We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katarzyna Sadej. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katarzyna below.

Katarzyna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Any sort of career in the arts involves a lot of risk – you risk not making a decent living, you risk not having a family, you risk having many interactions with narcissistic and selfish self-inflated people, you risk involving yourself with organizations that fail, and you risk being rejected on a regular basis. What you have to decide for yourself is: is it worth it to suffer a bit and truly live a fulfilled life – a life in which you tried and failed, over a life in which you never tried at all? I can tell you that from my experience the former is far more fulfilling, and you become stronger for it.
But you have to also get good at balancing what is most important in life. A career is certainly not everything.
So, I always tell people – strive to be your best, compare yourself to your past self and decide what you want to improve on within yourself. But also consider how much you are willing to sacrifice for a “career” – there are risks involved in all your choices, and balance is key.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a professional opera singer, versatile vocalist of many styles, vocal coach and artist. I have two music Master’s degrees – one focused on opera performance, and the other on concert vocal performance. For many years I sang in professional classical music organizations around the world and did many recital tours and appearances. Aside from what is known as more “traditional” classical music interpretation, which I specialize in, I have also developed several other creative outlets throughout my career. I am a vocal coach and I also teach Polish diction to singers (helping singers pronounce the Polish language properly when performing in it); I regularly do presentations and create content for my Earth Singing Project, which is an environmental art project that entails me singing live in wild, natural locations around the world, raising awareness for the fragile beauty of our planet and demonstrating various aspects of vocal resilience; I compose and record my own vocals-only original music, which uses vocal-layering in various vocal ranges and colors, creating melodies, harmonies and rhythms with only my voice; and lastly, I am a visual artist and work on collaborations and commissions in various mediums, such as oil pastel, design, and glass art.

A little background about where I came from as an artist:
I was born in communist Poland, and when my parents brought us to Canada, we didn’t grow up with a lot of the extra-curricular possibilities that most middle-class children get growing up in developed countries. So, we had visual art, taught to us by my mother, who is a phenomenal material artist and weaver; and we had judo, taught to us by my father who was a judoka in Poland, and later a judo coach in Canada. The visual art and sport values instilled in me stayed with me throughout my own career – the creativity and imagination I honed through art, and the discipline and strength I honed through sport were incredibly helpful for me and have guided me my entire life. I learned to trust my creative intuition from a very young age, but also to work hard and to not be afraid of improving myself. You’d be surprised at how many people are. Change and self-awareness are scary, but necessary to live an awakened, fulfilled life.

I always strive to embody excellence and honesty through my work, regardless of the client or organization, and regardless of which outlet I am working in – whether it’s performance, visual art or vocal recording. Through my own history and education, I believe I offer a very unique perspective and thought-provoking experience for my clients.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am very grateful for having recently done some continuing education – I received a certification in neurolinguistic programming (NLP). NLP is a study of our own and other people’s thinking patterns, and a methodology for changing our mindsets and our reactions to better suit our growth and development. Most people react to events in their life based on patterns that are changeable. But in order to be flexible in our mindsets, we must first be open to change, discomfort and uncertainty. We must embrace open possibilities and resist a rigid mentality.

Studying NLP taught me a lot about myself, but more-so about other people. When you understand how people in general think, how they make assumptions, and why they react to things the way they do, you become a far better teacher, coach and business person. I think it even has affected how I perform and my confidence going into a performance.

By understanding the human mind, we can be much more effective communicators and can offer more compassion and acceptance to ourselves AND to difficult situations we may encounter (including with people).

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think that anyone who has survived in the classical music industry for years has resilience. I generally prefer those who have honed that resilience through hard work, honesty, self-awareness, decency and a true love and respect for the artform itself (as opposed to a lust for power and attention).

I am going to tie this question in a bit with the reason I studied NLP. Throughout my career I felt that I had many experiences which opened me up to the “big bad” world of competitive performing. Despite my many accomplishments, I would often meet people who would promise me things, such as performances and opportunities, and would never follow through. They would, in fact, punish me effectively by refusing to offer me opportunities, simply because I wasn’t willing to do favors for them. I had a hard time understanding that’s how the world worked until I heard some of the stories coming out of Hollywood and other entertainment outlets because of the “Me-too” movement. There are so many people in positions of power who abuse those positions, and when they see something in you that they want, they WILL take it, or they will punish you for not obliging. I’ve really had so many questionable encounters in my years of performing, that I honestly feel like it’s a disservice to other young singers to NOT mention them.

Studying NLP helped me to accept how some people – damaged, power-hungry people – behave, and it also made me more careful as to whom I am entrusting my time to. When you put too many of your eggs in the wrong baskets, you get very disappointed. So it is important to set boundaries, understand what kind of people you are dealing with, and to know when to leave certain situations behind for the health of your own well-being.

I never used any of the experiences I’ve had as a crutch or to victimize myself. I have always stayed standing and have risen above the pettiness and unfairness of it all. But I do think that now, as a mature singer, I can share some of these stories to help other young singers, artists and performers understand the reality of anything competitive in life. You run into a lot of opportunistic people, narcissists, sociopaths and those who simply do not care about upholding the standards of an artform, but only care about upholding themselves.

I had to learn to see things as they are and not to sugar-coat things, so that you can be discerning, and so that you offer your time and artistry to people that deserve your time and artistry.

Contact Info:

• Website: katarzynasadej.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/katarzynasadej
• Facebook: facebook.com/katarzynasadej
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarzyna-sadej/
• Twitter: twitter.com/mezzosadej
• Youtube: youtube.com/katarzynasadej

Image Credits
Juan A. Espino