Podcast for Singers 
Overcoming Fear to
LIVE LARGE - Unapologetically!

Transcript 

Mel Lathouras 0:01

Get a welcome to another episode of Fearless Singer. I'm Mel Lathouras and I'm so excited because I have the incredible Josephine

Josephine Lancuba 0:11
Lancuba. Oh my god, I just like totally booked at your last name. I just was practising it. It's not even a hard name, Lan-Cuba. Thank you. Thank you. And don't worry, you're not the you're not the only one to do that. It happens really more often than you think. But it is actually just said, as like verbatim as spelt lan.

Mel Lathouras 0:34
And it's fabulous as well. Oh, my goodness, it's I think it's just it's, it's eight o'clock at night, my brand new percent, we're doing really well.

Look, I'm so excited that you're here because I've been following you for a while. You. Yeah, you're a performing arts business coach, which is fabulous. We need more of you in the world for creatives, because, as you know, we're all fighting that, you know, that sort of the starving artists mentality. And I call it starving artist syndrome is what I call it starving artist syndrome and love it. Yeah. 100%. And I think the more and you know, coming from a singing background and a performance background myself for a couple of decades, I worked professionally on stages and on screen for many years. And then moving into the business side of it. It's really interesting, actually, that that that is one of the major elements that I think is a block for performance is is for anyone in the arts is that whole treating yourself as a business. It's something I should start teaching in performing arts colleges and schools and don't teach it enough. I tell you, no, look, I think there are some really fantastic innovative schools. I know there's one here in the Valley. So here in Brisbane, it's called Music Industry college, they're very much you know, about entrepreneurship. And, and that's it, but it should be a little bit more mainstream. Because we're no different to

any kind of business, you know, where it's just that our we are our product, you know,

but the other thing too, is you also help studio owners

to scale and to, you know, increase their flow of students, which is also very important, because that also I think, you know, I look, we've all been there as studios. So you know, that I, you know, I teach singing you just some times you just get like a little bit of a block when it comes to your, your intake. And yeah, just finding new ways to Yeah, attract your ideal client. And I know that you help people do that. And we're going to talk about this a bit later. But you also have a conference coming up to help studio owners, but yeah, really, sort of focusing more on innovation, like how do we keep things nice and fresh, so that we are always attracting? Yeah, students. So But first things first, take us right back. When did you start getting into when did you know all the stages for me?

Josephine Lancuba 3:12
I believe that the I always had a natural ability when it came to singing from a very young age. And I came from, you know, the school of hard knocks, I definitely came from a very rough background. I left home when I was young, and music was definitely my sanctuary. It was always my safe place. And though I didn't have the resources growing up to fully pursue it, I you know, my family didn't invest in me in a lot of ways, but they certainly weren't investing in private lessons or classes or anything like that. But every now and then they would and then it always got taken away. It's just the way it was. It's just the way it was. So my sister started working for a studio when I was about 12 years old. So I'd always been singing at home. You know, my sister played piano, I'd watch her. I'd steal the music books off the piano and run outside and be trying to read it and figure it out. And I still remember singing

memory from CATS trying to read this musical school that I just couldn't understand. But I always had a passion for it. I just knew it was something I wanted to do. And then she started teaching at a dance studio and I was able to get free lessons.

So that was you know, I started movement classes and then that when you start in any sort of art form that opens the door to more opportunity. They recognised that I had a good voice. I got to sing a little bit in studio. They put me up for a Stanford's. I still remember what I stood for. And I did I hate a Stephens by the way, but I still

and I got really scared and I ran off the stage. You know

Like all this crazy stuff as a kid, but I think it was all the building blocks. And just look, the fact that that studio owner believed in me enough to provide those free lessons because my sister was teaching there and it had a really beautiful community feel.

