How To Support Your Kids In Music - A Conversation With My Parents

I’ve always known how lucky I am to have parents who believed in my dream — even when it didn’t look practical or promising. Their support gave me the freedom to take music seriously, to treat it like a real path instead of just a hobby.

Of course, it hasn’t always been easy. Even with support, choosing a creative path comes with doubt, fear, and a million unknowns. But when you grow up feeling like the people who know you best believe you’re capable — not just talented, but actually capable — it shapes the way you move through the world.

This conversation is a reflection on what that support looked like, how it helped me navigate the messy middle of making music into a career, and why I believe the way we parent creative kids matters more than we think. If you've ever felt torn between your passion and practicality — or if you're a parent wondering how to support your child without pushing — I think you’ll relate.

👉 Want to make practicing easier? Grab our FREE warm up track here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/free-warm-up-track

👉 Want to know exactly what your voice needs to improve? Get a vocal evaluation from our professional coaches here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/vocal-evaluation 👉 Book a 1:1 session with Coach Lara: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/trial-lesson

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
was there
ever a time where you doubted that maybe music wasn't
going to be a career for me
like maybe I have to do some sort of day job
and do music for fun
but like it's not really gonna be a career
it really depends on what you understand uh
under a career

(00:21):
because I doubt that you will be a Lady Gaga
or whatever yes
of course I doubted that because I mean
the chances are so small that you are like
one of those world famous artists
yeah so I was more than doubting that
I was even like trying to tell you
don't be disappointed if you are not going to perform

(00:41):
but I knew that you can do something out of that
out of your singing that I never doubted at all huh
hey Vox Star
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter

(01:03):
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at Voxtapes Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description

(01:23):
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
welcome to a very very special episode
I have the most special guests
I know I keep saying that I have special guests
but no offense to any other guests
that we've had in the past
I think our guests today are the very
most special guests welcome

(01:44):
please welcome my wonderful parents Mommy and Poppy
Ursula Müller and Christian Müller hi
they flew in all the way from Switzerland
where I grew up where you two grew up as well and uh

(02:07):
where you still live
my whole family still lives in Switzerland
I'm the only one here in the United States
but that's okay but so thank you so much for being here
for visiting me and grant and our cats hahaha
and for recording an episode with me here
today we are gonna be talking about my childhood

(02:27):
and how this crazy adventure of music and singing
started for me and how we ended up here
not just from my perspective
but also from the wonderful people who raised me
so we're gonna be talking about some stories
some UPS some downs
and some advice that they might have for any parents uh

(02:51):
listening
if you have any kids who love to sing or love music
or anything like that
we're gonna be talking about all that
yeah yeah
sounds good we are ready
let's do it let's do it
so first question I have for you is
what are your earliest memories of me singing or music

(03:12):
just in general playing music
crying as a baby crying as a baby crying
singing as well
close that sounded already pretty good huh
oh yeah
you didn't want noise canceling headphones like
oh my God shut up
I think it was pretty cool huh
you had a sweet voice already as a baby for sure

(03:32):
sweet or powerful or powerful
oh powerful
very powerful yes
very strong yes
with open eyes
hmm very alert
I was a very alert kid alert
yeah yeah
about five minutes then happy again really
yeah short crying

(03:53):
yeah oh
that's good well
I'm still happy and don't cry
a lot um
but that's that's awesome
so voice right
like crying singing talking
it all comes from the same place yeah
so it's it's funny that you're like
well crying hahaha
you already make that connection
that the speaking voice the crying voice

(04:13):
the singing voice all comes from the same place yeah
communication yes
yeah that's what I like yes
and uh
for me as a mother it was great to see that
the communication between you and us
and with your brother as well
he was already 4 years old at this time

(04:34):
yeah that was great yeah
not a silent you had a more powerful voice as a baby
than your brother was
4 years old huh
I mean
there was a huge difference in voice between you two
from beginning on
we also have very different personalities
Nico is more shy and hiding

(04:55):
hiding behind Mom's legs and not wanting to
to go to kindergarten and you had to play yas
it's a Swiss card game don't worry about it
with him before he went to kindergarten right
every morning we had to play with him
and just to bring him in the zone
so that he was able to walk to the kindergarten
by himself after a week or so

(05:17):
first week mom had to follow
yeah ha ha yeah
and for me that wasn't really
you were like you couldn't wait to leave the home
hahaha
well and now Nico lives like on yours property
he bought a a little piece of land from you uh
and built a house there

(05:37):
so he couldn't be closer to you if he tried
which is great which is great
and I am 5,000 miles away
it's just funny to
to see how like the different personalities
how it translates into proximity to you
how it translates into the power of the voice
I mean Nico

(05:58):
Nico is a race car driver
also crazy career just like music um
but he does interviews and things like that
all the time
so now he's used to talking and making himself hurt
and he's confident but he would rather
maybe not do all of that and just race
no but actually that changed

(06:18):
I want he found his love for racing
um he also found um
a different personality within him self really
because with 17 he started to commentate um
races for the TV station for the local TV station
or actually a national TV station in Switzerland
so already then

(06:39):
you could see that
when he can do something with love and passion
it changed his personality huh
yeah from being a very shy
very calm kid to become an outspoken person
and present himself on TV and yeah
talk openly freely
yeah with passion

(06:59):
and he's really good at it too
he's really good I'm always impressed when I see him
yeah but I think you both have the same talent huh
yeah it took much
much longer for him to develop it than for you
but both of you you have the talent to speak freely
openly publicly
huh very important publicly

(07:19):
whether it is on TV social media whatsoever
you're doing great and I mean
it's both of you are not typical Swiss
I would say huh
no not really
and he sings quite well
my favorite part about Nico is when
when we're in the same room together

(07:40):
we start singing the same song at the exact same time
in the exact same key in the same section of the song
like maybe just the chorus or whatever
I have no idea how that's possible
but just out of the blue
we start singing the same thing
it happens all the time we sang every day at home
yeah in your childhood

(08:00):
Christmas songs especially a bunch of them
that was so great yeah
I mean you three
not me
that's right
I was more the listener in the family huh
my I have like no voice
I can't hear yeah

(08:21):
uh hmm the details like you guys can huh
so I mean
I'm the worst singer on this planet huh
no no
no no
no try grant
haha
no there's
there's always worse and there's always better
and it's not a competition
um but I
with Nico too and
and you as well I feel like

(08:42):
you both say that
you are much worse than you actually are
and you could learn it if you wanted to
but it's not a priority for you
so you know
it is what it is but I would say that the
the musicality for me
probably comes from your side of the family mom yeah
yeah sure
yeah it looks like absolutely yeah
I mean it was very obvious

(09:02):
Christmas Celebration in the Miller home
ha like my part of the family
my brother's sister with their families
horrible huh
really but we have so much fun
yeah it was funny
it was enjoyable yeah
we were laughing I mean
we were crying huh
from laughter yes

(09:23):
yeah laughter but
Mama's side they could all sing huh
yeah but it was very nice for me
this experience with your family
the most important thing is to have fun
my side is more the endurance

(09:45):
and it needs to be correct and it needs to sound good
I come from the classical side
I played piano many many years
and you remember yes
you said once I would like to play like Mama
yes the Moonlight Sonata
yeah yeah
yes yeah

(10:05):
and for me it was so nice to see
you choose a completely another way
music side yeah
for me that was great to see more fun
more more the contemporary side
yeah and more experiences
this different instruments
uh huh and experiments

