Career Beginnings

Between the ages of 15 and 17, Trainor independently released three albums of material she had written, recorded, and performed. Her eponymous debut album, Meghan Trainor, was released on December 25, 2009, receiving airplay from local Massachusetts radio station WCIB. Trainor enrolled in the Summer Performance Program at the Berklee College of Music during the summers of 2009 and 2010 , reaching the finals of the program's songwriting competition She released "Take Care of Our Soldiers" on April 16, 2010, a charity song in support of American troops abroad. The following year, Trainor released two acoustic albums, I'll Sing with You and Only 17.

At a music conference in Colorado, Trainor was introduced to former NRBQ member, Al Anderson. He was impressed by Trainor's songwriting and referred her to his publisher, Carla Wallace at Nashville-based Big Yellow Dog Music. Though Trainor had been offered a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, she decided to pursue her songwriting career and signed with Big Yellow Dog. She began her career as a songwriter-for-hire because of her ability to tackle a variety of genres She began by publishing songs for others and was unsure about becoming a recording artist. Her father said, "She thought she was one of the chubby girls who would never be an artist". Trainor graduated from Nauset Regional High School in 2012. Her second promotional single, "Who I Wanna Be", was released on April 24, 2012.

Throughout 2013, Trainor traveled to Nashville, New York City and Los Angeles, where she wrote and helped produce country and pop music. She sang lead and background vocals on demos for other artists, with her vocals occasionally being used on the final recording. She earned her first songwriting royalties by writing for Italian artists. In June 2013, Trainor met producer Kevin Kadish in Nashville via Wallace and a mutual friend. Kadish and Trainor both liked retro style music and began recording together that month. Trainor later became frustrated with commuting from Nantucket to Los Angeles for songwriting sessions. Her parents did not want her to relocate as it would be expensive. In November, Trainor decided to relocate to Nashville instead. There, she wrote songs for a number of acts, including Hunter Hayes, Rascal Flatts, R5, and Sabrina Carpenter.

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