November 23, 2025 • 19 mins
In this episode, we sit down with rising country sensation Alexandra Kay, whose journey from viral “coffee cover” videos to topping charts is nothing short of inspiring. Alexandra opens up about her highly anticipated sophomore album Second Wind, her bold plans to conquer country radio, and how she turned a simple morning coffee routine into a social media empire with over 8.6 million followers. We dive into her entrepreneurial side as she celebrates the launch of her first coffee shop, The Coffee Girl, and talk about the hustle behind balancing music, touring, and building a brand that feels authentic. Alexandra shares candid insights on staying grounded, handling haters, and why storytelling is at the heart of her success. If you’ve ever wondered how a TikTok trend can transform into a thriving music career—or what it takes to dominate both the charts and Instagram while brewing your favorite latte—this conversation is for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, hanging out in studio with somebody who we
got to hang out with during CMA Fest. Miss Alexandra K.
How are you? I'm good? How are you listen? I'm fantastic.
I got to tell you that I appreciate where you
saw a fork in the road and instead of taking
a sharp rite to being only a coffee shop girl,
you took a left and did the country music thing,
and then kind of we're like, well, let's bring coffee
(00:22):
shop into this too.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, and here we are, unreal fully integrated.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Is it wild to see social media is such a
cool tool?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
But is it cool to see like, hopefully you would
have ended up here anyway, right, right, But a lot
of people I always call it like building a house, right,
A lot of people, you know, have the supplies, but
then look for a record label. You were like, well,
I'll just I'll just start building the house and hopefully
they'll back up a truck to help me finish it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, for sure, I mean honestly, like if it wasn't
for social media, I really don't know that I would
be here because at the end of the day, like
I did, try to go so you know, the traditional
way and I tried to go to all the decision
makers and they didn't. They didn't, you know, have that
strong enough belief to go ahead and give me the deal.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So let's who are they? Let's go let's you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
But I'm but I'm grateful for it though. I'm really
grateful for it because one, I was able to build
this fan base, which gave me great leverage to get
an incredible deal, which is what I got with BMG.
So I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I heard they pay big time. Hey just say, mommy.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Starvin, you know what I mean. I'm just giving Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Where did you because part of part of putting yourself
out there on social media, like you have to kind
of not care because people hate everything before.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They like it. Oh my god?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, So how like, at what point did you look
at me and say, hey, we're just going to do
it and if people don't like it, I'm still gonna
have fun.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I mean, honestly, at some point I just was like,
if you here's what I thought about.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Like, I don't.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Remember ever going on somebody's video and leaving a disgusting
comment that would make them feel bad about themselves. I
don't remember ever doing that, so which means you should
you will probably need to be in a pretty dark,
disgusting place in order to leave some of the some
of the stuff that is left on my videos.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And so.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Honestly, if you just come at it from that, from
that place, you have more empathy for them in their scenario.
And then if they're just projecting. Honestly, people are just projecting,
and it's like us, I just have to shake it
off and just be like whatever, you know, like I
knew what I was getting myself into. And also I'm
(02:41):
very aware that not everybody's gonna love my voice, you
know what I mean. Like I have that very high pitched,
like almost like a little nasally like kind of voice,
and it's like Tracy Lawrence did just fine, y'all, you
know what I mean, Like that's my dude. And and
so it's just like you just have to realize, like
you're not gonna be everybody's cup of tea, and that's fine,
it is.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But I'm not gonna stop. Can you imagine if I
would have just stopped, You're you're.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Right, I'm going to work at McDonald's right exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I did that when I was fifteen.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
At what point, because this is I want to say,
and my timeline might be off. Within like the last
nine months you went to Waterloo and opened a coffee shop. Yes,
is it about nine months?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, at what point you were like, let's do that.
Obviously it's a part of your story and why you're
here now, right, But like what made you go, Hey,
we're gonna do this. This is a fun idea.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So whenever we started the coffee covers and everybody started
like kind of calling me the coffee girl. Not kind of,
they were calling me the coffee girl. I mean literally
people would come up to me on the street, Oh
my god, the coffee girl, Like they didn't even know my.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Name I'm singing in the video.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
They didn't even know exactly exactly. And when that started
to happen, I really wanted at that time to open
a shop. Didn't have the funds, Like, wasn't in that
in that place in my career. Thank goodness, when I
released my last album All I've Ever Known, and I
was independent, so I obviously own all of that music,
and I was able to basically raise enough money to
buy my first shop. And everything happens for a reason.
