Haley Jones - Faith Moving Forward

Hayley Jones is a Christian singer-songwriter who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. She discovered her singing talent at 15 years old when her dad heard her singing loudly in the shower. Despite being bullied and made fun of, Hayley continued to pursue her passion for music and started posting videos on YouTube. She faced challenges and even got in trouble for posting TikToks while working as a teacher. However, she received a message from a talent scout and decided to pursue music full-time. Her manager encouraged her to focus on Christian music, and Hayley made a commitment to live for Christ and dedicate her social media to Him. In just a year, Hayley has seen amazing opportunities and blessings in her career. She recently had an impactful experience at church, where she felt a sermon about being a vessel for Christ was specifically for her. Her pastor confirmed this by mentioning that he saw a glow around her while preaching. Hayley is excited about her journey and the future of he Today's episode is brought to you from The Russell, a historic East Nashville church transformed into a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel. The Russell's mission is to give back to the Nashville community through their Rooms for Rooms program by donating a portion of your stay to local organizations who provide a safe haven for those experiencing homelessness in the Nashville community. Visit www.RussellNashville.com to book your stay today. Hello, my name is Kevin and I'm with my co-host Beth and you are listening to the Faith Moving Forward podcast. Hayley Jones is a Christian singer-songwriter whose goal is to spread the gospel of Jesus, bringing encouragement and strength to her audience and fans. Her powerful voice and no-nonsense lyrics leave no question as to her mission and we are so thankful she is willing to join us today on the podcast. Hi Hayley! Hi Hayley! Hi! Oh my gosh! I love that intro! Thank you! That's accurate. I mean, after being exposed to you a little bit, all that is true. You have a very powerful voice and you have a very straightforward message. There's no candy-coating anything. I mean, there's no question as to what your mission is with your music, so we love that. Yes, thank you so much for saying that. I appreciate that so much. Well, can we hear, we'd love to know a little bit about Hayley Jones, your story, like your childhood and where did you grow up, what was home life like? Just give us a little glimpse into your story. Of course! So, I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. I grew up in church. My dad was a trumpet player in church. He's very talented at that, so I always looked up to him in that aspect and of course, my mom, she's amazing too, my number one supporter, always has been, but my dad has always, yeah, my dad has always been the musical one and the one that I looked up to and I ended up playing trumpet just like him, starting out in 5th grade all the way up to 11th grade, but I didn't discover that I could even sing until I was like 15 years old and it's actually a funny story because I was singing like really silly in the shower, like super loud, like opera style and from down the hallway, my dad could hear me and when I came out of the shower, he come up to me and he was like, Hayley, you can sing and I was like, what are you talking about? Like, I was joking, like that's not me singing and he was like, no, like I can actually hear it because my dad has a fabulous ear and I was like, well, I know you wouldn't like lie to me, I know you're telling the truth, so maybe there's like something to this and I always thought it would be so fun to be a singer, like I went to concerts my whole life, my first concert I ever went to was actually Hannah Montana's concert in Jacksonville, Miley Cyrus, when she was doing Hannah Montana, yeah, so that was like, that just lit my eyes up, I was like, oh my gosh, that looks so fun to be like a performer, but it never seemed like tangible to me, but when he told me that, I was like, okay, so then I at 15 years old started posting videos of me singing online and oh, I also forgot to mention, my dad is a magician comedian as well, so like that's also where I saw a lot of the performing side. Oh, wow, that's cool. Yeah, he got to perform for like George Strait, I think one time at his house or at an event, yeah, super cool, so I always saw that, but anyways, I started posting videos at 15 on YouTube and I got severely made fun of, severely bullied, I was very depressed, very anxious, very alone, I had no friends after that, they even would like, yes, I don't know, I guess it was just like back then, people weren't doing that, people weren't putting themselves out there and it was just an easy target for people to make fun of, poke fun of, whatever, and even if it wasn't fun, like it truly like just traumatized me, but by the grace of God and the strength that I guess he had in me at that moment, like I didn't stop and I didn't allow that to stop me, I allowed that to keep me going, actually, and I continued posting those videos, I started singing in church, still getting made fun of, the whole nine yards, but I was like, whatever, I'm not going to listen to them, I'm just going to keep going because I love this, which literally looking back had to have been God's grace and his strength that he put in me because I don't know of any other reason why I would have kept going, but so then when I graduated high school, I started going to college, I was still posting videos, but while I was in college, I got a job as a teacher and I kind of stopped posting videos, kind of