Ep. #31 With Gratitude and Thanksgiving - Client Success Stories

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[00:00:00] Welcome back. Welcome back to find your voice, rock your confidence. I am your host, Sloane Reali. And today I am doing something a little bit different. That is why this is titled with gratitude and Thanksgiving. And I'm going to share more on.

I'm just so grateful. First of all, you, the listeners, you, the audience that are continuing to take time out of your day and turn this audio on wherever you're listening, or if you are watching on YouTube this really is for you and those that you care about. If you find value. Please pass this information along.

And what makes today a little bit different is I just am so grateful for the clients that are currently with me, all of the clients that I've served this year. There is just an abundance of reasons why people have come to me. And before we jump in, getting back to my quotables. [00:01:00] This is by George Bernard Shaw and the quote is, we don't stop playing because we grow old.

We grow old because we stop playing. And what a better way to play than with our voice, singing, music, presentation skills, comedy. I think I mentioned in a recent podcast is on the rise. People getting out there and really being vulnerable. Being so uncomfortable and doing it anyway, that is that's the epitome of courageous and I'm going to end in a little bit before we leave here today, I will speak to courageous and fear as actually being a friend.

But before we jump in, as I said, I have immense. Gratitude for everybody that I've served this year and whether I've worked with you personally, one [00:02:00] on one or in a group yet again, I'm just grateful that you keep tuning in, that you keep reading my stuff. I get questions from you now and then, but I just wanted to share, it's not just people coming for singing or entertainment purposes and the Success stories.

I'm going to share with you today. I do not believe any of them are professional planning to go into professional entertainment or recording. These are regular people that just wanted to. up a skill or learn how to do something they've always wanted to do. These are people coming through from a varieties of backgrounds, education all different walks of life, from business owners to therapists, healers, doctors yes, there's always the singer songwriter or the emerging artists or someone who wants to try their hand at that. But a lot of hobbyists. I currently have a number of karaoke singers. They just [00:03:00] want to do karaoke with more confidence, real estate, finance, educators.

I'm going to share a story on that. Other projects. I've had everything from people wanting to come in and surprise their spouse or their partner on their birthday or for an anniversary.

I'm currently working with someone who she's getting ready actually for her own birthday party. She's going to be surprising her friends and family. They have no idea. But often I get people coming through that. The other family members don't even know they're doing this or the friends, and it really is a surprise when they show up at that event or the karaoke or the celebration, and they get up on a microphone and begin to sing so very exciting.

And sometimes I have people that come through from one thing, maybe a specific project, or they think they're coming for. A professional purpose, speaking presentation, build confidence authors, [00:04:00] but we get going and it turns out they're like, oh, wow, this could be really useful for this other area of my life or, I really didn't plan on coming to sing.

I just wanted help with this project. And then we end up. Doing a little singing, and maybe the track ends up shifting in that direction for a little while. So it's whatever we're using our voice for, right? And the technique and the method, my formula are really the how to get to that end goal or that end solution.

You might be coming in for one thing and we end up shifting gears and heading a completely different direction. But, this really is for you, if you have. If you feel like you have catered the way you are, or whether you speak up or not to what else is going on in the room or in the meeting or at a, in a family situation, I spoke recently about [00:05:00] compassionate communication and difficult conversations and which is always very.

A little more prevalent around the holiday time. So if you didn't hear that go catch some ideas or suggestions. There's some very real prompts that you can use if a discussion is getting heated. But if you find that you've ever been a people pleaser, or you worry about what other people think about you, about your leadership, if you're in a work environment that keep you holding back from truly expressing who you are.

This is what I do. This is some of the stuff that we work on. If you find yourself always comparing yourself and what you do or how you present something with somebody else that is doing it better, faster, been doing it longer, that feeds into that whole perfection thing. And you know how I feel about perfection, right?

That P in perfection is poison. It will take us down faster than anything else. These are the kind of things that I work with my clients on. If you've ever been told [00:06:00] to speak up, or I can't hear you, or you feel embarrassed because you have something valuable to contribute, but you just, you're too afraid to speak up or share it.

You can't get the words out. If you've ever felt like words literally get stuck in your throat. This is a common thing that I hear. It sits right here. Clients will come in and I've got this thing coming up. I'll be in a meeting or I'll be in a group environment. I'll be out with girlfriends and we're all socializing and I want to contribute.

