How Your Singer Identity Is Holding Back Your Voice

In this episode, Sarah explores how identity, self-perception, and subconscious beliefs directly affect your singing voice and artistic growth. She breaks down how many singers unknowingly trap themselves in vocal identities — like the “pretty singer” or the “power belter” — and how those identities can block vocal freedom and progress. The episode dives into shadow work, nervous system safety, and why your voice often reflects deeper internal patterns. Through personal stories and practical examples, Sarah explains why true vocal growth requires more than technique — it requires becoming someone new. 

Most artists don’t struggle because they aren’t talented.
They struggle because they’ve been conditioned to play small, second-guess themselves, and operate from survival instead of certainty.

The Inevitable Artist Activation is a 14-day challenge happening throughout May that’s designed to completely shift that.

This isn’t about surface-level mindset work or forcing yourself to “stay positive.”
It’s about rewiring the patterns in your body and identity that keep you stuck in cycles of inconsistency, undercharging, overthinking, and feeling like things almost happen—but don’t fully land.

Over 14 days, you’ll be guided through a powerful process to:

• Release the need to shrink or apologize for your talent and ambition
• Break out of “just enough” income patterns and open yourself to real overflow
• Understand how your nervous system impacts your ability to receive opportunities and money
• Step into the version of you who no longer waits to be chosen—but moves like it’s already done

This is for the person who knows they’re meant for more…
and is ready to actually become the version of themselves who can hold it.

Click HERE to join the Inevitable Artist Activation 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

If you're tired of not making progress and you're ready to be the artist you know you're meant to be, you're in the right place. You're listening to the Singer's Path Podcast. The Path or Performing Artists Training Hub will cover everything, including singing tips that actually work, advice from top industry professionals, and life-changing mindset tips. Out with the starving artists and in with the thriving artist. I'm your host, Sarah Bishop, professional singer, actor, educator, and entrepreneur. I'm not afraid to speak the truth and stop the gatekeeping of quality information so you can actually become the artist you dream of being. So let's get on the path, shall we? Even though we're all on our own journeys, it always helps to have a guide. Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Singer's Path Podcast. It is me, your host, Sarah. And I am just so freaking pumped by this time that you're listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you find this, maybe YouTube. We are well pushing through our very exciting challenge that we have going on, the inevitable artist activation. Guys, I am so freaking pumped to be doing this. As I'm recording this right now, it's actually Sunday, so it's the day before it gets started. Um, Monday, the fourth. May the fourth be with you. Yeah, that day. We picked that day. That's fine. Um, that's when it's starting this this activation, this it's really debunking manifestation, but not really debunking it, just like doing it so it actually works. So that's what it's teaching you. It's also teaching you how to get clear on maybe what's been holding you back with manifestation, um, how to declare your power, how to believe in yourself so strongly and just know that your success, the way that you want to be seen as an artist, is inevitable, and really claiming that. So that's what this activation is all about is lighting a fire under your tush and really shining a light on the power that you are, right? The source, the magnet that you are. So by this time that you are hearing this, I am recording this the day before and I am actively preparing. But if you're listening to this right now, it is well on its way. Um, I'll probably talk about it continuously throughout the episode, but I'm just super, super, super excited to be sharing it with you guys and be creating it. And really, my goal is to make like good hearted artists like visible. Like I'm so tired of y'all like having so much talent and so much ability and like giving it away to other people, right? And, you know, we're gonna talk about some reasons why we might be doing that, or even like if we're we're gonna talk a little bit more about singing specifically here today, and how our idea of self-identity and like what we're choosing and how we see ourselves or or how we think other people see us is actually the thing that's holding us back from getting the goals we want with our voice or singing in the way we want. So that's gonna be specifically the theme today. And also, let's see if I actually stick to said theme. Because listeners, if you've been listening for a while, you like sometimes I'll say a theme and then