(10:27):
yeah yeah
the open mindedness the freedom
I mean
you didn't stick to notes and keys and whatsoever
yeah you were experimenting
you had fun you enjoyed it
and we could tell huh
and Mama was always practicing the same keys
for years and years and years but

(10:49):
and she was good and she was almost perfect
but you did just you did it with ease
with fun yeah yeah
yeah I just didn't really enjoy reading music
I mean I could do it
but Bettina my piano teacher
I would always like I was like
I don't know probably around 13

(11:11):
when I started my singing lessons as well
I told her like
I wanna learn how to play chords on a piano
not like read sheet music
but just play chords so that I could accompany myself
when I'm singing songs
and that I could write my own songs as well
and she she taught me some basic chords as well
but she didn't feel super comfortable with that

(11:32):
and so eventually
I started also taking some jazz piano lessons
compared to the classical piano lessons that I took
with her I was so much more drawn to
yeah it doesn't need to be perfect
let me just play something hahaha
yeah from what I can remember
but that part that I Learned from you hmm
I'm grateful for that well

(11:54):
and I am grateful that you always played music
around the house and the Moonlight Sonata
yeah was always my favorite thing that you played
I still love that
and that's what made me want to take piano
lessons yeah I was probably what
third grade when I started piano lessons
I think and we went to the local music school in

(12:15):
in Switzerland you
you have school
school and then you have like your music school
and that's completely separate um
but taking
lessons from private people
wasn't really a thing back then
it's starting to be more of a thing now but anyways
went to Belp the music school in Belp and uh

(12:36):
there was this dude who tested me in quotes
tested me and he
he wanted to know if I could hear notes well
like
so he would play two notes right next to each other
like da da on the piano
and then he asked me which one is higher
and I'm like dude

(12:56):
are you kidding me
can't everybody tell what's going on here
it was so easy and he was like yeah OK yeah
you're ready for piano lessons
so I was able to take some
some piano lessons after that
I think it was for the piano lesson thing
maybe it was a different memory that I'm like
I'm combining two memories
I'm not sure but I remember that test and I was like

(13:16):
this is so dumb why am I doing this
but it is not a skill that everybody has from day one
it's because I grew up around music that I could tell
you know I
I think I heard this music for like 60 years plus years
60+ years and I can't still
tell the difference between those two keys hahaha

(13:39):
well I think you can da da which one's higher
the first da da really
no no
haha
nah nah haha nah are you the one
see how talented I am haha
well but that's interesting to then see you know

(14:02):
like what what are you getting genetically from which
from which parent you know
like I maybe could have inherited that from you like
and then not have any interest in music or
or anything like that
but you just you don't know until you until you try
so it was a
it was a passion for me from pretty much day one

(14:24):
because I was introduced to it very early
thanks to you and um and just kept going with it
but when did you realize that music was a passion
for me
I did realize that um
when you were like in fifth grade or so
that it was more than just some of your stupid ideas

(14:47):
you had I had a lot of those
you had a lot of those and I was like in that time
I was traveling a lot so I was really not home a lot
but almost every time I came home
you had a different idea of what you wanna do huh
ha ha ha ha yeah
and so but this was pretty persistent huh

(15:08):
you kept on singing all the time
and then it happened that um
there was a little concert at school huh
from the whole school and you were performing there
I wish I was a punk rocker
yes and I was attending that and I remember had
the whole room was full of people and um

(15:29):
some of the people had tears
including me including Mama really
yeah oh
I don't remember that
because that performance was so great
it was acapella I wish it was a punk rocker
you alone on the stage and so good
and with so much passion and with so much power
mm hmm that um
I said wow

(15:51):
that's something she is doing with all of her heart
with all of her passion
and it's really one thing she loves to do huh
or more than one thing yeah
it was impressive
and I felt you did it like with all your energy
with all your heart with all your heart
and you were not shy at all

(16:11):
you were standing there on stage and you performed and
and you touched people
that was the first time you touched
not only in our Christmas family
her and um
but you touched a lot of people there
from our local community and that's when I thought wow
that's something else here

(16:33):
wow I remember the performance
I don't remember that it really touched people
so that's nice to know like yay me flowers in your hair
in my hair and your hair and on everybody's hair
when we drove to the singing lessons after

(16:53):
uh huh uh
some years after that
we could quite often sang this song in the car
you remember of course
very loud very loud
yes yes
yes yes
and I also remember this was a couple years later
cause so that was in like fifth grade
I didn't start voice lessons until I was 13
what is that like seventh

(17:14):
eighth grade something like that
um I think
halfway
through 7th grade is when I started voice lessons
so this was a couple years later
when you picked me up from my voice lesson
and we sang the song together
and then you stopped singing and I kept going
and when I was done you were like
you know I kind of prefer how you're saying it
before you started voice lessons

(17:35):
you're making it too complicated now hahaha
cause I got so
excited that I Learned all of these new skills
in my voice lessons that I started doing everything
yeah yeah
all the time yeah overloaded overloaded
yeah absolutely
yeah absolutely
so I was I still remember that I'm like
Ma and I I literally thought I was like mom

(17:56):
you don't know what you're talking about
you never had voice lessons
I am so much more of a professional
I know what I'm talking about little
I don't know 14 year old cocky me whatever
and now I'm like yeah
no you
you were you were totally right
I definitely was probably doing too much
cause I got excited right yeah
so that makes that makes sense

(18:16):
do you remember that yeah
I wish I was a punk rocker
that's a good one we need to sing that again
okay
so when um
when you realized that singing is probably gonna be
like music singing is probably gonna be my thing
after that performance um
how I mean
I'm sure I I expressed it because I remember like

(18:38):
I really wanted to take voice lessons
but I had to wait until I was 13
because the school
wouldn't allow voice lessons for kids under 13
because the voice is a very delicate instrument
how did you know um
how to support me cause you always supported me very
very well otherwise we wouldn't be here today today
how did you know what to do with me

(19:00):
and how to guide me with my passion
hmm
that was easy yeah
we we tried to
to give you the the room
the space to grow hmm
absolutely I mean
there was no push or any special support from our side

(19:22):
except like listening to you when you were singing or
yeah just encouraging you
even though there was not much encouragement needed
but when you went to high school in Toon
with your red Vespa yeah
huh I remember that you had a singing competition there
as well huh
in one year or I think it was your graduation

(19:44):
year of high school when this uh
when you had the singing competition and uh
where you had to write a song and perform the song
and that's when we supported you as well
I remember when you were sitting at home and like
tried texting of that song huh
like writing the lyrics yeah
writing the lyrics

(20:04):
when we worked together on those lyrics
you remember yes
yes
your favorite roses are red and bring breakfast to what
having breakfast in bed or whatsoever
oh my God you
you remember that
I remember that because I totally forgot we had that
huh
because we were working on that together
I remember a lot of times when I was writing songs

(20:28):
I would consult you
cause I don't think I ever wrote a song in German
but I didn't start English lessons until seventh grade
yeah around 13
and so a lot of times
I didn't have the words for what I was trying to say
and your English was always really good
so yeah compared to mine
it was very good so uh

(20:50):
it was uh
it was so helpful like being in
in front of the fireplace
yeah writing
writing lyrics
and a lot of times I would ask you for like
turns of phrases like yeah
jump the gun is one that I remember you teaching me uh
and yeah it's just like things like that
so that was so helpful getting your help there with
with writing lyrics
cause I didn't know what I was talking about no