(04:06):
So I wanted to do it a long time ago.
The timing was right now, And honestly, it's really cool
because I was able to retire my dad from a
job he's been in for a really long time and
has always disliked. And now he's the GM of my
shop and hopefully he will continue to stay with me
as I opened my shop in Nashville. And you know,
it's really cool. It's a strange dynamic though, I'll tell
(04:28):
you that being your dad's boss, I'm like, I've listened
to you and done what you told me to do
my whole life. And so now like my manager has
to kind of because he knows just the right buttons
to push to get one over on me if he
wants something. And let me tell you, I'm like, yes, Dad,
whatever you want.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I just want to say one thing. I'm not a
businessman at all, but I know enough to tell you
when family got access to the register, just be careful. Yeah, right,
that Nashville shop is. Have you shared publicly where it's
going to be when it's coming. No?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No, because it's just we're just now looking for the
right location. And and you know I want to I
want to have hopefully my first number one on country radio.
That's my big goal for next year for Straight for
the Heart, and so hopefully I'll accomplish that, and then
just yeah, people start to come to Nashville and be like,
I want to go to Jason el Dean's, Landy Wilson's,
(05:19):
and I want to go to Alexanderk's coffee shop. I
want to be on someone's like Nashville checklist, you know
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Coffree.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
And it's funny too because Tay and I order coffee
here all the time through Postmates, and she's dying to
go to like places that are not the regular chains.
So we need we need you girls always.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
As soon as Nick and I this is Nick behind
the scenes, he does my social media and so much.
He's like my right right hand. As soon as Nick
and I wake up on the tour bus every day,
we're instantly like, where are we finding coffee? And we
will walk for miles to not go to a Starbucks
or a Duncan. And I'm not trying to just we
won't go to a big place. I want to go
(05:57):
to a small a small, little mom and popsha somewhere.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So you do sing songs and we'll get to that
in a second. But stick with me. Stick with me
on the coffee thing, because a fan like I always
try to think what would a fan ask next? And
I think a fan would be like, why didn't you
ask her? When you go places? What are coffee shops
that you're like, Hey, if we hit this city, we're
going here?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Oh I can't. I have a list, but I can't
remember them off the top of my head, but I
do save them, okay, so I'll like star them on
maps so that I know that I want to go
back there.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Have you had what's the one over here today? Alexa?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I have, and I love it. I actually did a
pop up there during CMA Fest, not last year, but
the year before.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Why did we get there? The macha?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
The strawberry straberry macha. It's so good and it's the
reason why I didn't have my shop two years ago.
When we did the pop up there and my parents
were with me, and I tried it, I drank it,
and I was like, I said, Dad, when we open
our shop, finally we've got to have strawberry macha. And
now that I think about it, we still don't have
a strawberry macha and so I'm gonna my dad.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
But it's funny because I said that to them. I go,
oh man, this strawberry milk kills this thing. I go,
just don't tell me that you're mixing in like the powder,
because it'll kill it. And the guy goes, we're not
mixing in the power they are. I'm like, it's just
Nest quick powder. Dang it, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I actually did when I rolled out. So one thing
we do at the shop is whenever we release a
new single or we're gonna have we're gonna roll out
like all of the drinks from the singles that we
released from this record. So we did Feminine Energy right now,
we have a Straight for the Heart Lotte. We have
what he does latte, and they kind of like switch
(07:45):
out whenever new songs come. Feminine Energy Latte is everyone's
favorite because we used strawberry nest Quick milk. Let go
I know, And I was like, my dad would go
to the local grocery store and just buy him out
of strawberry.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
So Straight for the Heart obviously you have the full project,
right Why why did this feel right for right now?
Because I'm always interested in the single selection or like
the lead song or what you decide to send a
country radio because you're really like saying, this baby's the cutest,
right right right.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
But I'm such a rookie to the country radio thing.
And it's the whole reason why I signed with the
label that I did, because they have an incredible radio
team and they have shown that they have great success
at this and I have so much to learn from
them in this process. And honestly, for me putting that
aside because I don't it's my first time. I'm just
(08:38):
learning as I go, right, and I'm paying attention to
my team and letting my team guide me. But I
heard the song and I was like banger instantly, Like
I didn't write it, like someone else wrote it. So
I heard it in my first pitch meeting ever, and
I was like, please do not show this to anyone else.