I don't then I can off topic and I don't actually talk about that. So we're gonna try to stay on topic this time. So yeah, but the inevitable artist activation is actively happening. Please swipe up, go to the link in the show notes. Let's become the artists that are inevitable. This 14-day challenge will light a fire under your ass. You will start to manifest stuff, guys, because let's actually get the codes to do this correctly and stop just trying to like throw a spaghetti at the wall. And, you know, then we feel crazy and we're like feel stupid that we tried and it's not working anyway. And the think positive thing is exhausting. Yeah, we're not doing that anymore. Okay. We're gonna do it correctly. We're gonna do it in a way that works for us, and we're gonna do it in a way that lights us up, brings us joy, and actually attracts the things that we want to us. Okay. So go check that out before I get into the episode. All right. Now, obviously, I'm also on TikTok live right now, uh, interacting with some people here. Um, and I was kind of chatting, chatty Kathy, right before I hit record here on the podcast. Today's pod episode is really gonna be about, again, like I said a little bit earlier, bridging the identity with the voice. So, what does that really mean? Well, I made a TikTok video about this recently and it kind of popped off. Um, and most people really responded to it. It got under some people's skin, but so does when a woman, you know, powerfully and passionately states something. Yeah, some people don't like that. But when I talk about identity, what I'm really talking about is self-perception and also talking about what we've learned and how we've learned to behave and see ourselves in order to feel safe and like survive in our life, right? In the way that's we've learned to function in our life. Okay. So, like we've all developed identities around what we've discovered is safe, what we've discovered works, right? Some people hide elements of themselves. Some people, uh, this is called shadow work. We we talk about this pretty in depth um in the inner circle membership. There's all kinds of meditation tracks and exercises and ways for you to get close and identify where maybe there are aspects of your personality or aspects of yourself that you've actually cast into shadow. And shadow is basically uh rejected aspects of self. So along the way, while you were learning to survive in your life, right, you might have learned either by directly seeing someone behave a certain way, um, that you would never become like that. You, you are not that kind of person. So you reject it. Maybe you were shamed for some element of your personality, and then you actively, you know, you try to hide that away or um not embrace that about yourself. So shadow is basically shame. It's it's it's rejected aspect of self that you've learned is not safe in order for you to survive in this society, right? Um, and one of my students is on the live and they say, I'm not that girl. Yeah, it's like alphabet, right? Like, let's talk about alphabet's shadow, okay? From for a trauma-safe, trauma-informed, safe reflection of what shadow and shame is. Um, we're gonna use alphabet. So alphabet is actually a perfect um example of shadow. She's she's rejected her power and being different, right? And she's been shown that that being that different, having different skin tone of green and you know, being way more powerful and like nerdy and you know, is in is not a good thing, right? She's been rejected for those things. And then there's part of her that she talks about in the I'm not that girl, right? Where she is like, that's just not who I am. I don't, I don't embody those qualities, right? But then we see in Defying Gravity, she shifts around and she starts to what we would call like integrate rejected aspects of self and go, you know what? F you, I am powerful, I am embodied, I am different, and I love and accept that about myself and like F off. I'm like, the wizard is bad, and I'm standing in my morals, and like I'm not doing this, right? Sorry, spoilers for anyone who's never seen Wicked, okay? But um, I should have said that beforehand, but I think at this point you might probably know that. So that's like a good example of like an integrative story over rejected aspects of self is like Alphabet's story and how she claims that power um and accepts that version of self and stops like she's she literally says, I'm through accepting limits because someone says they're so some things it cannot change, but till I try, I'll never know, right? She's like literally like, I know I'm different, but like I choose this. Okay. So when we're singing, okay, like you're like, what does that have to do with this? When you're singing, okay, it singing, and I always say this, this is probably gonna be like tattooed on my forehead, but singing and doing any kind of art form, any kind of craft in the arts, okay, is going to be a mirror for your internal world. Okay. And there's many things in life that could that also represent, I