(21:11):
and we had fun together yeah
I mean it was like
these family evenings in front of the fireplace
and trying to write lyrics and yeah
just have fun and talk and yeah yeah
getting inspired have by each or inspiring each other
see you have some musical talent as well
you help me write lyrics hahaha

(21:32):
that's awesome yeah
yeah
yeah yeah
that was like the time when we supported you with that
or it was not supporting you
but it was just a family game kind of for us huh
yeah sharing time together
sharing time together and that was the important thing
yeah and you had to choose the way hmm

(21:56):
if you wanna go that way or this way
cause I tried a lot of things yeah
and you let me yeah
yeah and you
you supported me in the sense of
you enrolled me in voice lessons
you enrolled me in piano lessons yeah
uh at one point in high school I
I wanted to play saxophone and violin

(22:17):
so I did like three lessons each and was like
oh this is this is gonna take too much effort hahaha
should have started earlier with that
but you know like you
you allowed me to to explore that yeah
absolutely
but the funny thing was or not the funny thing
the fact was that it was always related to art music

(22:40):
dancing whatsoever huh
and so we could see your talent and your interest
and your love for it
remember when I was in the Alpha Theta
the Licht Atletic Verein tun
yeah the uh
track and field is is the English translation for that
and I was so bad at it and I hated it so much

(23:01):
but um
once a year the whole group would go to our version of
like a theme park in in Germany
and that's the only reason why I wanted to go
cause I wanted to go to that stupid theme park
but I quit before they actually went to the theme park
cause I was like no
I can't I can't deal with this anymore
this is awful
and I did karate and I but I enjoyed that
that was very cool I did enjoy that

(23:23):
but I think those are the only two things that I did
that were not music or art
related I don't remember
I think so too and we could
I would have signed for both of them
that you don't like it and that it is not your thing
I mean even the karate thing
I was sure it's I mean
there if when you had to do the fights huh

(23:45):
mm hmm and I was pretty good though
you were pretty good
but we could also see that you got hurt
and you didn't like that oh no
yeah hahaha
you didn't like that I mean
I was sure
this is just because you were in kind of a peer group
some friends
which they did and so you followed them well

(24:05):
and also I like succeeding with consistent yeah
from like small age all the way
mm hmm till today huh
yeah
I think I enjoyed karate because I was
I was good at it
and people would tell me that I'm good at it
and I was in the national codded of Switzerland

(24:25):
yeah and that was like nice
I'm good I'm gonna keep doing that
because people like being told that they're good
you know it's
it's a confidence boost but eventually I was like no
I wanna do more dance and because I was like no
this is gonna be my career
I knew that when I was in high school
I'm like no
this like music is gonna be my career
so I wanted to do quote unquote

(24:47):
hobby things that are gonna support my career
I never like considered myself a dancer
I did ballet as a kid because my cousin did ballet
and I wanted to do stuff with her um
and I was also pretty good at that until I stopped
and then went back as a teen
like a young adult in high school
I was like oh my God
this is so hard now haha

(25:07):
um but I wanted to do things
that would support me in my career
as a singer pretty early on
I would say and this karate
it was more like your brother's style
hmm
huh yeah
more it is competition
yeah because the other stuff was not competition

(25:27):
the singing even though
I mean the girls in your class or in your peer group
they looked at it as a competition
and I think that was also where you really stood out
uh huh
in front of all the others
and where maybe some of the problems started
with karate with karate

(25:48):
with singing uh huh
as well that
I mean in your peer group
you got bullied hmm
because you were singing
so much better than the other girls
and they were they just couldn't handle this huh
yeah I think there were a lot of factors that yeah
that um
that LED to to the bullying
especially in middle school

(26:08):
7th to 9th grade was was pretty bad
um singing is
is a part of that
I remember there was this rumor going around
cause there was a 9th grader and I was in 7th grade
in 7th to 9th grade you go to a different school
right to the town next door
and um
there was this rumor going around that
I said that I could sing better than this 9th grader

(26:29):
and she just won a competition
like a local competition uh
in our region and I'm like
I don't even know I've never heard her
I don't even know who this person is
I don't know what's happening
and that's when things started really
whoop going downhill
but um
I think there was just like
a lot of other stuff going on as well
like jealousy cause
you know like

(26:50):
we traveled a lot we had the means to travel
we had a pool at home a nice home in general
you know like
I think they was just jealousy overall
not just for singing but I think that was also a factor
that was not a fun time no
no no
unfortunately I no
yeah

(27:11):
but but it's a part of life
at the end you have uh
your family
parents and yeah
brother and grandparents yes
Grand's parents absolutely
yeah and it's
it's actually interesting that even though like
singing was a part of the thing that

(27:33):
was putting me down during that time because
because of how people reacted to my singing
um it's
I find it interesting that I
I still didn't quit it like that
that that negative feedback from my peers
from my classmates
didn't make me just want to not do it

(27:55):
because it was giving them a platform to attack me
mm hmm right
yeah'cause I remember like
once during a pausen concert
during like
a little break that we sometimes put on concerts
I was singing a Beyonce song with the band
and I cracked on a high note
so it was like ah
and you know
like it didn't sound good

(28:15):
and all the kids in the audience
started laughing
but I obviously
that doesn't feel good right
it's awful when
when people laugh at you because you made a mistake
or something bad happens but why didn't I quit though
yeah interesting
cause I I see a lot of like
when students come to our studio
they talk about like a bad experience

(28:37):
or a bad comment that they got from somebody
when they were young and teenagers
young adults or even children
and then they stopped singing for the next 20
30 50
60 years yeah
yeah and now they finally are like yo I
I really enjoy singing why did I stop right
so
it's interesting for me that that didn't happen to me

(28:57):
even though it was a big part of what caused a lot of
a lot of pain during that time
yeah you can say this event was a
the opportunity to see what you really want
hmm it was not a
it was not what we call a spleen
yeah it was not just

(29:20):
an idea you had for a certain time or so
yeah we call it the spleen in German
huh that you have this for a certain period of time
and then you change your mind
and you do something else
I mean you were very consistent
as I said and you developed
or you had it from the first day on
a love for music a love for singing

(29:41):
and so nevertheless
uh whatever people tell you
you were like committed to it
I remember another incident
which was probably even a more of a
of a
um how you call that like a problem or a

(30:02):
a challenge for you
was when you applied for a college in Surrey
yeah yeah
ha ha ha oopsie
yeah for
oh yeah ha
because there was only like
one spot available for singing in Switzerland
in Switzerland in all of Switzerland
all of Switzerland one spot
there was one college in Zurich

(30:23):
and this college did they had like one spot for singing
they had one for guitar one for drums
one for whatever huh
just to create one band to create one band
and that was all they had in Switzerland
and you went there huh
to um
to sing to audition
to audition yeah
to the audition

(30:43):
and um
I think the audition went very well huh
they said oh yeah
everything is fine but you know what girl
you just have too much energy
too much power you are too young
come back in 2 3 years from now
mm hmm and I remember that for you
the world was collapsing huh
mm hmm when you heard that huh

(31:04):
that you didn't get that one spot there in Switzerland
huh yeah
but I think that was the first like
big blow like career wise yeah
you know like getting bad feedback from my classmates
whatever they're not the ones who decide on my career
yeah but that was the first one where it was like
oh shoot

(31:25):
I'm maybe not as good as I thought I was
you know and also it's the only college I applied to
I graduated high school not knowing what I was gonna do
that's maybe also like look at that
you look at that as a little bit of like a failure
you know like you
you didn't get in you didn't have a backup plan
you know it all worked out fine at the end of the day

