Lainey Wilson Discusses Hard Work and Being a Role Model for Girls

A role model we could all look up to. Lainey Wilson is gearing up to release her forthcoming album Whirlwind this month, and she’s been out on the road for her Country’s Cool Again tour since June. She still has plenty of dates left, wrapping up in November in her home state of Louisiana.

While on tour, Lainey started doing something special each night: she crowns a “Cowgirl of the Night” from the audience. She invites a little girl onto the stage, introduces her to the crowd, and gifts her a Lainey Wilson-styled cowgirl hat. The little girl then recites a mantra to the audience: “All you have to do – it’s real easy. Repeat after me, okay? Say, ‘I am beautiful. I am smart. I am talented. I can do anything. I am Cowgirl of the Night!’”

“Give it up for Nora! You look good too, girl.”

It’s a beautiful gesture that surely leaves a lasting and positive impression on these young girls, something we need more of in today’s society. Lainey is undoubtedly a good role model, especially for young women, embodying what hard work and determination can achieve.

In a conversation with Newsweek, Lainey shared that the idea for the mantra came from her mom, who taught her from a young age to speak kindly to herself, although she admits it’s often challenging: “My mama has always tried to make sure that I speak kind to myself. And that’s not easy to do. You know, we have our days, everybody does, but you got to speak it, to believe it, kind of thing.”

“And my job as a musician is to get up there and make people feel something and, and I want people to feel like they can do anything.”

She emphasized that she wants all the little girls and boys watching her to understand how hard work got her to where she is.

“I want these little girls and little boys watching me to know that I worked hard to get to where I am, and nothing happens overnight, and you got to roll your sleeves up and use a little bit of elbow grease to get where you want to go.”

“But I want to spread as much love and light as I possibly can, and I want to share the wisdom that people have shared with me. And it’s hard getting up every day and saying, ‘I’m beautiful, I’m smart, I’m talented, I’m godly, I can do anything.’ I just want, I want them to truly think that about themselves.”

Lainey is undoubtedly one of the great ones. Many of the young girls are shy at first, standing in front of thousands of fans, but they quickly open up, and it’s a beautiful transformation to witness:

“It’s, it’s one of those moments where we get to just really connect. And you can see these, you can see the stars in these little girls’ eyes when they’re just like, looking up at you, and they’re like, ‘What is happening right now?'”

“It seems like by the time they get to the end of the affirmation, like they were kind of nervous in the beginning, but by the time they get to that last line, they’re like, shouting it. And that’s what I want to see. That’s the energy that I want to see.”

I want to be Lainey Wilson when I grow up, and if I ever have a little girl, I want her to be just like Lainey too.

She has released four songs from the album’s 14-song tracklist so far, including “4x4xU,” “Country’s Cool Again,” “Hang Tight Honey” and most recently a duet with Miranda Lambert called “Good Horses.”

Whirlwind tracklist:
1. Keep Up With Jones (Lainey Wilson, Josh Kear, Wyatt McCubbin)
2. Country’s Cool Again (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Aslan Freeman)
3. Good Horses (feat. Miranda Lambert) (Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick)
4. Broken Hearts Still Beat (Lainey Wilson, Dallas Wilson, Josh Thompson, Blake Pendergrass)
5. Whirlwind (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
6. Call A Cowboy (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
7. Hang Tight Honey (Lainey Wilson, Driver Williams, Jason Nix, Paul Sikes)
8. Bar In Baton Rouge (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Kasey Tyndall, Jason Nix)
9. Counting Chickens (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Josh Kear, Dallas Wilson, Jon Decious)
10. 4x4xU (Lainey Wilson, Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere)
11. Ring Finger (Lainey Wilson, Aaron Raitiere, Marti Dodson, Jon Decious)
12. Middle Of It (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
13. Devil Don’t Go There (Lainey Wilson, Abram Dean, Lance Miller, Joe Fox)
14. Whiskey Colored Crayon (Lainey Wilson, Josh Kear, Wyatt McCubbin)

Source: Newsweek, Whiskey Riff