This has got to be my song. I need this song.
And so it was a no brainer to me. Honestly,
(08:58):
I just think it's a think it's a hit whenever
I listened to it, and so I was just really
glad that my team agreed.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
How is that Because there's so many when it comes
to songs. There's so many artists that are like, if
I didn't cut it, I won't touch it, right. But like, also,
a great song is a great song, whether it came
from you or not. So how important is it as
these song ideas come across, Like you have to feel
it right, There's got to be some authenticity in the
story you're telling for show.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, I think it's just important to like, like, chill
on the ego, you know what I mean? Like, what
do you like? I don't have any ego when it
comes to the song. I know that every day, if
I'm writing a good song, a better song is being
written in Nashville somewhere. That's the beauty of this town.
And so I want the great songs, like give me
all the great songs, you know, I don't care if
I wrote it or not. Like George Strait and Garth
Brooks made a killer career off of both of those things.
(09:44):
So likely I was actually really excited because as an
indie artist, obviously, you know, I didn't have as many
opportunities for people to want to pitch me songs because
they knew I wouldn't be going to radio as an
indie artist, and so as soon as I signed my deal,
I was like, okay, is it time yet? All the
great songs like I'll let you know and so yeah,
I have this one that I chose in a song
(10:06):
called old Me, which was Sasha Sloan and Shane Mcanelli,
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
And that's one thing that I'd imagine as an artist
is everybody, everybody has a great song idea, yeah right,
and especially a fan me like, oh, I thought of this.
How do you listen respectfully but also be like okay,
but I gotta go okay, but because you can't listen
to every song idea and you also don't want to cut,
(10:30):
you know what I mean, have them help with the
song idea, and all of a sudden they're coming after after,
after a number one song.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
So I think that I just kind of approach it
like I do, like every Nashville songwriter does. We just
always have our ears open, yeah, at all times, like
I am looking for in this conversation song ideas at
all times.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, Well, good, I got one. Check this out,
all right. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I always
do that to see if delay was like another radio
guy thinks he can come over and listen. I've been
writing great songs my whole life. I just need somebody
to make them better.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know what I mean. But like, also, yes, there
is the whole thing of like if I did actually
cut something that someone said they would come after me.
You know, no, I hear you.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
When it comes to this country music journey, it's so
it's cool because it's all the same road, but everybody
has a different view of the scenery, right, So, what
are some cool moments? Although many artists have done exactly
what you're doing, what are some cool things that you've
witnessed along the way that you're like, wow, this is awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Oh, so many, so many things. The way that Jelly
Roll treated me as a first of three on his
arena tour, like that is so awesome. It's so awesome
to meet people that you look up to and then
to see how not only they treat you, but how
they treat every single person in that arena who is
(11:55):
being a small to a huge part of putting on
his show every single night. He was so gracious and
so kind, and the way that he gave me a platform,
the way that he gave Atlas a platform, he's just
like always the first person to just reach down and
help somebody up. And it's like I feel like, especially
as females in this industry since we have been since
(12:22):
we have been kind of taught from the very beginning
that there aren't a whole lot of spots right that
it has created a little bit of more of a competition,
and you just don't see that happen a lot where
people are just willing to really reach out and pull
somebody else up. And whenever I experienced Jelly Roll for
who he is in those moments, I was just like Wow,
(12:44):
it was a wow moment of Wow, people really can
continue to stay themselves with everything they've ever dreamed of.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
It it becomes a challenge. But I'm telling you it's
so important, and I think it's more not even for
the people around you. I think it's more important for
you to avoid like imposter syndrome, and like for sure,
like the whole like, am I do I deserve this?
Am I supposed to be? All type stuff? I'd imagine
the more you you feel, it's easier to ignore stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So, like you, you know why, I don't think I
really have that much imposter syndrome is because I worked
so so hard, Like I did all of the nitty
gritty things, and Jelly and I were talking about this too.
It's like we started from the absolute bottom. Like I've
played shows where not a single person has walked in
(13:32):
the entire night and I just played for the bartender.