And so I started doing that. And then I guess there was a point where I was singing quite a bit throughout high school. You know, I was in I was always in the school musical or the kid that did like the the band at school, you know, that was me. And I pick up any resource or opportunity that I could. But I didn't really kick off till I was about 18. I dropped out of school when I was probably I was in Year 12. I never did the final year at the time, it was called HSC. Here in New South Wales. That's because I wasn't living at home, I was putting myself through school, I just didn't have the support I was scared to. I was scared to do the exam. And I didn't really I didn't have parents to say go do it. Believe in yourself. You can do it. Like there was none of that. It was just me in my own head. So

yeah, so I dropped out, went and worked in an office for six months, doing administration. And that's when I realised

really chilly. I remember thinking, just want to see, you know, anyway, I started flicking through the, the yellow pages at the time. I'm 40, by the way, so it was the Yellow Pages. And I was looking up, you know, dance classes or something. And then I stumbled across this studio, and they had auditions for a full time musical theatre course. So I auditioned. And I got in, and I and that was it. I was like, Yes. And then I moved to Melbourne, and I did a year there. And then I came back. And then I don't know why you just do what you do. And I fell into real estate, again, the office spine for another six months. And then I quit that job. And this was in my early 20s. I went up to the boss one day and I said, I'm really sorry, but I have to leave and he goes, Why you're so good. You know you're getting results. I said, I just want to sing.

I just want to sing. And that was it. And I lay on you. And I never looked back. And that's what I've done ever since I've

been in the performing arts, whichever way it came through performance for a decade. Then I started teaching, I started managing talent. So I'm a talent agent now. But I and I teach studio owners how to create their own in house talent management services. But it's all evolved from that moment. And it was definitely from being a passionate artist and not wanting to end up in a nine to five I only did it a bit and I just couldn't do it. It was like soul destroying and I think a lot of creatives can really resonate with them, mate. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we've we've, we've had a similar story. It's amazing. It's like although in saying that

you I stayed in it for quite a few years. And like gradually felt myself you know, getting crushed, you know further so it took like being totally squished to go. Oh, okay, now I'm out of here. Oh, my waited on tables. I've done everything. You're like

I'm getting out of here. I want to sing. Yeah, but mind you when I was in pursuing my art, I needed to work. So that's when I would do waitressing bartending, cloakrooms at clubs, whatever. I worked in hospitality for many years, while pursuing my craft, because, financially, I couldn't do it. But that's because I didn't know what I know today. And that was that I needed to operate as a business. I was a contractor, but I never saw myself that way. I always just saw myself as the artist, I never saw myself, as you know, the commodity, which sounds terrible when you do. It's no one's to think of it like that. But it truly is the truth. You know, like, we have to think of ourselves that way. So I guess that's part of what I teach as well. It's that whole. So how do we actually turn our performance our performance art into a thriving business? That way is aligned with us, you know, yeah. When did you make the flip? When did when did you go? Right. Okay, that's enough, you know, just gigging and working in hospitality. When did you start to see yourself as the commodity and start to take the business side would not say, but like, Well, yeah, I hear what you're saying. There's definitely two sides to this. So I started dabbling in business first.

And the way I did that was, at the time I didn't know how I knew I wanted to

do some business, but I didn't know how. And I was working for a company at the time

teaching in schools, you know, whatever that needed. It could have been a dance class and musical theatre class, something creative, whatever entertainment. And I was working for this company, and they'd send me all around Sydney, to different events and schools and workshops and things like that. It's quite modular, you know. And I just remember there was such disorganisation in this business. I could do so much better, right? Well, that's what I thought, you know. And so, then one day, I remember, I was just going for a walk with a friend, I was like, complaining that all these things, and they ran their own business, and they're like, why don't you just do it for yourself? And I just thought,

why don't I do that? So I went and did certificate for him business because again, I didn't know what I was doing.

And, and that was really awesome. Because it's not, I mean, you know, these courses that you do I whatever, foreign business, I did it through the nice programme.

Unknown Speaker 11:08
Yeah.

