What's on my mind...
An Open Letter to the Info-Givers in the Online Lesson Rush
Dear Online Lesson Info-Givers, I see you. I've spoken with, or texted with, so very many of you. I hear compassion fatigue in your words.I see your jaw tight when we Zoom, and your red eyes from screens. I sense your weariness at the demanding of information like...
You Can Change Your Life. Yes, you can.
I wrote a thing for myself. A reminder. A manifest. A pep-talk. I thought you may relate, so decided to share it: Dear Self (you amazing and delightfully silly and grace-y person, you), You have a choice. Yes, you. You have a choice in how your voice works, your...
Believing in Competition is Killing Your Studio
Believing we are in competition with the studio owner down the street kills our mojo. And by mojo, I mean our soul, teaching, and bank account. Believing we have to hoard all the students in our community is an apology for not specializing. Being convinced that...
Scheduling for Voice Teachers… an Observation
Observation: Never ever once have I listened to a podcast with a male entrepreneur speaking about how they set their life tasks around their family activities, getting the house taken care of, or how to shift the mindset around work when you become a parent. I've...
Stop Blaming the Students…
for being late. for not practicing. for not reading the policies. for being "lazy". for being "impatient". for being busy. Stop blaming for missed payments. ignoring boundaries. hovering at lessons. asking for copies of music, again. Each and every complaint we have...
What do Plungers, Flippers, and Teaching Voice have in common? The potential for pinball.
Pinball is fun when you are the playfield and not the ball. The playfield is the part of a pinball machine that all the cool dohickeys reside. The place where pinballs get trapped, ramped, orbited, flipped, and bumped. Are you the playfield or the pinball? Do your...
Does your life, or business, ever suck, just when you were getting AWESOME?
Because if you do, you're not alone. IT IS A THING. Inspired by a brave and daring post I was commenting on within the last week, I was PM'd and asked to talk a little bit about Upper Limiting. A term coined by Gay Hendricks in his book "The Big Leap". I think the...
Actually, Your Mindset Doesn’t Matter.
What would you say if I told you that your mindset doesn't matter? That all of your goals are achievable no matter what you believe? What if I told you that it DOES NOT matter how prepared you are. Or how knowledgeable? "You don’t have to be great to start, but you...
Pop/Rock/Jazz just isn’t the same…
...as Classical or Musical Theater singing. Which is kind of a big fat duh, but also a little difficult to talk about in voice teacher land. Why? Because our field really does want the best for our students (do no harm!) and some of the sounds and stylings around...
Balance is a lie. Priorities are better.
Balance sucks. I'm allowed to say that, because I am a Libra, and therefore know these things automatically. It sucks because striving for it never brings peace, and almost always brings pressure. Balance brings pressure to be FaceTastic. Facebook + Fantastic =...
Airport Wisdom
Upon arrival at Sacramento International Airport, a curious thing happened. The self-check-bag-drop area was packed. People were waiting in long lines in order to get to the little kiosks, shifting their weight and their bags. Children were distracting parents....
Why I Charge What I Charge, or, What’s in Your “Hour”?
We are often challenged to defend pricing. It's part of this business we signed up for, and if a few folks are not asking questions, we probably aren't charging enough. If lots of people are asking questions, then we certainly aren't charging enough. Instead of...
Food for thought…
We are in charge. If there is something that doesn't quite fit in the way our studio runs, we can change it. We are in control. We get to make the rules. Here's a fun game: Write down all the things that make you want to stab your own face bug you about your studio....
Some Days, Magic. Thoughts on Open Door Productions’ Jesus Christ Superstar
Open Door Productions is a brand spankin' new company formed by the University of Utah Department of Theater undergrad students. (Yes. That means 18 to 23-year-olds are creating things. On their own. With sets! GASP!) This company did a thing. They staged the first...
This One Thing: A Mis-Guide to Singing
A poem for singing friends.