Sabella "Bella" Reyes

I attribute my success to my family, my faith, and my military service. I often say I am the girl with Berry Gordy dreams. I have always been inspired by the way Motown was built with family support, structure, artist development, and a deep belief in the value of creative talent. My family has played a major role in helping me believe in my vision and build toward it with discipline and purpose.

My 11 years of service in the U.S. Navy also shaped me tremendously. The military gave me leadership experience, mentorship, structure, resilience, and relationships that still support me today. It taught me how to lead, how to serve, how to prepare, and how to think beyond myself.

Those experiences continue to shape my work through Track Society. I am using everything I have learned; from social work, military leadership, audio engineering, and now Berklee’s music business program, to help build something meaningful for independent music professionals and the communities that depend on their creativity.

The best career advice I have received is: if you want to get there fast, do it yourself; if you want to get there and stay there, do it with a team. That advice has shaped how I think about leadership, collaboration, and strategic partnerships. In the music business and nonprofit space, no meaningful work is sustained alone. You need relationships, shared values, clear communication, and people who understand the mission.

For me, collaboration is not just about access. It is about alignment. The strongest partnerships are rooted in trust, responsibility, and a shared commitment to creating value beyond the moment.

My advice to young women entering music, media, entertainment, nonprofit leadership, or behavioral health-adjacent creative work is to understand that how you show up matters.

Women are still making important firsts across music, media, and entertainment. That means we carry a unique responsibility. Every room we enter, we are not only representing ourselves; we are helping shape how the next woman may be received in that room.

Be prepared. Be competent. Be teachable. Know your value. Set boundaries. Do not let anyone reduce your contribution to convenience, appearance, or support work if you are called to lead, build, create, or direct.

At the same time, do not confuse confidence with having everything figured out. Confidence is built through preparation, humility, self-trust, and the willingness to grow through uncomfortable seasons.

My message to women is this: protect your name, protect your gift, protect your peace, and protect the woman carrying the work.

One of the biggest challenges in the independent music ecosystem is the gap between talent and support. Many independent music professionals are gifted, committed, and ambitious, but they are often building without enough access to education, career navigation, wellness support, mentorship, funding, infrastructure, or professional development.

The culture can become very fast, transactional, and visibility-driven. Technology has created incredible opportunities, but it has also contributed to shorter attention spans, less follow-through, and a reduced tolerance for delayed gratification. In that kind of environment, stewardship becomes even more important.

I believe the opportunity is to build community-based systems that help independent music professionals move beyond survival and toward belonging, growth, and sustainability. That includes mentorship, referrals, education, shared resources, advocacy, career navigation, wellness-informed support, strategic partnerships, and community investment.

For Track Society, this work is especially focused on developing independent music professionals in Houston, including those who are not yet earning the majority of their income from music but are actively working to build sustainable careers.

Integrity, safety, stewardship, and service are central to my work and personal life. Integrity is especially important in the music business because trust is everything. People need to know that your word means something, your intentions are clear, and your work is rooted in something deeper than visibility or personal gain.

Safety is also important. In Track Society spaces, we are intentional about creating environments where people feel welcomed, respected, and supported. That includes training hospitality rover volunteers to help maintain a warm, professional, and attentive event environment.

Stewardship is one of my core values. To me, stewardship means responsible care. In the independent music ecosystem, that means caring for the gift, the person carrying the gift, and the community shaped by that gift. It means we do not only celebrate the final product; we also ask whether the people creating culture are being supported, protected, educated, and given room to thrive. I believe music, culture, artists matter. Therefore, we have obligations to the people who create culture.

I want people to remember that independent music professionals need more than exposure. They need structure, education, wellness-informed support, business development, community, and stewardship. Ten years from now, I hope my contribution is clear: Sabella “Bella” Reyes, LCSW, helped define how independent music professionals can be supported through community, business education, and wellness-informed practices. That is what it means to protect the person behind the music.