Josephine Lancuba 11:10
Is the best, the best thing in like, honestly, like, it was so enlightening, it's so good.

And I wrote my business plan. And now I don't write business plans anymore. I have plans. But I don't do the traditional business plan. I think that's, you know, redundant for me. Now, I kind of have a different method. But at the time, it was really important, just to get pen to paper and have a concept and an outline of what I was going to create, how much I charge, what services I would provide that sort of thing. And that's what I did. And then I started and it was really just a side business for a very long time. I didn't, you know, I started then running theatrical programmes, collaborating with other people. I was a choreographer for a few years, all sorts of things. I've been there done that started working for an organisation, you know, doing talent management, I was booking artists for major events, you know, that saw me travelling to New Zealand and on TV sets, and all sorts of things. So it was pretty cool. But again, I was just running this business on the side on the sidelines. With the moment I took it seriously, funnily enough,

was when I got pregnant with my first child. And I like to say that I hung up my microphone when I was four months pregnant, because I was playing I was in a tribute show, as Sporty Spice.

Could see you as, and no one wants a pregnant sporty. I mean, it was a different work, or 10 years ago, they couldn't kick me out. If I tried right.

Back then you couldn't be pregnant, Sporty Spice.

Just wasn't the look. And then I went on to do some some other things. But really, essentially, I decided to hang up my microphone. I remember I was doing a gig out and like, you know, an RSL Club in Sydney, but it was really far from my home and the gig finished at like one I am. And by the time I got home, I just felt exhausted. And I was tired. I've been doing this now for 10 years, the play had not gone up, I was getting the same rate that I was getting 10 years ago, you know, and I was sick of it, I was tired of it. And I wanted something more for myself. And I just thought that's it, I'm going to give this a go if I'm going to do so I'm going to commit full time to this business. Because it's never going to take off and I'm gonna continue waiting on tables or admitting or whatever, or working for this company or that and just being run off my feet. So that was it. And then I just went on to start the business full time when I was pregnant with my first baby. And I opened my first studio when she was six months old. And I would bring her in and you know, be teaching with her like she was there and it was just my life. I got very motivated when I was pregnant. Funnily amazing.

I've heard that story countless times when when when people have a baby, it's like it's it's it just changes your whole. It changes your life, like in terms of of course, but the motivations like nothing else. Yeah, it's like yeah, to this energetic mode, like, I've got to get this done. I've got to, I've got to sort this business out before I have a baby. I've got to I've got to make this work. Now I've got to make this work. It's really interesting how your mindset changes, but that's how it happened for me. And you know, and I haven't looked back since like, I love business. I love supporting emerging artists. I you know, like I said, I manage talent. And I provide them I provide them with opportunities in Film, Television Theatre, commercial on stage musicals. You know, I've had some of my talent recently do some pretty phenomenal things. So I feel like yeah, I love what I do. So it was

Say the right direction for me.

Y'all honestly, it's so inspiring. And so how long have you been full time business now? So that so I did that in 2014. I started, I made a commitment to saying that's it. I'm not going to work for anyone else ever again.

And yeah, and that's what I've done so far. So it started off with studio ownership. Yep, I opened up one studio. And that was my first time with a commercial lease.

That was interesting. I could tell you lots of stories about that. But anyway,

the landlord from how and law he used to just come and yeah, anyway, but that was that was a learning curve.

You know, I didn't have a budget much money. So the property that I got had some water damage issues. So we didn't have electricity in the main studio. It was all crazy. We did. I did my best. And I learned a lot, thankfully, only signed a 12 month lease. And then I moved out and then from there, I started subleasing. But now I have four clubs sites, with my musical Makers Club,

which is it's very popular, we run musical theatre programmes for young people. And like I said, I've got my talent agency, and I've got my coaching business where I teach performing arts businesses. So it's been quite the journey. When do you sleep?

