WP124 | Tuning into Yourself as a Business Owner with Tegan Miller
Ready to be inspired? In this episode, we’re diving into the heartwarming and powerful story behind Spectra Choir—a movement that’s so much more than just singing. Meet Tegan, the visionary leader whose passion for music and community sparked something truly extraordinary. From a college treble choir that ignited her dream to the unexpected challenges of launching just before a global shutdown, Tegan’s journey is nothing short of incredible. But the magic doesn’t stop there! Spectra Choir has become a safe haven where women show up, support one another, and find their voices—both in song and in life. Whether you’re a music lover or just someone looking for a reminder of how transformative community can be, this episode will leave you feeling uplifted, empowered, and maybe even ready to start singing along.
The Spark That Started It All
Tegan’s love for choir began during her time at the University of Kentucky, where she was part of a treble choir that cultivated a powerful sense of sisterhood. Inspired by her mentor, she saw firsthand how music could be more than just performance—it could be a space where women support and empower each other. She carried this dream with her through the years, vowing that one day, she would create something similar.
In early 2020, just before the world shut down due to COVID-19, Tegan took her first step toward making this vision a reality. She launched a treble choir in New York, filled with excitement and hope. But within days of its first meeting, the pandemic forced everything to come to a halt. The dream, however, remained alive.
Spectra Choir: More Than Just Singing
Fast forward to her time in Savannah, Georgia. As she settled into the community, she noticed a trend—many of the women she met were underestimating themselves, downplaying their talents and potential. It became clear that this was the place where her vision needed to take root. Spectra Choir was born, not just as a choir, but as a movement to amplify underrepresented voices, create an inclusive space, and foster meaningful connections through music.
Spectra is more than just a place to sing—it’s a community of individuals who come together for a shared purpose. As Tegan describes, it’s about showing up, being seen, and making a difference through music. The choir embraces all treble voices and uses their platform to support important causes while celebrating the richness of human expression.
The Healing Power of Singing in Community
Beyond the artistry of singing, studies have shown that being part of a choir has significant mental and physical health benefits. Singing together lowers stress levels, improves memory, strengthens lung function, and provides a sense of belonging. For many, including Spectra Choir member and podcast host Whitney, joining Spectra was a life-changing decision. As a business owner and mother, Whitney initially hesitated to make time for herself, but choir quickly became a non-negotiable part of her week—a place to recharge, connect, and nourish her soul.
“I show up every Thursday exhausted and stressed,” Whitney shares, “but by the end of rehearsal, I feel completely transformed. It’s like magic.”
Prioritizing Ourselves So We Can Give More
One of the most powerful messages behind Spectra Choir is the importance of self-care. Women, especially those in caregiving roles—whether as mothers, therapists, business owners, or partners—often put themselves last. Tegan emphasizes that prioritizing our own well-being isn’t selfish; it’s essential. We can’t pour into others if our own cup is empty.
The choir has become a refuge for many who need that weekly reminder to prioritize themselves. Whitney’s husband and children have come to understand and support her commitment to Spectra, seeing firsthand how much joy and energy it brings her. This, in turn, allows her to be more present and engaged in other aspects of her life.
Finding Your Own Spectra
Whether through music, art, sports, or another passion, we all need a space where we can be our authentic selves. Spectra Choir is just one example of how a shared passion can bring people together and create something truly special.
For anyone searching for community, belonging, and a way to reconnect with themselves, Spectra stands as an inspiring example of what’s possible when we make time for what feeds our soul. As Tegan puts it, “We all want to be loved, we all want to belong, and we all want to feel seen.”
And what better way to do that than by lifting our voices together in harmony?
Tegan Miller’s Resources
MTC Vocal Academy on Instagram
Spectra Choir on Instagram
Spectra Choir on Facebook
Drop-in Lesson: $20 off coupon for a drop in lesson! (Use the code: 20OFFSAV)
Tegan on Instagram
Links and Resources
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[00:00:00] WHITNEY OWENS: Hi, I'm Whitney Owens. I'm a group practice owner and faith based practice consultant, and I'm here to tell you that you can have it all. Want to grow your practice? Want to grow your faith? Want to enjoy your life outside of work? You've come to the right place. Each week on the Wise Practice Podcast, I will give you the action steps to have a successful faith based practice while also having a good time.
