We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Urso Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Ten years ago I graduated from high-school as a self-proclaimed “theatre kid” and would go on to study Musical Theatre and Opera at an arts conservatory-style university. Today, I am a business owner, solopreneur, teacher, mentor, and multi-hyphenate. Over the last decade, my dreams of performing on Broadway evolved into starting my own business in Dallas and unintentionally inspiring others to find, or even create for themselves, fulfilling and successful careers.

To talk about the educational system that I want to see, I first have to talk about the educational system I had. In high school, I was incredibly fortunate to have teachers and parents that recognized and encouraged my creative talents. However, I had several friends in high school who were actively discouraged from pursuing any type of career in the arts and were encouraged to be nurses or accountants instead. In many ways, I don’t blame the well-meaning warnings from their teachers and adult figures. After all, the term “starving artist” seems to be the common outside perception of what a career in the arts looks like (nevermind the fact that arts and culture is the 3rd highest grossing sector of the country’s GDP*). Even during my collegiate studies as a Musical Theatre and Vocal Performance double major at an esteemed liberal arts college, the messaging from professors was clear – you can either be a bartender while you hustle your way to stardom or you can give up your creative dreams and get an office job. This either/or thinking is pervasive and crushing to the creatives of the world (and there are LOTS of us). Many of us don’t even want stardom, we just want to do meaningful work that we’re passionate about alongside other people who see our vision. Many of us aren’t looking to “make it big.” We’re looking to sing at weddings, or design the clothes you wear every day, or write the children’s book you read to your kids at night, or edit the Netflix show you’ve been bingeing, or go to culinary school, or start a local business. And for the record, I know a marketing executive, pastor, therapist, lawyer, and military veteran – just to name a few – who spend their evenings and weekends rehearsing and performing with local theatre companies in addition to their day job. What I’m getting at is this – despite the narrative that one is either “making it big” or “a starving artist,” there are many, many ways to have a fulfilling career or even “side hustle” in the arts. Beyond that, creatives have many transferrable skills such as outside-the-box thinking, problem solving, working under pressure, improvisation, adaptability, flexibility, ambition, relatability, and empathy. I dream of an educational system that not only encourages and respects artists, but that also teaches us other ways to use our inherent skills and gifts, instead of tamping them down. Or at least acknowledges that changing career paths or cobbling together a career of multiple different jobs and streams of income isn’t a failure, but actually quite commonplace and, in my case and so many others’, money-generating and fulfilling.

Lauren, 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’m Lauren Urso Gray, I am the founder and owner of Your Authentic Voice, an in-person and online voice studio. I’m a professional vocalist, actor, and Musical Theatre + Pop/Rock voice teacher from Dallas, TX who’s on a mission to help singers know, love, and cultivate their voice in a judgement-free, encouraging environment. Whether I’m working with singers virtually or at my Dallas studio, I’m helping singers and artists all over the world book professional performing gigs, feel more creatively fulfilled, & love their Authentic Voice.

I believe that singing is for everyone and that singers deserve to feel empowered and excited about their voice. My voice studio is a safe space where my students feel free to try new things and be unafraid of failing. Watching my students come into their dreams in big and small ways is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys of my work.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Less that two months after starting my business Instagram account, @your_authentic_voice, I made a graphic that talked about better ways we can measure success as an artist including things like pursuing and accepting work that aligns with your values, work/life balance, discovering your own unique voice, prioritizing mental health, and opening doors for other artists. I had less than a thousand followers at the time and was unsure if anyone would even share my opinion and greater vision for the arts industry. Long story short, the post has been liked/shared/saved by over 29,000 people including Kacey Musgraves, Frozen composer Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and budding independent musician Sammy Rae. I was not only fangirling a little bit, but also moved to see that my message rang true to artists who I and so many others look up to.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My life has consisted of a few plot twists up until this point and becoming a teacher (and absolutely loving it) is no exception. I happened upon teaching accidentally in 2016 while I was still in college. I took a vocal pedagogy class in college as a part of my Vocal Performance degree and practicum teaching was required to pass the class. Even after graduating, I continued teaching on the side to make money while working other jobs during my time in Oklahoma City, New York City, and then in Dallas. In January of 2021, I was working full-time on the Peloton sales team in Southlake, TX. Although I was good at my job and liked it well enough, I was itching to pursue my passion for singing and working alongside artists. I started a voice teaching Instagram account (@your_authentic_voice) in the spring of 2021 and by July 2021, I had enough students to quit my then-job in sales and become a full-time voice teacher and business owner. Since then, I’ve maintained a growing roster of voice students in Dallas and beyond and even partnered with another local artist, Corin Wilke of Kindheart Designs, to make merch. Being able to become my own boss and step into my passion and vocation full-time will always be a huge milestone to me. Less than a year after going full-time into my business, I was asked to host teacher training workshops and have started greater dialogues in the community about inclusive studio practices, protecting our mental health and avoiding burnout, and teaching our students and peers how to advocate for themselves. I’m looking forward to a career in which I work with singers and teachers alike, all artists in their own right, and be a creative mentor for those around me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourauthenticvoice-studio.com
• Instagram: @your_authentic_voice

Image Credits
Chandler Collen