Kelsea Ballerini was 14 when she went to her first label meeting in search of a record deal. Taylor Swift was just beginning her reign as country-pop’s teen sweetheart; Ballerini, who also wrote her own songs, played guitar, has blond hair and is open-faced and wholesome, was a fan.

“I walked in, and I had my big, pink, sparkly guitar case,” Ballerini recalls. “I could barely play guitar, but I played him a song that I had written, and (the label guy) looked at me and said, ‘There’s already a Taylor Swift. That slot’s taken.’ It broke my heart, because I was 14 years old, I was super starry-eyed, but it was such a good lesson to learn early on. He was right. … It was the first time I realized I had to dig into myself, and figure out what I wanted to say.”

The next year, Ballerini, who was raised in Knoxville, Tenn., moved to Nashville for good. She studied communications and marketing at Lipscomb University, took a lot of meetings, and worked on her songwriting. She signed to local indie label Black River, first for a publishing deal and then to a record contract, at 19. For Ballerini, who had been trying to get a deal for almost a third of her life, it felt like it had taken forever. “It took a long time for people to actually listen to me and actually take me seriously,” she says. “But I learned that if I walked into meetings and could sit down and actually communicate my dreams and my vision … if I took myself seriously, then other people would, too.”

Ballerini, 23, released a self-titled EP in 2014, and her full-length debut, the infectiously good, candy-coated country-pop offering “The First Time,” in 2015. It became ridiculously successful almost immediately. The stats began piling up: “Love Me Like You Mean It” became the first debut No. 1 single from a female country artist since Carrie Underwood released “Jesus, Take the Wheel” nine years before; two hits (“Dibs,” “Peter Pan”) later, Ballerini became the first female country singer to have three songs from her debut hit No. 1 since Wynonna Judd. “I remember the impact (Underwood’s) song had,” Ballerini says. “Not to compare ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ to ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ because it’s not even in the same ballpark. … And to have two more follow-ups, I guess the stat is that no female has had that before in country music history. That’s crazy and exciting and maybe a little intimidating.”

Ballerini is one of country music’s biggest stars, though not yet one of its most recognizable faces. She’s hoping that her first headlining tour will help to change that. “People know my three songs that have been on the radio, but as far as me as a whole artist, a whole songwriter and a whole person, that’s the part I’m still trying to introduce.”

The more famous Ballerini becomes in her own right, the more she can escape Swift’s long shadow: There are enough similarities between the two, in music, looks, and sensibilities, that even Swift’s fans sometimes get confused. Ballerini recently posted a Snapchat video featuring one of her demos playing in the background; she had to tweet an explanation after rumors of a new Swift song swept the internet.

Swift herself has been helpful — her 2015 tweet in support of Ballerini’s EP was a galvanizing moment in the latter’s career, and the two have since become friendly. Swift’s transition from country star to mainstream pop star has been generally good for Ballerini — it created a job opening — but it also furthered the impression that country music is something you grow out of.

For Ballerini, whose childhood idol was crossover goddess Shania Twain, and whose best songs often have the same effervescently fizzy qualities that mainstream pop songs do, abandoning Nashville is not an option. “I think there’s been comparisons to (Swift) with me for a long time, so naturally people think that’s something I’ll do,” Ballerini says carefully. “I love pop music, I listen to it, I think you can hear it in my songwriting and my album. I’d definitely say it’s country-pop music, but it’s country first.”

Last month, Ballerini performed at the CMT Artists of the Year awards, with Twain and Underwood in attendance. It was her musical coming-out party, and her introduction to the unofficial sorority of country music women.

“All of the women have been so incredible, Carrie has been so wonderful and warm and friendly to me, and obviously Shania is such a huge influence,” Ballerini says. “I got to sing ‘Peter Pan,’ and Carrie and Shania both knew every word and sung the whole thing. I could have died.”