With the music industry often demanding unorthodox work schedules that don’t fit the standard 9-5 mold, many find themselves juggling what they do with their life outside of it, whether that’s another job, a young family or other personal commitments. In this article, we hear from Em Williams, who shares her lessons from balancing roles as a DJ, producer, event promoter, label owner, radio host, mentor and mother. Bristol-based Williams is also part of music tech platform Saffron, which uplifts women, non-binary and trans people and enables their voices and skills to be heard. Their Mix Nights initiative offers in-person and online courses on how to DJ to these communities.

I’ve been in the music industry since I started DJing in my hometown of Oxford in the early 2000s. On my journey, I’ve realized that a lot of what I’ve done in my career really feeds into my work today. Not just as a DJ but also with Saffron, in trying to make a change where more women, non-binary and trans people are welcome in an industry that has traditionally been white male dominated. I’ve always led with my integrity and what I think is right so I’m happy to be able to stay on that path.

I do wear a lot of hats as a result, which requires a lot of brain power to determine what person I am today, or what role I’m doing at a particular time. For anyone in a similar position juggling a lot of things, or someone trying to break into the music industry, these are just a few things I’ve learned to prioritize through my journey.

Manage your time carefully

Time management is crucial. Stay organized, whether that’s having your Google Calendar down or whatever way you prefer. On a Monday morning, I carve out half an hour to say, ‘OK what do we have this week? What needs to happen? What are the things I need to prioritize? So just carving out time to actually plan is something I find really useful.

Allocating time for creativity and rest and trying to stick to it would be one of my top tips. Self-care is so important; giving yourself a minute to step away from your job or whatever you’re doing creatively. Having some downtime and moving your body. I often go for a run or I might go for a really lovely long walk in the woods. I also try to meditate as often as I can. You need that time every day, however long or short, so you build being physically active into your daily routine. Although it is difficult, it definitely helps in the long run.

Be flexible with your goals

Before I had my son, I wasn’t really sure what I did with my time! But now I’m busy with so many things and my husband and I are trying to navigate through it. Sometimes there are better days than others, but we’re managing. Having a small baby, his priorities come first over everything, so being flexible with your time is also really important. Things will happen, he could become ill. There were a couple of gigs in the early days that we couldn’t make. But don’t beat yourself up about it, there are always creative things to do and explore.

Set yourself goals you want to work towards. If they don’t happen, I’m a firm believer that if you try to reach them, good things will come out of it regardless. If there are projects you started that fell by the wayside, there are always creative ways you can bring them into your mind and work them differently. Pause and give yourself time to say, ‘it’s ok.’ These days especially with social media, you often see the end result of things without knowing how long it took to get to that point. I get this a lot from my Saffron mentees. So it’s important to understand that the music industry is more about the journey than the destination because the destination can change and adapt.

The journey is what I’m passionate about and I try to enjoy it. So it’s good to keep that in your mind when you’re working. If you’re passionate about music and want to make it part of your life, you need to incorporate it into your life.

Break down your goals into chunks

If you’re juggling different roles and aspects of your career, I think being realistic with your goals is really important. Try to break them down into smaller goals that feel achievable. You may have a massive goal like you want to play at Fabric within a year and you’ve only been playing for six months, that’s quite a big goal and if you don’t get there, it can be really disheartening and might throw you off course. 

At Saffron, we’ll chat to our mentees and explain that, especially with DJing, you need to get that experience under your belt and be exposed to lots of different settings, early sets, peak time sets. So before you aim for that big one – obviously, that’s a great one to have in your five year plan – having smaller realistic goals that you can actually achieve will help you build that momentum, keep you really positive and make it really satisfying along the way. You’ll get a lot out of that.

Build a support network

Building a support network and having a really good base of people around you is so key. It keeps you sane. Being a young family, we don’t have lots of support from  grandparents where we live in Bristol. So we rely on my sisters or other family members or friends. Have people around you who totally understand what you’re doing, get your vision and can support you with it.

Be honest with yourself and others

Be true to yourself and how much time you can give to your music career. If you’ve got a 9-5, be realistic about how much you can give outside of work and on the weekends. Whether that’s carving out 2-4 hours in the evening or whatever works for you.

One thing that I’ve done throughout the years is I’ve tried to be really transparent with my employers. I know so many people that have their day job that’s nothing to do with music and they’ll try to almost keep the music industry hidden from their day job. But if you’re really transparent with your employer they could support you in some way, you never know. They can be really supportive and flexible. Start small in your career and be patient with yourself. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or get caught up with the social media stuff that you see.

Words by Em Williams

To learn more about Saffron and the Mix Nights program, head to their website.