How Does a Singer and Songwriter become a Coach?

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Carrie Katz, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

As a creative person, I have always been drawn to the arts. At times, this has not been an easy path but one I felt compelled to follow. I’ve worked in Theatre, Film, T.V., Writing and Performing; and my biggest love has been Music, both performing and songwriting. The other big passion I’ve had since my teens is my sense of justice. My personal involvement has manifested as either a one-to-one or social activism. My earliest activities involved protests against apartheid and political prisoners! Closer to home, I was the one to whom friends or strangers could open up for clarity. These activities have reflected my personal philosophy, as most of my projects have a message, tell a story and strive for something better.

Years later, I found myself in a place of self-reflection. I began to carefully reconsider my relationship to music and my way of being creative in the world. I stopped performing and creating, and began a painful time of questioning with no immediate answers. Boy, could I have used a Life Coach! My identity as a ‘creative person’ was fragile and wounded because of a cascade of events that left me adrift. I had been signed by a major record Label and then let go, lost my band of 7 years and my manager in the process. My attempt at recovery was to record my next CD, which became a disaster because of the wrong fit. During that period, I couldn’t even play. I was totally bereft with this question: “Who am I and what am I doing?” In order to find myself, I closed off part of my soul and it felt like my heart was broken. It seemed to me I had hit a glass ceiling, never getting past a certain point of success or recognition. My ego and identity were very tied into this implication of ‘failure’.

What happened when I stopped performing was threefold. I decided to become a student again, challenging my ego into a humble repose. I started learning new instruments (Brazilian and Cuban Percussion), I took master voice workshops, and I volunteered for causes I felt worthwhile. I was touching base with what makes me happy. This winding path led me to Earth Day Celebrations in New York City where I helped launch the debut screening of a film on Peace and the Environment (Andrea’s Sadler’s Film: The Sacred Run; The Lotus and the Flower). Here I was, with my own inner struggles, working to spread a bigger message while meeting like-minded people.

I came back to Montreal charged, and then it happened: Trying to decide my next move, I read an article on coaching- and had an epiphany. When they described coaching, I realized that I practiced everything in the article intuitively with friends, family and whomever. For the first time in ages, I knew exactly what I had to do: become a Certified Coach!

I began my journey by applying to, and getting into, the Concordia University program, but continued to be completely blocked creatively. It was the most painful, heartbreaking aspect of my self-examination of my life. All I knew at that time was that I wanted to help people and change the world for the better, one person at a time, yet I still had no idea how to help myself. I had to become coachable, which was the hardest part of my learning! In the past, my identity was performer, singer/songwriter, film person or writer. No one in my group knew me as such, and in a way this was liberating. I was just like them! But then it got out and everyone asked me to sing. Finally as we graduated, on the last day at the end of the afternoon I sang a song. It was painful and we all cried. I was moved and felt a broken part of me heal, as my lovely cohort watched in support and kindness.

After graduating, I was asked to play at a Concordia Coaching Seminar the next month, and two other opportunities came up to donate my music to causes followed by a featured article in the paper as a Musician and Creativity Coach. I graduated and a flood started! What I didn’t see was the integration of my music and coaching, that one would fuel the other. I began to explode with ideas and write songs related to the coaching journey.

Other coaches write books; I write songs and perform. As I coach and work with my Life Coach, the energy loop is increasingly contagious. My writing is now inspirational and transformative and performing is one of the things I do best!

Carrie Katz, PPCC ( Certified Professional and Personal Coach) Concordia University
www.myspace.com/carriekatzband