stopped singing altogether, and I was just like, you know, I guess it's time to like be an adult now, I guess, and actually, funny story, when I was a teacher, I was posting some TikToks and I got like in really big trouble. Really? Yes. They didn't like that, huh? Oh, no. I was posting TikToks from like, it was before school, like before the kids were even there and I got in huge trouble, I remember, like just being silly, but I just thought that was funny to ask, considering what I do now, but so I was a teacher for a year and while I was a teacher, I got an opportunity to get into the teaching bachelor's program at my college and I thought I was going to be a teacher. I never had music on my radar until later, but for some reason, there was just this calling inside of me that was just like, I want to be a singer, like this is what I want to do, the circumstances are not ideal, nobody's telling me I should do this, no one's telling me I can even do this, but there was something within me that's like, no, I'm going to push, I'm going to keep doing this no matter what my trajectory looks like. So my whole time I was in my teaching program, I'm praying to God the whole time, Lord, please, like if there's any chance under the sun, like please let me be a singer, even if it's until the summer before I have to start teaching, like please don't let me start teaching. And I prayed that prayer every day I was in college. I finally graduated college and we decided to go on a cruise, this was last May, to celebrate. On that cruise, I get a message from a talent scout who's like, hey, I saw like your videos online, because I was posting singing at this point, because I had been, I actually, whenever I got into my teaching program, I quit working and I was able to do TikTok full time, thankfully. Wow. Yeah, I was doing like a lot of the TikTok lives and stuff, I wasn't doing Christian music or anything, I was actually doing country music. And I was a Christian, but like I just didn't feel worthy to like post Christian music, I guess, back then, because like I didn't feel good enough, like I didn't feel like I was living perfectly like I should have been to do that, I guess, which was a lie from the devil. Right. But so I meet with this said manager who ended up just being absolutely amazing, and he's worked with crazy big artists that you would know. And me and my husband did some thinking on it, and we were like, okay, God's clearly making it obvious that this is what He wants us to do, so we're going to go with it, we're going to trust Him. It was a humongous leap of faith, but we did it. And whenever we were down there meeting with my manager, who's surprised now my manager, he said something to me, because I went in there saying, I want to do country music, like that's just my dream. And he looked me in the eyes, and he was like, no, I see something much bigger in you. You're here to do Christian music. And when he said that to me, it was like everything that I had been hearing the whispers in my mind all along were confirmed. But at that point, I was like, okay, well, this can't just be like a career, like I have to make it real to me, like I have to live for Christ. I'm not going to just be lukewarm and make music for God, because that can be kind of dangerous. So I was like, okay, God, I'm submitting fully to you, me and my husband. We're living for you. We're going to do this thing for you. I'm going to dedicate my social media to you. And literally, that was a year ago. Ever since then, God has just shown off in my life. And a year later... So that was just a year ago. Wow. That was, yeah, just a year ago. It hasn't even been that long. Wow, I guess not. And there's just been so many crazy opportunities that have happened along the way. But specifically, this past October, or last month, I was about to go up to my very first writing trip, where you go up to Nashville for a week, and you write with the writers and all. Like I said, I was just there before we started the interview. But before I went up, we went to church the night before. And there was a sermon that was preached by my pastor, talking about being a vessel for Christ, and being the salt of the earth, and talking about how we need to be that vessel so that he can work through us, and stuff like that. And I just really felt like this sermon was for me. I was bawling crying. I could hardly contain myself, because this pastor didn't even know what I was about to go do. I went up to him after, and I was like, hey, I really felt like that message was for me. Like that was really great. Here's what's about to happen. Can you pray for us? And he looked at me, and he said, well, that's really crazy, because when I was preaching that, it was like I saw this glow around you. Like I felt truly like it was for you. Oh. Wow. How cool is that? Wow. I know. Isn't God so cool? Right. That's awesome. This was just a month ago. Yes. This was a month ago. Very fresh. Oh. God is cutting edge. Talk about exciting. Yes. So then he prayed for me. I tell him what I'm about to do, and he tells me, you know, good luck. God be with you. So the next day, the very next day, we're on our trip up to Nashville, and I decided I was going to share a song that I had written that technically was not supposed to go out, because my team told me, like, this is good, so let's save it for later. But I was like, I really like this. Can I please just share like a little snippet? And literally by the grace of God, normally they would have said no. Literally by the grace of God, they were like, sure. And that song happened to be Not Today. And that song, literally the week I was in Nashville, blew up like