Ziva van de Pol

Why this persona fits the audience

She publishes short electronic songs from her home studio in Amsterdam and uses a free link page for TikTok, Instagram, and streaming destinations. Fan emails from live streams and small merch drops are collected informally, with links and bios updated by hand after each release.

• Age: 22
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Occupation: Student and part-time electronic musician
• Income: €18k/year
• Education: Currently in university
• Company size: N/A (Sole Proprietor)
• Years in role: 3

“I feel like I'm shouting into a void sometimes, but then one person replies saying my song got them through a bad week, and suddenly the whole noise makes sense.”

Ziva van de Pol, 22, is a nascent force in the Amsterdam electronic pop scene, navigating the precarious balance between being a full-time university student and a solo electronic artist. Born and raised in the city, she grew up surrounded by the distinct hum of its underground clubs, which eventually inspired her to pick up a synthesizer at age 17. Today, she operates out of a converted closet in her shared student apartment, where she crafts lo-fi, experimental pop tracks designed specifically for the short attention spans of social media algorithms. Her workflow is intensely analog-digital hybrid; she records hardware synths directly into her DAW, edits footage on her phone, and manages her entire digital footprint with a mix of free tools and sheer grit. Despite her passion, Ziva faces significant structural challenges. With an annual income of roughly €18,000 derived from sporadic gig fees and small merchandise sales, every euro counts. She refuses to commit to expensive software subscriptions unless they offer immediate, tangible value, often sticking to free tiers or pirated alternatives until they become untenable. This frugality forces her to manually manage her fan relationships, copying email addresses from Instagram DMs into a Google Sheet after every livestream. It is a time-consuming, error-prone process that consumes hours she could spend creating. Her recent decisions reflect her struggle for visibility amidst the noise. Last month, she spent two weeks redesigning her bio page to better align with her latest aesthetic, only to realize later that the manual updates were taking too long to maintain. She is currently considering expanding her reach to international markets but is held back by the logistical complexity of handling cross-border shipping for merch. Ziva is not just a musician; she is a prosumer in the truest sense, wearing the hats of producer, marketer, designer, and accountant simultaneously. She values experimentation above all else, constantly tweaking her sound and visual style, yet she remains acutely aware that without a streamlined system to capture her growing audience, her efforts may remain ephemeral.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Waking up at 10:30 AM, Ziva starts her day by checking her phone, scrolling through TikTok trends and reviewing her overnight analytics. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, she rushes to a morning lecture, often multitasking by editing a Reel on her laptop during the break. By early afternoon, she returns to her room studio, where she spends four hours wrestling with a synth patch and recording vocals, interrupted only by notifications from her Discord server. She films content for the evening's drop, styling herself in thrifted vintage pieces. Dinner is a quick meal eaten while watching a production masterclass. The evening is reserved for community management: replying to emails, organizing her messy spreadsheet of fan contacts, and manually updating her Linktree before bed, often staying up until 3 AM to ensure everything is perfect for the next day's launch.

Lifestyle

Ziva lives in a cramped, second-floor walk-up in De Pijp, sharing a kitchen with three other students where the fridge is always half-empty. Her days oscillate between academic lectures and late-night sessions in her closet-sized bedroom studio, which doubles as a soundproofed box of synthesizers and cables. She prioritizes spending on gear upgrades or fabric samples for her DIY fashion line over rent or dining out, often surviving on instant noodles and strong coffee. Socially, she thrives in underground clubs where she can both dance and network, preferring intimate gatherings with fellow creatives over large parties. She is health-conscious regarding sleep but sacrifices it frequently for deadlines, leading to a cycle of exhaustion followed by bursts of manic productivity.

Work life

Her professional life is a chaotic blend of finalizing thesis assignments and launching micro-campaigns for her music. As a student, she attends sporadic classes, often skipping them to finish a track or edit a TikTok. Her 'job' as a musician involves writing, producing, filming vertical videos, and manually managing a growing list of fan emails in a personal spreadsheet. She works in isolation, with no coworkers to consult, relying entirely on her own judgment to decide when to drop a song or update her bio. The pressure comes from the algorithmic need for constant novelty; if she stops posting for three days, her momentum stalls. She spends hours tweaking a single beat or adjusting a lighting setup, often losing track of time until 4 AM.

Relationships

Ziva is close to her mother, who supports her artistic dreams but worries about financial stability. She has a tight-knit circle of four friends, all artists or designers, who provide emotional support and critique her work brutally honestly. She feels a deep, parasocial connection to her followers, often replying to DMs personally, which drains her energy but fuels her motivation. She is currently dating a fellow student who understands the irregular schedule of a creative career. Her primary influence comes from online producers she follows, whose transparency about their struggles resonates more than their success.

How they decide

Ziva decides based on immediate utility and aesthetic alignment rather than long-term strategic planning. She is impulsive when it comes to buying new gear or trying a new trend, often making purchases on impulse after seeing a tutorial. However, she is hyper-cautious with recurring costs, meticulously calculating the value of any subscription against her current cash flow. She relies heavily on peer reviews and community sentiment; if her inner circle loves a tool, she tries it, but she quickly abandons anything that feels like 'corporate fluff' or lacks a clear visual interface.

How they sound

Ziva speaks in a rapid, clipped rhythm, often jumping between technical jargon and casual slang. She uses terms like 'drop,' 'vibe,' 'loop,' and 'aesthetic' naturally. Her tone is enthusiastic and slightly self-deprecating, often apologizing for delays or technical glitches. She avoids formal language, preferring direct, conversational phrasing. She tends to ramble when excited about a new idea but becomes concise when discussing money or deadlines. She rarely says 'I don't know'; instead, she says 'I'm still figuring that out' or 'Let me test that.'