone else? What am I offering?
So obviously... It could be that they're looking
for someone specific at that time from some specific
place and whatnot. But I also come from a very
small island, Yostra, and to be doing what I
do on such an international level is very different.
And they say, why me? Because many, many people
have tried this job. Many people have done it
before, you know. And when you establish working
with the biggest artists, basically that they're
all around and are very hot on the market at
the moment. That is why I draw back to the principle
of discipline, because you need to work. very
fast you need to work you're around high -end
artists so you need to have that sense of discipline
you need to you know mentally keep and physically
keep fit because it's also something which is
very you know demanding and challenging as a
job but again I I draw back to the fact that
if I never did that one gig in Malta, then I
would have never got the opportunity to do all
that I'm doing now. So that's why I say, put
yourself out there. Every opportunity counts.
I thought I was going to just shoot a local club
from a promoter, you know, and obviously there
was a female DJ, but didn't think much to it.
You know, and look at me now in the sense I've
been traveling with different artists for over
nine years. I sent out a million emails before
I even started touring, loads. And everyone was
like, no, no, no, no, no. And I didn't even have
a name to my entire brand. I had not one artist
name. And you send emails, you send emails. You
have to understand that rejection is part of
the process. You can't be told yes to everything.
It's the same thing when you work with people,
when you come up with an idea, when you brainstorm,
when you put things on the table and they say,
no, we don't like this. Agreed, that's rejection.
You take it and you work on it instead of treating
it really badly. It's so normal, especially nowadays
where there's competition on everything. You
know how many emails I sent? 2016, 2017, because
I wanted to do this. You know, it was a very,
very big thing for me that I wanted to start
doing stuff internationally because I was shooting
so many shows here in Malta, you know, with international
DJs. When I say I shot my shot, you know, I sent
my content to the artists after I did it. It's
club and six months later, they still remembered
me. You know, so rejection is part of the process.
Everyone needs to go through it. It only makes
you stronger on the other end. You know, you
must never lose. Even if you're getting rejected
upon rejection upon rejection. After those 50
rejections, you're going to get that one yes.
And that one yes is what's going to count. First,
big shout out to Nevo for choosing the best creative
out there. And I do invite you to take notes
from what Emma just said. You take rejection
and you work with it instead of treating it badly.
After the rejection, which seems countless, you
will get a yes as long as you still want to fight
for it. Also... What I liked and what you just
said, and I hope that you will also remember
this, you were offered your first opportunity
during Christmas, New Year's, and you refused
it. You took the risk because your values were
strong. Yes, agreed. Something like Christmas
only comes once a year and I always have a big
family. And because I was living abroad, I was
like, still, I didn't want to miss it. And I
still wouldn't miss it for anything. Sets of
values are important to have, whether it's family
values, whether it's work values, whether it's,
you know, you have to create your own values
and you have to live by them. Obviously, it would
have been an amazing opportunity to go to Mexico
and Costa Rica by then. I would have, back then,
I would have never gone to them and never thought
of going to them, you know. But like, fast forward
down the line, I've been to both Mexico and Costa
Rica multiple times now, you know. Obviously,
if you feel it's right, go for it and you have
to make sacrifices. But something like for me
for Christmas with a big family, not only that
I don't get to see them, it's a special event.
So I just stuck to my gut and said, listen, I
cannot do it. And obviously when I said and rejected
that, I was like, oh my God, I just missed out
a big opportunity. But in life, you have to pick
and choose your battles, even though it's not
in a sense of a battle. But you have to pick
and choose, you know. And everything you just
shared was in parallel to your studies. So how
did you manage it all? So the crazy thing is
when I actually even started touring again, nine
years down the line, I was still writing my thesis
of my bachelor's and then still studying. So
I used to study from Monday to Friday in the
library and from Friday to Sunday. This was my
master's now. I used to travel, I used to do
three shows and come back and focus on studying.
