Our guest this week on A Voice and Beyond, is Megan Durham who currently serves on the voice faculty at the University of Louisville. Megan works as a Singing Voice Specialist, partnering with laryngologists (ENTs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to habilitate singers, actors, and professional voice users who have experienced vocal injuries. Megan uses an integrative approach to vocal wellness that cultivates mind-body-voice awareness for maintaining authentic communication.

She explains that by cultivating mindfulness, self-inquiry, and an emphasis on observation rather than correction, this collaborative work provides an approach to voice care that empowers individuals to more clearly identify their voice and its innate creative agency. She uses several different modalities which includes yoga, to help establish composure in times of anxiety, depression and trauma, through breath, physical postures, mudra, and sound. Megan further explains her trauma informed approaches to teaching voice, what it means to be trauma informed, the impact of trauma on our singing bodies, how to create a feeling of safety for our students, and the ways in which we can successfully set boundaries within our teaching voice studios.

This a most fascinating, interesting and not be missed interview with Megan Durham.

In the Episode
1:15 - Introduction
11:22 - Megan’s journey of self-discovery
16:52 - How yoga and pilates changed her voice
32:37 - What is involved with being a singing voice specialist
51:09 - What is trauma-informed
1:09:44 - The importance of self-care in creating safe spaces
1:18:03 - What Megan is working on next

Find Megan Online

• Website
• Instagram

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/111

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps!

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Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

Over the past few months, many of my guests on the podcast have spoken about the importance of authenticity, and honouring our most authentic selves. It seems to be a hot topic that is constantly coming up in my interviews, whether I’m speaking with a singing voice teacher, a healthcare professional, a business coach or a relationship expert. They all stress how important it is to travel through life as our most authentic selves, and yet it’s something so many of us struggle with in life, myself included.

This struggle is real for many of us due to our lack of self-esteem, fear of judgment by others, or an overwhelming desire for others to accept us. Then, there are other factors such as past experiences, perhaps from our childhood, while we were growing up that have led us to shut down because we were shut down when we spoke our truth. This experience has taught us to mistakenly believe that it isn't safe to be genuine and authentic.

In today’s episode, I’m going to share with you my take on what is means to be authentic and unpack some basic reasons why you may be holding back on honouring your most authentic self. So if you’re not being true to yourself right now, your own personality, your core values, and your inner self, regardless of the pressure that you're under to act otherwise, then listen up! This episode is for you because we are going to share three basic ways you can step into your authenticity.

In this Episode
1:09 - Introduction
7:04 - Learning to be authentic
13:55 - Stop comparing yourself to others
21:01 - Turn your focus inward
26:16 - Conclusion

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/110

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps!

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Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

This week’s guest is Humble the Poet.

This week on A Voice and Beyond, I am thrilled to introduce you to Humble The Poet, a Canadian-born rapper, spoken-word artist, poet, internationally bestselling author who began his career pathway as an elementary school teacher. Humble has since been featured on major media outlets all around the world and has a massive social media following with more than 2.6M followers on YouTube alone. Over the past few years, Humble has also had huge success with his first two book releases: UNLEARN & THINGS NOBODY CAN TEACH US, both of which have become international bestsellers. In this episode, we talk about his latest book release which is titled HOW TO BE LOVE(d): Simple Truths For Going Easier On Yourself, Embracing Imperfection & Loving Your Way To A Better Life . In his latest book, Humbles writes about many concepts and themes around love, a word that has been googled over 14 billion times.

Today, Humble explains what he believes is the true definition of love and adds that to discover true love, we must complete ourselves and strengthen our relationship with self, first and foremost before we open ourselves to discover love. Humble also shares his insights on the journey of love, things people do wrong in their pursuits for love, the biggest myths around love, and why we should not fall in love with potential. There are so many of his pearls of wisdom shared by Humble.

