Thirteen-year-old Zach Rhine is a local singer who knows how hard you have to work to make your dreams come true.

He recently lent his vocal talents to an anti-bullying music video released by We Are Warriors and the story that got him there is definitely worth telling.

Zach's mom Shona, explains where his love of music began.

"He started at a really early age. I started singing with Zach when he was three or four. We would just do covers of our favourite songs together. We used to live in Melville and when he was five, he started doing musical theatre there. He'd sing O Canada at the provincial baseball and hockey games."

Even with such an impressive resume for someone so young, it hasn't been an easy road for Zach.

"You know he's a young kid and he's gone through a lot of things," explains Shona, "Not everyone has supported him with his singing. You know it's not one of those things every kid does."

After suffering an accident over the summer that took Zach out of commission, his name came up at a meeting between some mutual friends and Nicholas Hennink, the founder of We Are Warriors.

"One night, Zach's best friend's parents were having Nick over at their house and they started talking about Zach and what he'd been through. So, they invited us over and Nick wanted to listen to some of the songs that Zach was working on. They started practicing together and Nick brought out some really good things in him. They just decided that they wanted to work together on something. It really just started with a good friendship between Zach and his best friend. She's always stood by him with his music."

Hennink introduced Zach to Jared Robinson who filmed and produced the anti-bullying music video. Zach says that the experience was incredible.

"I've always had a huge dream of performing and to just get the feeling of doing it with a recording studio, I can't even describe how amazing it is. I was a bit nervous but it paid off in the end. It was so much fun and everything I hoped it would be."

Shona says it's encouraging to see the ways that this collaboration has helped Zach grow.

"I think he's learned to follow his passions and dreams. He understands that not everybody is going to like what you do, but you still need to be yourself and do your thing. I think this anti-bullying video showed a lot of kids that he's using his talent for good...I can't even tell you how proud I am of him. I'm his biggest fan."

The road hasn't stopped there either for Zach and his hard work is starting to pay off.

"In the summer he sent in an audition tape for the MiniPops in Toronto," explained Shona, "He made it through to all the rounds but in the end, they decided to only accept kids from Toronto. At first, he was disappointed but I said, 'You learned a lot and got yourself out there. Good things are to come.' Lo and behold, the choreographer called me one day and said how impressed he was by Zach's audition. He said we should send in another tape to a talent agency that is casting for a Netflix musical."

The project Shona is referring to is an upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical 13 set to be released by the streaming giant. 

"I'm so excited for this if I do make it," says Zach. "I put in a lot of work for that audition so I hope that it ends up paying off. And if it doesn't, at least it was an amazing learning experience."

At the end of it all, Shona hopes Zach will continue to be an encouragement to everyone around him.

"I just want everyone to know that if you work hard, it will pay off. Set your own goals and no matter what other people think, you kneed to stay true to yourself. You never know what someone else is going through and do not need anything more put on top of them. Just be kind."

For the foreseeable future, Zach plan's to keep practicing his craft and trying to get his name out there. He adds:

"It's pretty breathtaking to know that some of your dreams are coming true."