crazy, bigger than I have ever had an original ever do on there. Wow. I know, right? Yeah. Very cool. Yes. And when we came back from Nashville, like three weeks ago, my team was like, okay, we're going to fast track this. We really think, like, your audience really wants this song. Like, they're loving it. They're making videos to the song and like all of this. They were like, we want to put it out, like, right now. And I was like, okay. So I worked on the track for literally 24 hours straight. Well, I guess it was 12 hours straight over two days with no breaks. And we got it done. And then I sent my demo that I made to my amazing producer, his name is Joshua David Cochran. And he's so talented. And he got like some musicians to work on it as well. And he sent it back to me and, like, just was absolutely blown away. And as I kept promoting and saying, hey, the song's, like, going to come out, people were just losing their minds in the best way. And I was like, oh, my gosh, God, like, what are you doing? This is crazy. And when the song debuted on Halloween, because we strategically did that to it on Halloween to say, Tim, not today, Satan. I love it. It literally debuted at number two on the Christian iTunes chart and since then has not fallen off completely off the charts. Like, it's at, like, 30-something today, I think. But, like, it was also charting before it was even out. Like, those two weeks that I was promoting it saying, hey, it's going to come out, it was on the chart, which my team had never seen done before. They'd never seen an artist have a song chart on iTunes before it's even released, especially being an independent artist and, well, yeah, an independent artist and my first single ever. And so, yeah, that's where we're at now. That is so exciting. So we listened to, you know, a snippet of that, you know, Not Today. There is such a force, a power of the presence of the Lord in that song. We need to hear a little bit of where this came from. You wrote the song, correct? I did. I wrote it myself and, yeah, I wrote it up in my phone. God must have downloaded this in you. Can you tell us about this song? Yeah. So it's actually crazy. So the song, when I wrote it, it was just an idea that kind of came to me of, like, Not Today, Satan. Like, I feel like that would be a cool title. And I just started writing it, and it was just like any other song that I've written. I've probably written, like, 50 songs at this point, so, like, this year. And so it was just another song, and, like, I liked it. You know, I thought it was cool, and I sent it to my team, and they were like, wow, this is pretty good. Like, great, let's save it for later and, you know, keep it trucking. I was like, all right, cool. But, like, now that all of that has happened and the song is out, the song actually means a million times more to me now than it did when I wrote it because it literally describes to a T my story of going through that hard time, of going through that bullying, of listening to those lies of Satan. And it's just saying, like, no, not today. I am not listening to that no more. I'm going to listen to God. I'm going to worship him, and that's what's going to fight those battles. And so now when I listen to it, it has a whole new meaning now that it's out, now that I listen to it more, and it says, God's amazing. He's so amazing. Oh, I love that story. And I think because of what the body of Christ and what we in America have just come through, and not just America but the body of Christ at large, I think when a lot of listeners hear it, they resonate with it because they're so over the bullying, and not just the playground in school or in college, in society there has felt like Satan has bullied the body of Christ. And I think we've come to a point as a body of Christ that is saying, we're done with this. So I think it came out like I'm so not surprised. God's always just ahead of everything, and he's amazing. How he downloaded it in your spirit, knowing you're a willing vessel, and you're going to put pen to the paper and get this out, and how I think it just resonates in everybody's spirit, and you can feel the presence of the Lord in such a powerful way, hearing you singing a song that I think the timing of it is perfect, like God, and beautiful. And thank you from part of the body here saying thank you for being willing and writing the song and singing it and putting it out there because it's something everybody's just like, yes. That's what I thought when I heard it. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's a statement for sure, and I think that's why people like using it in their own videos too. It's a statement that a lot of people want to make. They've had enough, and they're more than happy to say, Satan, not today. We're done. This is ending now. Absolutely. I've even had friends who are not religious tell me that's such a great song because nobody wants to listen to the lies, regardless of what religion you are or if you believe in God or have a relationship with him or not. So I've had nonbelievers tell me they love the song because everyone wants to say, I'm not going to believe this anymore. I'm not going to live like this anymore. Even if they don't realize, it's the Lord that will help you through that. I just believe it's a message that a lot of people can relate to, and it makes me so happy knowing that they do. Yeah, and you know what else? You make it really clear. There's been blurred lines in society so that pretty soon, pretty soon, people are going, what is truth? What is the right thing here? Everybody's gotten so confused and not being able to clearly see right and wrong, truth and