From Barbie & The Rockers Play Set to Leading an All-Female Rock Tribute Band

Jenna Syde, Lead Singer – Paradise Kitty

When most people think “rock star,” they picture the spotlight, the crowd, the fireworks. What they don’t picture is the spreadsheets.

Jenna Syde has been doing both for over two decades. As the lead singer and self-managed boss of Paradise Kitty, an all-female Guns N’ Roses tribute band that has toured India, Australia, and the Caribbean, she’s built something real out of what started as a passion project. And she’s done it without a manager taking a cut, without giving away control, and without losing herself in the process.

Jenna talks about what the music industry doesn’t advertise: the tour logistics, the HR headaches, the accounting, the emotional crash of coming home after performing to 50,000 people. She also shares the moments that make it all worth it — like the little girls at the Iowa State Fair crying at the front of the stage, or the women in India who told her they wanted to pick up a guitar because of her.

Jenna is also a caregiver, nanny, and hospice worker — someone who has spent her career intentionally building a life that holds space for two completely different callings. Her advice for younger women? Keep going, be kind, build real relationships, and seriously, do your cardio.

MBTI vibe: ENFP / ENTP / ISFP / INFP
High energy • Emotionally expressive • Risk-taking • Present-focused • Charismatic • Organized

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Need to Know Facts*

* Bureau of Labor Statistics