In this Episode
1:14 - Introduction 
7:46 - How Humble came into poetry 
15:15 - Talking about Humble’s books 
21:40 - Humble’s definition of love 
38:57 - The influence on relationships by social media 
43:31 - The role our parents play in our love story 
51:26 - Is there such a thing as conditional love? 
53:56 - Deal breakers in relationships 
1:06:48 - Humble’s final words 

Find Humble the Poet Online

• New Book
• Website
• YouTube
• Instagram

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/10

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

This week’s guest is Jess Baldwin.

This week on a Voice and Beyond, we welcome the multi-talented Jess Baldwin, who is a creativity and artist coach, contemporary voice specialist, indie soul singer-songwriter and producer, as well as the owner of True Colours Voice and Artist Coaching. Jess has also created Singing in Popular Musics, which is a centralised space where voice teachers and vocal coaches can learn from the great pioneers and experts in Popular Musics singing and pedagogy. Jess shares with us that she created this space to help other voice teachers expand their focus beyond vocal technique to a more complete picture of a popular musics’ singer’s needs by regularly providing carefully curated articles that keep up with the rapidly changing world of Popular Music.

In today’s episode, Jess talks about her own personal and professional journey throughout academia and how she transitioned from her formal classical voice training to performing, writing and producing across popular music styles. Jess explains how she developed her own pedagogical approaches across the broad range of popular musics’ styles, why she refers to CCM as Popular Musics, the importance of student led learning, and what it means to be authentic in performance. Part of our conversation was also about advocating for change in the field of CCM singing voice pedagogy in academia. There is so much more in this show as Jess and I really dig deeply in some of our discussions. This is a brilliant and candid interview with Jess Baldwin. One you don’t want to miss.

In this Episode
1:15 - Introduction
8:02 - How Julia cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way” helped her discover her own voice.
18:08 - What is the purpose of academic music spaces?
31:29 - Where did you pick up your teaching approaches?
37:10 - What has inspired your teaching?
42:32 - Do music industry professionals and record labels use the term “popular music”?
55:56 - Singing in Popular Music and how it started.
1:02:07 - How can we be sure that our teaching approaches are student-led?
1:08:30 - What do you want your legacy to be?

Find Jess Online

• www.truecolorsvoiceandartist.com 
• www.jessbaldwin.medium.com 
• wwww.singinginpopularmusics.com 
• www.jessbaldwin.c

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

Do you feel stuck or in a rut? Instead of moving forward, it feels as though you are trapped in a pothole. You appear to be living what most would call the perfect life, but deep down, you still feel unfulfilled. You may have a good job, a great relationship, a beautiful family and amazing friends, but you feel stuck, and like something is missing in your life. You want to be doing more with your life and you want more for your life, but you can’t seem to get out of that funk. This is something we’re all challenged with at one time or another in our lives. We all go through those periods in our lives where we feel stuck or in a rut and we don’t know how to get out of that mindset and how to start taking action. If you’re running on autopilot or going through the motions, there are ways you can get unstuck.

In today’s episode, we are going to figure out why you may be feeling stuck and help you identify the root cause of your feelings. I will share some really basic ideas that can help you narrow down your strategies to regain your sense of purpose and create that forward momentum you need to start over again, feeling more motivated, productive, creative and inspired to get you going on those very things you have been putting off.

In this Episode
1:11 - Introduction
5:40 - Setting yourself up
13:29 - People pleasers
19:59 - Overwhelm holding you back

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/107

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps!

Follow me on Instagram.

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

This week’s guest is Neil Cannon.

One area of self-care we can all do better at, whether we want to admit it or not, is nutrition. When it comes to nutrition, we're all too eager to ignore the evidence and yet nutrition is undeniably a major contributor to our quality of life, and longevity. If this is an area of your life you have been neglecting, you won’t want to miss this week’s episode of A Voice and Beyond with special guest Neil Cannon. Neil is one of the most insightful and thought-provoking guests I have ever had on the podcast and if he doesn’t inspire you to take a good look at your own lifestyle habits, I don’t know who will.