mean, just honestly, your 3D, we had a whole episode where I was talking about 3D versus 4D versus 5D. Really, your life as it is now is actually a reflection of your internal world and the signals that you're putting out, right? We're gonna talk about that in the inevitable artist activation. Again, make sure you frickin' join this. I don't know why you wouldn't. It's gonna be so kick-ass. I'm so pumped. But like that's the idea that like actually our life and the things that present in our life are actually on a lag of the person that we were choosing to be up until this point, right? Due to the signal that we were projecting from our state of being, from who we are, our aura, our essence, the dominant signal that we are conveying. Okay. So, like, really in any part of your life, your internal world will mirror outside of you. Okay. That's like kind of a first entry level of psychology, is kind of discussing that. And it helps the person take ownership, right? It's not to blame you for things that are out of your control that are happening. That's not the point. Okay. So those here that that think I'm like victim blame, no, okay. If if things really bad happen to you, that is not saying that it's your fault and due to something being wrong with your internal world and then it's reflecting, no, okay. Although I will say, um, some thoughts, feelings, behaviors. Yeah, CBT chat, yeah. Um one thing I will say in in that is like, I guess I will say, like, when I was living in New York for the first time, and I was like really afraid of men um attacking me in New York, right? And I would like ride the subway and I'd have to work really late. And I will say, because my dominant frequency was fear and not having confidence, right? I would like kind of inadvertently like attract worse situations to myself, like scary situations to myself, because I was focusing so much on the fear and like helplessness I was in. And and again, this is not to say like that was that my fault that like it something and like some scary things happen. Like, was that my fault that those things happened? No. But it didn't help that my dominant frequency was I'm gonna get attacked, right? Instead, and I eventually did shift it away from oh my God, like I'm helpless and I'm, you know, but like I I actually ended up training in Krav Maga after a certain amount of time because I was tired of feeling helpless and I was tired of feeling like a victim in the situation. And um, I did end up, I was like, I never want this to happen to me again. I don't want to feel afraid anymore. And so then I took action to train myself in Krav Maga so that I felt confident that if a bad situation happened, I at least was more prepared for a bad situation. And that actually ended up changing my dominant frequency because it went from I'm so scared, I'm gonna get attacked. Oh my God, oh my God. And it went to like the don't fuck with me energy of it all. Okay. And then now when I walk in the street, I can turn on the like, don't fuck with me. And I've never since had any issues like at all. So paradoxically, right, I'm not saying it's if anything bad has happened because of a story that is running in your head, right? And there's so many, there's so many like social injustices and like things that are like genuinely effed up about the system. I know I've been talking about like artists' mindset a lot and like how artists, unfortunately, I feel like are steeped in this victim mentality that keeps them small. And even when I just start to introduce that idea that, like, hey, maybe we can intern, we can change our internal narrative a little bit more, and that could be reflected outwards in a different way. Like maybe we can take control of some of the ways that we're thinking about this instead of blaming everything. And I'm not, and again, that's where it's tricky because yeah, are there things that are messed up that are keeping artists in this loop? Yes. And I think the way to break the loop is to actually take control of the narrative, reclaim the power, and then put focus elsewhere, just like how I said with the Krav Maga thing. When I learned to be able to protect myself with my bare hands and could do that over and over again and taught myself through trust and repetition, oh, I know what to do in this situation. My body knows how to react in this situation. And I feel confident in myself that I could protect myself more than I had. Then I no longer walked in fear, then I no longer broadcasted that fear, and then that didn't happen to me again. I feel at the I really deeply feel this way. If artists started actually seeing their value and just how much they're needed right now, especially with all the AI stuff and everything that's going on in the world, I know it's really hard for artists to start like spiraling down. And again, getting caught in this loop and this cog of like this this societal stereotype and identity, right? Right before we get into the specifics of vocal identity, but like, oh, I'm just a like they're fighting a stereotype of