Now, let's get started
[00:00:29] Jingle: where she grows your practice. She don't play. She does business with a twist of faith. It's Whitney Owens and the wise practice podcast, Whitney Owens and wise practice podcast.
[00:00:48] WHITNEY OWENS: Welcome back to the last practice podcast. I'm excited to share with you something local and personal to me on this episode. So yes, normally I bring in all these therapists and people that help therapist practices. You know, there's so much more to us than being therapists, right? It's about who we are in the world and knowing ourselves and growing as a person.
And Spectre Choir has been a huge part of that in my life. And so I have brought Tegan into the show today to be able to share with us what Spectre is. And we talk about the differences made in my life. As therapists, it's so important that we find outlets. To be able to care for ourselves, it's going to influence our families.
It's going to influence our business, all the things. And so Spectra has been that for me, and it took me a long time to find them. And it has been good on so many levels. And so through the interview, we kind of talk about what it is and how it changed me and what Spectra is doing in the world. I love it taken as somebody that I admire on so many levels as a choral instructor and as the way she cares for herself in the community and how she built a community.
It's been really beautiful. And then y'all are business owners, how she's built this business around her passion. Is really neat. And you can like see that in the way that she does the work. And I have met some really incredible people by being a part of this choir. And so the power of finding what you love and creating a business around it.
And it's also a membership community. And as you know, I run a membership community for private practice owners. So it's been really neat for me to see her run a membership community. That's a monthly, I pay a monthly fee to be a part of this choir. It's very reasonable, totally worth it. And I get so much out of it, and so it's, it's interesting to see that and think about the wise practice community and if people pay a monthly fee and get so much out of it.
And so it's, it's really amazing. And so I feel really grateful to have found her in my life, to find Spectra in my life and to all my Spectra out there. I'm so glad you're listening and that you're a part of this. We have a beautiful, beautiful choir, so thank you for being a part of it. All right, so we are going to jump into the episode today with Tegan Millman.
Today on the podcast, I have Tegan Miller, and she wears many hats, multi business owner, musician, performer, teacher, and clinician. She is the founding artist director of Spectra Choir, a feminist trouble choir, trouble meaning higher voices, and the owner of Savannah's premier boutique voice studio. MTC Vocal Academy.
She's been teaching over 20 years and performing her whole life and truly believes that her whole being, that music is for everyone and everyone can sing. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for having me, Whitney. I'm so honored
[00:03:47] Tegan Miller: to be here.
[00:03:48] WHITNEY OWENS: Wonderful. Well, as we just saying, let's start at the very beginning place to start.
That's right. That's right. So, can you share a little bit about kind of your background and where you're from? And how did you get to Savannah, Georgia?
[00:04:05] Tegan Miller: Wow, okay. So I am a Kentucky girl born and raised. And that's where I started in choir. It's where I started singing. I actually started my choir journey in church.
And as a lot of us do, I mean, this is the history of choral music began in the church. And that's definitely where I started and found my, absolute love of my life of choir. And as they say, we were bitten by the bug and you just, you can't let go after that. And I followed that all through my undergraduate degree, which was at the university of Kentucky.
I studied vocal music education there. And I straight out of college started teaching middle school choir, which at the time was. Also, like the joy of my life, I everyone would always say, how in the world do you teach middle schoolers every day and I was like, how do you not like there's so much fun. So I did that for about 3 years and I had a major life change and I was like, you know what?
I want to do something for myself. So I picked up all my stuff and threw it in a U Haul and moved to New York City and started to pursue musical theater professionally, which is something I always wanted to do. And I always, I always tell people if I can drive a 16 foot moving truck across the George Washington Bridge, I think I can do anything in life.
You know, I also always say like I was born in Kentucky, but I grew up in New York. Like that's where I became who I started to be and found out. A lot of a lot about myself and what I wanted out of life and, you know, and now that I'm far removed from New York, I'm now saying, wow, I'm finding out even more about myself now.
And I think that is a lifelong journey. But but anyway, so I did the the performing musical theater thing in New York City, the hustle, as we say, and as I'm there, you know, I, I love performing. I love singing. I love musical theater, but there's there was this like coral shaped job. hole in my heart, I always say.
