About Rae

If I cannot fly, let me sing.
- Stephen Sondheim - 

I don't remember there being a time in all my 44 years, that singing and music hasn't played a lead role in my daily routine.

I was one of those children that would sing along with all the TV ads and mimic the voice-overs. I loved to play dress-ups (still do!) and would often 'perform' in front of the mirror, getting lost in the world of my imagination and emotion. To be completely honest? I actually still perform in front of the mirror and I'm SO not ashamed!

Music has always moved me deeply, from the inside out. And this was apparent to my parents, who supported me through all the various stages of my journey to becoming a professional singer and Vocal Coach.

I grew up in the foothills of the exquisite Macedon Ranges, in the (then) little country township of Gisborne. Fortunately, the shire offered a culture that appreciated the arts (big time!), and in the 80's, the growing collective of local artists and organisations supporting each other in their pursuit of all things artsy, provided much opportunity for me to learn and grow as a budding singer and performer. And I totally took advantage!

During childhood and my teens, I learned to dance, play the guitar and play the piano. At age 13, I joined a local theatre company called 'The Mount Players' (who are still giving and growing to this day!) and I learned to act and more importantly for me, to sing and perform on a semi-professional stage.

At age 16, I auditioned for a place at The Melba Memorial Conservatorium in West Richmond (Vic) as a private voice student and was accepted. This was a turning point for me, both vocally and personally and with the ongoing support from my community and teachers to strive for excellence, I eventually auditioned for and was accepted into, the 3yr Diploma of Music at the Conservatorium, on scholarship when I was 19. During this period of my life, I also began to teach beginner singers (when I was 17) and through word-of-mouth alone, had expanded to a 40+ student p/w client base by 1993. Communication had always come naturally to me and I found teaching to be an organic expression of that skill. It felt so 'home-y'. I fell in love with coaching and all that comes with it, instantly.

After graduating from 'The Melba' with Honors and Distinctions in 1995, in the areas of Performance, Style and Presentation (I was a little lazy when it came to History and theory back then, I must admit lol), I auditioned for a place in the 3yr Graduate Diploma of Opera at The Victorian College of The Arts (VCA) for the 1996 intake and was one of around 15 students to be accepted nationwide. During that 3 year Grad.Dip, I had my first 2 children, worked during the day at 2 private schools, studied 3 nights a week, continued to run my private Coaching practice on every other day except Sundays, rehearsed and performed whilst pregnant and...graduated with Honors and Distinctions. I absolutely don't. know. how. I. did. that. 

And...I'm really proud of that because it was really hard.
Singing so well, hadn't come easy for me. For as lazy as I may have been back then when it came to the more academic subjects, I worked very hard when it came to voice production and performance execution.

I had dreams that were much bigger than my overwhelm and I strived not to feel limited by what myself or others feared I wasn't capable of, especially as a new mother.

It's true:

With Passion (ie your love of singing) and Purpose (ie a dream/vision), you are Powerful.

Over the next decade, I was fortunate enough to work consistently in the Private school sector as a contracted private Vocal Coach, expanding and honing my skills as an instructor whilst continuing to perform on various platforms. In my early 30's, I successfully auditioned for both the Melbourne City Opera Company and the Victorian State Opera company, although, I collaborated with these organisations for only a short while before deciding to turn my focus entirely towards Coaching. 

Of the two avenues I strolled down (eg: Performance and Coaching), coaching ticked more boxes for me in terms of personal fulfillment. I like the intimacy of sharing in an individual's journey of growth and self-actualization. It's a more personalized experience, as opposed to the distance that remains between you and your audience, even though they may be truly feeling and responding to what you're sharing with them. With coaching, you get that back. You get to be moved by the expression of someone who is sharing a part of their dream with you in a meaningful and deliberate way. You get to learn new things together as you navigate their 'next steps' and every students journey is unique. Man, it never gets old for me! Coaching rocks ♪♥♪

So. After leaving the world of Operatic Production (and quickly and casually having my 5th - and final! - child), I decided to go head-down, bottom-up on a mission to become the best coach I could be.