being like a deadbeat, poor, starving artist, right? Like, if that's your constant narrative that, oh, like I'm trying to not be that, right? That's the dominant vibration, is like, oh, people just take advantage of artists and I get taken advantage of, and we don't get paid well. And oh, nobody cares about art, and this is stupid. Like, why am I even doing this? When that's the dominant vibration, yeah, you're gonna get more of that lack. Okay. And I know it sounds wild because can you find evidence of that? Yes, you can, but you can also find evidence of the opposite. You can find evidence of so many successful artists who are booked all the time, making so much money. And I will tell you, they're not always the most talented ones, guys. I think it's audacity and choice. Who are you choosing to be? Okay. And again, I'm sort of talking about identity. We're talking about choosing a different identity as an artist as a whole, so that you're not actually stuck in the lack loops. I know the victim loop is a really harsh word, but I use that to describe myself because I was caught in that, right? I'm talking from experience, right? When I'm teaching this uh inevitable artist activation, like this is this works from experience and also from me paying like, God, that tens of thousands of dollars for millionaire mindset business coaching. Okay. So, like, listen, like this this stuff is really important. And you're and you're talking about wanting to be really successful, wealthy artist that's really visible. Well, this is what they do. You can't enter the world of being a mega successful artist and continue to act from a place of lack. They just simply don't operate in the same way. Okay. So the inevitable artist activation is teaching you how to change that. If you want to enter that threshold of becoming that kind of artist, you need to change your behavior and how you think about yourself and not, I just believe in myself. No, think about the same thing. If I was again, again, the Krav Magaugh thing is just we keep keep bringing this up. Again, when the dominant vibration that is subconscious and nervous system projected, okay. When the dominant vibration was, I'm afraid, I'm in fear. If I just told myself all the time with taking no action, I'm okay, I'm strong, I'm okay, I'm strong, but didn't learn any skills and different ways of behaving and projecting this energy, then I'm just lying to myself, which is another reason why affirmations don't always get you there. Okay. It's more it's like that's part of it, right? And again, we'll talk about this in the inevitable artist activation. I keep saying that, but that's true. We talk about that because it's like, yes, affirmations are part of it, but it's also what is the vibration, what is the sensation and feeling that's going on in your body, what feels safe, and then action from that. So you're embodying it and you're walking in it. Okay. Um, someone, uh Justin, uh, my student who's responding here, they also all aren't always good people. That is also true. Um, and we and we look at like these some of these really famous, successful artists. Like, I always say there's two types of people, okay? And I know the people that I'm talking to are good people. Like you guys are the weirdos, the mega talented, exceptional human beings that actually aren't where you want to be because you're a good person, because you don't want to be an arrogant asshole, because you want to continue to hold on to the identity of being a good person, because you don't want to piss people off or rub feather, like ruffle feathers, right? Because you want to do it right. But really, it's fear. It's fear of being perceived as a person, again, with shadow and identity. I don't want to be perceived as a bad person. I don't want people to misunderstand me. I don't want people to see this video and think I'm like again, the guy that triggered me earlier with kind of the same subject we're talking about, said that um I had developed a complex of thinking that I'm above other people. And I was like, yo, you don't know me. Also, like, what? Did you listen? Did you listen at all to what I just said? But that like did get under my skin a little bit and triggered me because it irritated the shadow, the rejected aspect of self in my fear of visibility that went, oh my God, I don't want to be misunderstood, or maybe people will think I'm a bad person, or they'll think that like I think I'm better than uh other people because I'm like trying to give advice on like, you know, artist mindset and all this stuff. