What is your greatest passion or joy as a singer, voice teacher, or vocal professional?
I am passionate about helping singers find their authentic and truest voice! So many times, as singers, we desire to or feel pressure to sound like another artist. It's great to learn and master certain technical or artistic skills that we admire about someone else, but I love when my students find the beauty of their own voice and work to develop their unique sound that is unlike anyone else's!
Please tell us the latest news about you, your studio, and your work!
I recently opened my voice studio called Encore Vocal Studio. I offer studio lessons in the greater Oklahoma City and Dallas areas, and also virtual lessons online from any location. It was a huge step for me to branch out on my own, not only in business and entrepreneurship, but also solo teaching. It has been the best decision I could have made and I am enjoying the blessings and challenges of owning my own business and teaching studio.
What is an interesting or funny fact about you?
For someone who has had to escape a fair amount of shyness and insecurity, learning to become a singer and voice teacher has been a difficult path for me. Growing out of the shy, cautious person I’ve been was made all the more difficult by the vulnerability that singing requires. Additionally, being a perfectionist by nature meant that I spent too much of my journey being too hard on myself. However, learning to be a proficient singer has been the ultimate exercise in self confidence, passion, and hard work. I can confidently say that every other area of my life has benefited from my devotion to becoming a good singer and voice teacher.
What led you to the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program?
After 12 years of being a stay-home-mom, I found myself at a place in life where I needed to support myself and my young children, while still maintaining a flexible schedule. I decided if I was going back into the workforce, I didn't want to work for someone else and I wanted to control my own schedule so I could be present for my kids. For years I had thought about teaching voice lessons and several close friends/family had encouraged me over the years to consider teaching. I had a degree in Speech-Language Pathology and years of formal music and voice training, but I didn't feel like I knew how to teach the act of singing. I only knew what I had been taught by past voice teachers, whose teachings I knew I didn't fully agree with. I knew how to sing well, but I didn't understand the voice mechanism or how to translate this to lessons. I lacked the confidence needed to teach, so I began searching for a voice teacher training, which led me to Justin with NYVC.
What was your experience in the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification Program?
Going through the Voice Teacher Training and Certification program was everything I could have hoped for and much more! From the first time I read through the website and was introduced to Justin, I knew it was the right program for me. Justin is genuinely the most joyful, kind and passionate voice teacher I have ever met, and his way of teaching is so effective. The program is extremely challenging, with loads of new material each week, but yet, I was never overwhelmed. Breaks are built into the program, allowing catch-up if needed. I enjoyed every single week of class, and I soaked the material in. Observing Justin teach his students gave me so many light bulb moments of clarity, and many mis-teachings of my own youth were dispelled. I live in Oklahoma and was able to complete the class 100% online, while still feeling like I was sitting in the NYC classroom. I am so grateful to have found NYVC. Justin's teaching gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed to teach voice, and while I was going through the course, I was also setting up my business, website, and home teaching studio. By the time I graduated from the program, my studio was ready to open and I began accepting voice students. The program was the exact launching pad I needed!
What advice would you give to future participants of the Program?
Take notes, lots and lots of notes. Organize your binder with tabs, for quick reference. I am in the process of watching all class videos again, going back through my notes and making sure the information stays with me. As I have begun teaching students, it has helped to solidify all of Justin's teachings.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an artist, teacher, or vocal professional?
The biggest challenge I have faced so far in my early experience as a voice teacher, was to simply start teaching. Justin's program was instrumental in getting me past the feeling of being inadequate or that I didn't know enough to start teaching. Impostor syndrome is real, and for many of us, will keep us from attaining our goals. My first few lessons were a bit clumsy in my opinion, and I was extremely nervous. However, to my students, my vocal knowledge was everything they wanted and needed, and once I saw that I was indeed able to guide them vocally, I realized and then fully believed, I was equipped and able to be a real voice teacher.
What was your greatest victory ever as an artist, teacher, or vocal professional?
I'm a formerly trained classical singer, taught only to sing in head voice. Chest voice and mixes were not something I ever learned about, as it wasn't permitted and was considered an "unhealthy" or harmful way of singing. It was a huge issue and caused discouragement for me as I got older. In my twenties, I began experimenting with my voice and was extremely frustrated that I couldn't sing any of the contemporary/pop songs I wanted to. My voice was limited and lacked power. My understanding of the voice was minimal at this point and I honestly thought I was born with a voice that could only sing in a breathy head voice. But I wanted to try to "change" my voice, as I described it at that time, to be able to sing contemporary styles. I didn't want the help of a voice teacher any longer, since I felt they didn't want to teach in this direction. I didn't know what a belt was or how to achieve it, but I knew what it sounded like, and so I began the journey of retraining my own voice. I would have been much better off with a voice teacher like Justin who embraces all styles and different techniques, but somehow I learned to sing contemporary styles, with belt and mix coordination. It was an eye-opening experience and one I talk often about with my voice students.
What is one piece of advice that you would love all singers to know?
Learn everything until it becomes second nature, including how to "fake it until you make it.” Because you are going to make mistakes on stage. It happens for a variety of reasons, from nerves to fumbling or any other reason. But failure builds upon failure, and if you punish yourself for a mistake on stage, then the audience is going to notice, you’re going to notice the audience noticing, and then everything is going to fall apart. But if you can sing a piece solely through muscle memory and improvisation when things go a little sideways, every performance goes well. Even if it’s not the performance that you expected.
What is something you've learned on your journey that you would love other vocal professionals to know?
What is the point of doing something, devoting thousands of hours to mastery, if you don’t love it? Likewise, don’t stop singing just because you feel insecure, discouraged, or behind in your skill. Your passion and enthusiasm for the craft is what makes you an artist, and it should be what keeps you going! You find your voice when you truly love what you do. Becoming a singer and voice teacher has been a metaphor for so many other areas of my life. It’s such a personal art form, that’s so close to my heart. I truly feel like I’ve climbed a mountain to be where I am now as a singer and teacher, and for that I am proud. I know if I can create this result in my life, I can create it anywhere, and you can too!
How can we find out more about you and your work?
My website is www.encorevocalstudio.com