So I started to get back into choirs in the city and ended up singing in choir and then directing some choirs, was an assistant choral director for a couple of choirs in New York and started teaching voice lessons and learning more about the pedagogy of the voice and realizing how much that is a, that is a, a hole in the choral world.
In our knowledge as choral directors, not everybody, of course, but I know in my undergraduate degree, we did not even have a vocal pedagogy class, which is insane because that is the instrument that you're working with in your ensemble. So um, I was dedicated myself to really learning the ins and outs of the voice on, on the pedagogical level.
And I'm so passionate about implementing that in a, in a choral setting, which is not easy because you're standing in front of, you know, 30, 40, 50 plus. Different instruments, right? So it's, it's a unique challenge, but one that I really love and, and very passionate about. So I did that for a little while.
And like you said, I wear many hats. New York is the epitome of multiple hat wearing. I was directing choirs, I was singing in choirs, I was still auditioning. I was music directing, kind of combining the two of directing musicals and working. A handful of other odd jobs to pay my rent. I worked at the Apple store for a little while, believe it or not.
I was a tour guide in New York for a little while, an executive assistant, babysitter, I mean, you name it, I did it because rent ain't cheap in New York, you know what I mean? So I did was doing so much, right? And at one point I looked around and I was like, I'm tired. You know, I'm tired of the hustle and things just kind of all aligned all at once as they tend to do sometimes.
Right. I had just competed in the American traditions, vocal competition, which is held in Savannah, Georgia, and a soft, my partner was. Playing in that competition, and he's been playing for several years. I say now about 1213 years, and so I would often come down with him to this competition and just watch and like fangirl over all of these singers and be like, Oh, I don't I could never do this, you know, and I got a wild hair and in 2020 and was like, You know what?
I'm gonna I'm gonna apply. And then I got in, which is Blew my mind at that time and in February of 2020, I competed and in March 2020 is when the world shut down. So we were kind of trapped in our New York apartment for the first time, 24 7 for the first time ever. And we're looking around and we're like, wow, this apartment is not great.
It's kind of falling apart. We're paying so much money to live here and we can't even go outside of it. You know, we can't, we can't explore why we moved to New York, right? And then this was just us, obviously, everyone was experiencing not being able to do anything with their life at that time that they wanted to do.
But it was a big wake up call because it was like, I, I can't imagine just being trapped in here. And then what, then what do we do? You know, I, I just, We were craving space, and air, and warm weather, and kindness. And so, you know, we started throwing around ideas of where to move, and we were all over the map.
Maybe Amsterdam, maybe Berlin, maybe Connecticut. And a friend was like, you know what, you guys, you keep flip flopping around, I'm just gonna count to three, and you're gonna say the first city that pops in your head. You ready? One, two, three. And we both said Savannah.
[00:10:17] WHITNEY OWENS: Whoa,
[00:10:18] Tegan Miller: I know. So again, we threw all our stuff in a 60 foot moving truck and with our cats in our, in their carrying cases in the, in the front cab and we drove down to Savannah and we thought, you know what, let's rent for a year, see what's what, see what's going on down there in the pandemic, get some space and then we'll figure out what we want to do from there.
And within three months, we bought a house. We're like, we're going to We're going to put down our roots here.
[00:10:45] WHITNEY OWENS: Oh, I love it.
[00:10:47] Tegan Miller: So how this led me to Spectra, I will say. Another, backing it up just a second, right, also right before the world shut down in February, actually beginning of March, I started a tribal choir in New York, because this has always been a dream of mine.
Back at the University of Kentucky, I was in a hundred plus voice tribal choir there. It was then known as the UK Women's Choir. They now go by tribal choir, but, and my mentor, Dr. Lori Hetzel. Just created this beautiful environment of women supporting women and she also programmed music primarily by women and just fostered this environment where it was okay to show up as you are and and just to love one another because that's what life is all about, right?
We'd all just want to be loved and taken care of and we face so much adversity as women in this world anyway. Why add to it with each other? You know, why not? Go against that completely and say, no, I'm not going to do what you expect me to do in that way. I am going to show up for myself and I'm going to show up for others and, and other women because we need it.
