We recently connected with Cassandra Claude and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Cassandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I wrote the book, “A Singer’s Compass” and created an online course, “Musicians Mastermind” offered to everyone (internationally) through University of Miami, Frost School of Music.
My vocal coaching company was thriving. The deeper I got into the business and working with more and more aspiring professional singers, the more I began to realize there was a missing component that was consistent. It dawned on me that it was very much the root of many blocks they were holding. The root dealt precisely with stability and comfort with their sense of feeling safe in their decision in pursuing a professional career in the arts. These singers would come seeking a stronger foundation in vocal technique, yet they ended up needing more breakthroughs beyond that. Something intangible that became so conscious within a few lessons. It was always incredible to see and till this day, it still is exciting for me to be a part of!
People get taught how to sing, dance, act, and even how to get into “the business”, but are never taught how to handle the internal psychological and emotional struggles that come with the journey of just being in the world of the performing arts. Artists can survive the brutal journey in the industry if they are clear on their purpose, values, vision, goals, motivations, and even beliefs. Knowing the inner self requires a high level of introspection and self-awareness that many performing artists have not understood to be the most important attribute needed to succeed.
Both of these (the book and the online course) are practicums that renew and revitalize the journey to reflect, restore, and connect with the inner self in fulfillment of pursuing a career as an artist. They artists achieve an ongoing evolution of consciousness for genuine connection to pieces of work and to themselves, battle fear and anxiety dealing with the stage and auditions, help them set clear goals for their chosen path. They ultimately build a space for personal core growth for artists.
I am so passionate about the purpose of these two creations. My goal is to have these artists walk away feeling confident in their abilities, curb fear and blockages that stop them from reaching their full potential. One or both of these platforms combined help artists become rooted and grounded in the choice they made to pursue their career. My book and online course motivates and encourages artists to achieve what they want healthily, positively and with great confidence and resilience. After all, many are talented, but they also need to embody feeling ready to take on all challenges that come with the journey of pursuing a professional artistic career.
Cassandra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
It is probably best that I share with you a defining moment, and a resulting “compelling story”, that brought me to where I am today – coaching people on exactly what to do to build and maintain stability in their creative endeavors, develop a deeper understanding of inspired creation, and really tapping into their higher potential.
That defining moment in my life happened in 2015. I was a vocal and performance coach for years. In 2012, I experienced a huge amount of trauma and loss within a short few months. My father passed away, my relationship ended, I was injured in a car accident and all while I was in a stressful transition leaving my job in hopes of helping other people navigate and master their skills as artists. I was struggling to make ends meet at the time because I wasn’t feeling myself. Up until this point I had no idea that depression could be this debilitating. Still, I intuitively knew that I needed to make some big changes on the inside to even partially resemble the intellectual ladder that I had climbed on the outside. Realizing this, I made a quick and deep decision to be totally committed to my dream. Like most do at this point in life, I started to integrate with my spiritually more. I studied yoga and mediation and began to reconnect with my talent and creativity in a different way.
As I really started to root myself into to developing a new story for my life, my work started to take shape in a deeper way.
Navigating a huge bout of depression instantly changed my approach to my world of artistry. I began to perform differently and very soon I began to teach differently as well. It was through my experience, I realized that my students needed to be trained and treated as a whole person and not just in a pedagogical standpoint. I was asked to teach a Voice and Movement workshop for actors, singers and dancers at the turn of 2015. While this concept and subject area was new to me, I said yes since I was at least confident in the vocal aspect. I began to train for it and research on the origin and it quickly dawned on me that he whole class focused around expression and liberating performers. I added my own system in addition to the foundation of Voice and Movement, the workshop was a huge success and the demand from the attendees both nationally and internationally for a deeper version of this work began to skyrocket. The more I submerged in this work, my private voice lessons even changed. Our lessons started to integrate more mindset work and as we went deeper I saw my students talents expand. I saw many of these sincerely talented people disconnected from their gifts, fearful of chasing their dreams, unable to manifest opportunities, and mired in self-doubt now all of a sudden being transformed.
