Meet Greta Prince | Independent Artist & Designer

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

Hi Greta, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
It honestly felt natural for me. For as long as I can remember I’ve always gravitated towards arts and entertainment, especially anything related to music. Even as a little kid I would make up my own harmonies to go along with commercial jingles on tv lol. How I sounded wasn’t even a concern of mine lol…I just loved to sing along with anything I heard on the radio, no matter what genre. It was my family hyping me up and telling me I actually sounded pretty good that boosted my confidence in my own sound. Throughout my school career I participated in many choral ensembles and I always sang in church…I still do to this day. I briefly worked in logistics finance as a means to achieve some of my financial goals after graduation from college but that left me feeling a bit lost and out of touch with my purpose. What I now believe was fate interfering in the form of a layoff led me to the opportunity to regroup and begin planning on music as full time career. Some years later and a few temporary career shifts after that I’m blessed to be a full time independent artist and worship leader in the metro Atlanta area. I spent soooo much time literally studying the music videos of my favorite artists analyzing every aspect from cinematography to fashion choices. I attribute a great deal of that to my love of hair design and fashion. I’ve dabbled in fashion design a bit, even designing some of my performance looks. The pandemic forced the cancellation of nearly all of my scheduled performances but that free time led to the birth of my newest creative outlet, Greta Prince Jewelry. It’s a line of semiprecious custom fitted bracelet stacks and it’s expanding much quicker than I could have dreamed of. Arts and entertainment have repeatedly been my lifeline even when I wasn’t completely focused on them. I’m not sure what my life would look like today without arts and creativity energy at the forefront.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Musically, I like to combine my gospel roots and love of R&B with some of the classical training I’ve had. I can appreciate all genres and it’s my goal to create a sound that will transcend race, gender, and genre. I want to create music that will appeal to as broad an audience as possible. I’ll be releasing music from an EP I recently completed about my life. I’m forever proud of my previous singles “You Should Know”, “Hero”, and “Forever” but this project has me elated and nervous lol. It’s the most in depth and personal depiction of my actual life. I want my supporters to have a bit more access and greater understanding of my life and what I’ve dealt with in it. I’m definitely more of an introvert so I’m nervous as this project will be me sharing bit of me musically with the world. My journey hasn’t been easy but I don’t consider it to have been difficult either. Everything I’ve experienced has been necessary for my growth. Even in the middle of one of the most challenging times any of us have ever faced, I feel more motivated, stronger, and much more confident. It’s taken me years to get to this point because confidence has always been a struggle for me. What’s helped me is learning to evaluate the quality of my relationships, personal and business wise. Through their actions, more so than words, we’ll learn which people are deserving of our space. The “no’s” I heard from naysayers fuel me to work harder. I now know what God has placed in me and I know that His “yes” will eradicate any “no’s” in due time if I just keep working toward what He’s shown me. Art comes from life so everything I live through gives me more to sing proudly about. Hopefully my journey will inspire someone else’s. My goal through my new bracelet line is to spread beauty and positivity during these strange times. I’m happy to do anything I can to help someone smile. I box up every order like a gift because I want my clients to feel celebrated by me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a foodie lol so we’d definitely check out some of my favorite restaurants. I’m an ATL native with have roots in Charleston, SC so I love gullah geechie cuisine…okra soup, red rice, fried cabbage just to name a few favorites! We’d have to stop by Virgil’s Gullah Cuisine in College Park for the most authentic gullah experience I’ve had since leaving Charleston. I don’t eat meat as much as these days so we’d stop by a few of some of my favorite vegetarian spots. I discovered Nuturi Vegetarian & Raw Vegan Restaurant in Snellville last year and the food is soooo good. They have the best vegan desserts and the brown stewed tofu is a must have. Karen’s International Grill Caribbean in Conyers is my fav…she has the absolute widest variety of vegetarian dishes. The vegetarian version of General Tso chicken was so good I called back to make sure they hadn’t mistakenly given me the meat version lol. True Food Kitchen would be another go to for us then we’d go for something sweet at Cinnaholic. I love listening to live music so we’d hit up all the live spot favs like Whiskey Mistress, City Winery, and Venkmans.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m still in pursuit of much more career wise but I owe so much of my success so far to my mom. I don’t know a harder working or more selfless person than my mother…single parent to my brother and I, dedicated and accomplished lifelong educator, sister, grandmother, devoted Soror to Alpha Kappa Sorority, Inc, and an awesome sister, grandmother, and aunt. As I’ve grown older my respect for how she was able to juggle everything handed to her, seemingly effortlessly and always so gracefully, while still be such a driving force in my development has grown as well. I think it was the avid educator in her that inspired me to study my passions. Her thirst for knowledge and wanting to know all she can about whatever subject of her interests inspires me. I like to think of her as my own “Tina Knowles” lol because she was often my travel partner (pre Covid of course) to my performances, my unofficial sound engineer (she has no problem finding the sound guys to make sure I can be heard with clarity lol), and she’s been my biggest cheerleader and most constructive critic when I need it. She’s even my first go to for feedback on my latest project, my jewelry line. What amazes me and inspires me most about her is her faith. She trusts in our Creator like no one I’ve encountered and she never complains. On the days that I feel worn out or discouraged the thought of her strength invigorates me. I have to shout out ALL of my family, former teachers, and friends for all the support through the years too! I’m grateful to have had love and support that’s far outweighed the negativity over the years.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamgretaprince/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greta.prince/