We need each other, you know? So she inspired, I vowed when I was in that choir, I was like, I vow one day I am going to create something like this, you know? And that combined with my real, my passion of, of combining vocal pedagogy and the, and the sustainable singing of the voice. With the choral environment, that's how, like, the idea of Spectra was born, although it wasn't called Spectra yet, I just call it the MTC treble choir, coming out of my, my voice studio, and we had about 12 people show up the first day, and it was lovely and wonderful, and I'm not even kidding you, when I was walking home, it's like a movie, I saw, like, a, a TV in a school, in a storefront or something that had the news.
It was like walking through Times Square, close to Times Square. And it was like talking about things shutting down and COVID 19 is a real thing and all of this. And I was like, oh no. And literally the next day is when they put the stay at home thing. It was like literally the next day. It was crazy. So when I got here, of course, that's still in my mind, right?
You know, I don't want to let go of that dream. And as I'm in Savannah longer, I, I'm feeling a, it felt like, sometimes it feels like Savannah can be very insular and there are like little pockets of groups and communities, but they don't, they didn't always work together with one another or it didn't, it felt really hard to break in to the current communities in, in the ones that we were interacting with, right?
As a blanket statement of Savannah, but you know, in the music communities and the performing communities and stuff, it felt a little, a little hard to, to break in. And I just kept meeting women here that just were really discounting themselves and not believing in the potential that I was, I was seeing in them.
Like, I'm like, why, why are you talking about my friend like that? You are amazing. You know, or, you know, other people have underestimated them, especially in the arts. And I was like, Okay, I think this is the place that I'm supposed to be doing this. And I was working on my master's degree at the time too, so that's all coming together.
And I was like, I'm finishing my master's degree, building the Spectra website, building all the infrastructure to get singers in, all the like intake forms and all the admin, while doing multiple presentations, preparing for my finals, preparing for my comprehensive exams. Like, I cannot believe I did all this.
I don't even know. How, but you know, you just get into that super passionate hyper focus mode and be like, this is what I'm meant to do. I'm I got to get it done. And that's how spectra was born. I just was like, Yeah, we're gonna I'm just gonna do it. And I end up I've done. I've done that a lot of my life.
That's kind of how I moved to New York to it's not not necessarily impulsive, but very much activated. I'm a very Activator kind of person when I'm really passionate about something. It's like, okay, I see a need. I'm going to fill it now. So
[00:15:17] WHITNEY OWENS: I can understand that. I love your journey and your story and the way you shared it, even talking about throwing your cats in the, in the truck.
That was I love it. So let's talk for a few minutes about someone who's listening. It's like, what is spectra? Can you explain kind of what that is currently in, like, what it looks like? So somebody understands.
[00:15:37] Tegan Miller: Yeah, totally. So Spectra Choir is, like you said, a feminist, treble choir, treble meaning higher voices.
We categorize them as soprano and alto in the choir world. And we, our mission is to amplify underrepresented voices through the repertoire we sing, the causes we support, and the community we create. And also, we value the ever changing, multicolored, beautiful, human voice and spirit. And so, It's a choir. I mean, really is what it is, technically it's a choir, but it's much more than that.
It's a community of like minded people who show up wanting to be seen and wanting to see others, I think, and also looking for a space where they can use their gifts to really Make a little bit of change, even if it's very small within each other within their, you know, their immediate surroundings or a little further with like the causes we support and the organizations we support and stuff.
I think sometimes people can feel a little helpless and wanting to help underrepresented communities. And they don't know what to do and music is such a beautiful vehicle to do that with and what better way to like join together and something we all love and we all understand how it makes us feel to share that gift with others who also know how it makes them feel so much more than just singing, you know, it's it's connection.
[00:17:15] WHITNEY OWENS: And just as a fire member, that is what I notice about it as well. Like, it's the, the way that you've been able to facilitate a beautiful community of very different types of women, different backgrounds. And we all come together for our love of music, but then it becomes more of our love for each other over time, you know, as we sing together and actually research, you could price is better than me, but mental health wise.
Singing in a choir is one of the most effective things for depression, you know, as far as an activity that you can do in that place of unity.
[00:17:51] Tegan Miller: Absolutely. Yeah, you're exactly right. There's study after study after study that shows singing and community not only supports mental health, but actual physical health to like our breathing studies are anxiety levels are lower, therefore.
Our physical health is also better, you know, and if there's studies that it improves memory, it's helped people live longer, you know, it's just all around singing in general is very, very beneficial for the body and then singing in community with one another brings that sense of belonging, which we all again, that's what we all want.
