Grammy Winner Gurujas, a Powerful Mujer in the Music Industry

Gurujas is a singer-songwriter in the band “White Sun.” The band is based in Los Angeles and made her first album in 2015, and by 2017 White Sun won its first Grammy as “best new age album,” an award that the band achieved again in 2023. To this date, they have eight albums and are working on the 9th record, which will be in Spanish and produced by the Cuban Kenya Autie.

Besides music, Gurujas also works as a Kundalini yoga teacher. Part of her mission is to teach her students that this practice is “an experientiality-based system, a science of joy, fulfillment, and love.”

As part of our Mujeres in Charge Women’s History Special, we caught up with Gurujas.

Can you tell us what challenges you faced as a woman in the music industry?

It’s been incredible; I sometimes feel that I need to pinch myself every day for being able to make music for a living. I go to the studio, write, compose, and work with incredible people. We work with a beautiful creative team, and that team evolves and changes, but I keep meeting amazing people. Right now, I’m working with a fantastic producer who is like a sister to me, her name is Kenya Autie, and she is from Cuba. Also, we are working on new material with Giovana, a Latina member of the LA Phil.

We are fortunate to be able to work surrounded by loving and talented women.

What is the most rewarding thing about your job?

I love being able to be my authentic self, and I know the more I can express it and show my creativity coming from the heart in a clear, direct way, the more rewarding the product will be, and the result will be. So, if my art comes from the heart, is authentic, and people are going to resonate with it, but if I try to make art for somebody else, no one will like it.

If I try to please a crew, or I try to please a genre, or create something only because I perceive somebody else wanted me to create it that way, it won’t last or have an impact.

Is there any compromise you had to make as a woman in your workplace?

There will always be a group of people who don’t like you or like what you do, and that’s never easy for a human being. So, it is like you have three categories of people:

The people that love and support you.
People that are against you and don’t like you.
People who don’t know about you or don’t care.

And the second category is always challenging, but in the end, there is a balance between the first and second categories. I feel that they grow equally, so I’m always trying to think if somebody has an issue with me or what I’m doing, I will have someone who loves me and supports me no matter what. I always focus on the positive side, but there is always a challenge; we are all humans.

What does equality mean to you?

Well, maybe this will be a different version of equality for you, but when I think of equality, I think of love because there are two energies in the universe. One is fear, and a lot of negativity comes from that, and the other is love, and all the positive things come from love. So, if we choose to be in the love category and support one another as human beings, recognize our strengths and powers, and love one another, that is equality.

Have you ever experienced a dismissive or “machista” situation at work?

Ha, ha, ha, all the time!

Sorry that I’m laughing, but it happens all the time! I try to ignore it and prove myself, but for example, many people ask me, “can I talk with your producer?” and my answer is, “umm, I’m the producer.” Or the other one is, “can you check and get back to me?” and is like, check with who? Ha, ha. Yeah, let me check it, and I will get back to you. So, sure, that happens all the time.

Please share three steps that could help us get closer to equality.

People need to think about themselves as sovereign individuals and search inside for their truth rather than others. Because there is a lot of pressure from other people, our environment, and our society to believe what someone else tells you, but you have to believe in yourself. You must trust your power, recognize yourself and honor it as an individual.

Another piece of advice is if you don’t respect others, no one will respect you, so if you are constantly looking for what is wrong in other people or what they are doing wrong, they are going to look for what you are doing wrong. So your whole life is going to be about what is wrong. Try to see what others are doing right and find in others what is inspiring and feel inspired.

And the third one is something that I use and greatly helps me. If a challenge comes up, do this: inhale and think about the word “victory” and then exhale. That helps you to overcome challenges.

To close this fantastic time with Gurujas, we asked her why she is a mujer in charge, and this was her answer: I’m a mujer in charge because I get to decide what I’m going to do with my life; I get to run my life, my schedule and my career.

Check our Women’s Special Mujeres In Charge to hear some amazing latinas sharing their journey!