I have played shows where I traveled, you know, to
North Dakota to play a show, and not enough people
showed up and they didn't pay me, and I couldn't
afford to pay for my hotel room to sleep that
night or my gas to get back because they refused
to pay me for the show because not enough people came.
(13:52):
I have had two record deals and lost in both.
Was on a Netflix original series Lost that was supposed
to change my life. I mean, just like I can
stand up there and can be I can have those
tiary moments where I'm standing in front of an arena
that Jelly Roll gave me as an independent artist and
be like, grow, you work so hard for this, you know,
(14:12):
because I really do believe I did.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
It's cool too, because there's a lot of signs that
you're for you, that you're going to be successful, Like
even though you're still like starting out and you're still fresh.
There's a lot of signs that show how successful you're
going to be. I mean, it's the what just under
nine million followers throughout all your social platforms.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's wild, it's really wild, and.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
People don't followers are not easy to get or keep.
So the fact that you're sitting there is like, what
does that support mean for you?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Everything? I mean, you know, you saw a little bit
of it this morning. Like girls, they come, they wait early,
they try to come in and be the first person
on the barricade. Every single day when I pull up
to a venue, they're all dressed in pink and they've
got bows in their hair and there the lines are
around the corner at these shows, just to be able
to get as close to the stage as they possibly can.
(15:01):
And then they scream not not the hits, every single
deep cut at the top of their lungs. It's everything,
It is everything, And that is why I do fifty
free meet and greets before every single show. That is
why I do free shows all the time. That's why
I go live every single morning. It's why I just
want to give them as much of me as I caim.
(15:22):
I have nothing without them nothing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That's so cool to recognize that for where you're at.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Truly.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
The other thing when it comes to to cause you
mentioned like failures and things that didn't work out, people
quit before. They will fail a second time more often
than not. So does somebody else who is you know,
hop it on TikTok live and only getting three people
watching them singing the bathroom in the morning or something
like that. What do you say to people like that
(15:49):
when they approach you or maybe send you a DM
like hey, I want to do what you did. I
want to How do you tell them like, hey, you're
gonna fall on your face. But it's how you react
to that that matter.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I just think like when it comes to the people
that you know are going live and they don't have
really anybody watching or whatever, like I always just tell them,
I'm like, you have no idea when it can change.
It can all change. It can be one song, one trend,
one moment, and it can change your entire life. But
it's up to you if it changes your entire life.
(16:23):
Those moments have come for people and they've just as
quickly gone. It's what you do when you have that momentum.
I could have made one coffee cover and never made
another again and said that was a cool three million views. Instead,
I made to a day to a day. That's how
I got five million followers on TikTok. I made to
a day and then I could have just put it
(16:45):
to rest and said that was five years ago. Instead
I opened a coffee shop called the Coffee Girl and
created a brand around it. It's just you're gonna have
little moments. It's take it and run with it and
push it as far as you possibly can.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Two coffees a day and now I have hard problems,
but it's fine because having.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Two copies a day or two. I haven't had my second.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Actually, I'm not listen. We're excited to get you on
stage to play for the crew here at Jason el
Dean's down on Broadway. But I haven't asked this question
a lot, and it's so dumb.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
But let's get let's go.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
TikTok and social media massive and I'm not interested in views, likes, follows.
I'm wondering, what's the last thing you bought from the
TikTok shop.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I believe it was a set of press on nails.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's it. Yeah, I was looking at a chair like
a desk chair because I wanted a new desk chair,
and I was like, but do you trust a desk
chare off of TikTok.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So here's the thing. The things that they're that you're
buying on TikTok shop, you can find them on Amazon
and they're going to ship to you and twice the time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And they probably have a better warranty.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So it's not it's the same things. Because I would
be like, oh, oh, I love all these things I'm
finding on TikTok shop, and then I'd be like, wonder
if it's on Amazon. Oh, it's the exact same thing
on Amazon, except for at ships they're usually the same price.
Do you feel like we're getting God on tip I
could talk to you about.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
This, hey, but you just made me think of something.
What if Amazon is really fueling what's happening on TikTok
and it's just a new way for them to create revenue.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I wouldn't be surprised. I would not be surprised, honestly,
and I get sucked into it all the time. When
I said the last thing I bought was a pair
of press on nails. Along with that same order was
press on nails. I bought some stuff to clean my
bags off. I bought some little plastic reusable bags and
a bows on them, just because they're cute. I think
(18:44):
I bought a coffee cup. Why would I ever buy
coffee cups? Do you don't have any coffee cups? I
have you? I want a storage unit full of coffee cups.