We all want to be loved. We all want to belong. I want to feel seen. And yeah, singing together, All right. For a common goal, that's like the best way to do it.
[00:18:38] WHITNEY OWENS: Yeah. Well, I want to share a little bit of kind of my journey, uh, finding Spectra and just speaking to therapists that own businesses, like, it is so important that we find something for us.
And I think I wasn't really sure what that was for a really long time. So I clearly remember, you'll know this place at the pink house, the middle bar area. We went there for our anniversary, my husband and I a couple of years ago, and we were sitting at the bar and he was like, Whitney, you've got to find some hobbies.
And I'm like. Yeah, I can't find the singing. I can't find anything. I don't really know. Right. It was kind of what you were saying earlier, Savannah, it was, it's a hard place. And I felt that too, even as a business, and I had a really hard time starting a practice at first, because I didn't know anybody. I couldn't find a job.
And so I just did it myself anyway. So then I went to a year later. I meet Derek, a friend at a party or I mean, I knew him, but we were at the party chatting and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm a part of this men's choir in Savannah. And I'm like, what there's wires. So he tells me about spectra and sends me the information for this was a year ago.
January last year. And I was like, huh, like, that sounds really cool, but boy, that's pretty intimidating to just show up with knowing no one. Right. That for me is very difficult, but I knew I needed to push through that and did and obviously I've been in the car now for a year and it has been. So good for my soul.
And I can tell you as a business owner and a mother of two that every Thursday, I'm like, can I do this? This is difficult. Like I am so tired. Cause by the time Thursday comes, I'm like nothing on Monday. I'm like, get it done on Thursday. I'm like, my life is over. So then I pushed through and I get to choir and I make it happen because we need these things for our souls.
Right. We need these things to be able to be more ourselves, to be able to love our lives and love what we do. And if we're not finding something that feeds us, especially outside of our business, it's not going to go well.
[00:20:48] Tegan Miller: It's so true. And like, yeah, exactly what you said. We're no good to anyone if we're pouring out of an empty cup.
You know, we have to pour into ourselves first, like that has to happen, uh, for everything, for the, for the world, for everyone around us, like we're just no good to anyone else around us if we are, we're completely depleted. So yeah, it's so important, like you said, to find something that really fulfills you and fills your cup and fills your soul.
[00:21:18] WHITNEY OWENS: Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's really hard for people to make that time, you just have to make it happen. And I, all at a moment, I would say. Almost with certainty, I show up every week, exhausted and stressed out, you know, and I can't like focus. I got my mind going a million different directions and every time I leave going, how did I think about how I felt like, I feel so great now.
What was I thinking? Cause you just engaging in that community and that singing, it's like totally transforms you and you have no idea until you get there and you do it.
[00:21:49] Tegan Miller: I love that. That's so wonderful to hear, you know, that's my whole, that's, that's the whole goal of starting the choir, you know, is, yes, we're, the goal is to sing and perform songs and help people around us that those are all goals to, and, you know, I truly believe in, I set up a high bar and everyone rises to the occasion.
I believe in challenging ourselves and trying new things and learning new things. And that makes us better too, you know, as better humans and society. And yeah, it's just the main goal though, is, is exactly what you said to create a space where you can fill your own cup. It's so important. And, you know, as women too, we, we really have been conditioned to not prioritize ourselves.
And depending on whatever role we're in, you know, as a mother, as a, as a partner to someone else, as a caretaker, as a business owner, as you know, whatever it may be, some of us have multiple layers of hats that we wear that require us to make others around us a priority. And it's really hard to know or remember how, how important it is to make ourselves the priority.
1st,
[00:23:09] WHITNEY OWENS: I'm really glad you brought that up because that I see so many people, especially therapists. Well, who are some of the people that should it's the most important because if you're not taking care of yourself, it's gonna impact all your clients. You know, true. Right. And, and then you got to have those pieces in place, but it's like, my husband knows that every Thursday I go to choir and he watches the kids and takes care of them, you know, and the kids see, Oh, mom is doing something for her at first.
It was on. You're going to be there to stay a little bit. But now it's like, I've taught them that, Hey, this is what mommy does. And you can be proud of me. In fact, I don't know if you, I think you did see this. If they were at the concert, the last one we did, and they're in the back, you know, and it was just really cool to be like, they see that.