(31:47):
but no I remember that
I remember well I guess it wasn't like the first
the first no that I got
I also auditioned for The Voice of Switzerland
uh that was also in Zurich during high school
maybe junior or senior year of high school
probably senior year of high school

(32:07):
I auditioned for the voice of Switzerland uh
didn't make it yeah
Veronica Fusaro Yep
made it during that same year uh
she's awesome and um
we went to the same high school and she made it and
and I didn't um
she's great yeah
she's awesome yeah yeah
she's she's having a great career now
I'm really happy for her
she's doing a great job with it uh

(32:29):
and also talking about support
um how you supported me Poppy
do you remember when when you drove me to Germany
oh yeah
I was to the super talent
the super talent yeah
yeah yeah
another like competition thing

(32:50):
kind of like America's Got Talent is
would be like the comparison here
uh and you and Grandpa
drove me and two of my friends to this competition
and we were there all like
I don't know how long did it take us to drive there
like three hours three hours
yeah and to a different country

(33:11):
which here will be like to a different state
but whatever um
and we were there all day
waiting and waiting
and waiting and waiting and waiting
and nothing happens and they were like
we want you you
you and you
the rest of you can go home and we did not get picked
so we we went home again and it was like
oh my God we were there all day

(33:32):
but yeah not once did you complain like
let's go home this is boring
because it was super boring
because we were just waiting
you were just like no
you and grandpa with me and my two friends
we hung out there I was probably like 13 at that time
14 maybe I don't remember exactly
I don't remember yeah
something like that
but that that was
I mean it was fun
but also like oh my God hahaha

(33:54):
let's go home
how do you remember that oh
I remember it
and it was an interesting experience for me too because
um I was used to like
spend a lots of time hanging around with Nico
at the race tracks all over Europe
so that was like just something to give it to you huh
from my side and um

(34:16):
so I enjoyed it and see it
and see all the interaction between the kids and yeah
how they were nervous and getting crazy
some of them and yeah
it was an interesting day
a fun day similar
similar to the racing track
similar to race tracks kind of yeah
lots of different people around and

(34:38):
and as usual
that's when you see that the parents are pushing more
in some of the cases than the kids actually want
hmm huh
it was more
the parents wish to have the kids performing somewhere
or do something than the kid itself
hmm and I mean
I could see it on the racetrack

(34:59):
I could see it uh
in these occasions with you huh
in the couple we have had together
that it only works when the kid wants to do it
and not when the parents try to push the kids
in a certain way
yeah so it has to come from the kid
and I was only supporting

(35:20):
I was just there because he asked me to do it
but it was not like my idea to hey
let's go there and let's try and show the people
and show the world that we are the best
or so but I wanted to show the world that I am the best
you wanted to show it but
and that is yours yeah
but I was not the best cause I did not get no
you did not get picked and for me

(35:42):
you were always the best anyway
so oh thank you
or to show people that actually it in this moment
you give the best hmm you are on the way
that's the most important
that you give every time
the best you can in this moment

(36:04):
I like this I think I was singing a Leona Lewis song
or footprints in the sand
you walk with me footprints in the sand
I think I sang some sort of Leona Lewis song
I don't remember which one
but I think I sang a Leona Lewis song during that time
um I guess this is a
I guess this is a good question
but was there ever a time where you doubted that

(36:30):
maybe music wasn't
going to be a career for me
like maybe I have to do some sort of day job
and do music for fun
but like it's not really gonna be a career
you know I didn't get into the college at first
ended up going to somewhere else

(36:50):
it really depends on what you understand uh
under a career mm hmm because
did I doubt that you will be a Lady Gaga or whatever
yes of course I doubted that because I mean
the chances are so small
that you are like one of those world famous artists
yeah so I was more than doubting that

(37:12):
I was even like trying to tell you
don't be disappointed if you are not going to perform
but I knew that you can do something out of that
out of your singing that I never doubted at all huh
because I know that was all you wanted to do
was do something with singing

(37:32):
whether it is a teacher or whether it is like a
um a vocal coach
whether it is like
doing something for your vocal health whatsoever
I was sure you can do something with that huh
you can also perform at a
a different level than Lady Gaga
it doesn't need to be but even then
I was I was sure that you will do something out of that

(37:56):
that you have the potential
that you have the love the passion
and that there was like no plan B for you
I mean yeah
you were sure singing is my thing and nothing else
yeah and that you can do something out of it
I was absolutely sure that's why we supported you
uh huh huh
because if I would have doubted from beginning on

(38:17):
and I knew how suddenly was like 19
20 years old
she will do something completely else huh
yeah then I
of course
we would not have supported you in the same way
but it was the same with Nico
we could he is four years older
so we could already tell from the experience with him
that he had something in his mind

(38:39):
and he never had a Plan B
what was in his mind become a race car driver
what he was absolutely committed for that
and you were absolutely committed
to do something with music
mm hmm huh
I mean
you were both the same personalities in that regard huh
Nico never even went to college

(38:59):
he stopped after high school
he stopped after high school and straight into racing
and that was long what
15 years ago mm hmm
and he's still a race car driver and lives from that
and um
I mean when did you get to college huh
I mean that's another story
well moving across the Atlantic
yeah I was 18

(39:21):
18 yeah yeah
how was that for you
cause I moved to New York
like it was in Blumenstein Flowerstone
the town I grew up in
literally always lived in the same house for 18 years
from the day I got home from the hospital
when you gave birth to me
yeah until I left for New York City

(39:44):
and we always joke
and we say that Blumenstein has more cows than people
like
it's a small countryside town right in the middle of
of Switzerland to New York City
it's a big change how
how was that for you cause
I mean you helped me search for schools
when I didn't get into the school in Zurich right

(40:05):
so you helped me search for schools
so you knew that I was going to the United States
like it wasn't like gonna be a surprise like hey
I'm going to the US and I got into the school
like you helped me research schools
we did the research of schools
I mean we toyed ideas between us
and so what you could do as next
I mean we could also have sent you to France

(40:26):
and go to a family and learn French huh
oh my God no which is like a typical girl thing huh
yeah to do huh
after high school or after uh middle school huh
but of course we knew what you wanted huh
you wanted to do something with music
so we looked at different places in Germany
in the UK in the US yeah huh

(40:47):
we did that together and um yeah you
you were like convinced that you wanna go to the US huh
and we were fortunate
enough that we had the financial means huh
to support that and then we looked at it um
also as a family project kind of huh

(41:09):
it was more than just sending you over to the States
and off you are yeah
exactly out you are all by yourself
an 18 year old girl from yeah
ha ha ha ha countryside of Switzerland yeah no
no no
this was not like
we were carefully thinking about how we wanna do it huh

(41:32):
and um
support you but how can we all can profit from it huh
so it was kind of a family project
at the end of the day yeah
you were choosing this what was it called
New York Film Academy yeah huh
uh for musical huh
musical theater yeah
musical theater and the acting for film

(41:52):
I think what
uh
major major yeah
what you did there and um
so it was a big adventure for you
of course I mean
the adventure started when we met over there
in New York I was for business in Asia
flew on the other way around to
oh my God yes

(42:13):
on the other side of the globe
yeah to New York
and we met in New York huh
together and then we were looking for an apartment
and the school was already signed up and paid
and whatsoever
and so that was all arranged from Switzerland
but then I mean
just looking for an apartment
a street together huh
yeah we were there in the city