I had a bit of a different life than regular
students. For me, it was study from Monday to
Friday and my course was so hard I needed to
study. And on the weekend, it was like, I don't
know, do Poland, Budapest and Italy. You know,
another week comes, same thing. So I was very
focused, you know, I wanted something. I got
an opportunity of a lifetime and I said, how
am I going to manage? I need to do them both.
Funnily enough, I then ended up submitting my
thesis in Gibraltar because I had a show that
day then. And I was like, oh my God, the internet
is going to work for sure. But I ended up submitting
my thesis in Gibraltar and obviously I balanced
it. You know, if I came home from a show and
I still had adrenaline and I would open up my
laptop and start working on it, start coding,
start doing reports. So again, it's all about
managing your time, knowing what you want and
putting yourself out there. It's better to do
everything now than doing it later on in life,
you know, because I say more, imagine I had to
do my master's now, I just wouldn't see myself
studying. So what does it take to succeed in
your field, in the different world you've been
endorsing within the music industry? You are
doing way more than what we can see on your Instagram,
eTranter. What do people who want to make it
there need to know? You talked about discipline,
passion, being highly focused. Yes. Number one,
it's a very hard industry. You know, working
in the music industry is extremely hard, extremely
competition, you know, extreme competition. But
again, when someone sees you being disciplined,
working well, producing, being on top of your
game, you know, enjoying inspiration from others,
getting involved, coming up, you know, discussing
ideas, being a team player, all these little
aspects in life come out in work. Obviously,
back then I was doing both tour managing and
both photography. So it was like two jobs in
one. And, you know, it's no joke because I'm
dealing with the logistics of high -end artists
and then I'm going. to a show and I'm still doing
the whole behind the scenes, you know, photo
sessions, you know, the entire show. So I had
to constantly deliver. And on top of this, I
did my master's degree. My master's degree was
so difficult. I cannot even tell you that. That's
the reason why I had to put my mind to it. I
knew it was one year, you get it done, you know,
you get it done. But balancing them was no joke,
you know. I didn't even seek advice or anything
like that. I just had to get it done. It's not
forever. It was something that I was going to
invest in my future. Plus, I never knew I would
have got this job with traveling with DJs, you
know. How did you grow in your role? How did
you become that creative mind behind so many
artists? And from Nervo, I went to Sigala. From
Sigala, I also then moved to Jamie Jones. I got
an opportunity to do one show with him, which
then led to today. So I've been seven years touring
with him. He's obviously a more house and techno
DJ. In between, I also worked an entire year
with Luciano, who's another, another big DJ.
You know, this was all through word of mouth.
I also worked with Will Carl Cox. Now it's kind
of wrapping up over a year. So my story is, I
started from one artist, but now I developed
into doing, you know, over eight artists. And
this was all... I never wrote a CV, I never applied
for a job, but it was like if you put your mind
to it and you develop good work and you're a
good team player and you're good around people,
especially being high -profile people, the word
travels, word of mouth, you know. Obviously,
social media helps and you put out your work
on social media after the artist does and you
say you've got involved, you've done this and
whatnot. But in reality, it stems from you, you
know. I moved from one to the other to the other
to the other to the other. And for me, it was
important as a creative person to get involved
in all these things because it gave me different
energies, you know. But for me, it was all about...
trying to get involved with different people.
How can I do this? What can I do? To this year,
I travelled a billion shows with two very big
UK artists, Becky Hill and Gary Barlow from Take
That. So it's all an evolution and it's all from
networking and being out there and putting your
mind to it, doing your work, delivering on time.
