Local teen Haleighanne Pepper (18) dreams of a life where music is her career. This dream began when she was only 12 years old, and she has spent the last two years stepping out of her comfort zone and posting her singing online.

“I wanted to post when I was younger but was too afraid, so I just started singing more and practicing. I got brave enough to start posting, and I actually had a lot of positive comments about it,” Pepper said. “I post more and more now, the more I get brave about it. I’m a confident singer, but I still get nervous about it.”

Pepper’s family played a part in her deciding to put her voice on the internet.

“I’ve always loved music and, like, anytime I would have anything going on in my life, I would play music and start singing,” Pepper explained. “I just decided to record myself one day because my family was like, ‘you sound really good, you should post that.’”

She began gaining confidence in singing simply by practicing.

“I started recording myself and started doing karaoke from YouTube, and I actually thought it sounded decent. I started practicing more, and I got better at it, and now that’s just a thing that I want to do with my life.”

Pepper says she is most interested in R&B and pop.

“The soul of the music is really what I love most. I do music with high notes and pitchy notes, but also like the music that’s kind of low, and those genres I relate to more and that’s what I enjoy singing more than country or rock or anything like that,” Pepper said. “That’s just what I’ve always found myself to be more into.”

Pepper hopes to one day see the stage of a talent competition, such as America’s Got Talent.

“I need to figure out how I can do that, but if I could really do that and get noticed, then that would be great,” Pepper said.

She says her family keeps encouraging her to reach for the stars.

“They all support me, and they say that I can do it, and I shouldn’t look back, and I should look forward,” Pepper said of her family’s support in that path.

Ultimately, Pepper hopes music can be her life.

“I really want to make it my job and my career and make a life out of it, if I can. It’s like a really big dream. I’ve wanted to do it, like I said, since I was 12. It’s not just something that came about; it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Pepper explained. “Music is a big part of my life, and most of the people that know me know that singing is something I do every day.”