(42:34):
it was fun it was fun huh
but then
maybe assembling the IKEA furniture wasn't that great
and then I mean
we did yeah
we did it all huh
and I struggled so heavily with uh
to speak English yeah hmm
you remember yeah
yeah you Learned a lot
yeah
I've been in the US for a little more than 10 years now

(42:54):
yeah your English is grown a lot
yeah absolutely yeah
yeah your English is a lot better than you think it is
before we before we started recording
Momi was like
you can do all the talking Christian
I'm not gonna know the words
but you're doing just perfectly fine
yeah and I think this was like

(43:17):
another part of our family adventure then
that we're so I spent like six months
six months six months
out of the 18 months that I lived in New York
not at once but you came and went and came and went
always back and forth yes
yes
every minute she had you were in New York with me
she was in New York and she enjoyed it so much

(43:40):
I was the most famous passenger in the airport yeah
just by every other weeks
yes between Sri Lanka
New York and then you got visited by your grandparents
yes by your cousins and so on
her so friends
everybody came over yeah
they
so all of them had their vacations at your apartment

(44:02):
yeah yeah
yeah we rented an apartment there
and I mean we had an agent showing us a few apartments
I was already getting fed up with that
after like the fourth or fifth visit
I said no
come on let's send her off
we will do that by ourselves
ha ha ha ha ha yeah
ha ha
we will find an apartment
uh as well as she can do it

(44:23):
uh huh and so
um off we went
and of course you two girls had an expensive taste
ha ha ha ha ha well
it was literally in the same building as the school
yeah it was so convenient
I just had to take the elevator from the 36th floor
where my apartment was
all the way down to the ground floor

(44:45):
get out the door walk a couple feet over
get back in the door
take the elevator to the 5th or 6th floor
depending on what day what
like which room we needed for the school
and that's where my classes were happening
yeah and then back down over up to the 36th floor
I could even go home to eat lunch
it was it was awesome hahaha

(45:06):
yeah and that was important for us
I mean we did not want to send you over and then uh
let you be by yourself and
I mean it's a big city
and it's artists and weird people there as well huh
yeah and
I mean we have seen them all
and so we were very
very happy that you had your own apartment huh

(45:28):
I mean
you had an apartment so we could visit all the time
and I mean
you were badly alone there huh
I really was I was almost never alone
it was either somebody coming over from Switzerland
or then
my friends from the school
would sometimes spend the night with me
cause they didn't want to hop on the train for an hour
to get to their place so they would stay at mine
at my my uh

(45:49):
my apartment it was
I was almost never alone but it was
it was fun it was really good
I had a good time there I miss New York
it was a lot of fun
was fun was fun for all of us huh
but also crazy like 18 years old
like I
never once
was I scared that something was gonna happen
but that was just maybe the naive Swiss girl in me
girl in me

(46:10):
be like you know
New York City can be
sometimes a little bit of a scary place
not once did I think ever
like anything was ever gonna happen to me
I was just happy to be there
but fortunately for us at least for our mind
we had the Keisha and Ron there
yes huh
yeah your friends from the biking industry
yeah and they're police officers
so that really helped that helped a lot yeah

(46:32):
gave me a little NYPD card and he was like
if you're ever in trouble
just show that card
and as long as you didn't murder anybody
you're gonna be good hahaha
and by the way you have no time to do crazy things
no I was in school all day
all the time at school school yeah
what I really liked was to go with you to school

(46:54):
yeah and to see all the people
the teachers mm hmm
learn about
yeah it was interesting
singing and dancing yeah
I Learned a lot there
I didn't study uh music yeah
I'm a teacher huh
a kindergarten teacher but you're super musical and uh

(47:14):
and uh
tell the story what your
was he a teacher or a per
like a somebody who just you
you tested for who he was like
so I'd sing it no epics ah
now go and sing something
who was he I
I was 21 at this time OK
I was looking for a a music school
actually similar to yours

(47:36):
in belt in belt yeah
yeah and then I had to play the piano
for sure yeah'cause I was there for
looking for piano lessons again
as a student or as a teacher
as a student as a student
yeah I was 21
21 yeah
actually yeah
yeah yeah
and then okay
I did my a good job there
blah blah
blah blah
and then finally he said

(47:59):
and now sing something yeah
OK and I stood up and
and started to sing and then he said
you have to study singing yeah
oh why
why you didn't you never did it before
you know for me

(48:19):
it was not something special
it's just something you do
it's just everyday life and it's just yeah
part of normal life and
but I sang a classical part
a classical song did you
did you ever take end up taking voice lessons or no
actually you know
as a teacher in Switzerland at this time
you had to study a lot um

(48:43):
musical stuff but um
not in a high standard mm hmm
um to
to teach children young t yeah
children
then we sang a lot
yeah but not only singing rhythm rhythm
yeah rhythms and all the stuff
you did this acting
that's why I was so
it was so nice to see for me after 30 years

(49:06):
yeah uh yeah
then the next generation did the same
it was my thing yeah
to dance to sing to act
but you make it now as a profession
mm hmm in another standard like I do
that's sweet hahaha
it's uh

(49:26):
I think that's sometimes a little bit of a problem
not with you not
not with our relationship
but what we see in other people like Poppy
what you were talking about
um when we were at the super talent
the audition where you saw the parents wanting it
more than the kids
because they probably wanted to do something like that
but never had the opportunity to
and now they want their children to do it um

(49:47):
so with you it's like you
you did a little bit of it as well
but you never turned it into a career
you went down the teaching kindergarten and first
2nd grade level um
like school in a school in a public school
um compared to
you know being a singer on stage or teaching voice
like what I'm doing now um
but you never pushed me to do it

(50:10):
you know like no
never once did I feel pushed
never once I do not remember a single
negative word that either of
you said about my musical abilities
like you would help me like get some coaching
be like oh
have you thought about trying this
or trying this other thing
like you know
you would like

(50:30):
help me brainstorm ideas or give me advice
but never once like girl
that was bad like
you know never anything negative
always constructive or positive
and I think that makes a huge
huge huge difference with how you then grow up
like the relationship to your own voice

(50:51):
um like as a
as a person right
like I never got any negative feedback from you
so I always felt like it's possible
it's doable I can learn it
I can get better at it and get really good at it
and not like well
I suck so I might as well quit now
so that's something I really appreciate
I don't remember anything negative
ever that you guys said

(51:13):
and singing is such a vulnerable thing
I tell this to our students all the time
yeah like
be careful when you're giving other people feedback
make sure it's constructive
use the feedback sandwich positive
constructive positive
like say something positive
then give some sort of recommendation
and then say something positive again
because if you go straight into the thing

(51:33):
that they could do better
it feels like an attack yeah
and um
anyways I could go off on a Tangent on that
but
I always felt very supported and positive in that way
so thank you for that hahaha
yeah and it was not our
I mean we are not experts
I mean we can only tell you what we hear what we feel

(51:55):
what we what it does to us huh
how it touches us but that's it huh
I mean
I don't wanna give you a feedback which is not real
and which is not constructive
which is not well but you have to
which is not professional
but you have to see
most of the people that you're going to sing for

(52:16):
are not professionals so
I still believe that feedback from non professionals
is also important
because that's how the majority of your audience
is going to perceive you
they're not professional musicians
you might not know exactly what I did
and what I could have done better
and how to do it better
but it's still valuable feedback