lies. And in this song, there comes a real strong definitive, like standing up for truth, and Satan has been in lies and has blurred everybody's vision for so long that pretty soon everybody's going, I'm done with that. I love that you brought it out in a song like this. Thank you so much. Thank you. No, thank you. That's so cool. So now that this song has come out and done so well, has it opened up some doors for you, some opportunities for concerts or anything like that? Well, I'm sitting on your podcast. Yeah, right? Yes. And we love it. Yes, I'm so grateful. But no, really, like this podcast and the other podcasts that I got to do that you guys saw me on, that's done really well. And just the mere fact of personal goals, like I got to have a number two song on iTunes. Anything else that happens now is just crazy. It's just blessings from God. So nothing insane has happened, I guess, besides that, because that's huge. But it's just like His goodness is all around. That's the best I can say. I'm sure it's coming your way. And, you know, I find it very curious. This gifting has been in you all along. Your awesome dad was able to recognize and encourage and fan that flame, and your amazing mom. And I find it curious that all this happened after you and your husband made a decision when you were approached with not doing country but doing Christian music. And you both decided to go all in for the Lord. And it's almost like God heard that, yes, we're all in for you. And it's like all this has burst open now. Yes, absolutely. I say that literally all the time, me and my husband. We'll be sitting in the living room, and I'm like, Derek, his name is Derek. I was like, Derek, can you imagine if we would have said, like, no, I'm good. I'll just stick to the faith route and be a teacher. Like none of this would have happened. And all of these lives of people who have messaged me and commented, like, in my lives and stuff, those lives would not have been touched for the kingdom if we would have said no. Right. And so I'm just grateful to be that vessel. And, like, I'm just thankful. I really am. Yeah. I love it. I'm glad for your yes. And you just keep on in the Word and in prayer. And it's like I just feel like God's going to keep you grounded because it's going to start coming at you. There's going to be a lot of people wanting to hear your story and hear what you have to say. And God's just going to fill you up as you, you know, in the Word and in prayer time. Like, I call it my war room. I get up every day at 530 for my war room. Oh, yeah. For that prayer time because it's time to really take things back in the kingdom for the kingdom of God. And I just think get ready. It's coming your way. And God's going to give you, even if you're, like, oh, overwhelmed by what's coming, you know, good things I'm saying, opportunities. Yeah. He's going to fill your mouth in the moment with what to say. Even if you kind of freak out, like, okay, this is so beyond me. He doesn't ever give you more than you can handle. And He'll put in your mouth, put in your heart what needs to be said or shared or where you need to go. So He'll shape the trajectory of your future as you just stay in like you are, beautifully humble, submitted to Him. I just am honored to get to meet you in the beginning stages here, Haley. Yes. Thank you so much. That is so encouraging. Thank you. Yeah, we'll be able to say we knew her when. Yeah. Yeah. In the very beginning. Oh, your story is so perfect for our podcast because our podcast is about people who've said yes to God. Yeah. And even when it didn't necessarily make sense or maybe wasn't what their plan was, but they just knew it was God and they said, okay, I'm in. Yeah. If this is you, God, I'm in. And the mere fact where I had, like, that's so true, the mere fact of me praying that prayer every night. Right. Not even realizing what that was going to do or that God was going to be like, yeah, okay, you're going to sing Christian music at that. Like. Yeah. Right. You just see Him all over it and I'm just, He's just had His hand right there the whole time. Yeah. That's cool. And so often His plans look nothing like our plans. Oh, almost all the time it seems like. And, yes, the most exciting adventure to live is completely yielded to His plans. I always say we need to lean in to hear the heartbeat of the Lord. So we, instead of saying, bless my plans, Lord, I've got this and this and this going, Lord, bless it. We don't want to be that way in the body anymore. We want to be leaning in to hearing His heartbeats and where you're leading, I don't want to miss it. I want to keep up with you. Yeah. That's what, you know, you're just walking right into that right now. It's just beautiful. Absolutely. And I can only accredit that to my discipline of, well, God disciplining me of making sure that every day I sit down, regardless of how busy I am, I have to sit down and spend time with the Lord, ask Him to give me a word for the day wherever I open up in my Bible and just pray. And even if that's 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20, like, if I don't have that, my day, 9 times out of 10, not 10 times out of 10, will fall apart without fail. Sure. And that's the only thing that's kept me grounded because this journey so far, even the past month, I mean, it's been absolutely insane, like a whirlwind. And it's been hard. There's been lots of tears, lots of cries, lots of happiness. Like, it's been very, very, very stressful and overwhelming. But if I don't have that grounding, just like the Bible says, you have to have your foundation on the rock, not the sand, or you'll fall. That's so, so true. And