We were lucky to catch up with Kat Martin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kat, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Finding my purpose has been the adventure of my life and through it all music remained my guiding light. Growing up, I was immersed in music thanks to my mom’s influence. However, childhood bullying over my very big voice led me to believe I was not a singer. Despite this, I pursued music in college, and bravely took a voice class where one teacher’s encouragement gave me hope that perhaps I could sing after all, and not just any genre, but Opera.
Over the next decade, I faced many challenges while pursuing a career in Opera, including PTSD (from traumatic events that happened while I was in high school), debilitating vocal health issues, and financial struggles. Despite these obstacles, I pushed forward for years, practicing daily and bartending nights to pay for lessons, seminars, programs, and voice specialists. Through it all, I never gave up on myself or my voice. But it became too much when an opportunity to sing for a world-renowned Opera singer/musical director was thwarted all while my vocal health issues and credit card debt (Opera is an expensive career path) became unbearable.
Frustrated, heart broken and exhausted, I made the difficult decision to quit Opera in 2019. But Opera had become my identity and I had no clue who I was without it. I had to embark on a new journey of self-discovery. Yoga and meditation helped me to regulate my nervous system. Then I discovered holistic and more indigenous voice practices which helped me to heal my relationship with my voice and rediscover my love for music. Interestingly enough my vocal health issues also began to heal. I suffered from muscular tension dysphonia for years and with a polyp on my vocal cords. For the first time in 10 years, I began to feel relief and today the polyp has greatly reduced in size.
In 2020, after a particularly grueling yoga class, I broke down and confided in my favorite teacher, now a dear friend, about my struggles finding work. I had been applying to bartending jobs, not knowing what else I could do. I had never had a hard time finding bar jobs before, but this time, not a single interview. My wise friend suggested I consider teaching music, a prospect that initially felt scary and quite daunting. To me, being a music teacher is a very important responsibility, a job that I do not take lightly. Despite my apprehension, I applied to a local music school and was hired on the spot. The Universe is hilarious! Within a month of teaching, I realized this was my calling. My own challenges with music and my voice helped me to empathize with my students, understanding their fears and obstacles and ultimately empowering them to explore their full potential. Teaching reignited my passion for music, especially while working with children. Their relationship with music is so innocent and playful and reminded me why I fell in love with music as a child.
Today, I am so grateful to have a full roster of students who are making music, singing and sharing their voices with the world. Meanwhile, I am pursuing my own exciting musical projects, working on my first album, and performing regularly with some of the most incredible musicians around Southern California. I have performed more in the last two years than I did all throughout my twenties! And I just started taking opera voice lessons again, but this time, for the fun of it!
My purpose was always meant to involve music, but I had to learn to pivot and trust my inner guidance about what that purpose would be, rather than listen to what others told me it should be. I have discovered that music can be incredibly healing and transformative when played with an open, joyful heart and especially when shared in community. Music helped me heal my heart and honestly change my whole life. And now I teach others how it can help them do the same.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I would like to share more about my music studio because I am honestly so blown away by what it’s become.
I founded Wylde Voices in 2020, a music studio based on the belief that joy is the most important factor in learning music. I learned this while teaching at a children’s music school where I realized that they learned much more quickly through laughter and play. I wanted to share this knowledge with people of all ages and musical backgrounds and so I started Wylde Voices. My mission was to create a safe space where my students could feel free and excited to fully explore their voices and their musical potential. As I say on my website, I have dedicated my life to finding my true, authentic voice and now I help others to find theirs. I believe it is every human’s birthright to sing and to share their voice with the world.
I am launching my first online course this summer called Born to Sing for anyone who has ever desired to sing and believes that they cannot or for singers who struggle with their vocal confidence.
www.wyldevoices.com/borntosing
My own musical project called Kat&Pat is a musical duo with my dear friend, also based on the idea that music is meant to be fun and shared with community. Every performance, we encourage our audience members to join in playing percussion instruments and singing along with us.
IG: katandpatmusic
katandpatmusic.com
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
- Learning how to regulate my nervous system has absolutely changed my life and my ability to sing and perform. It was honestly the most important piece to finally performing and singing confidently. I teach all of my students how to regulate their nervous systems and I offer many classes with great exercises and resources specifically on this topic.
- The ability to start again and learn to be ok with being a beginner or “bad” at something. The only reason I can do what I do now as a teacher and a performer is because I have had to start over many times and learn new skills or relearn old skills.
- Piano. As a music teacher, vocalist, multi instrument musician, and now composer, being able to play the piano has opened many possibilities for me. I encourage all of my students to have at least a basic foundation on the piano and understanding of music theory. This is why I also teach piano for singers. I am so grateful to my voice teacher who encouraged me to start playing piano again in my twenties. It is never too late to learn or relearnmusic.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m always on the lookout for musicians and producers who share my passion for music and are committed to continuous improvement. My next goal is to create an epic 10-piece pop soul band featuring a stellar brass section. Each member will have a voice in shaping our sound and contributing to the songwriting process, resulting in vibrant, soulful music that uplifts and inspires.
And for anyone looking for a more holistic approach to voice and piano lessons, you can book a free consult through my website to learn more. I’d love to hear your story and how I can help you to unleash your true voice. I promise you as someone who thought for years that I would never be able to sing with joy and ease, if I can do it, so can you! <3
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wyldevoices.com
- Instagram: wyldevoices
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@wyldevoices
- SoundCloud: Kat Wylde
Image Credits
1 & 2 Andrew Zaragoza 3, 5, & 6 Fabien Photo