Well, the good thing is, is that I've designed my

my studio business now by leaning on team so I no longer teach I actually stepped away from teaching a couple of years ago was one of the best decisions I've ever made because it allows me to be creative I you know, I write shows I've I produced a musical last year and to add it to Melbourne and Sydney, which was very successful. I wrote a musical called Time Machine the musical. We had it was written for children with a dot five adult cast, but for kids in the in the children's entertainments, you know, space. We had 1800 kids come and see it in Melbourne last year.

And 550 kids come and see it in Sydney. So that was quite a lucrative experience. Because I wrote it myself, I didn't have any licencing fees. It's pretty fantastic, actually. Yeah. And that was very lucrative. So this is what I mean by the opportunities that you can create for yourself, and make it a business like we made $30,000 in ticket sales in one week. And that was by using the vacation care market. So instead of selling individual seats, I just went to a big client who owns vacation care centres across Australia, and said, Hey, this is our show pitched it. They said they loved it. And they just said Great yet now we need this many seats. So those 1800 seats we sold in Melbourne, one client, that's one phone call, those 550 seats we sold in Sydney was one client, one phone call, this is what I mean, people don't actually know the scope of possibility that they have the potential of because they're so hyper focused on the art, which is beautiful. But you can't sustain yourself without money as an artist, you need to make some money. If you can even just have these pop up projects, where you have a couple of solid clients, you know, you can sell what you're selling your love, full on passion project, maybe not. But it's still pretty cool. You know, and it's still in your wheelhouse children's entertainments in my wheelhouse, so I knew I could sell it. And then booking agents to this the other day, people don't realise so I'm going on a tangent here. No, this is a thick, I'm telling you now. So listeners to this podcast, like, like a lot of, you know, singers, but there's a lot of studio owners who are listening, who are you don't this is what I'm saying? Yeah, that's being a producer, you don't need to be a studio owner. Yeah, you can be a singer or a music producer or a writer, you could write a play and sell it to the market. The problem is, is that sometimes when you want to make something commercially like that, and you want to make it for a return of investment, it can't be hyper involved in so this isn't making art for the sake of making art. This is I'm an artist, but I need to create something I can sell that is still aligned with me that I still believe in. But I know it's gonna make money. And so that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about. Would you rather do that? Would you rather write the children's musical theatre show and sell that for 30 came in and do one week of shows? Or would you rather work for a year as a waitress getting that same money? This is what I mean. If you if you

could draw the comparison because you might go off, I don't want to, that's not my wheelhouse. I just want to say, you know, sing, sing and be in a band and blah, blah, blah. But even though you had the writing capabilities, and the, you have these capabilities to do that, the other bit is you don't actually have to sell it, you can go through booking agents, that you just pitch the show to the booking agent, and they sell it for you. And they just take a commission, it's actually not as hard as people think they just need to know where to go what to do. And, and then execute, you know,

Oh, that's amazing. No, I'm just thinking about like, also singer, musicians who are teachers that don't feel like they have the time to be creative. That's the other thing. So I also have a lot of friends, who, yeah, gave up singing, you know, to focus on teaching and, you know, raising kids. But now, because they do so much teaching, they don't feel like they have the time to, you know, to do the create, the more creative things. So yes, yeah, I think that's why I stepped back. Firing. Yeah. This is why I stepped back from teaching. And I started hiring others to teach the programmes that I'd built up, because I was in that rut, too. So I was teaching for years and years, and I stopped being creative. In fact, I stopped growing the business, I realised that our revenue was the same, like for two, three years running. And I thought, I'm too in the business here. I'm not actually working on developing it. I'm not I'm not being creative anymore. So I stepped away from teaching. And then the business blew up. Funny, huh. Believe me, but you know, it's hard to relinquish the control sometimes, you know, no one teaches singing as good as I can, no one will teach that class as good as I can know, and communicate with the parents as good as I can or with the students or the clients. But you know why? So what,

like, if you can get it to 80%, of where you're at, it will grow. That's what I reckon I go for 80%. If I can get everyone 80% of Josephine power.