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. Okay, no. So this is where, again, we would teach this in the challenge, but like you need to identify, okay, what is this really doing? There it this mirror, this reflection of what's happening is showing me that there's still work to, there's still love to be had for myself on being misunderstood, right? And there's still some wound there that's going, oh my God, he thinks I'm a bad person, or maybe, maybe I, you know, what if what if I do have this complex and maybe I am, right? But because I'm making a different choice, I'm going, no, I I can be a great person and I can have money and I can have visibility and fame and all the things that I want. And that will just amplify who I already am, right? Money and visibility are just amplifiers, right? Money is just a resource that helps me give to more people and create more things. Visibility helps me to connect with more people. It will amplify the underlying message. Those things don't change you, they just enhance what you already are. And so when I had Justin here say, right, we, you know, these the people that do ascend to the top that are maybe bad people, their identities around being an artist is like a lot of them are narcissists. Okay. You don't have to have visibility and money and become a narcissist as well. The reason that they surpass so many of the good-hearted people that listen, I know you crazy brain people, I know that you deserve you are just as talented or more talented as these other people, but it's because you're not a narcissist. So what we do in this work and this activation that I'm talking about, or if you want to go deeper in the inner circle membership, right, which is really where you do the work, to work with your brain and your body and your nervous system to be like, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, I have a choice and who I want to be. I can be a good person and walk with integrity, have boundaries around visibility and who I am. I can show up and create safety in myself. I can have the big things and be a good effing person doing it. I do not have to cave and conform to these stereotypes. Okay. These identities that we are taught exist in even successful people, right? We are dismantling identities and stereotypes that we might see, right? Especially as artists, guys. I know there's who rah-rah, like eat the rich. And listen, I'm not talking about the billionaires. I'm not talking about the people that are unethical and like could literally solve world hunger in a single right of a check. Okay. Not talking about the Elon Musks. Okay. I'm talking about like there are good wealthy people that exist. And I actually would rather you be one of those good wealthy people that has made their money from their art and giving back to the world and uses money to harness it to, you know, create this divine reciprocity that can exist from having the resource and power of money. Okay. Because instead of going, well, money makes you bad, right? That's the identity that you're choosing. Well, I can't have money as an artist because then I'm a sellout, or I can't have visibility as an artist because then, you know, then that means I'm not good or I'm unsafe or all of these things. Okay. So this all has to do so much with identity work. Um, but my goal for you guys would be like if you have the vision, the goal, the dream to be a successful visible artist and make money that way. It is, I'm telling you, equally as important to skill building of like, okay, you want to be singer? Yeah, you should be working on your voice. Yeah, you have to work on the brain. You have to work on your energy. That's most of it. That's most of it. It is not talent, it is audacity. And if your brain and your system are telling you it is not safe to have the audacity, you will not get it. Okay. Okay. Again, I'm getting getting on my thing. But but anyway, so let's niche down even more. Okay. About so we kind of talked about how identity around money, identity around visibility can often sabotage people, okay, and how they want to be successful in their career. Let's talk about singers now, okay? Because this is the Singer's Path podcast. I talk to all artists, but like, I know a lot of you are singers. So, where can your identity around your voice be holding back your progress? Similar to your identity and the way that you've learned to function in society around money, right? Or around visibility is stopping you from having money or visibility because it means that you would have to let go of a different aspect of self to become that kind of person that has that. Okay. So with the voice, um, there's a malt, there's many different kinds of identities that you can niche, niche, niche down on. But the biggest one that I made this video about is I have some students that like talk like they don't, well, they talk normally. That's part of the thing. They they have a really clear speaking voice. Like they talk just like how I'm talking to you. Right. But then when they start to sing, they have what I would like to call a singer accent. Okay. What is a singer accent? A singer accent is like as soon as you start to sing, you take on like a different voice. Right. It's not derived from your true speaking voice. Okay. And this is the main pivot point as to like where the singer identity will kind of split and maybe sabotage your results. One way that the singer identity splits is that you start thinking that okay, I don't want to be perceived as someone like loud and