So it's all a process, it's all a process. And
what's your secret, Emma? How do you manage your
time? How did you make it happen? How are you
still making it happen? I actually still struggle
with that today, funnily enough. Why? Because
I'm human and I actually find time management
very, very difficult. In fact, I'm so limited
with time on everything I do in my personal life,
in my work life, in my, you know, delivering
assets, writing emails, doing admin stuff. It's
time for me is a big issue. But again, you just
juggle it. You learn how to deal with it. You
learn how to get along with what you're doing,
you know. The more you experience, the more you
learn. Yeah. And how do you overcome the challenges
of your work? Between travels and the on -site
work, the creative work that you do on -site
and after during your editing and everything
that comes with it. How do you prepare yourself
to be the best version of yourself? because my
life is so fast -paced. Mentally and both physically,
I have to stay on top of things. I have to be
very fit. I still keep up more in my fitness,
my running, my crossfit. It's something which
I have to keep up because otherwise I'm on the
go 24 -7 and I feel lethargic and lazy. So that's
my physical side. And mentally, dealing with
all the travels, the work, you know, I have extra
work on the side, which I do in social media
marketing and whatnot. Balancing everything is
a crazy act, but some way or another, you have
to do it. and your hard work and work ethic actually
brought you a completely different experience
during the past years. Someone who believed in
me gave me the opportunity to do a big, big,
you know, project, which was part of the Dubai
Expo. The Dubai Expo, basically how it works
is an expo I think happens every four or five
years. And basically what it is, is it's, for
example, the expo is 100 days and there are 100
pavilions. And a pavilion is like a little bit
of a... a little building that represents your
country. How can you showcase what your country
is, your culture, your energy, your people, your
landscapes and whatnot in a sort of building?
Each day is a national day of a country. And
basically for Malta's National Day, I got asked
by the Malta Tourism Authority to be part of
the creative direction of the entire day. And
it was something massive because at the end of
the day, the prime minister, president, all the
politicians involved, you know, were coming up
to see this National Day. And my role was to
curate the day. So I had to understand what scenes
there were online. sorry, at the space. So I
had to understand what stages were available,
what we could use, what we can't use. And then
in my head, I need to create. you know, a kind
of a program of how I can portray Malta, Malta's
culture, Malta's history, Malta's geography,
through all these portals that I have to do work.
You know, I had a main stage, I had two smaller
stages around the expo. So basically I got together,
you know, a dance group of freelancers and I
got together two choreographers to create a piece
about Malta and the history of Malta. I got the
local singers here who are kind of more... on
that famous local national present to be part
of the singing and the entire piece that I created
for the morning. I got up Maltese bands because
we created evening entertainment. I created quite
a lot of things, but also this was a massive
project because it was representing my country.
And I had everyone who was older than me and
I was also still a bit younger, you know. But
I also had a team of 90 people who I took up
from Malta to Dubai. And it's a big, big, it's
a big task. It's not an easy task. So for me,
it was very important to, when I needed advice
or when I needed help to seek it. You know, I
had not mentors, but like I was working with
a team and it comes back to what I said, you
know, when I need help when I'm stuck. I need
help in brainstorming ideas, I ask. When I don't
know things that I'm meant to know, I ask. How
can I get involved? How can we do this? I would
like to do this that no one's ever done. How
can we set a meeting to discuss, you know? So
it's, I work with a very good team, but it was
an amazing, I mean, I can go on forever about
this, but it was an amazing opportunity and it
was something different to my music side of things,
you know? So it gave me another creative aspect
and another creative world that I could explore
and experiment in. Congrats on such a big achievement,
Emma, and you shared a very important lesson
here. Even in a position of leadership, you asked
for help and guidance when needed. And again,
what we advise you is you should ask for help.
You should ask for advice. Don't be shy. Don't
think that you shouldn't be asking for help or
advice. It will take you further than you think.
You cannot be sure about everything in life,
so keep asking as much as you can. Exactly, no,
100%. I agree. I agree. You know, when you need
help or when you need advice or you need these
type of things, just reach out. You know, I was
the youngest, one of the youngest in the entire
group. Yet I was leading the project, you know.
So it was about someone believed in my creative
vision and just let me explore and had a playground,
you know, and had a budget, of course, which
helped. So what does it take to be like you,
Emma? What would you tell someone who wants to
follow exactly the steps that you took or wants
to take the learnings that you had? to their
own industry? It's quite a difficult question
to answer because I guess like every person is
an individual. Everyone is different, you know.
