Life beyond Radford

I currently live in Sydney and work as a Lecturer in Contemporary Voice. I spend my other time working as a Vocal Health and Rehabilitation Specialist, working with singers with vocal issues. I have a special interest in working with transgender and gender diverse singers and currently work as an Adjunct Research Fellow (QCRC) investigating singing teaching approaches for trans and gender diverse singers in Australia.
My weekends usually consist of performing with bands and spending time with family and friends.
I am the NSW President and National Councillor of The National Association of Teachers of Singing and work to bring educational opportunities and support for vocal teachers in Australia.

I am passionate about the creative arts and education. My work with tertiary students is both challenging and fulfilling. Trying to motivate and inspire students is the hardest part of my job but brings the most satisfaction when I am able to help a student make their way into the professional world. I am also passionate about spending time with friends, new experiences, and enjoying life! Creating a work/life balance is very important to me.

I always wanted to work as a singer however there was a brief stint where my dream was to be a cartoonist for the Canberra Times!

My favourite moment at Radford (and there are so many) was being a part of the musicals with Mr. H. The cast of each show worked so hard and spent to much time together that we became a little family for a few months each time.
The joy that I felt from working together to create something was unforgettable.

The people who influenced me most while I was at Radford were Mr. Huitker and Mr. Leyshon.
Mr. H influenced me by showing how hard work and passion could result in fun! I believe that he also saw things in me that took me a long time to see in myself. So much so, that 10 years later I still remember some of the inspiring conversations he had with me!
Mr. Leyshon was always a 'tough love' kind of guy. I think I responded well to that kind of motivation and always found myself pushing to meet the high standards he set.

It was easy enough for me to decide what industry I wanted to be in but very difficult to work out how to balance that with the rest of my life!

As I became older I realised how important structure and security were to me - and these don't necessarily line up with a singing career. It took me many years to find out that full-time performing did not fit in with the rest of my life.

During high school I was constantly hearing about how people who want to work in the arts need a 'plan B'. It took me a while to discover that my 'plan B' could be in the music industry as well.

My career definitely did not go as I had planned.
I never thought that I wanted to become a teacher and kind of fell into that path.
I then went through a period of vocal difficulty and found that there was no one who could help me recover.

Those two things ended up taking me down the path of voice rehabilitation.

I wish I hadn't picked my path so quickly.
I always thought of myself as a creative and therefore assumed that I wasn't an academic and my other classes didn't matter.
I wish that realised that high school wasn't about the individual subjects, it was about learning to learn.

My advice is to enjoy their time at high school and don't close any doors. Try every sport. Be in the musicals. Work hard at mathematics. Be a part of the community.
Try everything and make mistakes.
The world is not a scary place if you aren't afraid to fail. Life is long and we can afford to take a few wrong turns.