(52:37):
mmm hmm I think
but anyways he
he he okay
let's see here what other questions do we have
oh this is a good one
was there ever a time you wanted to intervene with like
on my path with music like Protect Me intervene
maybe try and steer me in a different direction

(52:58):
because you thought maybe something was gonna go wrong
yes yes OK
do share I wanna know
I tried so hard after NYFA while in New York
Film Academy in New York yeah
yeah that you go afterwards to oh

(53:18):
the bachelor the bachelor degree
the bachelor somehow
it was important for me that you have
you know as women
especially as women in this world
it's a fact it's hard for women to survive huh
isn't it yes
isn't it OK for me
it's it
it is like a insurance uh huh

(53:40):
to have a bachelor degree
then you have something in your pocket that is yeah
somehow a little bit safety yeah
yeah and I felt
uh we say my um
Fernando Ortiz
responsible I felt responsible
uh huh to give you this fake safety yeah
yeah yeah
no I get it

(54:01):
I get uh
if there your plans
if you struggle
then you have at least the bachelor degree
uh huh yeah
something where I could like
go teach at a school or something all over the world
uh huh
yeah I mean
you remember a foundation we made yeah
mm hmm like in your last months

(54:22):
last few months in New York
yeah in New York
we went to LA yes
we toured a couple schools there
Pasadena we were
what was it UCLA or what was the
we did USC USC
whichever one is the fight on one
I think that's the USC one
and we did the Hollywood I am

(54:43):
what was it called MI
Musicians Institute I am I in Hollywood
and I mean
you could pretty much select all three of them huh
to go to but then um
we were still not
convinced that this is the right thing to do
yeah and then we ask you to apply in Boston Berkeley

(55:03):
Berkeley College of music yeah
we ask you to apply there and um
I think you even drove up with Mama yeah
yeah to that place
we we went to go look at it yeah
we went to go look at it together huh
I had red hair at the time do you remember
yeah you went together
we all three of us went to LA but Boston you did

(55:23):
only you two it was so hot
it was a very hot day
I remember we were at the park somewhere
trying to cool down yeah
yeah yeah
you really
and even some professional person that you knew
you told them that I got into Berkeley and am I
and like all these other schools
and that I wanted to go to LA

(55:45):
because maybe he was located in LA or something
and he sent me an email and he was like
please for the love of God go to Berkeley yeah
that's where you have to go but um
before like when I was auditioning for Berkeley
my
my heart and my brain was already set on going to LA
because yeah
it's LA it's where the music's happening like

(56:09):
what am I gonna do in Boston right
so I was already set on going to to LA
but I auditioned for Berkeley
because it made everybody happy
so I auditioned
I took the bus from New York up to Berkeley
audition in person
went back down the same day or the next day
I think the next day I I checked into a hotel uh
went down uh

(56:29):
back to New York the next day
but you know
I I approached this audition very much like
I don't care if I'm gonna get in here
cause I'mma go to MI I wanna go to LA
you know uh
but then I got in and then everybody literally
like all the professors at the New York Film Academy
it it like everybody was like
go to Berkeley it's amazing that you got in

(56:53):
you have to go to Berkeley
cause it's the best school for this stuff
and I was like okay
I'll go to Berkeley and it was great
don't get me wrong but I really didn't want to at first
cause I just wanted to be in LA
I didn't care about which school I would go to
I just wanted to be in LA it was a compromise

(57:13):
it was a compromise it was a big compromise
because you saw the sun and the beach and yes
fun
and it's where the music industry is
the music industry yeah
but Boston just had a different vibe to you huh
and I remember you didn't like Boston huh
no you said
actually you said it's like Bloomington yeah
compared to New York City

(57:34):
you know like after New York City
everything's kind of like
well that's just kind of disappointing you know
it's smaller it's not like 24 7 stuff is happening
not that I would go out in the middle of the night
I wasn't even 21 yet when I was in New York
I couldn't go anywhere um
but you know it's like
oh man you know
it felt a little bit like

(57:56):
almost like a step down you know
and like
I'm now in less of a Music City than I was before
I'm in a smaller city than I was before
it was like why am I going here
ended up being a great time yeah
but I really didn't want to go there
and you remember
and you had such a high speed go through this school

(58:17):
huh yeah
I tested out of a lot of classes
yeah and uh
I did three semesters in one year
instead of two semesters in one year
I just went through it yeah
like I was like I just wanna get it done so I can leave
and you did such a a great job there
yeah it was fun
it was a good time like

(58:39):
you know as much as I said like
I don't wanna go there or I didn't wanna go there
it was a great experience
you know being around um
these music people cause I realized at NYFA
the New York Film Academy
that musical theater wasn't gonna be my thing
I was like oh no
no no
no no
this is not this is not it
I wanna do pop
and so Berkeley was much better for me in that sense

(59:02):
I Learned so much at NYFA
but Berkeley was a better fit
just style wise and people wise and all of that um
so ended up having a great time there Learned a lot
but I went for two reasons
first reason you really wanted me to get a degree

(59:23):
second reason I needed to figure out a way to stay
in the United States
and it is really difficult if you're a foreigner
and you're not enrolled in a college
cause you don't have a visa then
and it's really really
really difficult to get a professional visa
as an artist when you didn't
already have a career in your home country

(59:45):
and so I was like well
the easiest way for me to stay here
is to go to another school
and here we are here we are now 10 years later
hahaha yes
um let's see
besides English
is there anything else that you
either of you two felt like you Learned

(01:00:06):
on this path of me moving to the United States
and getting into music be being a singer
and then also eventually turning into a vocal coach
and doing by the way
I I blame that on you
I think I have the the teaching
the nurturing from you
definitely we Learned a lot huh
I mean

(01:00:26):
we Learned to raise you from a baby to an independent
powerful happy adult huh
and I mean that was like
we Learned along this journey
we Learned a lot uh
for us as well huh
or together with you huh

(01:00:47):
I mean because there was no plan or anything for us huh
with you or with Nico or with the family overall huh
so it was like one big learning experience huh
for until today
it still is a learning experience
and I think we profit a lot from that huh
I mean it opens our horizon as well huh

(01:01:07):
our minds huh
it's nice to stay in touch the way it is today huh
I mean
it's not only our almost daily phone calls sometimes
or weekly phone calls
but it's like the social media thing
to see how the world is changing
and how to stay in touch with all that
and um

(01:01:28):
experience you in a different way
now this podcasting
uh is a different way of staying in touch
and there is so much huh
for us huh
yeah yeah
so much and at the end
we have another son now a son in law
a son in law yes
grant hahaha

(01:01:48):
yes yeah
that's nice as well yeah
yeah yeah
an American family American family
American family
and we can see how you two guys live together
and how you complement each other
even though you are totally different
it's like mommy and me ha
we are totally different in that regard
ha it's exactly the same with you two guys ha yeah

(01:02:10):
he is like an engineer and a entrepreneur
you are entrepreneur but on the artistic side
on the creative side yeah
on the creative side and so it's
it's really fun to see that and it's
it's an ongoing learning and it's well
it's just positive and it's going with the flow

(01:02:30):
yeah and there is like no stress
no plan I mean
at least from our side there is no plan for the future
my friend I've never had a plan
have you never had a plan
I mean you keep going and you do good
and figure it out as you go yeah
you do it with your charm
with your yeah
with your personality
with your pureness

(01:02:51):
so you do it with that and your happiness
and I guess we are not as happy as you because I mean
we don't have this personality or this sparkle
the sparkle you have yeah
but nevertheless we are happy and joyful
and so it's very very happy
very good for us
to see how you are moving in this direction

