Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Kasle. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kelly, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
In the state of Texas, 6th graders are given the opportunity to pick an instrument to learn in band or orchestra. I went to instrument try-out night to pick an instrument, and similarly to Harry Potter’s wand choosing him, the bassoon chose me. I perfectly fit the profile of a bassoonist – tall, skinny, long fingers, brunette, good at math and science, a bit quirky and endless curiosity to know “WHY.”
14 months later, completely out of the blue, I won 2nd chair at the All Region Solo Competition against 60 other middle school bassoonists. Instantly my band directors and parents realized I had a natural gift and lucky for me, I loved to play!
I diligently practiced to improve and took on every playing opportunity I could, including auditioning for the prestigious Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO).
After my first year in GDYO, I was invited on their summer tour of China. While sitting on stage at the concert in Shanghai, I had an epiphany that I could actually make a living traveling the world and playing my instrument with some of my favorite people on earth – band people.
When it came time to decide what colleges to apply for, I had no idea how I would compare to other students at music conservatory auditions. I was ranked #10 for high school bassoonists in the state of Texas, but I had no idea where I would rank in an audition against kids from all 50 United States and international countries.
To be safe, I applied mostly to schools that had both great music programs and chemical engineering programs such as Northwestern, USC and the University of Michigan. The two conservatories were my reach schools. Lucky for me, I got into both the music and chemical engineering schools for all but one of the schools I applied to.
When I was accepted into the Eastman School of Music, which at the time was rated the number 1 music school in the country, I knew this was my chance to become a professional musician. I had to take it!
Attending a music conservatory was the best decision I have ever made.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Kelly Kasle (pronounced castle, but spelled funny).
I’ve had an adventurous career journey and carried many titles for those activities, but at the core of my work…
I help people understand who they are, why they are here and how they are specifically designed to navigate life’s challenges and opportunities.
Especially in times of transition, spiritual awakenings and big life changes.
My tools may seem ‘esoteric,’ but at the end of the day… THEY WORK.
My astrology business includes working with private clients and corporate teams, teaching in-person workshops and speaking engagements.
I work with multiple systems including astrology, Human Design, Gene Keys and Cards of Destiny.
You can read the story of how I got into astrology in 2021 in my VoyageDallas feature here https://voyagedallas.com/interview/daily-inspiration-meet-kelly-kasle or listen to it on the Making Meaning podcast here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/using-astrology-to-understand-the-self-and-others/id1626551098?i=1000631593733.
At my core I am a teacher, so one of my favorite parts of my job as an astrologer is teaching in-person workshops. I love watching people experience what astrology is truly about, usually for the first time!
In building this business, I have been surprised that about 60% of my private clients are male entrepreneurs between the ages of 28 – 45, while 90% of workshop and lecture attendees are women. Men who are serious about building successful businesses must have heard J.P. Morgan’s famous quote, “Anyone can be a millionaire, but to become a billionaire you need an astrologer.”
If you’ve read my story and are curious about how I integrate art and music into my life post-COVID, you’ll be happy to hear that I recently jumped back into producing events. I just launched a new concert series in Dallas called Healing Through Art that aims to create experiences for people to heal while interacting with high level art. If you’re in Dallas, I’d love to meet you at a show or astrology workshop!
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Humans are such unique and incredible creatures!
In my work as an astrologer I see uniqueness in every person, however, since I started my life and career as a musician, I have a very special place in my heart for creatives.
I’ve spent my adult life surrounded by creatives at music conservatory and building my music career in Los Angeles.
Creatives are built differently than the average American who attends a state school and takes on a corporate job.
People need to understand that most high level creatives have personality traits on the extreme ends of a spectrum. For example, a huge percentage of actors are Geminis. When you spend time in a room full of actors, you witness the character traits of Gemini turned up to the max. Overly talkative. Overly curious. Multiple personalities. Trying on different personalities. Childlike wonder. They naturally express this way without inhibition.
Creatives have greater and easier access to the Right Side of the brain. The Right Side controls abstract connections between ideas without understanding the logical steps in between. This is where their wild ideas come from. Their ideas won’t make sense until the creative delivers the work.
Most creatives are intensely emotional compared to the average person. I equate their experience of emotions to standing directly in front of a stadium size speaker turned up all the way as opposed to a handheld size portable speaker set at medium volume.
Emotions need an outlet, so creative work serves as the medium to express their emotions in a healthy way.
If you are willing to listen, creatives reflect the emotions, ideas and sentiment of the collective.
For better or worse, they are able to express the truth. This is one of the greatest gifts creatives have to offer.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The book “Conversations with God” by Neil Donald Walsch completely changed my life in 2018.
I had just finished the biggest AND MOST CHALLENGING production project of my career. I was the Assistant Producer for a two week music, art and technology festival in Los Angeles with 6 nights of performances each with their own highly technical sets, over 50 artists including international artists and 3 gallery installations.
Our team encountered every challenge a producer could imagine making this festival happen. We pulled it off beautifully, but behind the scenes it was chaos.
In the end I was beaten mentally, physically and emotionally. I was questioning if I should stay in the industry and personally, I was having an existential crisis.
I was furious with God, and I felt unloved. What even was God? Or Love?
The romanticized Hollywood version of love couldn’t be this powerful force great spiritual teachers spoke about. There had to be more to it.
“Conversations with God” came to me as a recommendation from a colleague from the festival. I found a copy at Half Price Books and sat down on my bedroom floor with it first thing each morning. Similarly to how the book was written, I “channel journaled” my own conversation with the book.
It answered my questions “What is God?” and “What is Love?” and taught me the laws of the universe. My whole framework for living and manifesting changed, and pretty quickly thereafter almost every area of my life started to shift for the better.
I recommend it to anyone who is willing to read it and try out its theories.
If you do read it, I’d love to hear what you learn! Reach out to me on Instagram @kkasle with your insights.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/kellykasle
- Instagram: @KKasle
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kkasle/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-kasle-54894116/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kellykasle369
Image Credits
Hailey Faira
Jordon Kirschner
VIctoria Saperstein