obnoxious or like a bad singer. I have the identity of being a pretty singer, right? I have a very feminine singing voice, and that's how I sing. And this is how I feel safe. Because maybe along the way you are validated for having a really pretty voice, right? Being the pretty one, the feminine one, the the more quiet one. It usually evolves around the pretty voice thing, like pretty girl talent. Okay. Um, and the problem is that I know a lot of you come to me later in your life, right? You might study classically, or you just might be trying to DIY it. And then you really wonder why you cannot embody the power and the clarity of belting. Okay. Because I know a lot of you, like you might want to be the pretty girl singer, but then a deep part of you really wants to have that power and cut of like, like we were talking about Alphabet earlier. Like you want to be able to make that sound because there's another part of you inside that just wants to express that way. Like I always wanted to sing rock, but like I was a pretty girl singer, like earlier in my life. Um, and then I ended up switching identities, and we'll talk about that here in a second. But um, at first it was like, I just sing the pretty stuff. And if I don't sing the pretty stuff, then who am I even? Right? I'm not good at singing the loud stuff. And what I'm gonna tell you is the reason the pretty girl like soft voice singers aren't as good at belting right away is because it's a different function. There's a different coordination that needs to happen. And so if you're trying to learn belting from a pretty girl mindset, a pretty girl, quiet girl mindset, you're not gonna do it. First of all, your body is gonna fight you, right? Your nervous system is gonna do exactly what I said. Like I said, it's not safe to have money and because then I'm rejected by the artist community or I'm considered a bad person. Okay. I'm not safe to have visibility because you know, those people, your sing the pretty girl singer goes, I'm not safe to make a loud noise because then that's obnoxious and that sounds bad, and I'm a pretty singer, so I'm not gonna do that, right? Your body will physically reject it because you've gotten so much acceptance and validation from making the other sound. So even when you go learn to belt from someone, because you're because you might by yourself, you might try to just do it, and then you wonder why you're screaming. Well, the pretty girl sound usually is too thin. It, you know, the vocal cords aren't coming together enough. You probably are blowing way too much air, right? The coordination is just not the same. And you, and so you might try to do it and then you feel hoarse, and it just validates, yeah, I can't do it. I can't do it, it's not safe. And then you do all kinds of stories and bullshit. You tell yourself that it's not, you're not, it's not possible for you, and that's just not who you are, and all this stuff. Okay. Meanwhile, some of you then, when you get older or when you have some money or whatever, then you go to a voice teacher and you ask them to do it, but then you get so freaking triggered trying to do the actual training exercises, then to learn to belt. That's what happens. So then you do finally, you're like, you know what? I do want to sing paramore, or I do want to sing don't jet. Okay. And then you come, and then the teacher's like, nah, nah, makes you do these nasty ass loud sounds, which are the foundational training tools to do it healthily, and you're coming to us saying that you want to do this healthily. Well, this is part of it. But another part of it for you is letting this old pretty girl singer identity die. Right? You can always sing the way you want in other things. But it's when you're blending over, like in these all-encompassing like statements of like, oh, I always sing like this, or this is who I am. But then another part of you is saying you want to be in power. And then there's this friction that happens that, like, okay, I have to let go of the way I'm doing something to learn to do this other thing, right? That can bring up a lot of grief. For some of you, it could bring out like there's a lot of cultural things too. Like as women, right? And in that position, it's like, well, I don't want to be the rejected woman that is too outspoken and isn't, you know, polite and is being too loud. I know I've had some students from Asia, particularly, I think Japan specifically, where that is really not okay to be loud like that. Versus like, you know, some other countries, you know, their original music has stemmed from more of that primal calling, right? So like it really depends on your culture, it depends on your upbringing, right? And that's what I mean. It's like, it's almost like your voice has been encompassed in the shadow. I can't be the person that sounds bad. I can't be the person that isn't the good singer because that's such a deep part of my identity. Who am I if I sound bad? Okay. So so many layers of this. And again, this is why the inevitable artist activation exists, and this is why the inner circle exists. Okay. So let's flip it. So I again was pretty girl singer, felt really limited in my voice for a long time. I'll have to do like a whole episode on this. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll do that in the next episode. Talking about like my own vocal development and these different identities that came along the way and like kind of what I'm currently going through, so that maybe you guys can like see some similarities in your own story. So maybe we'll put a pin in that and do that in the future. So one of the moments I'll briefly say one of the moments where then I started to shift personalities was like I had pretty voice, but it was limiting what I wanted to do. Okay. So then, because I didn't have the resources to learn to belt the way I wanted to, because I was one of those girls, like I wanted to belt powerfully like Alphabet, always have since I was 12. Okay. Always wanted to sing like Alphaba. Heard it for the first time, was like, yep, this is me. Heard heart that my dad would play. Yep, I did that. Now, was part of my wanting to belt probably wrapped up in a daddy issue? Yeah. Did my dad like the music I sang? No. Did he like rock and roll? Yes. Right. So we could go deeper with this. Okay, we could go so deep. Okay. Okay. However, um, I so somewhere along the way, I went, I rejected actually the soft, quiet sound. Actually, it was closer to when I went to college. So when I was at CCM, I was like, ooh, I am learning in this current musical theater market, this is not gonna fly. Was that all the way true? I don't think so. I think there's some power that can be said in embracing the things that you are truly good at too, and being like, this is my sound. So, like, again, please take this with a grain of salt. Like, if your original way of expressing is the way that you identify, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just when you have other parts of you that want to express in different ways and you're fighting them. Okay, so I just want to clear that up. But but when I went to college, I was like, ooh, I I had decided because of the evidence that I was singing in the musical theater, you know, trajectory, which is somewhat true. And then in my classmates, I this competitive edge in me was like, okay, you can't sing like this anymore. You have to learn how to sing differently because of the music that's out there, which is again partially true. Okay. So when I got to college, it was like, I have to belt now. But I actually, and this is where um I was blocking myself because I was so desperate to change the identity then. I was way overshooting the corrections and then kind of screaming everything all the time. Okay. So then it came, it became I am the Belty girl, but really I wasn't actually embracing, could I have moments of power in my voice from a softer place? Could I see that as being enough? So on the flip side, a different singer identity, someone that's always the belter, always the loud one, um, always the rambunctious one, always the one pushing their voice. I find this with a lot of men, especially or just lower voices, lower, lowerborn voices, um, not to be gender exclusive, but like lower, fuller voices, um from their standpoint, if I don't have my vocal power, who am I? Can I rely on the tone quality softness in my voice? Can I see the softness and my vulnerability and my emotion as also being equally as valuable or powerful? Okay. So those are huge, huge, huge. And at that time when I did such a violent kind of shift around for myself, it was like, oh, well, now I have to belt everything as high as I can and be the belter, belter, belter, instead of like, what if it's refreshing for casting and for the audience and like an equally more powerful tool to look at it from a musician and from an expression standpoint and just let the story tell you how I want it to be expressed, instead of it making it about me and my identity around my voice, constantly needing to belt everything so that I felt like a good singer, because good singers are powerful and they belt. No, if I back off and I become too quiet, then no, that's boring. No one wants to hear that, right? I hear that all the time when people are like picking audition cuts. They're going, like, well, if I don't belt right away, then like maybe it's not a good cut, or like, uh, well, I have to show, I have to show them that I'm a powerful singer right away. And it's like, yeah, so that's an example of you leaking your power and your energy, actually, because you're in the process of like showing instead of embodying, right? So let's flip. So these are like two opposite singing identities. And I guess this can be also related to like the money identity I kind of briefly talked about, and the visibility identity I talked about, and like like starting to get curious about like what is your identity and what's actually holding you back. The first thing to start to pivot is to have awareness. Okay. How are you like actually operating with your voice? Right. And