I'm not kidding. Where's my boyfriend? Is he in here?
He will tell you.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
He didn't pass security. Jack kid, Thank you so much.
We appreciate
Speaker 2 (19:05):
H
All right, hanging out in studio with somebody who we
got to hang out with during CMA Fest. Miss Alexandra K.
How are you? I'm good? How are you listen? I'm fantastic.
I got to tell you that I appreciate where you
saw a fork in the road and instead of taking
a sharp rite to being only a coffee shop girl,
you took a left and did the country music thing,
and then kind of we're like, well, let's bring coffee
(00:22):
shop into this too.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, and here we are, unreal fully integrated.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Is it wild to see social media is such a
cool tool?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
But is it cool to see like, hopefully you would
have ended up here anyway, right, right, But a lot
of people I always call it like building a house, right,
A lot of people, you know, have the supplies, but
then look for a record label. You were like, well,
I'll just I'll just start building the house and hopefully
they'll back up a truck to help me finish it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, for sure, I mean honestly, like if it wasn't
for social media, I really don't know that I would
be here because at the end of the day, like
I did, try to go so you know, the traditional
way and I tried to go to all the decision
makers and they didn't. They didn't, you know, have that
strong enough belief to go ahead and give me the deal.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So let's who are they? Let's go let's you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
But I'm but I'm grateful for it though. I'm really
grateful for it because one, I was able to build
this fan base, which gave me great leverage to get
an incredible deal, which is what I got with BMG.
So I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I heard they pay big time. Hey just say, mommy.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Starvin, you know what I mean. I'm just giving Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Where did you because part of part of putting yourself
out there on social media, like you have to kind
of not care because people hate everything before.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They like it. Oh my god?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, So how like, at what point did you look
at me and say, hey, we're just going to do
it and if people don't like it, I'm still gonna
have fun.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I mean, honestly, at some point I just was like,
if you here's what I thought about.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Like, I don't.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Remember ever going on somebody's video and leaving a disgusting
comment that would make them feel bad about themselves. I
don't remember ever doing that, so which means you should
you will probably need to be in a pretty dark,
disgusting place in order to leave some of the some
of the stuff that is left on my videos.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And so.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Honestly, if you just come at it from that, from
that place, you have more empathy for them in their scenario.
And then if they're just projecting. Honestly, people are just projecting,
and it's like us, I just have to shake it
off and just be like whatever, you know, like I
knew what I was getting myself into. And also I'm
(02:41):
very aware that not everybody's gonna love my voice, you
know what I mean. Like I have that very high pitched,
like almost like a little nasally like kind of voice,
and it's like Tracy Lawrence did just fine, y'all, you
know what I mean, Like that's my dude. And and
so it's just like you just have to realize, like
you're not gonna be everybody's cup of tea, and that's fine,
it is.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But I'm not gonna stop. Can you imagine if I
would have just stopped, You're you're.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Right, I'm going to work at McDonald's right exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I did that when I was fifteen.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
At what point, because this is I want to say,
and my timeline might be off. Within like the last
nine months you went to Waterloo and opened a coffee shop. Yes,
is it about nine months?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, at what point you were like, let's do that.
Obviously it's a part of your story and why you're
here now, right, But like what made you go, Hey,
we're gonna do this. This is a fun idea.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So whenever we started the coffee covers and everybody started
like kind of calling me the coffee girl. Not kind of,
they were calling me the coffee girl. I mean literally
people would come up to me on the street, Oh
my god, the coffee girl, Like they didn't even know my.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Name I'm singing in the video.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
They didn't even know exactly exactly. And when that started
to happen, I really wanted at that time to open
a shop. Didn't have the funds, Like, wasn't in that
in that place in my career. Thank goodness, when I
released my last album All I've Ever Known, and I
was independent, so I obviously own all of that music,
and I was able to basically raise enough money to
buy my first shop. And everything happens for a reason.
(04:06):
So I wanted to do it a long time ago.