that's become so real to me. Yeah. So what do mom and dad think about all this going on? Oh, my gosh. They are so happy. They are so supportive. It's so funny because, like I said, my dad was in the entertainment world and, like, in the music and stuff and just the entertainment in general. He was like, I think that you should just become a teacher, you know, maybe just take your time. And when I told him the next day, like, it was literally a day. It took a day to make this decision when it was supposed to take like a week. I was like, yeah, I'm going to be a singer. And he said, oh, okay. But he was so supportive. He was just, like, really shocked that, like, we were going to do it. And he's been so supportive, though, from the beginning. He's literally my booking agent now. Oh, I love that. That's so cool. Awesome. Well, it's got to be. I mean, it's so different than when he was, you know, your age, the whole music scene now. I mean, with social media and everything, it's just very, very different. So sometimes different generations struggle with how it goes now or they think it's too easy or it's not worth doing or something. But the impact you're having, you know, even on social media has got to be great. I mean, do you have people messaging you and commenting on your songs? I know you do even, like, little prayers and devotionals on TikTok, don't you? Yes. I just posted a prayer the other day. And before I do those, every time I always make sure to pray, like, specifically, like, God bless this prayer. Like, I don't want people to think I'm just, like, posted up in front of a camera just to pray. Like, you know how that can look sometimes. But I genuinely, like, I pray for God to bless those. But, yeah, I have hundreds of people message me a day. I can't even keep up with them in comments and stuff. And I'll be honest. Like, I'm so grateful because I know how much hate other creators deal with and, like, hate comments and just horrible, nasty people, especially Christians. But I rarely deal with those types of messages or comments. And I'm so, yeah, I'm so thankful for that. Oh, that's great. Yeah, wow. That's awesome. Well, it's annoying for sure. So that's cool. Is your focus mostly TikTok at this point or? All platforms, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook. Okay. Has TikTok seen the most growth probably? Yes. And, yeah, and TikTok is actually where I originally started, like, posting everything. And that's where I kind of, quote, unquote, got discovered was from TikTok. So that's always been, like, my main. But Instagram has actually really risen to the occasion in the past year because I used to get, like, nothing on Instagram. But as a result of submitting that to God, now I have 60-something thousand followers on there. On Instagram. Wow. Amazing. How many do you have on TikTok now? On TikTok, it's like, hold on, I can look. It's like 186.1 thousand followers and 2.3 million likes. Wow. Wow. And you're probably seeing that increase daily, I bet. Yes. Wow. Oh, exciting. Well, your future is very exciting, and we'll be praying for you and your husband and all that God has ahead for you. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. It's a walk of faith, and he's just going to give you the steps when you need it. And I love that you acknowledge the Lord in prayer. That's awesome. You're so yielding to him. That's why he can shine so much through you. It's just keep it up. Yes. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much. So for 2025, do you have anything in the works or any plans or thoughts on this coming year? So, so far for 2025, the only next plan that I know for sure is that there will be new music coming in 2025. I just don't know any specifics yet. There's nothing, no concerts or tours planned, but that can always change. Right. And I always update that on my website, hayleyjonesofficial.com, and I post it all over social media so everyone will know when stuff's happening. So the best way to keep up with everything you're doing and your new music and everything is on the website, would you say, or social media? Social media, for sure. The website is basically, it just has one tour date posted on here right now, one concert, and my merchandise. And there's also a way for you to download the song. Like if you don't have any of the streaming platforms, you can buy the song and download it directly from the website. But the best way to keep up with me like day to day and like updates would definitely be Instagram and TikTok, which is hayleyjonesofficial.com. Okay. Now, do you actually have merch that says not today? I do. I have a few shirts on there that say not today. Yeah, and the back has some quotes from the song. And then I also have a coffee cup that before you put anything in it, it's black. But when you put something hot in it, it makes the design show up, and it says not today with a sword through the middle of it. Okay, I need that coffee cup. That's cool. I love it. Yes. Great. Well, thank you so much for joining us today and being on the podcast. Thank you. You are such a blessing, Hayley Jones. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Y'all are so sweet. We look forward to watching your progress, and we will definitely be keeping up with you and maybe reaching out once in a while. Yes, thank y'all so much for having me. I appreciate y'all so much. Okay, you take care, Hayley, and we'll talk again. Talk to you again. You too. Bye. Thank you. Bye-bye. You're welcome. Bye-bye. Thanks so much for listening to the Faith Moving Forward podcast. Please consider subscribing to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you currently work with.