I knew I was living my passion and purpose when my clientele grew so large to a waiting list and I never felt overworked. It seemed as though the measurement of success also showed up when my purpose was actualized. When talent opened up with breakthroughs and constant questions like, “will you come with me when I tour” to indescribable gratitude and appreciation from my clients, I knew I had the gift and tools to do something great.
I was now grounded into my new, elevated purpose and started teaching artists how they can do the same: I watched them build stability in their creative endeavors, develop a deeper understanding of inspired creation, and really tap into their higher potential. I have since made a commitment to dedicate the rest of my professional life to helping other performing artists integrate fully with their human experience as artists and expand their confidence and talents.
Since then, I’ve worked with many private clients, spoken in front of countless groups: I lived my dream of building a space for personal core growth in artists where a high level of introspection and self-awareness is understood to be the most important attribute needed to succeed as artists; and I have created Artist Life Mastermind, a series of 7 steps opening and building on an artist’s Stability, Emotional Range, Personal Power and Identity, Connection to Talent, Authentic Expression, Clear Perception, and Artistry Essence and Wisdom that every performing artist needs to apply to achieve, gain or regain what they desire of their talent in a healthy, positive way with great confidence and resilience.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I am writing this from a singer and voice teacher’s standpoint that grew up in stern music programs, earning a degree in music where vocal pedagogy dominated. I was taught to be a technically-correct vocalist and learned to teach that way as well. Yet my formative years in vocal music education were great and necessary for my path. I taught my students from the same curricula that I learned from. As they themselves honed into those every same tools that I did, the vocal sounds they produced were beau- tiful, healthy, and polished. They were examples of many trained singers and a staple for how healthy sounds should be produced. Yet each time they performed their vocal lines so effortlessly, there always seemed to be something missing. They lacked the same effect that singers we love have on audiences (including the master vocal teachers). I cannot help but to compare just a little bit here. In some cases, I would ask, “How can a voice with half the talent and correct mechanisms of a trained singer sing the same song and grab the attention and the hearts of everyone listening while a trained singer cannot?” With passion and determination to produce great singers from my studio, I began to add more coaching of expression, stage presence, audience engagement, and of course, some theater into my lessons. Now my students performed with greater shine, skill, and poise. I did everything I was supposed to do. I followed and delivered the structure, and my students were nailing the methods. There were moments I looked around at the audience and observed the smiles on their faces while they applauded with admiration of the students’ graceful sounds and movements. Yet still, there were sad songs and nobody cried, funny songs and nobody laughed, and love songs with no indication that listeners were moved. I was expecting much because even to the untrained ear or the stoic personality, music evokes emotions. We do not need science to tell us this. Although someone can be extremely talented as a vocalist, some singers just have the “it” factor and some do not. Continuing to be praised for the sophisticated sounds of the singers under my direction, I stayed at that crossroad for some time.
Our lessons started to integrate more mindset work, and as we went deeper, I saw my students’ talents expand. I saw many of these sincerely talented people disconnected from their gifts, fearful of chasing their dreams, unable to manifest opportunities, and mired in self-doubt suddenly being transformed.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I knew I was living in my passion and purpose when my clientele grew so large, I had a waiting list. The successes of my students were innumerable, and I never felt overworked. It seemed as though the measurement of success also showed up when my purpose was actualized. When talent opened up with breakthroughs and constant questions like, “Will you come with me when I tour?” to indescribable gratitude and appreciation from my students, I knew I had to use these gifts and tools to do something great. I was now grounded into my new elevated purpose and started teaching singers how they could do the same. I watched them build stability in their creative endeavors, develop a deeper understanding of their artistry, and really tap into their possibilities. I have since made a commitment to dedicate the rest of my professional life to helping other performing artists integrate fully with their human experience as artists and expand their confidence, connection, and talents.
Contact Info:
- Website: cassandraclaude.com
- Instagram: sassyclassycassie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandra.claude.5
- Linkedin: Cassandra Claude, MBA
- Other: https://elevate.miami.edu/courses/aspire-musicians-mastermind https://www.amazon.com/Singers-Compass-Journey-Exploring-Internal/dp/1645317064/ref=sr_1_1?crid=291AVPQSE1CNE&keywords=cassandra+claude&qid=1658937776&sprefix=cassandra+claude%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1
Image Credits
James Kètant Mariela Bagnato