So much about the trans experience is rooted in making ourselves smaller, and quieter since many of us have learned the hard way that the more the attention is on us, the harder our lives seem to get so we slowly begin to fade ourselves into the background. It’s a damn travesty.

Rewind my life a couple of years and you’d find me working in education as an elementary teacher. There were some good things about being a teacher, don’t get me wrong, I mean I sure wasn’t complaining about getting July and August off of work but there we’re ample things about working in education that sucked the life clean off my bones and robbed me of my voice.

Working the traditional 9–5 grind meant a lot of things we’re robbing me of my voice, both symbolically and literally. Policies, rigid curriculum expectations, not being allowed to speak up to a bullying parent in fear of being hauled into the principals office (this happened often, sadly), all these things were eroding my mental and physical health and after being in this toxic environment for just shy of a decade, the effects began to take their toll and I was diagnosed with Vocal Tension Dysphonia. Basically this meant that my body was under so much chronic stress that my vocal folds locked up and were frozen with so much tension. Yep, I lost my voice for months, MONTHS!

It was through the action of not having a voice that I began to appreciate it’s value. The voice, I’ve come to learn is a highway for your emotions and ultimately your identity and the less you use it, the more run down that road becomes. I spent the better part of my 20’s, silent, learning to swallow my feelings in the name of being ‘professional’, and that act alone bled into all other facets of my life. Once I reclaimed my voice, I decided I wanted to make it my lifes mission to give people theirs back as well.

Since becoming a trans voice coach and embodying all that I have to teach, I have found my personality has definitely shifted. Where I was once shy, reserved and lacking confidence, I’m now loud, opinionated and bold (as if my hand and neck tattoo’s didn’t highlight that enough) and I couldn’t love this anymore about myself. Being a professional while still staying true to myself and rocking that signature badass attitude makes me feel so proud of how far I’ve come over the years.

Trans voice training can have so many wonderful and unexpected benefits from helping us to align our gender with how we feel to helping us unlock a hidden ‘badass’ mode that we never knew existed. Whatever your vocal journey brings you, I wish you all the best.

Until next time,

Kylie