What does it really mean to be courageous?
In a recent Bloomerang podcast episode, we sat down with Erica Jennings—musician, mentor, coach, and the iconic lead singer of SKAMP, the band that gave voice to Lithuania’s post-independence generation. In the ’90s, SKAMP embodied something radically new: cosmopolitan, independent, unapologetically authentic. They weren’t trying to fit into boxes. They were breaking them.
Today, Erica continues to inspire—not only through music, but through her work as a speaker, parent coach, and advocate for self-trust and resilience. In the Bloomerang game, her avatar, Riona, represents the superpower of courage—the force that carries us into unknown horizons.
This is what she taught us about blooming, bravery, and building a life that feels true.
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Blooming Isn’t a One-Time Event
We often talk about “finding ourselves” as if it’s a destination. Erica sees it differently.
“We don’t bloom just once,” she says. “We bloom many times. We shed many skins.”
There’s the bloom of young womanhood. The bloom of creative awakening. The bloom that comes after heartbreak, reinvention, or starting over. Growth isn’t linear—it’s layered.
But blooming requires questioning the norms handed to us.
Who decided what’s “normal”?
Who decided what success looks like?
Who said you have to do it that way?
When we begin to question the scripts, we gain the freedom to choose what actually works for us.
Courage Is Owning Your Truth
For Erica, courage isn’t about being loud or fearless.
It’s about ownership.
- Owning your strengths
- Owning your flaws
- Owning your mistakes
- Taking a compliment
- Saying, “Yes, I messed up—and I’ll learn from it.”
Courage is being able to look at yourself fully and stay.
It’s also deeply personal. Being true to yourself doesn’t mean exposing every part of your life to everyone. Erica is clear about her boundaries:
“I let only a few people see all sides of me. That doesn’t mean I’m hiding. It means some parts of my life are precious.”
Courage isn’t oversharing. It’s choosing.
Growth Hurts. Stagnation Kills.
Every creative person knows the dip.
The low after the high.
The rejection.
The waiting.
The silence.
Erica’s perspective is simple—and powerful:
“Growth hurts. But stagnation kills.”
Think about it. Muscles ache when they grow. Birth is painful. Transformation rarely feels comfortable.
But staying still slowly drains you.
When you hit a low:
- Sit with it
- Look for the lesson
- Ask what it’s teaching you
- Trust that groundwork matters—even when results don’t show immediately
If you’re doing the work, sometimes the bravest thing is patience.
Do It Scared
Stepping out of your comfort zone is terrifying. Erica doesn’t sugarcoat it.
Fear isn’t logical. It won’t disappear just because you wish it away.
So what do you do?
Acknowledge it.
“Yeah, I’m scared. This is terrifying.”
Look it in the eye. Sit with it. Let it shrink. And then—do it anyway.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s action despite fear.
The Two-Year Rejection
Before SKAMP became one of the most influential bands of their generation, they were rejected—for two straight years.
Radio stations said they were “too strange.”
Too mixed in style.
Too different.
Too unconventional.
They blended languages. Genres. Identities. No one wanted to sign them.
So they hustled.
They made their own merchandise.
Created their own exposure.
Called TV stations with creative ideas.
Put every cent they earned back into the band.
And most importantly—they believed.
“I had 100% belief in my capabilities,” Erica says. “We knew who we were.”
When their first real chance came—a single spot on a summer compilation—they were ready. The song exploded within a week. Their lives changed.
The lesson?
Belief isn’t enough. Groundwork matters.
When opportunity arrives, you must be prepared to grab it.
Perfection Is the Enemy of Courage
Erica also speaks passionately about how social conditioning affects confidence—especially in girls.
Studies show boys are more likely to raise their hands and risk being wrong. Girls often wait until they’re 99% sure before speaking.
That’s not confidence—that’s conditioning.
We must stop teaching perfection.
Failure is not weakness. It’s the process. Every long-term success story includes repeated mistakes. Courage grows when we normalize being wrong.
Success Is Knowing Why You’re Doing It
What is success?
Money? Stability? Impact? Creative freedom?
Erica distinguishes between short-term success and long-term success.
“It’s easy to get a 10 once. It’s hard to keep that level.”
If you want a sustainable creative career, you must know:
- Why are you doing this?
- What do you want to say?
- What’s the point?
Without clarity of purpose, success doesn’t last.
Creativity and Money: Learn to Hustle
There’s a romantic myth that true artists should wait to be discovered.
Erica doesn’t buy it.
“You have to learn how to hustle.”
That might mean:
- Taking commercial gigs
- Playing weddings
- Having a day job
- Reinvesting everything into your dream
- Being broke for a while
There’s no shame in earning money while building your art. There’s no purity test for creativity.
Street smarts, thick skin, and persistence are part of the journey.
Raising Courageous Humans
As a mother of three, Erica believes courage starts in childhood.
Two things matter most.
First: unshakeable self-belief.
Children should feel they are “the best”—to their parents. Not entitled. Not superior. But deeply loved and capable.
“You can do anything. Put your mind to it.”
Second: capability.
Let them struggle. Let them solve problems. Helicopter parenting doesn’t build resilience.
Self-esteem plus independence equals courage.
Flow Is Trusting Your Intuition
In the Bloomerang game, Erica’s avatar guides players into “unknown horizons”—the stage that comes after success, when new territory opens.
For Erica, flow is intuition.
That quiet inner knowing.
The feeling you ignore for years before acting.
The truth you sense before logic catches up.
Reconnecting with intuition is a radical act in a noisy world.
Flow happens when we trust that inner voice.
The Second Life
Erica shares a powerful idea:
“We live two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one.”
So many people wake up halfway through life realizing they built someone else’s dream.
Courage is not waiting for that moment.
It’s starting now.
Bloom Inside Out
At its core, the Bloomerang philosophy is simple:
When you do what you love, you radiate from the inside out—and that energy attracts what belongs to you.
Courage is the superpower that makes that possible.
It’s:
- Doing it scared
- Staying through the dip
- Owning your truth
- Learning to hustle
- Letting go of perfection
- Trusting your intuition
- Starting before you feel fully ready
As Erica says:
“You only live once. It’s short. It’s gone like that. So go forth and create. What are you waiting for?”
Maybe courage isn’t something we’re born with.
Maybe it’s something we practice—again and again—every time we choose to bloom.
