We recently connected with Carly Carroll and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carly , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The mission behind Carly Carroll Voice is to empower students to embrace their creative voice. This mission came from feeling like there was a deep need to give vocalists the freedom to be creative. As a singer, things are often delivered to us in a black and white format. As i’ve learned more about the voice and gained experience teaching, i’ve learned how damaging this can be for students. Singing is all about figuring out what works for you, and then being able to replicate these things over and over. Voice science, although it is important, really doesn’t do much for a student if they’re dealing with cognitive dissonance that doesn’t allow them to walk out of the comfort zone in a way that feels safe to them. This is where creativity comes in! When we’re being creative, we feel safe. Using creativity as a way to empower students, gives them the foundation for vocal discovery that feels right and true to them. I can’t think of anything that’s been more empowering in my own vocal journey, and my goal is to teach this to students so that they can feel empowered through their own creative freedom.
Carly , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I began my career in the middle of the pandemic. I had just graduated from college with a degree in musical theatre, and couldn’t do a whole lot with it since we were in the middle of a pandemic. That time in my life was really hard, since I was transitioning out of such a stable life to the crazy unstable world of “the real world” while everything was shut down. I had a huge drive to do something… literally anything. I had been practicing piano like crazy during the pandemic, and decided to see what would happen if I started emailing pretty much any business I could think of about playing at their venue. I probably emailed about 100 venues, before anyone actually responded to me. While I was doing this, I also started posting flyers around my small town about voice lessons. I started to pick up a few students, and eventually found myself having a cute little post-pandemic career. I was playing all solo acoustic gigs, and social distancing from students. Looking back, I feel really proud of myself for making such a difficult time turn into the beginning of my career. I started to fall in love with these two aspects of my life. Voice teaching always felt very grounding, as I got to be the one to encourage the student to chase after their goals and dreams. Performing has and always will feel like I dream. Sometimes you get into the gig routine, but i’m constantly reminded that I get to do this as a job. I think between having the most amazing students, and getting to play music for some amazing music lovers and listeners, I might be the luckiest girl in the whole entire world.
I work as a vocal and songwriting coach, along with teaching piano lessons so that students can work towards being able to gig themselves. I’ve worked with pretty much all ages and genders from 5-65 years old. I’ve been trained in vocal pedagogy and science, and use this knowledge to bring clarity to a lot of questions that students have about their voice, or things they have been taught about vocal technique.
I am also a songwriter and singing pianist, playing at lots of various venues in the DFW area. I have an EP coming out in Fall of 2023, produced by the lovely Scarlett Deering.
I think what makes me unique as a vocal coach, is that i’ve existed in a lot of different worlds of the entertainment industry. I have my BFA in musical theatre, and was active in the DFW theatre scene pretty much all of my life. I transitioned to the music industry and started pursuing my music career in 2020. Along with this experience, I also really pride myself on being a relational vocal coach. I always thought voice teaching was going to be something that I did on the side, but i’m starting to realize more and more that I have such a passion for teaching, and it’s because of the way that i’ve seen it change people’s self confidence and worth. The voice is an integral part of who we are, and whether you’ve been singing your whole life, or just started, voice lessons help you learn about your own heart, mind, body, and soul! Watching that process happen for the student is so rewarding, and I feel grateful that I got to go along the journey with them.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think there are some words in my vernacular that seem to change their meaning as I grow into myself more. When I was in college, resilience meant plowing through this world that seemed to be inevitably against me. I don’t know where I got this world view from, but I think that from ages 13-22, my biggest motivation was to prove to all the people who I thought didn’t care about me, just how foolish they were. As I get older i’m learning that the most resilient thing i’ve ever done was to love deeper and care about the people in my life with more eagerness and tenacity. This has affected my business and creative pursuits immensely. I teach voice lessons very differently when I come from a place authenticity. The motivation to teach has to come from genuinely wanting to see your students excel. Every time I walk into a session, my mind has to be in a place where I let go off my problems and I center myself whole heartedly on the student. There’s this aspect of letting go of your own ego, because your goal is not to turn the student into who you think they should be based on your bias. The goal is to help them become who they want to be as a creative and performer. Once I grasped this concept as a teacher, it made teaching so much more enjoyable and so much easier. The student and I are working together to create music that feels real. It’s almost like having a resilience to our own egos and need to people please. When I think of a true example of resilience, it points me back to my christian faith and the way in which Jesus displayed humble resilience. He understood his purpose, and responded to that purpose with diligence and authenticity. I see this as a way of resilience to self instead of resilience to the world, and strive every day to love those that exist in this world more and more every day. I constantly fail at this, but it’s the freedom that comes with it that inspires me to keep on going.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The best resource in any creative journey is community. This comes from someone who felt like a hermit for the first two years that they lived in Dallas. I’ve always been a pretty shy person when it comes to meeting new people. I’m very loyal to my people, because I don’t find myself connecting with every single person I meet, which i’ve had to teach myself to let that be ok. I’ve always felt like the people who I do connect with, it always seems to come from a strange place. I’m asking myself the question “how in the world did this person end up in my life”? That being said, the people that I need to lean into more are the people who seem to keep on staying in my life. I don’t know how to put into words, but it’s these people that you just get this gut feeling about. It’s like when you look back to the first time you met them, that moment feels iconic because of the impact they later would have in your life. The people who I share that experience with, are the people who have been the best resource for me creatively, spiritually, emotionally, and in my career. I think if there’s anything I could say to the person who feels a little bit anxious about meeting new people but has career goals and passions they want to pursue, lean into the people who seemed to make imprints on your life. I am the first person to admit my love of saying no to social interaction, so that I can hide in my room and hang out with my cat. That’s why I have to remind my brain that I love my people, and spending time with them makes us both better humans. I don’t try to over push myself in this regard, because that will make me very anxious. It’s tiny baby steps and little moments that allow me to lean in deeper into this beautiful resource of amazing and loving humans that somehow ended up in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://carlycarroll.com/
- Instagram: Main Instagram – @carlycarroll__. Voice Teacher Instagram – @carlycarrollvoice
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlycarrollmusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-carroll-943671286/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@singercar98
Image Credits
Kalli Strauser