00:00One of my favorite quotes from a friend of mine is, and I think I sort of misconstrued
00:04it, but the gist was like walk into the room like a man, basically with confidence, because
00:09sometimes as women we walk in and we're a little meek, and we have to walk in like owning
00:13our power and claiming our space.
00:22What's up guys?
00:23It's Emily Curl here with Refinery29, and I am so excited because we are at CMA Fest
00:27in Nashville, and I am sitting next to Jillian.
00:29Jacqueline, Jillian, welcome.
00:31Hi, thanks for having me.
00:32We're so glad to have you.
00:33We're huge fans of you at Refinery29.
00:35We love celebrating successful women, and you have had such a successful career.
00:39Is there one moment that you can pinpoint that you are just most proud of?
00:43Huh.
00:44Yeah, I would probably have to say when I was just, I was featured in Billboard as a chartbreaker.
00:50I've never been in a magazine like that before, so I went to the store and bought it, and I
00:55was like, this is weird.
00:57I'm in Billboard.
00:58And I kind of felt empowered.
00:59I felt it was this huge boost of confidence to feel like, wow, after all those years of
01:05wondering if this would happen, here it is in print, and I can touch it and feel it.
01:08It felt like surreal in the best way.
01:11That's special even just like for me hearing that.
01:13So another thing about RT9 that we really strongly believe in is gender equality and feminism.
01:18And so it's something our readers really take interest in, and one thing they've noticed
01:21is that it sometimes seems in country music that women are marginalized.
01:25How do you think the country music industry can better support women?
01:29Yeah, I think that's a really great question, and there's so many different ways.
01:34For me, first and foremost, I would love to see more chances being taken on women, whether
01:39as artists or behind the scenes, hiring them and just letting them, you know, own that space.
01:44If we get the opportunities, we will show what we can do and how great we are.
01:49Absolutely, and I think going on that same note, what we've seen with female singers and songwriters
01:53is we're getting more complex representation of women.
01:57It's not always easy to get to that level and have retained your individuality and your complexity.
02:03People kind of want to whittle you down into something a little bit more one-dimensional,
02:07and I think you have to fight to be 3D, show the brokenness and the ugly and the insecurity,
02:13and that's all part of being a human. So if you're not showing that, then you're not being real.
02:17I like to think that when I write, I make sure I put all the ugly stuff in there.
02:20What's kind of that creative process to make sure you are telling those things to put the ugly in there?
02:23Usually if it makes me uncomfortable, then I want to say it.
02:27It's like literally therapy, so whatever I would tell a therapist, I should be able to tell someone else.
02:32Suffering is like the most common thread between all of us, so if you're honest about that,
02:36I feel like you're on the right track.
02:37So another thing I want to ask you about, you mentioned other female country music artists,
02:40and I think there's also this stigma in Nashville where women are pitted against each other,
02:45or they're competitive, or they actually can't be friends.
02:47What do you say to people who think that idea, and how do you or other women you admire dismantle
02:52that myth?
02:52We are friends. We all know the struggles each other is going through.
02:56I mean, in this industry, especially when you're a young female artist, you've got to stick together.
03:00I don't know if it was like that 10 or 20 years ago with the women I grew up on,
03:04but we need that now more than ever.
03:06Especially when you're putting this projected image out there all the time to the world.
03:10It's important to have people in this arena, in this industry, that understand you and know what you're going through.
03:14Okay, so Jillian, before I let you go, what's your one piece of advice that has stuck with you that
03:19you wish every woman could hear?
03:21Just ending on a really light, easy question.
03:22Yeah, okay. I know, right? So light, and I'm like, um...
03:26I would probably just say be big. Like, be as big as you can be.
03:30Own the room, and own who you are, and just be big about it.
03:33And don't feel like you have to shrink yourself down or your personality or what you believe.
03:38Just be big.
03:38Yeah, I love that.
03:39Jillian, thank you so much for being here. We so appreciate it.
03:42And I hope you have the best time this weekend.
03:43Thanks, you too. Enjoy.
03:44Thank you. Bye, guys.
