Today we’d like to introduce you to Londrelle Hall.
Londrelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Londrelle (Hall). I am a poet, self-published author, musician, and creator of the mindfulness and meditation app Eternal Sunshine. I am originally from Winter Garden, Florida, but moved to Atlanta in 2012. Since I can remember, I’ve always had a passion for words and finding creative ways to put them together. Though I was a shy and introspective child growing up, the world I experienced was full of words. My first memories of composing poetry were when I was around the age of 11, but I didn’t begin writing until my sophomore year in high school. The poetry I wrote then became raps, and by my junior year, I started sharing my gifts with my peers at campus ciphers and at the bus stop. During my senior year, I was doing local showcases, and producing, recording, and pressing my own mixtapes and selling music them around. By the end of the year, I had sold about 2500 CD’s (This was just before the age of streaming and digital downloads) This was my first real glimpse at entrepreneurship and the experience taught me how to survive and make a living as an independent artist.
After high school, I went on to attend Bethune-Cookman University. There, I studied communications and learned a wealth of knowledge that also helped me become a professional in the fields of arts and business as well as a host of other things essential to helping me serve through my gift. In college, I continued to write poetry and music, but after it amassed no breakthroughs in the industry, I started to lose interest in trying to make it in life as a musician. I graduated from college in the summer of 2012, packed all of my belonging in my car, and moved to Atlanta with no real direction or idea on what I was going to do.
My degree was in video production, so I figured I start there. My immediate goal was to start my own production company, and I initially started doing advertisement videos for event promotors and clubs. That lead me to do music videos for artists and social media advertisements for start-up brands in the Atlanta area. At the time, I also worked a warehouse job at Publix and as a host at an olive garden within my first year of moving to the city. But this didn’t last very long as I quit one job and was fired from the other. From this point, I decided to never work for anyone again.
Around this time, there was a lot of social unrest due to a string of violent killings of black men by police officers. Feeling compelled to do something about these issues, I then got back into writing poetry to express my views and bring awareness to atrocities that were happening. But to me, this wasn’t enough. So in the fall of 2014, a friend and I organized a campaign called #RunforJustice. The run would be a 21 day, 580-mile journey from Atlanta, Georgia to Ferguson, Missouri. The location of the murder of Michael Brown and the 2014 Ferguson riots. At the time I used running as a tool to help me problem solve and deal with depression and other mental maladies, so my idea was to use this run as a way to positively spread awareness for police brutality and spark some sense initiative in the youth and the culture as a whole. The campaign was well received and made front-page headlines on USA Today and was featured on Good Morning America, CNN, BET, and a host of other media outlets. We were also able to raise about $80,000 for our cause, most of which was donated to the family of the victim. For the next few months, I traveled around the United States, holding protests and community gatherings in efforts to bring justice for those wrongfully killed at the hands of police offers.
These few months of traveling and protesting for social justice sparked a transformation and a sort of spiritual awakening for me. I began to look within for the answers I so desperately searched for in the world. I became interested in meditation and began studying and practicing eastern spirituality. In this space, I felt at “home,” and very soon, my entire life began to shift and take a new course. I writings became more esoteric, and the music I began to compose was of the same nature.
Over the next 4-5 years, I would go on to record urban meditation and mindfulness albums which to date have over ten million streams, write two books (Eternal Sunshine & Sunflower Soul), build my own mindfulness app (Eternal Sunshine) and start my own publishing company with also is under the name Eternal Sunshine.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest obstacles, for me, have come from within. Things like lack of focus, discipline, self-control, and dedication were the only impediments I faced. But once I began to gain some sense of mastery over these things, the path itself became easier and all that I have sought continues to be brought into manifestation.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As an artist, my duty is to serve the masses through my voice and words. That comes through music, guided meditations, inspirational talks, and my books. I believe I specialized in being a medium or a bridge for the spiritual and material worlds. A voice that reminds you who you are, what you are, and how to make it through this life peacefully and blissfully. I think that is what sets me apart from those who serve in this way.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was shy, reserved, and introspective. Though my occupation calls for me to do so, I still do not talk much outside of this. My interest as a child was words, reading, studying, learning, and finding ways to make them make sense.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eternalsunshine.love
- Email: info@eternalsunshine.love
Image Credit:
All photos were taken by Rious Photogphy, LLC @RiousShotMe
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