But what I can say from my end is, you know,
if you want something, get involved. I thought
from a young age, from small clubs back at home
to emailing DJs who are coming to Malta, can
I be pleased? part of your event can i have a
press post can i have a free post can i i'll
send you but i was eager you know i had that
eagerness inside me that i wanted something you
know bigger and better and when you show that
people will start to believe in you and include
you in different projects and it's all like i
travel loads but it's all about the networking
whoever i've met along the way i currently kind
of work with you know And I say, like, we have
so many strengths. We have so many strengths,
so many talents that I am a photographer. But,
you know, my photography development being a
content creator where I had to get into video
and learn how to do good video editing. And then
I was so put on the spot with some artists for
social media, as I said, started to learn the
whole social media game, which eventually I developed
later on. How can I come up with creative ideas?
How can I keep my artists in tangent and on the
same line and same page as their audience? What
do their audience want to see? How can I communicate
with them better? How can we brainstorm these
ideas, you know? So that all comes on the back
end when I do this social media and this marketing
type of stuff. And what I do is I source what's
cool at the moment. How can I do? I don't look
at it as how can I do it better. How can I do
it differently, give it a different perspective,
you know? I'm very passionate about my work.
That's something I say and I do, which I don't
actually mention in the beginning. But passion
is everything. You want everything you're involved
in to be the best work of you, the best version
of you. So even if something is so small and
it's on my mind and it's not done correctly,
I would scrap it and do it correctly because
your name is behind it, you know? You're doing
something which many people would love and dream
of doing. would take a job in seconds to do because
everyone obviously would like to travel the world.
And mind you, it's beautiful. I've been doing
it for nine years. But it's also very, very difficult.
You know, it's difficult on my body. As you mentioned,
the fitness spot, the no sleep. You're not sleeping.
You still have to deliver. You have to wear this.
You have to, you know, you're not seeing your
friends. You're not seeing your family. You never
have a weekend free. It's a lot. You did mention
that sometimes you board a plane and you just
pass out of exhaustion. How do you still prioritize?
Your sports activities, your workout, your run
sessions when you are absolutely exhausted. When
your mind is just telling you, just rest, don't
do it. I don't like feeling lethargic. And I
don't like feeling, you know, that I'm not giving
the importance my body needs with this life.
And I got to know this two years ago when I did
an operation in my knee. Basically, I had done
my ACL operation. So I had done my ligaments,
I redid my ligaments. And it all happened from,
you know, I was coming, I came back from tour,
my body was exhausted. I went to play football
with a group and something so stupid happened.
But I was like, how did I rupture all my ligaments
with such a stupid collision? It wasn't anything
crazy, but my body was very tired. Why? Because
I wasn't keeping it strong enough or keeping
the strength up because it was getting mid -summer,
I was getting tired. And I'm like, I shouldn't
be like that. You should be able to feel, obviously
there are ups and downs to everyone's foot and
side, but it made me the whole process because
then I did an operation and nine months recovery.
And whilst it's nine months recovery, I was touring.
So I had no other option but to strengthen that
leg and understand that, oh my God, I need this
leg. I do have a new knee, which puts both my...
both of the parts of my leg together but it's
made it opened the whole door of how important
movement is you know we don't have to be running
marathons and doing crossfit and intense workouts
but you know if I have five five to ten to fifteen
minutes I would go for a walk around the city
quickly like that I'm winning two things I win
seeing the city and I got 3 ,000 steps in, you
know, and movement is important because I sit
down a lot in planes, you know, I do a lot of
these things and it helps me get through to the
summer and sometimes I'll be exhausted and sleep
takes priority. You know, I was just in Ibiza
last Saturday and I finished the opening of a
new club, The Universe. I was exhausted because
we played from the morning, 9 a .m. till midday.
I got home, I edited, I slept because I was exhausted.
