Meet Kaylyn Shearer

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaylyn Shearer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kaylyn, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Optimism has been essential in my life for as long as I can remember. It aligns with hope, something that has planted the seeds of success in not only my career, but my quality of life. I always say the most beautiful flowers grow from the deepest…you know…and when we learn to use our struggles as stepping stones rather than allow the weight of them to hold us back, we can get make progress in our goals and our lives each day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My life as a musician grows everyday, and its roots come from my elementary music teachers seeing my natural talent and nurturing it. I started playing the oboe in 4th grade, and it has become not only a career over the years, but a continued passion. I’ve played in numerous orchestras, and currently play 2nd oboe and English Horn in the Symphony of the Mountains, located in Kingsport, TN. I was one of the founding members of the new music ensemble, Kamratōn, which is still thriving in the Pittsburgh music scene. As a freelance oboist, I have performed with many famous artists that include Josh Groban, Hanson, Sarah Brightman, and many more whom I’ve been fortunate to play for. In January, I had the privilege of getting to play for the Broadway tour of “Wicked,” for 2 weeks in Knoxville, TN. My reedmaking business, 21stcentureeds, has thrived due to my partnership with my friend and colleague Dylan Evers. We have been able to provide high quality reeds to oboists across the country! As a private teacher I get to teach students of all ages the joy and skills of music. The best way to keep up with my life events is through social media!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey are optimism, strength, and gratitude. Optimism, for when we have bad days, is essential to raising our floor. So many time we hear about people’s ceilings, but by focusing on the positive we can raise our floor to ensure our outcomes are consistently what we want them to be. Strength, to be able to carry the weight of our physical, emotional, and mental burdens, and to be able to ask for help when needed. Being strong means recognizing when to ask for help, and when to take a step back; recognizing that we win, or we learn, and we don’t lose. Gratitude for all of the happenings in our life. Beautiful things can bloom from the tragedies we go through, and when we can see the good in those moments, the sparkle of the better times shines even brighter. It’s being able to say, “I don’t have to…I get to,” on those overwhelming days.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I think that it is better to push ourselves to improve in areas we aren’t as strong in. I always tell my students, the way to grow is by pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. So many opportunities I’ve received are from starting conversations with patrons at a performance I haven’t met before, doing a gig where I don’t know anyone, or playing a piece I find extremely difficult. Not only is it humbling to put yourself in those positions, but once you grow through them, you feel a sense of accomplishment that is unparalleled. After a performance with Symphony of the Mountains, I decided to talk to patrons in the lobby. I asked how they enjoyed the performance, and we got to talking about my role with the orchestra. Early in this conversation, the patron and I realized we were both from Pittsburgh, both went to Duquesne University, and had so much in common. This led to a professional connection and me getting hired for gigs in the future!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kaylynsheareroboe.com/
• Instagram: @ksheareroboe
• Facebook: Kaylyn Shearer, Oboist

Image Credits

my husband took them! 😊