But then I also focus heavily on training. So I make sure that we have, you know, a code of conduct that it's like very much about our we're all aligned, we're on the same mission, all of that. So, really, yeah, that's really clear. But I think for people out there that are teaching, especially, you know, singing teachers, people listening to your podcast, if you've built up a really beautiful client base, and you're afraid to step away, because you're worried you'll lose them, or you won't make as much money, I would say reconsider that because your students will adapt to new coaches. Or when you start getting new inquiries, you can even get someone on casually to take on those new people coming through. So that you can step away and start thinking how can I grow this business? Or how can I produce a show and sell it? How can I produce a music act and make it bigger than Ben Hur? How am I going to do that? Or even just how can I fill up my cup? Like for me personally, I'm I was just saying this before you hit record, I want to go back to singing myself, I haven't felt that in a long time. I haven't missed singing on stages. Since I had kids, I just haven't I haven't even thought about it. But I've started to get the itch again this year.

I need to explore this again. And it's for me, it's actually not about making money from singing more because I make enough money through business. So I don't need to do that anymore. Now it's really just about joy. It would be nice, you know, if I get a little bit Sure, but it's actually not about that for me. For me, I just want to sing again and perform again, even if it's just here and there. So I think he never ever stopped loving your craft. I mean, I've been teaching at shore and training others in it. But yeah, I think it's nice to actually be on the performance side again. And that's something I'll be looking forward to in the future. Oh, I can't wait to see that happen. Because you're saying you're talking about like finding a band. And honestly, there's one or something like that. I don't want the pressure of it, though. Because, you know, being like, we've been artists used to work professionally in the field, but you've probably got your groove now. Or, you know, it's very difficult when you're auditioning for musical theatre leads and all that crap. I'm so over it.

Yeah, so I've got I'm in a couple of different bands. And yeah, you just work with your people. You find your people and you're there. You know. Yeah, yeah. It's different when you're auditioning to be the lead role in you know, Tina Turner the musical that's a whole different kettle of fish than being in a band where it's more community by absolutely, yeah, that's right. You just spoke my love language then. 10

Mel Lathouras 25:00
I love Tina to Anna. Oh, good. I just saw actually the reason I said that because I saw an audition brief coming through for that today. Oh, my goodness, Tina Turner the musical I'm sorry, going.

They said, let's talk about this video conference, the studio innovation. Yeah, so studio innovation conference is happening in Sydney, Friday, the eighth of September. And it's really about bringing fresh ideas, future thinking, you know, bringing our studios into the future. I think what we've seen now is the climate has changed. There's inflation, there's the impact, post COVID, client expectations are changing.

You know, the way we engage with our students is changing, there's been a lot of trauma, there's been a lot of disengagement, especially with our younger students. So, you know, I think we need to re reinvent ourselves a little bit as performing art studio owners. And we need to look into the future with a fresh approach. So that's what studio innovation is, IP conference is all about.

Josephine Lancuba 26:09
And, honestly, I think, you know, we've got a lineup of great of great speakers, we're going to be talking about the power of personal brand. This is is one of them. I mean, there's many topics, everything from you know, finances, through to AI and chat GPT and how to adapt that into your business, even a creative business, because creatives can sometimes go ahead in the sand, but we can't bury our head in the sand, we have to be aware of it. We're talking about a fresh approach to venue hire, and theatre hire because we know that the costs are astronomical. And you can literally dunk all your profits into hiring a space when when producing a show. So we're talking about a lot of different things. I'm going to talk about how to create your

sorry, we've got to speak and talk about how to create your own professional performing arts company in house. I'm going to be talking about how to create a talent agency in house. So there's a lot of stuff going on. That's the future of studio ownership. But yeah, definitely, I think it's it's necessary in this market to move forward because studio owners especially and sometimes artists in general, tend to do what they've always done because it's comfortable.