And it literally, it's right here and it gets stuck and I can't get it out, right? And what are the reasons generally that words are literally getting stuck in our throat, right? Fear of feeling, being judged, fear of making mistakes is a huge one. This is a huge one. If you have stopped talking or sharing or contributing in conversations because you don't think other people are listening maybe you've even [00:07:00] lost out.

On promotions or advancement or getting a raise. Because you didn't speak up, because you didn't put yourself out there for fear of fill in the blank. Friend, today, I want to share with you client success stories, real clients, real stories. Some of them I'll use their name, some of them I'm not using their name because I didn't actually formally go and get permission to share.

It was more for my own. Market research, a common denominator. I had a beautiful session today with a new client and the same thing she was coming in. Primarily, it was for just to have more confidence and she feels like she's really emotional and, if there is conflict really struggles with setting boundaries and really doesn't want to get so emotional.

And listen, if you are one of those people, so much of how we are. Thank you. Is part. It's how we're wired. It's how we came into the planet when we were [00:08:00] born, right? It's literally part of who we are. And then there's that whole programming or that conditioning part that comes in, right? It's all the things we've been told, how to be what to be.

Meaning, parents, teachers, coaches, just passing on to us what they were conditioned to believe. We are in a new era, friends. This is a new time. This is this is not this era. We are in is not like any other before. This is all about up leveling. This is about increasing our frequency.

This is about stepping in and moving forward, even when it makes absolutely no sense. And you know what? Yeah. I'm putting my hand up. I'm saying I this time we are in right now never experienced anything like it. It's very exciting. It can definitely be scary. There are things that are starting to happen and evolve in my own vocal coaching practice.

Lots of very exciting things on the horizon. I will share more on that later, but I'm right there with you. Things are [00:09:00] changing so fast and it feels like exponentially that things are happening, but I want to come back to that quote that, if you are not having fun, if you are not playing, if you are not giving yourself the opportunity to play friends, we've got to do it.

It must be considered part of your self care because if we are well, I will speak for myself. I do not believe that I'm on the planet to be all work and no play. I'm all about balance. There's a time for all of it, but if we are living to work, that's no way to be living. And I can't think of a quicker way to build resentment and bitterness and anger and having to do things that we don't want to do a day in and day out that grind.

That is definitely not my jam, but there was a time when it was. That was my jam because that's how I was conditioned to [00:10:00] believe that, you work your butt off and then you die. But let me share, I've got to share some stories, some people who are not operating that way.

So some examples of some of the reasons that people come to me. So Amy, bless you. If you are listening, she came to me more for singing. We started out as singing and karaoke and just confidence. And what ended up happening was she made some other discoveries around her voice and. When she's in groups and social situations and, some of her feedback she jumped in pleased to be part of what I do.

And I think that she's in the women's group, find your voice, rock your confidence, the Facebook group for ladies she did not study with me for super long time, a couple of months and a deep integral part of her [00:11:00] feels like she just learned how to speak from her deepest place and connect deeply with others just from doing the vocal work.

The exercises literally the how we work through and teach you how to use your voice. Very pleased where it's taking her in her life. Wonderful, unexpected places.

Another one was Fernando, who actually came to me for just again, he was a college student. I'm not sure where he's at now, but he came to me more for just for fun. He was an incredible violin player studying communications. And as we got going we ended up. There were, he was bringing a lot of songs in Spanish, which was very fun to play with and I just planted a seed and said, look, you're doing such a great job with this.

Would you like to because he was in communications, would you like to create a finished product [00:12:00] of our time together? And I have had a number of clients come through. Now, again, these are not professional. musicians. These are just for fun as a hobby to learn a new skill. And what ended up happening is he created an EP.

It was something as simple in this case. We did not have to go out and create from scratch a band and charts and get all of these different people and players into a recording studio. We found a nice backing track. That we were authorized to use and created his own little song that he, I believe, shared as a holiday gift.

With friends and family and his feedback was thank you so much. Awesome experience and he was very excited last that we spoke to hear the final product. Very excited to see what new musical plans he could cook up and go from there.

