Singing is such a vulnerable thing because our voices are so personal to us. If we’re just starting out on the piano or learning to kick a ball, we don’t think of early mistakes as being some fundamental part of us. We think of it as a skill we need to improve at. Our voices, on the other hand, feel intrinsic to who we are, so if we have a bad vocal day, it almost feels like a kind of comment on who we are. Because of this, I’ve really struggled with performance anxiety. Even though I know with utter certainty that singing is just a skill and an athletic activity, it’s one thing to know something intellectually and another thing to feel it about ourselves. It’s gotten easier over the years, but I know it’s something I’ll continue to struggle with.

I’m most inspired by people. I’m a complete vocal nerd and love reading and studying, but at the end of the day, it’s other people who drive me—their kindness, their work ethic and passion, and their own unique take on the world. I’m inspired by my mentors, but I’m also driven to succeed by the amazing people who work for our company who believe in what we do and by the students who entrust their beautiful voices to my instruction.

As I said earlier, I love lyric-driven songwriters both in popular music and in musical theatre, including Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend, Bob Dylan, the Lumineers, Stephen Sondheim, and Jason Robert Brown. As far as vocalists, I tend to be drawn to powerhouses with incredible control, like Sara Bareilles, Linda Eder, Jeremy Jordan, Demi Lovato, and Taylor Louderman. I also love waltzes, no matter what the genre. I can’t for the life of me figure out why, but I’ll often notice I’m obsessed with a song before it even occurs to me that it’s yet another thing in 3/4 time I’ve fallen in love with.