Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michele Ross. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michele, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
My journey to become the best vocalist, actor, and truly impact people as a performing artist was paved in wins and losses, but they all taught me valuable lessons and lead me to where I am today, I first taught myself how to match pitch at only 6 years old, and by age 14 I was singing opera songs in 5 different languages, thanks to the steadfast mentorship of my secondary school music instructor, Linda Dusenberry. But opera wasn’t where my heart was. It was in college where things began to get really challenging, and harrowing, and several life-altering experiences sent me on the journey to healing that brought me to the methodologies I employ today – both as a teacher and as a professional performer. There are many stories to tell surrounding these events, but having a voice doctor tell me I would never sing again stands out is the most pivotal. I look forward to sharing it with you!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
From the time I was a little girl I was entertaining anyone who would watch me hop on a coffee table and sing with my hairbrush as a microphone, or pretend with me as I reenacted scenes from famous musicals I watched on television. I was obsessed with music and acting! By the time I started studying it seriously beginning in 7th grade, I was hooked, and begged my mom to let me enter a local pageant in our small, two-stop-light town in SE Oklahoma. It was on that stage I launched my amateur career, and by high school I was getting paid to perform. What a time that was!
I competed in pageants and talent contests, honing my craft. College was both a disappointment and a training ground, and finding my way to Nashville post-college proved to be another catalyst which helped me become the teacher I am today, as well as elevating for my own performance skills. I have performed in LA, New York, Nashville, and many other venues throughout the Midwest, but the one that stands out the most was performing live on stage with some of the world’s greatest artists, including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Ringo Starr, just to name a few.
The time spent in Branson and Nashville post college helped me shape my teaching methods. Also, the teacher I found in Nashville changed my life, helped me heal a lot of past trauma from college, and nurtured my move into believing in myself and the talents I was born with. It was truly meant to be.
The methods I use for my clients are fun, unusual, easy to learn and understand, and effective. They are truly unique to the Tulsa market. I consider myself a “wounded healer” as I love and guide my students into the change they desire to see in themselves. It is such a rewarding experience to have a roadblock in a lesson, stop, pray, think, and receive the perfect solution that makes a student’s eyes widen as the roadblock is removed. It’s truly life-changing technique. I am working on a plan to get this method to people across the globe. It changed my life and I can’t wait to share it with the world.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Due to vocal techniques that were too harsh for my vocal cords while studying vocal performance in college, I developed nodules on my vocal cords two separate times, beginning my sophomore year. This is considered “the kiss of death” for any vocalist – a callus that forms between the vocal folds and renders one unable to sing or speak without chronic hoarseness, and lengthy vocal rest or dangerous surgery are the only cures for it. The first time I was miraculously healed. The second time I had to go through lengthy speech therapy, and learn how to talk and sing all over again. By my senior year in college, I had developed a third nodule that was so deeply embedded in one of my vocal folds, the voice doctor told me I would never sing again. All three times I refused to accept these diagnoses as the final say, because music and singing were part of my DNA. I worked hard and found ways to heal, and followed the pathway that I believe was laid before me to help me find my true healing. There is so much more to this story, but that basic overview is probably the biggest resiliency story related to my craft and what I do today.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
This is such a great question – one I have pondered quite often – and even desire to write a book about someday. Living as a right-brained creative in what seems to be a left-brained, logic-driven world has numerous challenges for “free spirits”. The world wants to sell what we produce, but rarely looks at us with the same respect as a Fortune 500 executive. It’s two sides of the same coin, and one would be absolutely lost without the other. There is creativity all around us, and promoting the brilliance and necessity of it with more social media and other campaigns might be the best way to educate the public and non-creatives how to accept that this is an industry and a business, but also a state of BEING. Surely that can be understood logically? I don’t know, but I sure would like to help find a way to make it easier for creatives to live happier and thrive more amongst the logics of the world and the systems that are in place that absolutely kill creativity, making it sometimes difficult for creatives to be free to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michelerossstudios.com
- Instagram: @michele.ross and @michelerossstudios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michele.ross.3133?mibextid=LQQJ4d And https://www.facebook.com/michelerossstudios?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@micheleross7250?si=MIhTzPMtEi7MJe0q
Image Credits
Jeffrey Nicholson