But then I woke up at 9, you know, and at 10
I was running the Ibiza Marina because it's so
important to get that movement in, no matter
the time. Yes, it was 10 p .m., but I knew maybe
the next day I had too much to get done, you
know. So it's all about prioritizing in reality
at the end of the day. But yes, physical activity
is very, very important. And all it takes is
one little thing to remind you of how important
it is. And in my case, it was the operation in
my knee. It's a good reminder that you have to
put yourself first. By deciding to be active,
you're getting stronger mentally and physically.
And that helps you to face the day, the week,
the month ahead of you. Agreed. 100%. Almost
seeing the end of the episode, unfortunately,
but I would love to ask you this question on
what would you tell your younger self if she's
facing any doubts, any questions, what would
you advise her? Good question, to be fair. I
would say like, listen, no matter where you come
from, no matter where you start from, there is
no limit. I never studied photography. I never
studied creativity. I did a whole different tech
degree. But look at me now, in a sense. I work
in creativity and I work with high -end artists.
And I did stuff, experiences like Glastonbury,
Tomorrowland, Formula Ones around the world,
you know, Coachella's, all the visa clubs. I've
done so much, you know, that I say, like, if
I... I never gave up those nights, for example,
back when I was younger, with my friends to go
and pursue and take photos of an international
DJ that was coming. I was very different, you
know, I used to email the promoters to get involved
when there's an international DJ coming over,
because I'd love to shoot it, but my friends
would be off somewhere else having a different
birthday or something like that. But for me,
my passion came first. And I said, listen, these
guys don't come to Molta every day, so how can
I get involved, you know? So I would say, you
know, like put yourself out there, network, get
involved, try out new things. Things might not
work. You might not get along with specific people
when you work with them. It's fine. Like we're
not all meant to get along with each other. We
just need to find people that you can get on
with in the sense and have a good working, establishing
relationship with them. If something interests
you as well and you're studying something else,
why not pursue them both? Get involved, do different
stuff, network. I always say till today, like
I used to hate languages and now I always say
I want to learn a new language. So it's like
non -stop learning, non -stop. If there's something
you like, you don't have to be qualified in it
and whatnot. Yes, qualification always helps,
especially to step back on. But at the end of
the day, if you like something and you're good
at it, why not go for it? After those nine years,
do you still have doubts? And what would you
tell someone who has probably similar doubts
or even stronger ones? Of course, I had doubts
and I have doubts to this day. Is my work good
enough? Are they going to like it? Is this and
that? But can I tell you, sometimes people hire
you because they like your work. They want you,
not someone else. You know, your work is good.
So you also have to have some self -belief. I
struggle with that personally, but I only come
to terms with it when I get these little... boosts
of motivation if someone posts a comment or someone
posts this or I read something online you know
or a magazine like featured me in a little online
thing and these things always help you know it's
good to complement each other it's good to let
each other know that they're on the right path
their work is being noticed they grow it's not
about growing together it's about competing yes
it's all about supporting each other empowering
each other being there for each other Thank you,
Emma, for being so transparent and sharing so
many advice. And to wrap up this episode, do
you have any final advice for the next generation
of creatives? Actually, recently, funny enough,
I did a little workshop for Apple back at home.
And it was about creating and generating content
on your iPhone. You don't need to have the most
bombastic equipment to be the best content creator.
I had this workshop and basically I had around
20 influencers quite big in my hometown, Malta.
And I told them that with simple adjustments
to photo settings and simple adjustments to lighting,
you can create the best version of yourself.
So for this Gen Z, don't think you need to have
the best cameras and the best. most expensive
lenses and whatnot. Because in reality, a lot
of the content is also created with iPhone, which
anyone can do. So it's about learning how to
take those photos, those specific angles and
what to capture and then putting it together.
Thank you, Emma. Thank you for your time. Thank
you for your advice. Thank you for everything
that you shared with us today. And also thank
you for taking the time during the busiest time
of the year for you. Of course, of course. That
was a pleasure, actually. It was really, really
also just nice to chat about it. Hope you got
inspired and hope you're just thinking about
where and when to start your creative journey
as well. Don't forget to subscribe and reach
out through any social media platform to share
your feedback on what you would love to learn
from the next guests. See you soon.