Yeah. Moms need to take care of themselves too, and we're teaching them that when they're young.
[00:23:56] Tegan Miller: Mm hmm. What an important lesson you're teaching your children. Look, it's, it's important to take care of yourself. It's important to put yourself first, because it may, it helps me take care of you, helps me, helps you take care of others.
You know, what a beautiful thing you're modeling for your children.
[00:24:12] WHITNEY OWENS: Yeah, in fact, 1 of the recent members, because I'm a such a fan, I like to bring everyone in 1 of the girls that joined that I had encouraged to join. She was like, really waffling at the beginning. It's like, it's too much of a commitment.
I can't do this. And I was like, okay, well, what other things are you doing? She was like, well, my kid has this mother kid has this and my kid has this. And I said, so your kids have two to three activities each and you have none. It's like, oh, I've never thought of it like that. I was like, you never thought of it like that, but you know, like that, but, but it we're so in what we're in.
We don't realize what we're doing. We don't realize that we're not taking care of ourselves until we Someone shows us like my husband saying, you better get a freaking hobby or I'm going to go crazy.
[00:24:57] Tegan Miller: Exactly. You know, and it's not intentional. It's not intentional to forget ourselves. Like you said, we just don't know.
And when we know better, we do better. Right.
[00:25:07] WHITNEY OWENS: Definitely. And I think the other day it's been so good for me is meeting people not like me.
[00:25:12] Tegan Miller: Yeah. And
[00:25:13] WHITNEY OWENS: it's allowed me to have a. Space that's safe as a therapist because a lot of therapists, we feel like we go to, I go to a party, let's say everyone at the party, you know, knows water's edge counseling.
They want to talk to me and it's exhausting, you know, it's like, you know, someone told me 1 time when they're on an airplane and someone asked them what they do for their job. They say they're a elementary. School teacher instead of a therapist, you know, and so it's really great to have this community of people that I really wouldn't encounter anywhere else, you know, like, and I can be totally free to be whoever I want to be without any, like, repercussions on my business or concerns about that because.
You know, it's a freeing space that everyone supports each other anyway, and I'm not really going to run into them, you know, all the time unless I choose to, which is the other great thing. We have lots of fun activities, but I love having people that are different than me. And it's also challenged the way I think about myself in the world,
[00:26:12] Tegan Miller: you
[00:26:12] WHITNEY OWENS: know, and we all need that to think differently.
We get stuck.
[00:26:16] Tegan Miller: It's so true. It's so true. I love that. Yeah. I, I totally agree with you. Like to be like, Loving members of society. It's only benefiting everyone around us when we meet people who don't think or look or act or believe like us, right? And challenges us to think about things differently. And no one says you have to agree with everything that you anyone you everyone you come into contact with, you know, but it does make us more understanding, empathetic, loving humans when we do meet other people that are different.
And it, like you said, it challenges challenges us of how we look at the world. And it's like, Oh, well, here's yet another perspective of how I can look at things. How interesting, how, how wonderful is it that we can be curious and still learn things as we're, as we're growing and aging, right? We're always.
And if we stay curious like that, like what a benefit to yourself and then a benefit to everyone else around you. And I love that Spectra is full of every walk of life. Like we just have people from all over different ages, 20 to 74, you know? So that's one of my favorite things about the group as well.
[00:27:32] WHITNEY OWENS: Definitely, and another thing as a therapist, it's been really good for me is, you know, because I run 2 businesses, I employ all these people, always in charge, which is great and awful. So, it's so relieving to go somewhere where I don't have to take charge at all,
[00:27:52] Jingle: you know, I
[00:27:52] WHITNEY OWENS: get to be led by somebody and there's such a freedom there.
That you experience, um, to be able to, like, explore yourself and who you are, and it's hard to do that when you're managing things.
[00:28:05] Tegan Miller: Oh, I totally, I totally agree. Like, yeah, I same, right? I'm multiple business to obviously in a leadership position here in spectra. And although I love leading, like, I know that's my calling and I know that's your calling too.
It is nice to just show up and not have to. Worry about that. I sing in a church choir here, and I'm a soprano section leader staff singer and man It is so I love it. I look forward same thing I look forward to Wednesday nights so I can just show up and sing music that I love with some really nice folks and I don't have to worry about Prepping a lesson plan or like thinking through I just show up and I sing and it's so freeing.