The timing was right now, And honestly, it's really cool
because I was able to retire my dad from a
job he's been in for a really long time and
has always disliked. And now he's the GM of my
shop and hopefully he will continue to stay with me
as I opened my shop in Nashville. And you know,
it's really cool. It's a strange dynamic though, I'll tell
(04:28):
you that being your dad's boss, I'm like, I've listened
to you and done what you told me to do
my whole life. And so now like my manager has
to kind of because he knows just the right buttons
to push to get one over on me if he
wants something. And let me tell you, I'm like, yes, Dad,
whatever you want.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I just want to say one thing. I'm not a
businessman at all, but I know enough to tell you
when family got access to the register, just be careful. Yeah, right,
that Nashville shop is. Have you shared publicly where it's
going to be when it's coming. No?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
No, because it's just we're just now looking for the
right location. And and you know I want to I
want to have hopefully my first number one on country radio.
That's my big goal for next year for Straight for
the Heart, and so hopefully I'll accomplish that, and then
just yeah, people start to come to Nashville and be like,
I want to go to Jason el Dean's, Landy Wilson's,
(05:19):
and I want to go to Alexanderk's coffee shop. I
want to be on someone's like Nashville checklist, you know
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Coffree.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
And it's funny too because Tay and I order coffee
here all the time through Postmates, and she's dying to
go to like places that are not the regular chains.
So we need we need you girls always.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
As soon as Nick and I this is Nick behind
the scenes, he does my social media and so much.
He's like my right right hand. As soon as Nick
and I wake up on the tour bus every day,
we're instantly like, where are we finding coffee? And we
will walk for miles to not go to a Starbucks
or a Duncan. And I'm not trying to just we
won't go to a big place. I want to go
(05:57):
to a small a small, little mom and popsha somewhere.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So you do sing songs and we'll get to that
in a second. But stick with me. Stick with me
on the coffee thing, because a fan like I always
try to think what would a fan ask next? And
I think a fan would be like, why didn't you
ask her? When you go places? What are coffee shops
that you're like, Hey, if we hit this city, we're
going here?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Oh I can't. I have a list, but I can't
remember them off the top of my head, but I
do save them, okay, so I'll like star them on
maps so that I know that I want to go
back there.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Have you had what's the one over here today? Alexa?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I have, and I love it. I actually did a
pop up there during CMA Fest, not last year, but
the year before.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Why did we get there? The macha?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
The strawberry straberry macha. It's so good and it's the
reason why I didn't have my shop two years ago.
When we did the pop up there and my parents
were with me, and I tried it, I drank it,
and I was like, I said, Dad, when we open
our shop, finally we've got to have strawberry macha. And
now that I think about it, we still don't have
a strawberry macha and so I'm gonna my dad.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
But it's funny because I said that to them. I go,
oh man, this strawberry milk kills this thing. I go,
just don't tell me that you're mixing in like the powder,
because it'll kill it. And the guy goes, we're not
mixing in the power they are. I'm like, it's just
Nest quick powder. Dang it, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I actually did when I rolled out. So one thing
we do at the shop is whenever we release a
new single or we're gonna have we're gonna roll out
like all of the drinks from the singles that we
released from this record. So we did Feminine Energy right now,
we have a Straight for the Heart Lotte. We have
what he does latte, and they kind of like switch
(07:45):
out whenever new songs come. Feminine Energy Latte is everyone's
favorite because we used strawberry nest Quick milk. Let go
I know, And I was like, my dad would go
to the local grocery store and just buy him out
of strawberry.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
So Straight for the Heart obviously you have the full project,
right Why why did this feel right for right now?
Because I'm always interested in the single selection or like
the lead song or what you decide to send a
country radio because you're really like saying, this baby's the cutest,
right right right.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
But I'm such a rookie to the country radio thing.
And it's the whole reason why I signed with the
label that I did, because they have an incredible radio
team and they have shown that they have great success
at this and I have so much to learn from
them in this process. And honestly, for me putting that
aside because I don't it's my first time. I'm just
(08:38):
learning as I go, right, and I'm paying attention to
my team and letting my team guide me. But I
heard the song and I was like banger instantly, Like
I didn't write it, like someone else wrote it. So
I heard it in my first pitch meeting ever, and
I was like, please do not show this to anyone else.
This has got to be my song. I need this song.
