Talent, resiliency and perseverance: Victoria Prince is following her dreams

Born on the Big Island and raised in southern Oregon, singer-songwriter Victoria Prince has it all: talent, brains and beauty.

After earning a degree in audio engineering at the Art Institute of Seattle, Prince moved back to Hawaii where she now calls Kona home. A full-time performing musician, she is currently working on her first studio album. Yet while her life appears something out of a storybook, Prince’s life wasn’t always fairy tales and princess parties.

“I spent my childhood below poverty,” said Prince. “We lived in a homeless shelter in Kawaihae and a trailer park in southern Oregon. I was teased in school for where I lived, for wearing clothes from Walmart, for being seen at the food bank. My mom was a single mom of two children trying to support us on her own. She did her best to encourage us to follow our dreams no matter how hard the struggle became.”

Follow her dreams she did. When Prince was living in the trailer park she asked her mom for a guitar for Christmas. Prince’s mother traded some of her jewelry at the local pawnshop to buy her little girl her first guitar.

“Knowing that she had gone to such great lengths to get me that guitar made me determined to teach myself,” she said. “About a year later, I entered a talent show, took first place, and the next day played my first gig in a little biker bar during Labor Day weekend in 2005.”

In 2012, with the help of financial aid, Prince graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle. Then, in June 2013, she came to Hawaii to visit family and decided to stay.

“The move here was very challenging,” she said. “I quit my job over the phone, borrowed an old beater car from an uncle, and slept on my aunty’s couch. I served tacos at Ocean’s for about two years until I finally decided to go for it and take the plunge. I got a sound system together and began jamming for little to nothing or for free any and everywhere I could. I realized a lot of my time was being spent partying, so, I quit drinking and my success just bloomed and blossomed from there.”

It’s been four years since Prince moved back to Hawaii. She is now proudly 2.5 years sober and a full-time performer and swimwear model. She collaborates on projects with other women entrepreneurs and artists, and enjoys empowering and encouraging young women and girls to follow their passions.

“I never gave up on my dreams no matter what, and now I am living the dream,” said Prince. “I get paid to play music for beautiful people from all over the world almost every single day. After 11 years of performing, I am finally releasing my first album that was written solely by me. There is nothing more that I could ask for at this point in my life and career. Ten years from now, I can’t even imagine where I’ll be. Wherever I am, I hope I’m still playing my guitar. Whether it be to a big crowd or around a campfire, it makes no difference to me.”

Prince’s debut album will be released later this year. Her words, both musically and spoken, are an inspiration to those around her.

“I hope to inspire people through my music by expressing that no matter what types of obstacles you face in your life, anything is possible,” she said. “Our only limitations are the ones we put on ourselves. I spent so many nights singing to an empty bar, so many hours waiting to play one song at open mic nights, that sometimes when I’m on stage jamming to a venue packed full of people, I just want to cry. I can’t believe how far I’ve come, and I hope to continue to share my music for many years to come.”

Prince performs today from 9 to 11 a.m. at Daylight Mind Coffee Co. in Queens’ MarketPlace and from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. at Lava Lava Beach Club. On Saturday, she performs from 3 to 5 p.m. at Huggo’s on the Rocks. On Tuesday, she heads back to Daylight Mind at Queens’ MarketPlace for a performance from 9 to 11 a.m.

Info: www.victoriaprincemusic.com