Ryan Lafford

There's nothing more inspiring than seeing a friend achieve their wildest, most impossible dreams. Imagine growing up as a musician obsessed with Pokémon soundtracks. Imagine dedicating your life to the pursuit of writing great music, and spending 10+ years creating fan arrangements of game music on YouTube, with a level of passion and dedication that very few dare have. Motivated by the the dream of working as a music arranger professionally for Japanese games... Imagine walking a path that hasn't been walked by anyone before you. No one to truly guide you, and no one who you can fully relate to. But still you go through it, making the tough decision to believe in yourself and in your intuition, day in and day out, until one day... it freaking happens. You actually end working on the game that has been inspiring you all along. Freaking Pokémon. @insanerainmusic went through an adventure that is extremely unique, to say the least. And selfishly, I'm glad this happened to him of all people, for his is a story that shows perfectly how far passion and self-belief can take you. And it's a story you can watch unfold by going on his YouTube channel and watching his videos chronologically, witnessing his growth from his Berklee days to now. Great things can happen in life when you dare to embrace your dreams and you dare to stay true to yourself. Even when the odds seem to be against you. Thank you for reminding us that, Carlos. And congrats to you, my friend! I'll keep chasing my dreams even more strongly thanks to the inspiration your story gave me. 🙌🏾