And so it was a no brainer to me. Honestly,
(08:58):
I just think it's a think it's a hit whenever
I listened to it, and so I was just really
glad that my team agreed.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
How is that Because there's so many when it comes
to songs. There's so many artists that are like, if
I didn't cut it, I won't touch it, right. But like, also,
a great song is a great song, whether it came
from you or not. So how important is it as
these song ideas come across, Like you have to feel
it right, There's got to be some authenticity in the
story you're telling for show.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, I think it's just important to like, like, chill
on the ego, you know what I mean? Like, what
do you like? I don't have any ego when it
comes to the song. I know that every day, if
I'm writing a good song, a better song is being
written in Nashville somewhere. That's the beauty of this town.
And so I want the great songs, like give me
all the great songs, you know, I don't care if
I wrote it or not. Like George Strait and Garth
Brooks made a killer career off of both of those things.
(09:44):
So likely I was actually really excited because as an
indie artist, obviously, you know, I didn't have as many
opportunities for people to want to pitch me songs because
they knew I wouldn't be going to radio as an
indie artist, and so as soon as I signed my deal,
I was like, okay, is it time yet? All the
great songs like I'll let you know and so yeah,
I have this one that I chose in a song
(10:06):
called old Me, which was Sasha Sloan and Shane Mcanelli,
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
And that's one thing that I'd imagine as an artist
is everybody, everybody has a great song idea, yeah right,
and especially a fan me like, oh, I thought of this.
How do you listen respectfully but also be like okay,
but I gotta go okay, but because you can't listen
to every song idea and you also don't want to cut,
(10:30):
you know what I mean, have them help with the
song idea, and all of a sudden they're coming after after,
after a number one song.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
So I think that I just kind of approach it
like I do, like every Nashville songwriter does. We just
always have our ears open, yeah, at all times, like
I am looking for in this conversation song ideas at
all times.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, Well, good, I got one. Check this out,
all right. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I always
do that to see if delay was like another radio
guy thinks he can come over and listen. I've been
writing great songs my whole life. I just need somebody
to make them better.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You know what I mean. But like, also, yes, there
is the whole thing of like if I did actually
cut something that someone said they would come after me.
You know, no, I hear you.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
When it comes to this country music journey, it's so
it's cool because it's all the same road, but everybody
has a different view of the scenery, right, So, what
are some cool moments? Although many artists have done exactly
what you're doing, what are some cool things that you've
witnessed along the way that you're like, wow, this is awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Oh, so many, so many things. The way that Jelly
Roll treated me as a first of three on his
arena tour, like that is so awesome. It's so awesome
to meet people that you look up to and then
to see how not only they treat you, but how
they treat every single person in that arena who is
(11:55):
being a small to a huge part of putting on
his show every single night. He was so gracious and
so kind, and the way that he gave me a platform,
the way that he gave Atlas a platform, he's just
like always the first person to just reach down and
help somebody up. And it's like I feel like, especially
as females in this industry since we have been since
(12:22):
we have been kind of taught from the very beginning
that there aren't a whole lot of spots right that
it has created a little bit of more of a competition,
and you just don't see that happen a lot where
people are just willing to really reach out and pull
somebody else up. And whenever I experienced Jelly Roll for
who he is in those moments, I was just like Wow,
(12:44):
it was a wow moment of Wow, people really can
continue to stay themselves with everything they've ever dreamed of.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
It it becomes a challenge. But I'm telling you it's
so important, and I think it's more not even for
the people around you. I think it's more important for
you to avoid like imposter syndrome, and like for sure,
like the whole like, am I do I deserve this?
Am I supposed to be? All type stuff? I'd imagine
the more you you feel, it's easier to ignore stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So, like you, you know why, I don't think I
really have that much imposter syndrome is because I worked
so so hard, Like I did all of the nitty
gritty things, and Jelly and I were talking about this too.
It's like we started from the absolute bottom. Like I've
played shows where not a single person has walked in
(13:32):
the entire night and I just played for the bartender.
I have played shows where I traveled, you know, to
North Dakota to play a show, and not enough people
showed up and they didn't pay me, and I couldn't
afford to pay for my hotel room to sleep that
night or my gas to get back because they refused
to pay me for the show because not enough people came.
(13:52):
I have had two record deals and lost in both.