again, like I said earlier, it's gonna be a mirror of your internal world. So from the pretty girl standpoint, you could ask yourself, huh? If I'm struggling to do this other vocal coordination of belting, what about myself do I feel is like, what do I feel I have to do in order to be accepted here? Okay. That's like a really good question to start asking. What about my voice right now? Am I unwilling to let go of? Okay. Same on the flip side with with the super belty people. What about my voice right now am I willing to let go of? Right? Starting to like journal out like parts of your voice that you really like, parts of your voice that you're kind of insecure about and why. Okay. And again, we'll go into like way more detail um in the next couple weeks as we're doing this challenge. But starting to be like, yeah, I'm kind of noticing that like I don't feel like I can pick an audition cut without me starting belting an E in the first five seconds because I've been told that's how I'm gonna get the attention. And really, there's a part of me that's wishing and desiring that I could sing something really grounded and connected and have I want like there's a part of me that wishes that that could be enough. Right. Well, then at that point, it becomes about choosing that and embodying that because it can be enough, right? Anything that you decide to project again in your internal world and you embody and you become is going to be reflected outside of you. So if you then start to reprogram, right, which we'll start to do in this challenge, okay. My previous singer identity was I didn't want to be too loud, I needed to be soft, I needed to be the pretty singer. And then you realize, oh, I actually do want power, I do want to sing powerfully. Okay. So then the story becomes I can let go of the pretty sound and still be a good singer. I can learn this new vocal coordination and like make some ugly sounds sometimes. And that doesn't reflect on me being a bad singer. Okay. Like that might be where you need to start. Like for someone extra belty and shouty because you're trying to compensate for power. Okay. Good singers are powerful. Okay. What if me just existing and expressing in the way that was most authentic to me and gentle and vulnerable and I could let people see my heart? What if that was the power? Right. So different reframes to lead you to how you authentically want to express. And again, I'm not here to tell you what's good, what's bad. I'm not here to tell you about yourself, right? You're gonna be the only one that knows. I'm can only offer you resources to develop a closer relationship with yourself. Okay. And I really hope you take the opportunity to do this while we're doing this challenge. I know I've mentioned it like every other sentence here, but like I'm so excited to lead you to something that's absolutely gonna be magical. If you're watching the TikTok live right now, you can still join the wait list. I'll be emailing you guys out about it tomorrow so that you can um buy your place and join. Uh, it's gonna be $33 for two weeks. Like that's just to, you know, get some skin in the game so you stay in and you do it. Okay. Um, and it's gonna be really wonderful. And again, this is gonna be ongoing. So it's like if you don't start immediately on May 4th, it doesn't mean you still can't join. Like you can't. I'm gonna be talking about this throughout the month. Um, but the challenge itself is gonna be 14 days. I don't know, unless I get like excited. I'm like, you know what? We're gonna keep going. We're gonna go a couple more days, girls. We're gonna go a couple more days, right? Um I don't know. I I'm not making any promises. This is this is happening live. It is starting tomorrow, uh, May 4th. Um, so if you liked what I've talked about about this identity stuff and this feels good to you, this feels like something that you do want to kind of get involved with. Um, again, go to the my link in my bio. If you're watching TikTok live, it's in there. Inevitable artist activation. If you're listening to the podcast, why Bob join? Um, you guys can join immediately. It's already actively happening as this is published. And after all of that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. I hope you love the challenge. Um, and I can't wait to hear from you guys and how it's helped you. And I so appreciate you guys appreciate, oh my God, I appreciate you guys listening to the podcast. It it's just a wonderful way. I love to connect with you guys and share information. If you really love the podcast, leave us a five-star written review. This helps us get it out to more people. And with all of that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Bye. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a five-star written review on Apple Podcasts. This helps me get this information out to more artists all over the world. Let's work together to spread the joys of music. Until next time, I'm your host, Sarah Bishop, signing off from the Singer's Path Podcast. Thanks for listening.