(01:03:13):
or just with one on top of us
ha ha ha ha ha
yeah which is uh
like that for all parents
I can imagine
to see how their kids become adults and grow
all the stuff they do and they enjoy life

(01:03:33):
even if they sometimes struggle yeah
yeah we are here
we support
well I appreciate your support and I appreciate you
coming back over here 10 years after moving to New York
still assembling IKEA furniture hahaha
we went to IKEA yesterday
and we had to assemble a new sofa and some
a shoe rack and what not

(01:03:56):
so here we are 10 years later
still assembling IKEA furniture
I love it
what kind of advice do you have for parents out there
who have kids showing a passion for
maybe not traditional things
like engineering like grant
first of all find out where your child's passion is

(01:04:19):
your child's love is and support it in this direction
absolutely and I know it can be very difficult
if it is very costly whatsoever
but even then you can support your child and um
open him different ways of pursuing that path

(01:04:41):
that road and even if it is with detours
maybe you have to make sure that the kid itself is like
making money first and um
but support it so one day
it can actually fulfill his dreams
or her dreams and her passion huh

(01:05:01):
and make it a life huh
so that's just be open minded
and don't just go for the traditional
whatever in Europe is apprenticeship mainly
and then college or university and whatsoever
just give them the opportunity and support them

(01:05:22):
maybe just on a side gig a little bit huh
so they can still go the traditional way
because they have to because there are
not enough financial means to support them fully
but support them
and give them the feeling that they shall
follow their dreams
follow their dreams their passion
their love and then um

(01:05:43):
it will be good huh
don't tell them this is not serious
what you are planning to do here
learn a real job I mean
that's the typical thing you hear
you hear in Switzerland first
you have to learn a real job
yeah and then you can decide what you wanna do
no support them that yeah

(01:06:04):
maybe we don't have the financial capabilities
so do something else in the meantime
something you like
and it doesn't have to be a high end job or whatsoever
something you like that you can make money
and that you can like
actually fulfill your own dream with your own money
and so I mean it's

(01:06:27):
there are so many ways yeah
you can go and as parents
go out of the way yeah
ah get out of the way
yeah somehow yeah somehow yeah
but just don't be negative
when they have something don't be negative
is what you said about what we did with you
there was never a negative word about your voice

(01:06:48):
or performance or whatsoever huh
I mean encourage
I think that's the best you can do
encourage your kids to follow their own path
and when it is love and passion
then it is destiny at the end of the day
huh there you go huh
that's what it is huh yeah
a big change uh

(01:07:10):
in in my life and in my career as a singer
was when I decided to go from singing
and being the performer to becoming a coach
yup and I remember struggling with that a lot
because in my mind I was always like

(01:07:32):
I'm gonna be a performer in Hollywood
and this is gonna be my life
and I wanted to do that ever since I could remember
like I remember like at 12 years old telling you guys
I'm gonna move to the United States
and I'm gonna be a singer
like that's that was always the plan right
and then and then I did it
I signed with a manager in Nashville
I recorded the music and I was performing a lot

(01:07:53):
grant was my roadie and
you know I was doing all these things and I was like
oh my god no
we didn't talk about Nashville
I don't love it you know
like I I
I really thought that that's what I was gonna do
and then I did it and then I didn't like it
but I didn't like it as well when I was young

(01:08:16):
ah once I had a piano concert
uh huh it was awful hmm
I never liked my recitals either
my piano recitals I did love my singing recitals though
you know like when you take lessons
you have like recitals
is what they call it here in the United States
but never liked the piano ones
but love the singing ones

(01:08:38):
and the the weird thing is like I loved writing
I loved co writing with everybody
and I loved being in the studio and
and recording the music and yeah um
and I I loved all of that
and when it was like a like an actual show
like that was cool
but you know performing at restaurants and bars
I was like man I'm over this
like this is the worst
and I didn't like the social media and um

(01:09:01):
there was a little bit of a disconnect with the team
as well that
you know was helping me out with all that stuff
and it just
I was going through a little bit of like
an identity crisis of like what
I always thought I was gonna do this
and now I don't love it
and I started teaching voice lessons on the side
because I needed to make some money right
and I realized that teaching voice lessons

(01:09:25):
was so much fun and I loved helping others
I I like seeing that direct results because with with
with singing and performing like yes
you see how people react to it
and sometimes you get a nice message from people like
oh I really like this song blah blah blah
you like you get that as well

(01:09:46):
but it's a completely different thing
when your student can like
hit a notes they could never be for
or anything like that
it's like oh yay I helped them get there
this is so fun and so
I realized that I
started enjoying that side a lot more than performing
but I was really struggling

(01:10:08):
with coming to terms with that
do you guys remember that time at all'cause
I remember it very very well okay okay
how was that from your perspective'cause we like
followed you around a little bit here in uh
especially here in India uh huh
to a couple concerts
and we could already feel that you were not like

(01:10:29):
super excited uh huh
to go to those events and set up everything
and then have your
our or two have yeah
performing and because it
for you it was kind of a routine
yeah it was kind of a routine and you love singing
but you didn't like like
to get out of the house to do that routine

(01:10:51):
and drive somewhere in the middle of the night
and especially coming home late
yeah everything you didn't like that
so we saw that coming but we also
I mean experienced it firsthand um
when you had the idea of a creating Vox Tape Studios
uh huh
you remember our trip to Costa Rica

(01:11:14):
Costa Rica was it Costa Rica
yeah it was January 2020 for Vox tape
yeah Vox
exactly and then February it was even more
oh yeah that that's yeah Mexico
yeah in February 2020 huh
yeah I mean
we started Costa Rica was still a
lots of traveling and we talked about it more

(01:11:34):
but then actually in Mexico
like two months later or six months later
um six weeks later
yeah or six weeks later sorry
six weeks later
you actually started to take notes and write
your program down and everything
and online courses and I mean
you made like
a business plan
and the content of your business as well huh

(01:11:58):
uh within like a super short period of time
and you were so committed huh
and so full of ideas huh
and I'm so excited about it
yeah you were totally excited and committed
and there I could see like Mama side in you huh
the way you were working there

(01:12:19):
I remember so well
when you were graduating from high school
in tune you said
you remember that this is the last time I did some math
oh that's cool
from now on I will only do music
that was your words huh
oh really
I don't remember that
but that sounds very much like something I would say
when you were 18 and you said

(01:12:39):
never do anything like that anymore
just singing uh huh
and then it was like um
this performing which was kind of yeah
annoying for you even huh
okay
I really didn't enjoy it
you felt that there is passion for music
but it's not passion for performing

(01:13:00):
uh huh
and not passion for always the same huh
yeah you are not the person who can do the same stuff
everyday huh
not at all
you need like fun and excitement and challenges
yeah and that was just not challenging for you
mm hmm
and then we talked about it in Costa Rica when we were
like
travelling all together with Nico and Vicky as well

(01:13:23):
huh in grand
and then these six weeks later in Mexico
I mean you had a plan huh
you were committed you were like fully
uh prepared for it huh
and you went full speed ahead
huh there huh
it was a yeah

(01:13:43):
yeah full speed
you were it was a challenge for you huh
and you didn't mind that suddenly
I mean you had to think about a website
about programming courses
online courses payment systems and so on
everything and there was so much maths involved

(01:14:04):
and so much learning involved and everything
and also frustration sometimes
when all these different programs didn't speak together
a lot of frustration a lot
but you were so excited and so happy
and when I saw that I
I was quite sure hey
this is what she wants to do

(01:14:24):
and this is like
and it's an ongoing challenge
because now you are in charge of your own destiny huh
when you have your own company now
I mean you have to have customers now
mm hmm so you have to do sales
you have to do marketing you have to make sure
um you make money
that you have a bookkeeping in place everything huh

(01:14:45):
and so now you became an entrepreneur in singing huh
yeah huh
in teaching singing
so you you think it was the
it was the right choice absolutely
absolutely yeah
yeah I felt good
and I mean
you made the right choice at the right time time
yeah because then Covid hit
yeah a month later
Covid hit a month later

(01:15:05):
Covid hit and I mean
there was no more performing
yeah and you were not like
one of those thousands of artists which just collapsed
kind of huh
and had no more living no more yeah huh
support was difficult for them huh
and you already had your own ideas
and you were already like pushing for your new venture

(01:15:29):
and then so it was a lucky coincidence huh
yeah
Covid was a little bit of a blessing in disguise for me
yeah career wise
obviously had a lot of awful things that came with
with Covid but for me
it was the thing that finally gave me
my mind permission to pivot

(01:15:51):
yeah to step away from Nashville
performing all of that and go full on
full out with um
with vocal coaching it
it gave me permission to to pivot in that sense
especially
and when you saw that we are happy about this job
I felt so guilty yeah

(01:16:11):
I there was so much guilt
I was like you supported me
you spent all of this money for my schools
for the project down in Nashville
you paid for all of the recording cost
and that was a lot of money
and um
and I just didn't want to disappoint you
you know cause Nico
my brother was successful with what he wanted to do

(01:16:32):
he knew what he was going to do
he was gonna be a race car driver
and he did it and he's still doing it
and there I was I was like
I said I was gonna be a singer
and now I don't wanna do it anymore
but we spent all of this time
and all of this money doing it
and now I'm not I don't wanna do it anymore like ugh
it was it was an awful feeling um

(01:16:53):
just like
guilt towards you and also fear towards others
like that they would look at me as like a failure like
oh she didn't cut it like
and now she's a voice teacher
you know right right
um so like
like I was also a little bit afraid of judgment
from that side as well
but for me it was mostly the guilt
no and for us

(01:17:14):
and it was more that
we could see that you were not super happy
just performing huh
you did it and you did it for
everybody saw
you did it with joy and with passion and everything
but we could see it that it was not
it was a little different
it was a little different
yeah
and we were actually happy that you had something else

(01:17:36):
and you did not have to go out like every other night
yeah somewhere late and go and perform and all that
yeah so for us
it was actually a very positive step
it's weird that I felt all that guilt though
because like you never gave me a reason no
to feel guilty that all was internal somehow

(01:17:57):
I don't know I don't know why
you know no
no actually for us
it was a positive move
how do you feel about it Mommy
that's correct yeah
what you said
it took me it took me a long time
it took me a good year maybe year and a half
yeah to really be like nope
it took me a long time no
I don't remember how much we really

(01:18:18):
we really talked about it
but I was really kind of over it
we talked about your new stuff a lot
we didn't talk about your personal feelings much
I mean maybe you and Mama did because we
I mean you are yeah
very connected there
and you talk a lot about such things huh

(01:18:39):
and um
with me we talk more business
business related stuff
even though it's personal business huh
yeah yeah
yeah but it was more business related huh
mm hmm strategy
strategies and ideas and concepts and yeah
yeah it was fun
mm hmm still is
still is still is

(01:19:01):
still is I mean
it never stops it's never going to stop
I'm sure one of the most important
uh
things people have to learn to release
hmm a specific idea if it's time to release yeah
move forward yeah
and don't take your own hole huh
yeah yeah
I literally I literally

(01:19:22):
just wrote an email to our audience about this
yesterday
where I was like focus on your goal
mm hmm right
but
don't be so set on how you're going to achieve that
goal many paths lead to Rome is
is a saying right
and and I was
and I was so set on path a that I felt guilty

(01:19:45):
for wanting to do path B yeah
you know but so yeah
it's you know sometimes
you need to take a little bit of your own medicine haha
your own advice yeah
and one day you will be a singing gardener
and cooking your own meals and all that
on social media whatsoever yeah
bar my mother in law really wants me to do that

(01:20:05):
every time I see her she's like
you really need to start a gardening and cooking
channel and you need to write your own cooking books
and make an online course
people are gonna love it and they're gonna follow you
and they're all gonna garden
and it's gonna the world's gonna be a better place
and she gets so excited about it and I'm like
I would love that
but I don't have the time for a second job hahaha

(01:20:26):
but yeah but it's it's fun
it's fun only with fun you will be successful huh
well especially with something that's so creative yeah
and you know like alternative you know
like an alternative kind of career
if you're not fully in it
cause it's hard it's a hard freaking career
and if you're not fully in it
don't bother
go do something else where you also find joy

(01:20:47):
that's maybe not quite as hard
and also but I also always say like every path is hard
you just have to pick you're hard sometimes
uh huh like yeah
uh huh uh huh every every job comes with its
oh yeah of course
sure challenges
and I mean you had tons of challenges
when you started your courses and all that huh

(01:21:09):
yeah with all your setups there huh
lots of challenges lots of challenges huh
and it was I mean
you were frustrated there sometimes huh
when it didn't work out
and you had to change systems and whatsoever
but if you don't enjoy
at least the result of what you have done
yeah or developed or engineered

(01:21:30):
then you are at the wrong place huh
there must be some joy to whatever you do huh
yeah or you will be sick one day huh
hmm if you have no joy
no fun no pleasure of what you are doing huh
yeah and yeah
it's maybe that's why I never get sick
cause I love what I do yeah

(01:21:53):
hahaha
is there something that you hope in your hearts
that I never forget about my voice
or myself as an artist
as a singer as a teacher
and as a person anything you hope that I never forget
you have this personality and I mean
just don't let anybody take your own personality huh

(01:22:16):
don't listen too much to others huh
and this personality was always here
it's inside you mm hmm
yeah and take it out
share it to the audience yeah
yeah share it
and that's what I really like to see that you give this
uh passion somehow or this joy

(01:22:37):
mm hmm to other people
uh not only to your students
to your mother in law yeah hahaha
to your husband that's really impressive
yeah
I mean your second hobby is your gardening
oh yeah
yeah love it
you love the gardening we have seen it
we have experienced it um
here again these days huh

(01:22:58):
and I mean
you are singing when you are gardening
did you notice that do you know
yes
and this is I mean
this combination
and just being able to do what you wanna do
huh and
and then it shows your personality and who you are
and what you wanna be huh mm hmm
stay the way you are absolutely

(01:23:21):
I love it I don't have to change
no you don't have to change
stay the way you are
and you make people happy around you
yeah and you
thank you last but not least
I'm really proud of you huh
thank you very proud of you
the way you developed and what you have built

(01:23:41):
hmm huh
with your studio and with your farm now
yes Fall Creek Farms
Fall Creek Farms very proud of you and see that and um
yeah just proud and happy
thank you so much
thank you for setting me up for success

(01:24:01):
for always being so supportive
for visiting me even though I'm 5,000 miles away
and for being here and sharing your stories
and your advice with us here today
thank you so much love you Lara love you

(01:24:21):
hahaha
thank you everybody
for tuning in let us know what you think
and we'll see you in the next episode
bye bye
bye everyone