So I want people to not feel overwhelmed by change. I want to support them through change. And I want to do that so that they feel confident, and they can move forward with ease. So that's what this is about. It's about connection community and moving forward. That was a long spiel, but it really, it's,

it's, well, look, you've touched on some amazing points. And it's so true. As you know, as a studio owner, you do you get a little bit complacent. But also too, I think, if you're not in a network seeing other studio owners operate, it's not being modelled to do you know what I mean? So you just kind of get used to your own, you know, the way you do things, but to be able to go and see how other studio owners are embracing change, and yeah, looking at, you know, AI and, you know, saying, Okay, how can I use this to help me, you know, rather than be afraid of, you know, some of the things that are coming in Yes, in you know, and seeing that modelled it honestly, that would be so invaluable. Totally, I mean, we're also talking about in the classroom, you know, how to adapt change to, you know, new strategies around teaching. So we've, I've got a lady

Mel Lathouras 28:47
kids are different, you know, this is they are they are so different. Yes. And rather than, you know, going, Oh, God, kids, you know, these days, like,

Josephine Lancuba 28:57
what's happening in a lot of Facebook group communities, we're seeing studio and saying, kids are just not committed anymore. They're not willing to wear the uniform, they're complaining, they're choosing the school disco over the competition, Team rehearsal, and people are just so angry, frustrated, we can be angry and frustrated all we want, but this is your client now. It's not so Okay, we have to change. And so it's about adapting to a new market. And there's nothing wrong with that all markets adapt and change. It's just that COVID Fast Track did in a short period of time for us and many other industries, too. We're not the only ones. I mean, even just the fact that now and this is for all teachers listening, I mean, I have an A, a terms and conditions that we have with our students when they sign up. And the thing that we talk about is, you know, first of all, we have a 30 day exit so I believe in direct debit, guys. I don't invoice people to pay me anymore and if so that's one thing and

Nothing special. But you know, we talk about a range of things. And it's all in our terms and conditions. So I think just even having those sorts of steps in place is so invaluable. But yeah, we can complain until the cows come home. But honestly, this is who we're teaching. So I've got a actually a lovely woman, her name is Elena lambri nos, she'll be at Studio innovation conference. And she's a TEDx speaker, who talks around that new strategy of teaching and new ways to be inclusive, to get results. And it's really quite an interesting, an interesting presentation that she does. And again, it's just about new ways of thinking and how we can teach teaching the new modern world that we're living in, we can't deny it. You know, you know, it's interesting, I have to say, so before he said, I hate to step it's and I went over to, well, actually, well, well, listen, you know, I really want to sort of pay homage because, you know, that's how I started performing really, you know, as a kid in Bundaberg. That was a really great opportunity. And I think, you know, it was mostly women that volunteered to make that happen. And I guess I just as a kid, it caused a lot of anxiety because of the competition. And you know, yeah, it was this very, like, it's very old school. But I have to say, so I'm from Bundaberg. So it's, it's about five hours north of Brisbane. And there's a group of women there now who've completely rebranded it, they've rebranded the Stanford, it's way more in tune with, you know, the client, the young people of today. Yeah, and it is very much about inclusivity and creating a safe space for for young people, you know, to thrive and to actually love the stage not to give that, you know, that feeling of dread and anxiety. So, you know, that that's actually a really nice example of how, you know, a group of fear women decided, okay, how do we change the narrative around the Stanford so that people actually young people want to be part of it, you know, so?

Unknown Speaker 32:16
Yeah, so I just think what you're saying is really inspiring. I want to come to the conference. But um, yeah, so yeah, go see how you.