Was on a Netflix original series Lost that was supposed
to change my life. I mean, just like I can
stand up there and can be I can have those
tiary moments where I'm standing in front of an arena
that Jelly Roll gave me as an independent artist and
be like, grow, you work so hard for this, you know,
(14:12):
because I really do believe I did.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
It's cool too, because there's a lot of signs that
you're for you, that you're going to be successful, Like
even though you're still like starting out and you're still fresh.
There's a lot of signs that show how successful you're
going to be. I mean, it's the what just under
nine million followers throughout all your social platforms.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It's wild, it's really wild, and.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
People don't followers are not easy to get or keep.
So the fact that you're sitting there is like, what
does that support mean for you?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Everything? I mean, you know, you saw a little bit
of it this morning. Like girls, they come, they wait early,
they try to come in and be the first person
on the barricade. Every single day when I pull up
to a venue, they're all dressed in pink and they've
got bows in their hair and there the lines are
around the corner at these shows, just to be able
to get as close to the stage as they possibly can.
(15:01):
And then they scream not not the hits, every single
deep cut at the top of their lungs. It's everything,
It is everything, And that is why I do fifty
free meet and greets before every single show. That is
why I do free shows all the time. That's why
I go live every single morning. It's why I just
want to give them as much of me as I caim.
(15:22):
I have nothing without them nothing.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
That's so cool to recognize that for where you're at.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Truly.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
The other thing when it comes to to cause you
mentioned like failures and things that didn't work out, people
quit before. They will fail a second time more often
than not. So does somebody else who is you know,
hop it on TikTok live and only getting three people
watching them singing the bathroom in the morning or something
like that. What do you say to people like that
(15:49):
when they approach you or maybe send you a DM
like hey, I want to do what you did. I
want to How do you tell them like, hey, you're
gonna fall on your face. But it's how you react
to that that matter.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I just think like when it comes to the people
that you know are going live and they don't have
really anybody watching or whatever, like I always just tell them,
I'm like, you have no idea when it can change.
It can all change. It can be one song, one trend,
one moment, and it can change your entire life. But
it's up to you if it changes your entire life.
(16:23):
Those moments have come for people and they've just as
quickly gone. It's what you do when you have that momentum.
I could have made one coffee cover and never made
another again and said that was a cool three million views. Instead,
I made to a day to a day. That's how
I got five million followers on TikTok. I made to
a day and then I could have just put it
(16:45):
to rest and said that was five years ago. Instead
I opened a coffee shop called the Coffee Girl and
created a brand around it. It's just you're gonna have
little moments. It's take it and run with it and
push it as far as you possibly can.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Two coffees a day and now I have hard problems,
but it's fine because having.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Two copies a day or two. I haven't had my second.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Actually, I'm not listen. We're excited to get you on
stage to play for the crew here at Jason el
Dean's down on Broadway. But I haven't asked this question
a lot, and it's so dumb.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
But let's get let's go.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
TikTok and social media massive and I'm not interested in views, likes, follows.
I'm wondering, what's the last thing you bought from the
TikTok shop.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I believe it was a set of press on nails.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's it. Yeah, I was looking at a chair like
a desk chair because I wanted a new desk chair,
and I was like, but do you trust a desk
chare off of TikTok.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
So here's the thing. The things that they're that you're
buying on TikTok shop, you can find them on Amazon
and they're going to ship to you and twice the time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And they probably have a better warranty.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So it's not it's the same things. Because I would
be like, oh, oh, I love all these things I'm
finding on TikTok shop, and then I'd be like, wonder
if it's on Amazon. Oh, it's the exact same thing
on Amazon, except for at ships they're usually the same price.
Do you feel like we're getting God on tip I
could talk to you about.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
This, hey, but you just made me think of something.
What if Amazon is really fueling what's happening on TikTok
and it's just a new way for them to create revenue.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I wouldn't be surprised. I would not be surprised, honestly,
and I get sucked into it all the time. When
I said the last thing I bought was a pair
of press on nails. Along with that same order was
press on nails. I bought some stuff to clean my
bags off. I bought some little plastic reusable bags and
a bows on them, just because they're cute. I think
(18:44):
I bought a coffee cup. Why would I ever buy
coffee cups? Do you don't have any coffee cups? I
have you? I want a storage unit full of coffee cups.
I'm not kidding. Where's my boyfriend? Is he in here?
He will tell you.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
He didn't pass security. Jack kid, Thank you so much.
We appreciate
Speaker 2 (19:05):
H
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