Meet Cara Reid of Voice Coach Cara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cara Reid.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Cara. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I often recall my first acting role as a bumble bee in the kindergarten play. While all the other children sang timidly and swayed back and forth emulating the director, I ran off the stage and buzzed my way through the audience. I made sure to buzz down every aisle by every seat in the auditorium. My goal was simple: to make everyone laugh.

Growing up, I was always the smallest and the loudest. I had a deep, commanding, raspy voice and a very strong southern dialect. I would often get ridiculed for “talking funny” or people would say my voice didn’t match my body (whatever that means). So like any person would, I eventually started to believe what people told me about myself. I believed that my voice was “different.” Some would even say “unique” as if that was supposed to make a 7-year-old feel better. Luckily, I had a wonderful family who always encouraged me to be authentic even if that meant I always got in trouble for talking too much or being too loud.

In college, I majored in theatre and my world changed. It was the first time I was actually passionate about school and it was the first time I had ever taken a “voice” class that wasn’t a singing class. I felt like the mothership was calling me home. I finally found a place where my voice was not only accepted but celebrated. Fast forward several years, countless shows, and a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree later, here I am in Atlanta, acting and starting my own business as a voice coach.

I love this work and think that it’s so important because it gives me the opportunity to celebrate the best parts of the human condition—compassion, vulnerability, inspiration, and empathy. Through my work, I endeavor to showcase the light and the darkness we all carry within us, in the hope that together we can each find our own voices and unite them to effect positive change through the art of storytelling.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would love to meet whoever answers “yes” to this question…

Of course not. It has been rocky at best but you celebrate the wins and learn from the losses. Selfishly, I became a vocal coach because as an actor I knew I needed to practice every day. I struggled with losing my southern dialect as it was limiting the jobs I would book so I worked hard to modify it. I was constantly losing my voice and for me, there was nothing scarier. I felt embarrassed and unprofessional. My bad habits of misuse, little to no breath support, and sloppy diction were getting the best of me. Also, since my voice had become such a trademark for who I was because it was so “unique” (insert eye roll) I developed my own stigma about how I was supposed to sound.

Deciding to delve into voice work and explore all the different methodologies has given me the freedom to access parts of my self that I didn’t know existed. I have a bit of a bleeding heart so I’ve always been fairly emotionally available as an actor but I’m also a perfectionist and want to do everything right. This work doesn’t allow you to be a perfectionist because people aren’t perfect. My favorite voice guru, Patsy Rodenburg, says “there is no failure in this room, only work.” I quickly made this my mantra and encourage my students to do the same.

Please tell us about Voice Coach Cara.
As a voice coach, I have the privilege of working in many different creative environments. I am a dialect coach for film, television, and theatre. I teach an ongoing acting and voice class at Get Scene Studios. I work with private clients to enhance their skills as effective leaders and I am the Media Consultant for a non-profit organization in Atlanta called the Young Generation Movement.

My mission for Voice Coach Cara is to provide practical methods to enhance skills that will increase the client’s confidence and performance through the three pillars of effective communication; vocal expression, physical presence, and mental clarity.

I like to start out by asking the question “how do you want to feel?” This question always gets people excited to articulate their “what” and “why.” For example, I want to feel successful, valued, understood, loved, respected, etc. Through these specifics, we can dive into the client’s objectives and how to achieve them. My goal is to help them gain a deeper understanding of their potential, authenticity, and passion.

Here are some of the focus points I target in my sessions:
• Vocal Expression – diction, hitting your ending consonants, breath support, pitch, resonance, versatility in sound, and accent modification
• Physical Presence – confident open stance, proper alignment, eye contact, smiling, active listening, and body language
• Mental Clarity – combating nervousness, preparation, scaffolding your micro-goals to achieve your macro-goal, specificity and identifying vulnerabilities that will provide opportunities for growth

My training as an actor and a voice coach has allowed me to teach the principles the craft is founded on in order to develop effective communicators, whole-hearted listeners, and purposeful leaders.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Growing up my family would spend July fourth with my cousins. We would go over to their house early, have a huge breakfast with 30 people from our extended family, and then play in the field all day.

We would spend the day riding bikes, singing songs, catching lightning bugs, playing on the slip-and-slide, eating a lot, and finally shooting off fireworks at the end of the night.

This day was full of love, music, and communion. To me, that’s what life is all about. That’s why I love the work I do. It’s inspired by people wanting to better our world through relationship to themselves, their community, and humanity.

Pricing:

• $65 – per hour for a private session
• $85 – per hour on set with a 3 hr minimum
• Small group and corporate prices available upon request

Contact Info:

• Website: www.voicecoachcara.com
• Email: voicecoachcara@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicecoachcara/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Voice-Coach-Cara-1576734009047835/

Image Credit:
Oscar Winning Director, Ed Zwick

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