Unknown Speaker 32:28
You could be just like a download. So it's not too bad? No. Great. And I've got, I've got some, yeah, singing teacher friends, like in Armidale, in New South Wales. So you know, how much for drivers Armidale to Sydney. I have no idea. But I would encourage everyone, I don't think it matters where you're from. This is going to be a very unique event. It's unlike other studio owner or those sorts of conferences, because, well, first of all, I encompass the performing arts as a whole. So a lot of these conferences, a dance studio conferences. That's not what this is. This is not a dance studio conference. This is performing art studio owners, their teachers, their team are welcome. And we're really encompassing change, future thinking, that fresh approach. And I think that that goes for anyone and I do think it's a unique experience. And so for that, it's definitely worth coming down. I mean, we have people fly across, I fly across Australia, I've, you know, to, I went to all the route for the team, the tower.

Unknown Speaker 33:34
You know, and I'll be in the Gold Coast next year, you know, I think if there's something that you really want to do, but again, I do that as well for community. So that's what's beautiful about these sorts of events is once you go to them, you start to meet people, and then you just keep wanting to go to them because you want to bump into your your friends, your buddy. Ah, I've met so many beautiful, I've got business soulmates now through Yeah, through different retreats and conferences. And

Unknown Speaker 34:00
it is it's fantastic. And again, that that whole piece of treating ourselves like businesses, and you know, some people will say all but then I, you know, I can't invest in that or Baba, but that I say rubbish to that because it's these sorts of events, experiences and programmes that propel your business forward for growth. So unless you're a part of it, unless you're a part of the conversation, you're actually being left behind. And that's that's the honest to God truth. And that's why I invest in my own education and I, you know, have mentors and things like that, because I do believe in it. I feel like if I didn't have mentors, my gosh, I don't even know the state of where I'd be with my business. I probably would have given up a long time ago. And, you know, going back to the admin office, not and by the way, I just want to say nothing wrong with that people know.

Unknown Speaker 34:53
It's an analyst nothing. It's just not for me. And chances are if you're listening to this podcast, it's not

Unknown Speaker 35:00
Not for you either. And I do want to go back and because we had a bit of an internet hiccup before, but I just want to go back to that a Stanford thing that you were saying I agree with you, I think that there is some really, there are beautiful competitions out there that are starting to evolve in the space. And, and you know, and I experienced some really positive positive ones as well, through my growing up as a young artists, so

Unknown Speaker 35:24
yeah, it's not Toddlers and Tiaras. That's not what we're after. Exactly. Dance Moms, God help us. But, ya know, but yeah, there are there are beautiful things happening. And there's change happening. And I think that's really positive. I think all parts of the industry are positive. And any opportunity that we can give for people to perform, or to strive for a goal is a great thing. Yeah. 100% 100%. Can we just also quickly acknowledge that you you are an author?

Unknown Speaker 35:54
Ah, you Yeah. And then you've written a book about it. This is why I think this we have we share so many similarities. So one of my greatest love is is women, you know, so like,

Unknown Speaker 36:08
I'm definitely a feminist, and I just watched the Barbie movie and I cried, Oh, my God.