After having another of my 'big idea' moments in 2008, I decided to gather and collate all of my knowledge as a coach and put it onto paper, to see what I had. I studied other Voice Coaches and followed their reviews and live comments online, to learn how I could improve or if there was a gap I could fill as an instructor. Turns out, there was a gap - the desperate need for comprehensive digital training programs for singers. And the online world quickly swallowed me up because, I just happened to have the knowledge and tools to be able to create one. 

And I also had the unwavering desire to make a difference.
The entrepreneur in me was frothing at the bit!

And I was like, 1000% in.

Only, I needed to know what those 'worldwide' singing students' questions were...

From 2009 & forward over the course of around 2 years - and after having been a Vocal Coach already, for around 20 years - I surveyed more than 2000 singers from around the world and asked them what they needed most in order to effectively self-train (as a singer) and/or support their current personal/professional 1-on-1 vocal training.

After finding that I could answer most of those questions and provide solutions for those needs, I began to piece together a training program.

My idea was to 'create a method that could bypass all of the confusion created BECAUSE there are so many different singing methods out there, and develop a method that would enable singers to develop their voices in any way, shape, genre, style or niche they personally wanted to'. In a nutshell.

In 2011, I released The Singing Solutions Program to the public after a massive marketing campaign (which I had to quickly master and learn to execute without any prior knowledge or experience in marketing or the online-sales world. I even completed a Cert IV in Business Management to help me get my head around exactly what 'this dream of mine' was getting me into! lol). Aside from the business/logistical side of things, producing the program was a majorly rigorous and grueling task. Think 20hr days (for months on end), recording till 3am every night and typing up scripts to over 250 videos - some that go for up to 20 minutes.....Mhmm. It was indeed, a labor of love in the truest sense. 

At the time The SS Program was released, there were over 13,000 singers around the globe, that had registered and were active in my Aweber database - not including singers who were following me on YouTube and Twitter. All of them had used The Intro To Singing Series and were actively subscribed to the growing Singing Solutions community. My vision was beginning to come to life! It was both terrifying and exhilarating! The hard work (which was completely 'ewww' at the time) was paying off. I was making a difference!!

Passion and Purpose, right? lol 

I continued to run the business and soon registered as a company ('Singing Solutions Pty Ltd'), as my database and following continued to expand to over 60,000 singers from more than 70 countries around the world, until......A series of most unfortunate events in 2014, required me to put my SS adventures on hold for a while, whilst I navigated through a storm that led me to question everything I had ever done and everything I had ever believed in.

This soul-searching taught me many things about myself and I began to understand on a much deeper level, what was truly important and valuable to me. Amongst other quintessentials, Singing, Coaching and Community made it onto that list.

I then decided that it was time for me to follow another childhood dream of mine - to live by the seaside, in a small country town. 

Portland certainly captured my heart after an intense search, thanks to the wonderful people from many of the local Real Estate Agencies; the encouraging and supportive people at The Arts Center; a fantastic and friendly waitress at Edwards Waterfront; a beautiful receptionist at The Portland Bay Holiday Park; the many people who stopped their car, for no other reason than to kindly let me cross the road and those who said hello to this random visitor, I fell in love with Portland's strong sense of community immediately and eagerly relocated here with my children, in August 2016.

Over the past 2 years, I've continued to be impressed by the local community and truly admire the support they offer to each other as individuals and groups and to the broader communities of the South-West Coast. Living here, feels like I've come home again.

Although, apparently, it may be another 18 years or so until I miiiight be considered a local (hehe), I truly hope to offer some value to the Portland community through both supporting Singers and The Arts and in contributing towards local endeavors and initiatives.

Thankyou for welcoming me and my family, so warmly xx

Shall we sing now? 𝄞☺𝄞