Your voice doesn't only live in your throat. Sometimes the breakthrough starts all the way down at your feet.

Kimberly Moller spent years in classical training: Handel runs, early-music scores, "diction for days." Then she landed a lead role belting nine songs on roller skates, and everything she thought she knew about her voice got tested. In this conversation from the archives, we talk about classical vs. contemporary training, why she teaches "pain science for singing," and why how singing feels matters as much as how it sounds. Still true today.

🎧 In this episode

• Classical training is a gift, not a gate. You can be a fantastic singer without ever having sung classically.
• Your voice is connected to your whole body. One of Kimberly's go-to drills starts at the feet.
• More than half of singing is how it feels to you, not just what other people's ears hear.
• A voice lesson is one of the most vulnerable things a singer does, and the best teaching rests on trust.

About Kimberly Moller

Kimberly Moller is a soprano, voice teacher and performer based in San Diego. She holds a master's in vocal performance and a graduate diploma in voice pedagogy from Boston University and an MFA in musical theatre from San Diego State University, and toured as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops. In her studio she brings neuroscience and whole-body work into voice training.

Moments worth your time

• 02:59 — Paying off school debt, a Subaru commercial and a busy year
• 06:32 — The grandfather she never met and the music he left behind
• 10:38 — Why she went back to learn to belt
• 12:01 — Nine songs, belted, on roller skates
• 16:52 — Do you really have to start classical?
• 21:20 — Pain science for singing, and the drill that starts at your feet
• 24:16 — More than half of singing is how you feel

"Like, more than half of singing is how you feel, right? You know, the experience of it is important for the singer too, not just like what other people's ears hear and their opinions and all of that." — Kimberly Moller

Curious where your career momentum is leaking? The Singer Momentum Snapshot shows you what deserves your attention first.

Explore more conversations and join the community at The Unstoppable Singer.

You don't have to be finished to be a masterpiece.

Deanna "Bomb Chica" Colón's voice is on hundreds of jingles, dance records and film and TV placements, yet for years most people never knew her face. In this conversation she talks about the cooking-and-singing show that finally put her name to her voice, the schedule that keeps a many-hat career running, and why belief in yourself is the part nobody can do for you. It was true when we recorded it, and it's still true today.

🎧 In this episode

• Your audience is waiting for the real you, not the polished one. Deanna's growth came when she started filming in her kitchen, often with no makeup on.
• Wearing many hats can be a strength, but only when every hat has a place on your calendar.
• Momentum is fragile. When something is working, consistency is how you protect it.
• You can be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time.

About Deanna "Bomb Chica" Colón

Deanna is a singer, songwriter and vocal coach who went to Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship, then built her career in New York and Los Angeles singing jingles, sessions and dance records, including a top 3 Billboard dance hit. She has competed on America's Got Talent, teaches students around the world, and founded the self-love apparel company Bomb Chica Apparel, inspired by her song "I Am a Masterpiece."

Moments worth your time

• 00:32 — Meet Deanna "Bomb Chica" Colón
• 06:33 — The cooking-and-singing show that finally clicked
• 13:53 — "You know who I am, but you don't know who I am"
• 21:20 — Stevie Wonder or Jesus: scheduling and boundaries for a many-hat career
• 30:06 — A work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time
• 38:09 — From the family restaurant to a Berklee scholarship
• 46:02 — What makes you unstoppable?

This conversation includes an open discussion of mental health and suicide (around 30:40–33:50). If you're struggling, you're not alone: in the US you can call or text 988.

"You can absolutely be a work of art, and you can be a work in progress and an absolute masterpiece at the same time." — Deanna "Bomb Chica" Colón

Curious where your career momentum is leaking? The Singer Momentum Snapshot shows you what deserves your attention first.

Explore more conversations and join the community at The Unstoppable Singer.

The first person who has to love your music is you.

In this conversation from early 2022, my dear friend Rebecca Jade joins me for her third visit to the show, this time in the final stretch of an album she'd been working on, on and off, for five years. We talk about the fear that something you've poured yourself into might fall flat, the burnout so many of us hit when the gigs came rushing back, and why choosing joy gets easier the longer you do this. It's still true today.

🎧 In this episode

• Fear and doubt don't have to leave before you begin. Rebecca's mantra is simply "do it anyway."
• Waiting for everyone else to like your work keeps it unfinished. You have to like it first.
• Being hungry for any gig is a season, not a life sentence. With time, you earn the right to choose work that brings you joy.
• Feeling stagnant is a signal to try something new. For Rebecca, that meant picking up the bass at her own gigs.

About Rebecca Jade

Rebecca Jade is a San Diego singer-songwriter who has toured with Sheila E. since 2017 and was the featured singer on the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour in 2021. She was named Artist of the Year (2020) and won Song of the Year (2021) at the San Diego Music Awards. When we spoke, she was finishing her first album as co-producer and sole lyricist, led by the single "What's It Gonna Be."

Moments worth your time

• 01:57 — Year in review: two canceled cruises, then a Christmas tour that finally happened
• 05:51 — "Do it anyway": fear, self-doubt and her first self-written album
• 07:27 — The fear that it falls flat, and why she has to like it first
• 13:51 — From hungry for any gig to choosing the ones that bring joy
• 19:11 — The rush back to work, the burnout, and learning discernment
• 33:22 — What makes you unstoppable?
• 40:21 — Trying her new songs live for the very first time

"But I've had to come to a realization that I just have to like it." — Rebecca Jade

Curious where your career momentum is leaking? The Singer Momentum Snapshot shows you what deserves your attention first.

Explore more conversations and join the community at The Unstoppable Singer.