Neil is a nutrition & health professional, speaker, coach, podcast host and bestselling author of The Vitality Secret. In this interview, he shares with us that as he was growing up, he suffered from chronic illnesses and his battle with these health conditions inspired him on a journey of discovering the relationship between many common chronic illnesses and poor nutrition. Neil reveals that inflammation is the root cause of some of the most common chronic health challenges that exist today, such as diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, many common digestive challenges, arthritis, obesity, low testosterone, low energy, brain fog, migraines and many more. He believes that anyone can improve their health by combating chronic inflammation and he gives us examples of how to reverse engineer some of these conditions using a number of different approaches, covering the physical, mental and emotional pillars of healing. Neil also discusses some of the greatest misconceptions about health and wellness, the main environmental toxins in the 21st century, the impact of chronic stress on our bodies, how medicine and the health industry has become a modern business and so much more. You don’t want to miss out on this episode, especially if you or someone you know is suffering from a chronic health issue.

In this Episode
1:15 - Introducing Neil Cannon
9:42 - Western Medicine
14:07 - What it means to be a health and vitality expert
18:39 - Diagnosing chronic illness and symptoms
36:56 - What is EMF and how does it affect you?
52:27 - Listening to your body
57:31 - What are toxins?

Find Niel Online

• Neil's Website
• Neil's Book
• Instagram

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

This week’s guest is Jacob Starks.

What I love about the entertainment business is how everyone has a story to share and everyone’s journey is so unique. This week on A Voice and Beyond, we introduce you to Jacob Starks, who is a singer/ dancer currently performing in the cast of Aladdin on Broadway. I am so excited to introduce you to Jacob as I had the pleasure of meeting him for the time in 2018 on the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice, where he was performing as a production cast singer in his first contract for Celebrity. Last year, we caught up again in the Mediterranean on the ship Celebrity Beyond, where he told me that his dream was to go to New York and perform in a music theatre show on Broadway. Well, he has done it!!

Prior to working for Celebrity, Jacob was employed at Walt Disney World in The Festival of the Lion King, with FELD Entertainment; and Universal Studios Japan.

In this episode, Jacob shares his unique journey that has led him to landing his dream job. Despite not having had any formal voice training, dropping out of college and being fired by two different entertainment companies, he believes that these life events have led him to where he is now. Jacob also discusses the audition process that landed him his dream role, the busy rehearsal schedule, the expectations of production companies, his own experiences as someone belonging to a minority group and the general demands of being a performer on Broadway. Jacob Starks is one of my very favourite people and I am sure you are going to love him as well.

In this Episode
1:27 - Introducing Jacob Starks
7:14 - Jacob’s training and growing up in Louisiana
17:20 - Do you feel like not having formal training held you back?
26:42 - Auditioning for a role at Disney World
35:35 - Finishing up with Celebrity and auditioning for Broadway
40:53 - Do you have to be part of a union?
42:40 - Is it who you know?
1:04:49 - Is covid still impacting the shows on Broadway?
1:14:16 - What’s next for Jacob?

Find Jacob Online

• Jacob's Instagram
• Performance Reel on YouTube
• Jacob's Facebook

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/105

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

Are you letting fear hold you back from the life you dream of or the person you dream of becoming? Life is so demanding of all of us, and there will be bad days and setbacks. It’s all about how we deal with it. One of the best ways to move through life is by letting go of fear. Don’t let your fear hold you back. This takes courage and once you embrace courage, it will lead you to believe in your abilities and allows you to see the world from a different perspective. Letting go of fear gives you the power to chase after things that are important to you. In this episode, we will help you change your perspective around fear from a negative perspective to a positive one.

It’s time to start celebrating the positives in your life and become your own cheerleader. Recognise the effort it took to overcome your fears and celebrate those wins you had to get to where you are at right now. As you begin to live more courageously in your life, know that your actions and outcomes will speak volumes. It’s time to keep pushing yourself to step outside of your comfort zone consistently. Don’t let fear hold you back. You only have one chance at this life. Without question, the life you want to live is worth the effort. You are worth it. Always have been and always will be.