Unknown Speaker 36:15
Oh, my God, my daughter, my eight year old daughter, my six year old son to it that it was PJ. I thought that'd be fine. Yeah, some of the topics might have gone over their head. But I do think that it was good for them to watch, actually. Oh, 100%. And yeah, so I have an old girl jazz band. And so yeah, it's it's really lovely to see that you've written a book about inspiring women. I do want to make a point about that book. This was co written. So I've written a chapter in the book. Oh, my apologies. Yes, yes. So the book is called the women changing the world. It's, you know, it was a number one best seller on Amazon. And it was a collaborative effort with me and a group of other business women who are making an impact in this world. And my particular chapter was around the impact, I make one person at a time, one smile at a time, because I do but I'm an advocate for artists. I'm an advocate for our industry. You know, I'm on the standing committee of Oz dance, that's a volunteer position, I help them, you know, fundraise, and I do all sorts of things. I speak at their events, all of that. And I do all of this, because I just want to make a change in the world. And I do believe that the job that we do as performers, as performing arts teachers, you know, all of it can absolutely change people's lives. I mean, I know, when I was a young person, and as I mentioned, I came from the school of hard knocks actually grew up in a home of domestic violence. And music was my sanctuary. It was my everything, I loved it, and it was my safe place, I would go and I'd hide and I'd seen my favourite song, you know, and that's, that's beautiful. The person that composed that person that delivered that vocal person that, you know, wrote that song, gave me hope, and music connects it, I connect it to music so deeply. I mean, even May I can cry to any song like I am such a sucker for it. And I love a good storyteller. And so when I listen to music, I do that. And that's what this this book is about. For me. Anyway, my chapter is about the impact I made as a teacher. So you know, I talked about a story about a young boy who was came from a home of domestic violence. And he came into my studio one day, and I ended up giving him a scholarship because his parents couldn't afford it. And I could see how great talent and I just wanted him to be there because I felt like he was me and I was him. You know, and if I had an I had that opportunity when I was young when someone gave me that scholarship. And so I wanted to pay it forward. This is what it's about. And that's just one story. I mean, that kid ended up playing Prince Charming. This was many years ago, Prince Charming in one of our productions, and his family didn't show up. I offered them complimentary tickets, but no one was there to watch him. And he didn't show up to the rehearsal that day. And I drove to his house and I picked him up because I'm like, I'm not letting you miss this show. Mate. You've been training for six months. And you know, no one was there for him but I was you know, I'm gonna cry now because it's, it's these moments. This is what it's about. This is the power of art. This is the power of what we do. This is the power of performance community what we create, so you know, people there's people in the book that change the world in big ways, but for me as an artist, little on me when my teaching my students and all the bits you know, if I can change the life of one kid, then I'm done something. You know, just like that studio owner gave me a chance on I want to give someone else a chance.

Unknown Speaker 40:00
Just like you know, that song that made me feel safe. I used to seen memories from cats on repeat as a kid. And I always felt like I was, you know, like that Grizabella you know, the cat that no one loved but I connected to that. That's powerful. So it's, it's what we do is more powerful than people think, you know,

Unknown Speaker 40:25
buddy? Oh, it's Oh, you're amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much for being on this podcast. You were you've just honestly your story. Everything that you do, you've just blown me away.

Unknown Speaker 40:41
Oh, maybe I'll put all your links. But I just want to say that with with this studio innovation conference, it's at WWE dot Josephine. Link,

Unknown Speaker 40:53
slash conference. Yeah. So Josephine, like fiba.com forward slash conference. And yes, if we can put a link in the show notes. That'd be great. Yeah, we put up a limited capacity. everyone that's listening, if you want to do this, I don't care where you are in the world. Come on, down. It's catered, there's going to be tea and coffee all day. And you'll get to meet me and some other mates. I'm seriously I'm seriously thinking because yeah, I really I really want to come. I want you to count. Come on down. But the time this, I don't know if by the time this is the early bird special be on or off. But at the moment?

Unknown Speaker 41:30
It is it does say when it is oh, well, just in case I don't know if it's gonna be on in time, but it's for July only. So if you book in July, you get a 20% discount. If you use the coupon code, innovate two, three, so innovate 23 and you will get 20% off the ticket if you purchased in July. But if you're listening to this after that date, that's okay. Tickets are available up until the date or until we sell out. So it's an intimate conference. You know, it's not it's not about being bigger than Ben hertz, just about genuine connection and genuine education, information and community. That's what it's about. But yeah, come on down to studio innovation conference. And guys, follow me on Instagram. Okay, at Josephine, Lynn, Cuba, you can send me a DM we can have a conversation. I'm ready for it.

Unknown Speaker 42:21
That's amazing. Yeah, look, I'm gonna I'm gonna just get this out. Because yeah, yeah, so no one's gonna miss out on that early bird specials.

Unknown Speaker 42:32
Thank you so much.

Unknown Speaker 42:34
Honestly, it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much. Take care. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai