Meet Grace Woolf | Voice Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grace Woolf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grace, what do you attribute your success to?
My motto and mantra throughout my career has always been “ain’t no such thing as can’t sing” – it’s been my lifelong mission as a voice coach to prove that sentiment to every single singer that has walked into my studio over the past 13 years. The fact that I can get my singers to achieve any sounds they want in order to express their unique artistic voice is the biggest factor behind my success. It’s not about me; it’s about the music. The expression. The individual. ‘Can’t’ just isn’t an option – it is, and should, always be replaced with ‘how’.

Four years ago I underwent surgery to remove 24 tumors from my abdomen, and as a result I lost all the singing and breath support muscle memory I had developed over my singing lifetime. Yet STILL I refused to admit defeat and say I “can’t sing”. I then traveled to Denmark to get certified as the first Authorized CVT (Complete Vocal Technique) Teacher in Colorado – a technique that is based in scientific vocal research. I retrained myself over those three years and even surpassed my previous vocal abilities. So I know for a fact that I can help others do the same for their voices.

I also believe that the fact that my singers are so incredibly diverse only reinforces this mantra: I don’t teach a specific style of singing. I have Metal head singers, Jazz singers, Musical theater, Indie rock, and choir – all sounds are created equally in my studio.

This is what brings me joy and this is what I’m passionate about: helping people find their voice – metaphorical and literal – and learn what they need to in order to maintain a long lasting performance or hobbyist career. It’s almost as if I’m helping artists to spread their beauty in the world, and that to me is success.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m a private Voice Coach and I run my business out of Evergreen, Colorado. I teach singers, speakers, teachers, and actors how to work with their physiology to produce the sounds they wish to produce – and I fucking love it. The things that sets me apart from other voice teachers are both the scientific knowledge I possess about the voice and vocal technique and my philosophy of not butting into my singers’ interpretation. There is no right or wrong artistically. There are no inherently “bad sounds”. I keep my personal musical/sound preferences to myself. The goal of each session is to lay out the singer’s wishes, and then it’s MY job to decode the issues at hand and help them reach their desired goal in the most efficient and healthy way possible. That’s it. And that’s awesome. By stepping out of the way of their musical choices, I get to observe and help foster creativity from their heart – something that is lost in many voice studios that might be after their idea of an “ideal sound”.

Getting my business to where I like it has never been easy, per-se. How it is now, however, is the best work flow for me as an artist and it almost feels easy because it really suits me. The most difficult part of running my own business is knowing when to stop and rest. With the accessibility of online courses and materials, it was very tempting to move from my in-person and online 1-on-1 lessons or group lessons to a passive income stream such as subscriptions and Patreon. But that didn’t make me happy, and didn’t give me what I initially loved so much about my work. This lesson seeps into my singing and songwriting as well. It’s great to be passionate about your work, and even better when you get to call all the shots – but it’s so easy to get sucked into the grind. For me, this tendency was very counterproductive. In order to overcome it, I had to take stock of what mattered to me in my work and what didn’t. Turns out, my singers are my biggest priority and I would rather focus on giving them my full attention than try to expand my business to something that I considered possibly “more profitable”.

I guess the main thing by which you could define my coaching is that I am all in on my singers’ success. I am all in on their development, and I am all in on getting them to see that anything is possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, I’ll admit I’m a bit biased! I love Evergreen, CO. I would probably take them on every trail hike in Three Sisters park, Take a stroll along downtown Evergreen, get Take-Out Chinese at Coal Mine Dragon, and then go out for some surprisingly fresh sushi at Oyama Sushi & Ramen in Conifer. In Denver, I’d probably pick an afternoon with good weather to walk around RiNo and check out all the murals while hitting up some food trucks and a brewery or two or three.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In recent years, the biggest influence on my teaching style and method has been Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark led by Catherine Sadolin who pioneered the technique I primarily teach – CVT (Complete Vocal Technique). It has been such an amazing experience to find an entire community of voice specialists and enthusiasts from all over the world and from all walks of life who share my passion for dispelling the mystery of vocal technique. It truly feels like coming home, and finding my people.

Website: www.RockOnSongbirds.Com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockonsongbirds/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gracevoicecoach

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4haun8LwQEzORaXQZaU36Q

Image Credits
Benjamin Shai Mamie Trotter