In this Episode
1:10 - Introduction to today’s episode
6:22 - Start by acknowledging your fears
10:47 - Own your fear
15:57 - Ask more for what you want
20:24 - Don’t let your fear hold you back

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/104

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps!

Follow me on Instagram.

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

This week on A Voice and Beyond we continue delving into the world of Popular Music education in academia, as we release part two of our two-part interview with our guest, Caleb James who is a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Music at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and is the Course Convenor of the Popular Music Program.

In Part 1, Caleb shared his career pathway from a highly successful career in the music industry as an award-winning touring performer, international songwriter and music producer, working at a high level with Record Labels, and Distribution Labels, and how he transitioned into an academic career in a supervisory role. In this episode, Caleb discusses how he has developed and continues updating the course content for the popular music program, which is growing in demand every year.

Although QCGU has adopted such an innovative popular music program, Caleb understands that not all academic institutions are so receptive or progressive when it comes to change. Caleb describes some of the roadblocks that teachers, educators and the institutions themselves may encounter while trying to update and create new curricula. He tells us quite candidly that when developing new academic music programs, it requires a commitment to controlled chaos. He believes that students who do arts’ degrees don’t want to go down traditional learning pathways and it takes steady calculated risks to create an environment where students are excited to be there to learn.

Remember this is Part 2 of a two-part interview with Caleb James and Part 1 of this interview, is episode number 102. Once again, I am really thrilled to be sharing another episode with Caleb, my boss from QCGU.

In this episode
1:06 - Welcoming back Caleb James
4:24 - The origin of the popular music programme at QCGU
15:17 - The Popular Music Program today
23:20 - Writing 20 songs in 1 day
30:37 - What Caleb looks for during auditions
36:27 - Self Care
50:03 - Caleb’s one piece of advice

Find Caleb Online

• Caleb's Website & Music
• Caleb on Instagram
• Caleb's Griffith Profile
• Caleb on LinkedIn

For more go to https://drma

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!

Over the past few weeks on A Voice and Beyond, we have been delving into the world of Popular Music education in academia and this week we will continue on with some of that discussion with our guest, Caleb James who is a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Music Program at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and Course Convenor of the Popular Music Program within that institution. For over 20 years, Caleb has facilitated hundreds of music projects nationally and internationally and has been involved at a high level with Record Labels, Distribution Labels, and Tours performing hundreds of shows in a range of successful bands all around Australia.

Caleb shares with us his career pathway from that highly successful career in the music industry as an award-winning international songwriter and music producer, and how he transitioned into an academic career in a supervisory role. Caleb is the course content creator in the Popular Music Program, and he has developed a program that is meeting the demands of today’s music students, current music markets and music consumers internationally. In this interview, you will be inspired by Caleb’s deep passion for songwriting, and his teaching philosophy which is to unlock that artistic passion within his students.

I might just add here that Caleb is my boss at QCGU and I am really thrilled to speak with him about our very exciting, unique, and innovative popular music program. One that we are all proud to be a part of. This is a not to be missed episode.

In this episode
3:02 - Introducing Caleb James
5:30 - Caleb’s introduction to the music industry
19:41 - Songwriting and Touring
34:59 - Transitioning into a teaching role
46:07 - Developing a Popular Music Program

Find Caleb Online

• Caleb's Website & Music
• Caleb on Instagram
• Caleb's Griffith Profile
• Caleb on LinkedIn

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/102

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps!

Follow me on Instagram.

Find Marisa online:

• Website: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmarisaleenaismith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marisa.lee.12
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avoiceandbeyond3519/videos

Resources:

• MLN Coaching Program: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/mentoring/
• Download your eBook: Thriving in a Creative Industry: https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/product/ebook-thriving-in-a-creative-industry-dr-marisa-lee-naismith/

Like this episode? Please leave a review here - even one sentence helps! https://lovethepodcast.com/avoiceandbeyond

Share your thoughts and takeaways from this episode on social media and tag us @avoiceandbeyond — we’d love to hear your perspective!