So these next handful of success [00:13:00] stories are, and these are their words, and I'm using their initials because I didn't get formal. But these all came out of clients who have been with me and been through the process of going from private study one on one into a group situation where they're now learning as a community and then being able to learn how to work with microphones an audience, a live audience and live professional musicians.

And this is some feedback from some of their feedback. And again. These are people who they were just coming in to learn some new skills and weren't even really sure about a group, did not necessarily have it as a goal to get on a stage and perform with a live band. But these are some of their notes that they shared.

S shares. I wasn't nervous. I was able to move around on the stage more than before, had so much fun [00:14:00] dancing, watching, supporting the other performers and singers. It was so great that everybody came out on the dance floor. Now that does not always happen in a live performance. And I have to tell you, there is something really special and super fun.

If you are not a professional, Performer musician out there. This is your livelihood. This is what you do for a living. You're used to that. You get used to that. That's what you do. That's your job. But when you are just doing this for fun as an amateur and a new hobby learning a new skill, it is really, it's extraordinary and super fun to see people out there dancing while you.

are singing. Not something that happens every day. Here's another one. I really thought singing lessons were going to be about you telling me, this is how you sing. This is how you do this. This is what we do next. Now there's a little bit of that. I do a little bit of that, but working with me was so much more than that.

According to this testimony here, this client success story, learned a [00:15:00] lot, getting the music into my own body and really understanding how much it means. To me, because I really love listening to singing and just being in the energy of music, whether it's recorded, whether it's live music. And I love what she said here about the music getting into her body.

So often when people come to work with me, for vocal coaching it's so much more. It's not just about. What is happening up here with your mouth with this orifice here, your lips, your teeth your tongue. It really is a mental, physical, energetic. It's a full embodiment of what's going on with the energy in your body.

And I don't know, I may have shared, at one point, the very early on in my practice, there was a point where I had a gentleman who had Hearing aids, and they didn't always work. And it was one thing if one was [00:16:00] working and the other wasn't, that's one thing, but there, I remember one day distinctly where the batteries went out on both.

And it was like, it was practically sign language, but the work that we do with the voice. Because we had come so far in him being able to feel in his body, where is the energy of those notes? Where are you having to take that breath? Where are you having to draw and deliver that sound? Where is the vibration happening in the body?

We were able to continue a vocal session with him not even being able to really hear, but rather literally. feeling in his body, how that works. Here's another one. I'm feeling so much more comfortable in front of other people. This is B. It was easier with the band. This was from a performance, live performance.

She felt more in sync and more comfortable working with the band knowing they had her back. If she happened to make any mistakes and she wasn't nervous about it, totally trusted. That they had her covered.[00:17:00] Here's another one here. Working with a live band gave me an extra boost of confidence to actually perform live on a stage for an audience, a bucket list item that was not on her list.

This was not on this person's list. Actually, this was a couple, Eminem. If you're listening. So fun working with a live professional band gave me the courage to do something I otherwise would not have been able to do. And then I have another gal here. She's been performing a little bit more the national anthem for the university here.

She's done some open mics. She did some auditioning for if not the voice American Idol, but getting more used to these sorts of activities, karaoke, being in front of other people. And she says here, the person I am on the stage is who I want to be. All the time. I really like the support I receive in preparing both in private study and in groups [00:18:00] and my family and not feeling judged or like the performance had to be perfect.

So these are things that we work through. Letting go of that perfection, really trying to embrace and be with the journey, right? Progress versus perfection. And then here was one non related this is from a few years back. This was from a gentleman. I've worked with a number of university clients in different departments, and this gentleman says here, hi, Sloan, the presentation my CIO uh, had been preparing me for and why I took the vocal coaching.

was yesterday. I nailed it. I was clear. Good pacing. The faults said I looked so comfortable. One of them even asked my CEO if I had been taking acting lessons. Lol. My CEO told her it was close. No, not acting lessons, but rather vocal coaching. If any of this [00:19:00] has touched caused you to pause and take note and think, Hmm, I struggle with some of those things, or I might be able to use.

Sloan services for this project, or maybe there's something here that it's just triggering something you've never even considered doing something fun, something that yes, maybe makes you a little bit nervous, but you're like, you know what, if not now, then when there's no better time you were.

