My Story
If anybody ever looks at me,
Shines a light on the life I lead,
Let who I am only point to this,
Who Jesus is,
Who Jesus is.
Who Jesus Is by Laura Williams
Who is Laura Williams?
Laura Williams always knew that singing was as innate for her as eating, sleeping and breathing, but she never thought she could actually pursue a music career. Early on in life, Laura experienced a plethora of hardships that drew her away from her passion.
As a young girl in grade school, she was constantly ostracized and bullied by her peers during these vital foundational years. Consequently, her parents took her out of school, for they believed she was quickly spiraling down a dark path. Laura was home-schooled for a year to recover from the emotional damage.
During her time at home, Laura reflected on her painful early years and channeled this healing into writing poetry, which would one day turn into song lyrics. Always turning to music to put into words the whirlwind of emotions she could not verbally explain, she began to record covers of songs that resonated with her and explored different music genres/artists that she felt were as big of thinkers and feelers as she was.
Laura finally felt a sense of belonging with a newfound confidence and sense of self after healing at home, and made a vow to herself at twelve years old that she would never let anyone feel the way she felt as long as they were in her presence, and headed back to in person learning in 6th grade. Joining a local theater company, Laura overcame intense stage fright and learned the full scope of her vocal abilities when the theater director took her under his wing and lovingly pushed her to her full potential.
As 10th grade began, Williams gradually started to rediscover Jesus with the help of a dear friend after growing up in a Christian household but spending many years astray. However, when COVID 19 hit, Laura developed an eating disorder during quarantine at sixteen – a battle she would fight for the next three years of her life. There was a point where she would have rather died than gained weight, and the scale dictated her everyday life. This disorder took everything from Laura, and everything revolved around it.
Unfortunately, after finally feeling at peace with her environment, Williams’ family moved when she was fourteen, just before starting 8th grade. Distraught that she had to start all over again, Laura fell into a deep depression as she entered a new school. She had trouble making friends – everyone she interacted with were similar to those she attended grade school with.
Three months into the school year, a serious false rumor went around about Laura, causing most of the 400 students in her grade to hate her. This changed the trajectory of how she would navigate the rest of her time in this district; her reputation was completely destroyed. She entered high school with very few friends and kept to herself. Slowly, she was able to rebuild how she was perceived. Getting a ukulele as a Christmas present, Laura started to write her own music, using her unique life experiences, wide spectrum of emotions, and love for English class and vocabulary to fuel her songwriting; this would only continue as she grew up.
As college decisions consumed the entirety of senior year, Laura felt lost and unsure of her future. All of her academic career, she had worked hard to excel academically to earn scholarships and get accepted to wherever she applied. By April of her senior year, Laura was still confused on where she should attend and ultimately what she should do with her life. Prayer journaling, she constantly talked to God about her distress and found herself praying about her music career for the first time in a long time; she had given up on that dream, since college seemed like the obvious next step, despite her longing desire and passion for it laced throughout her whole existence.
Williams spent all of 11th grade doing virtual school as a shell of herself, this illness deteriorating her mental and physical health, as she was trying to develop a relationship with Jesus during this time. Laura entered 12th grade closer to God than she had ever been before. As time went on, Laura fully credits her eating disorder recovery to the Lord, deeming it a miracle. She had no desire to recover, but the Lord slowly changed the desires of her heart and led her graciously into realizing how much more there was to life than letting this illness overcome her.
She wrote,
“God, put my music career into your hands, whether it’s what I want or not.”
After Laura committed to CCM, she underwent harsh spiritual attack and became the most depressed she has ever been, despite being aligned with what she knew was God’s will for her. Working extremely hard, Laura was employed as a babysitter, dog walker and food delivery driver on top of singing three hours a day and building her presence on social media. Holding onto the Lord’s faithfulness and promises, she pushed through these dark days and even a heavy breakup, and it all started to pay off when NBC’s The Voice contacted her to be on season 24 of the national television talent competition show. This show helped launch Laura’s career and completely changed her life. She watched her relationships and inner self blossom again, and was in awe of how God was blessing her through this opportunity. Since her time on The Voice, Laura has been performing locally and going to and from Nashville to record music. Currently, Laura anticipates unique Christian music to be released in the upcoming year, and aims to glorify God and unite with her audience performing her own shows while continuing to witness God’s hand in her life as her budding career unfolds. Laura hopes to put into her songs what people struggle to put into words, so that those who listen and connect to her music feel seen and heard while also introducing Jesus in a new light.
That night, her life changed overnight; she was contacted by a Christian-based management through social media who wanted to help her launch a music career. Stunned and realizing it was no coincidence, Laura knew that this was God’s exact next step and deferred from college immediately. When she met with this agency, they told her that she could pursue any genre she wanted, but they saw her as a Christian artist. At the time, Laura was set on going into the pop industry; however, she took the next few months to think and pray about this decision. She started to realize that no matter what she wanted to do in life, she wanted to show people who Jesus is; one major reason she gave up on her dream in the first place was because she didn’t want to be in a place of idolizing herself on stage. The Lord slowly changed the desires of her heart, and although she was nervous to commit to Christian music, she decided to be obedient to God and follow what she knew was His path for her. Now, Laura can’t imagine doing any other genre. Laura talks about how she gets to do what she always felt deep down she was meant for – to connect with others through the universal language that is music, sharing her story, testimony, and the truth and character of Jesus to encourage others.
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