Today we’d like to introduce you to Yisel Covarrubias
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in a rural border town in southern California where almost everybody spoke Spanish. It was a culture shock for me to move away from my little bubble and experience life outside, but I desperately wanted to grow and have a life outside of the Imperial Valley with the hopes of one day being able to give back. After high school, I did one year of community college while I dutifully prepared for my Berklee College of Music audition. The summer before beginning classes, I worked on a missionary summer program that also allowed me to work towards my education by doing door to door sales of spiritual and health books. That summer was very humbling for me and had me recognize to myself that I was not sure if my heart was in the right place when it came to my artistic ambitions, so I decided to take time to explore that and went to a missionary school. I worked with youth groups, churches, and schools in different states only to find that people’s needs went so much more beyond the spiritual. There were many who needed someone to advocate for their needs and many times translate them as well. I moved to Texas, returned to college, and finished my degree in Global Public Health, worked in the Texas Senate, completed my Master’s in Public Health from UT, planned a mission trip to the Philippines, worked in the Texas House of Representatives, and began to work again on my music. Life experience had taught me the importance of putting my pride aside and the value of forgiveness. I now trusted myself with the honors that come with performing onstage and being put in the spotlight because I found how to allow God to help me keep the heart posture necessary to be entrusted with more light; more music. Music has gotten me through so many of life’s trials and it is my life’s mission to give that gift back by creating.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I decided to leave the traditional educational path, my parents were initially not on board so I had to learn to support myself at age 18. I got into a lot of credit card debt that I was thankfully able to pay off through lots of hard work. This time taught me to rely heavily on my faith.
Divorce was also really difficult for me emotionally, spiritually, and financially. My ex-husband prolonged the divorce so much in order to take all our shared assets and pass along all his debt to me; otherwise he would not sign the papers. Dragging my credit to the ground by not removing my name from his car title while refusing to make payments on it left me with no other option. I desperately needed my peace even if it literally cost me. Giving that up was not easy, but the difference in my health both physical and mental is readily apparent. That experience has taught me the importance of putting ego aside even when betrayal hurts at its worst.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m PLEA; new sound, a new beat, with lyricism that feeds. I am an artist, an academic, and a proud chicana raised by Mexican parents and my Spanish-speaking abuelitos who gave my family the opportunity of leaving behind poverty by coming to the U.S.. I was raised being taught the importance of faith, resilience, and integrity; especially as the eldest daughter of three. Music has been my solace, refuge, and purest source of dopamine since I can remember.
My dedication to my art and my profession has blessed me with immense opportunities in working and volunteering for several churches, politicians, working on legislation that passed into Texas state law, graduated college magna cum laude, completed graduate school, and have continued to make music throughout the years; doing my best to never lose touch with it through life’s up’s and down’s. Leaving behind different belief systems, going through a divorce, and living with disabilities have all brought out different emotions but music always brought me back to earth, kept me grounded, and reminded me to keep my eyes above instead of the problems on sight. My name PLEA came from me finding myself constantly pleading with God about something. So, I’m PLEA; new sound, a new beat, with lyricism that feeds.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Collaborate with others – your art gets better and you can release it faster that way.
Release it – that project you’ve been working on, just release it. You can always make more art and make it better. You are your own greatest obstacle.
Keep your ego in check. Catch yourself when you start thinking you are better than others or begin to feel envy. Practice gratitude. Always keep a teachable spirit. Choose to observe over first speaking.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soyplea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soyPLEA
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiselcovarr/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/soyplea
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/soyPLEA
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/soyplea
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@soyplea_