We're ending one year. We're heading into a new one. It is not too early to be thinking about I'm not a big new year's resolution type gal, if there's something you've always wanted to do, especially around the voice this is a great time to start taking action and putting things in place or making decisions to move in that direction.

So if you're one of these people who has always wanted to learn how to sing, but you just lack the confidence, the tools, the knowledge. Maybe you're able to use your [00:20:00] voice and your energy at your work at your job. Maybe you're doing, you do great there. You're making your company more money.

You're able to use your voice at school. You save others at people. You save others time or at home in your relationships. You are exhausted and something just isn't working. You're feeling stuck. You're not able to set boundaries. Maybe you're even have a growing sense of frustration or even anger due to your ability to help others, right?

If it feels like you're spinning your wheels, going nowhere feels like you're not in charge and don't have control of your own life of your own time. Maybe you feel like life is running you, that you're busy without any measurable result. Maybe you've been operating most of the time without even being recognized or you don't feel valued.

Are you surrounded by other people who you don't feel are listening or acknowledging your guidance, your service, your expertise, and it's draining you [00:21:00] physically, mentally, emotionally. ARe you a person who feels constantly misunderstood or not seen or not heard? I get that one. I grew up.

I felt that growing up. Maybe you've spent your entire life not speaking up. I mentioned earlier for fear of being judged. Maybe you've been told, you're too much. You're impulsive. And again, coming back to just feeling exhausted and ineffective, maybe another piece of the problem. And I hear this a lot. This is why clients eventually end up picking up the phone or getting in touch with me. They keep thinking, I'm going to figure this out on my own. I can figure this out on this. I'm going to go to YouTube. I'm going to get every single video I can on how to learn how to use my voice.

I'm going to. Go sign up for all that free stuff and take all as many little singing courses as I can, and I'll figure this out on my own. Maybe you're thinking, with enough time, with enough money, [00:22:00] with enough resources, I will find the solution to all of the issues around my voice that are making me sing.

frustrated and angry. If you are dealing with physical issues vocal cord dysfunction, I've spoke about in previous episodes. If you are struggling with vocal fatigue, if you are on a screen all the time for your job or for work all of those things can't, sitting at a desk all day on a screen can affect the tonal quality or the how your voice is feeling, right?

These are all examples and I'm sure I have not covered. I know that I have left some things out here and I just I want to come back to the common denominator. All of these people share and, thousands of clients I've served in the last two and a half decades now. And again, all different purposes, all different reasons, they, maybe they've come in for one reason and we end up, some other things bubble [00:23:00] up that we end up addressing that end up solving whatever the issues were that they were coming to me in the first place, what they all shared in common.

Was courage and, according to Brene Brown's definition of courage, she referred to courage is the willingness to show up and put yourself out there and to be all in when you can't control the outcome, right? They all share this in common. Another definition of that. Vulnerability. And again, in her definition, Brene Brown, vulnerability being the willingness to show up and be seen when you can't control the outcome, the emotion we experienced during times of uncertainty, risk, and uncertainty.

And emotional exposure, and if putting yourself out there on a stage in your relationships at work on video [00:24:00] videos, very popular. A lot of people doing a lot of different things on video for their businesses. This is vulnerability when we have no control of the outcome and that includes everything that includes your tech that day.

Your, how much sleep you've had the night before, what kind of mood the people are on the other end that are going to be receiving your communication or your song or your presentation or your performance, right? We are powerless. Anything can happen at any time. And so I want to just bring all of this back to if you have resonated with any of the stories, any of the examples that I've shared here there is no better time and, right now through the end of the year, you might, my big offer my, my gift, if you will is really the intro package to come and work with me.

There's lots of different ways What you will find in the show notes today really is the introduction [00:25:00] package to book an initial one hour session where I break it all down for your voice, or if you're gifting this offer to somebody else. You leave with a custom vocal workout specifically curated and created for your voice.

And that intro package includes two more sessions building on that initial session to give you a little taster of where all of this goes. So I just want to say thank you again. If you are listening, I hope that you are having a fabulous, a safe, and wonderful holiday with family. And keep tuning in more on all of this, more great things coming.

I hope to hear from you to work with you potentially or others that you care about. In the meantime, remember to continue to inhale confidence and exhale doubt.