I totally agree.
[00:28:51] WHITNEY OWENS: Yeah, and this isn't really about self care, but the point that you made about you create something that people rise to
[00:29:00] Tegan Miller: like, yeah, I set a high bar people rise to the occasion. Yeah.
[00:29:04] WHITNEY OWENS: Yes, you say it like that. And you, and you're really good about saying the same things over and over, you know, so that we remember it.
It's kind of in our bones. And that, that has really been great for me personally, because boy, the music you give, I'm just like, are you kidding? Are you kidding? There's no way I'm going to sing that song. And then within, you know, a couple of months, I'm singing it like a champ. Then, then I think about my own team, though, and my life, like, oh, I can set the bar high.
I can set it high for other people and they will come to the occasion rather than me just assuming that they can't get there. Oh,
[00:29:43] Tegan Miller: totally. And, you know, I think, I think we do a lot of assuming that people aren't able to rise to a high bar sometimes out of care right out of like, I don't want them to stumble or, you know, I want them to feel supported and stuff.
And it's like. Yeah, both of both of those things can be true. You can support people as they're rising to the high bar. And I think that's actually imperative when you set a high bar for people or a high standard. It's like, yeah, a high standard, but with gentleness and care and joy and patience, because that is how motor learning works.
If we're going to be really like, Specific and logical about it for a second, like with singing, you know, I pick a piece that is super challenging. It's not going to be learned in one day. Like I that's not how motor learning works. Motor learning takes repetition, rest and time. It has to. That's how brains learn and just creating an environment where it's.
Safe to learn slowly and to make mistakes and be a human being, you know, is a great way to help support people with gentleness and care as they rise to that high bar. Yeah,
[00:31:00] WHITNEY OWENS: 100%. I have really enjoyed this and I know that you have a few offers here. So if somebody is local to Savannah or in the area, they happen to be listening.
What tell them a little bit about getting connected to either spectra or to you and you have a code here in the show notes for 20 percent off coupon for voice lesson.
[00:31:20] Tegan Miller: Oh, great. Okay. So I'll, I'll talk about Spectra first, since that's what we've been talking about the most. And then I'll talk about my voice to you.
So yes, if you are a treble voice, that means a high voice and you are comfortable in a space that centers the experience of women. We'd love to have you sing with us. The only requirement to sing in Spectra is what I just said, a treble voice that is okay in a space that centers the experience of women.
And you love to sing. That is the only two requirements. You do not have to have experience in a choir. You do not have to have experience reading music. You do not have to have experience singing in front of people. You don't have to have any of that. In fact, we have a lot of people in the choir who have never been in a choir before.
So, none of that's required to show up and sing with joy. So we'll help you with the rest. You just, you just show up now in order to do that. You can do a couple of things. You could go to our website, spectrachoir. com. There's several places where it's like, join us, join us, join us. And you can click it and sign up to join us.
You could email me directly spectrachoir at gmail. com. If you are interested and you have more questions, please do. You can go to our Instagram at Spectra Choir. You can message me on there. A lot of info about the choir there too. And we typically take new singers into the choir at the beginning of each semester or concert cycle.
So January and September. We also have some summer offers, but that usually Is open to people who are already in the community. So yeah, so please reach out. We'd love to have you. We're not taking current singers currently because we are full steam ahead on our concert repertoire, which is in May, May 3rd.
So the second offer, I will say, for people who may not even want to sing but want to support, you can come and you're in Savannah. You can come to the concert on May 3rd. It's at 3 o'clock at Asbury Memorial Church here in Savannah, Georgia. We also live stream the concert. So if you don't live in Savannah, you can watch it.
And if you follow us on our Instagram, there'll be so many posts about how you can buy tickets when tickets become available for this concert and for any of our concerts. Yeah. So that's the Spectra offers. And then for MTC Vocal Academy, I, my studio, my membership is full as well, but I have space in my calendar for drop in lessons and that's just a one hour lesson to drop in and, you know, take a lesson with me and you can use the code in the show notes.
Which was what? What was the code?
[00:33:51] WHITNEY OWENS: Yeah, it's 20 off staff,
[00:33:54] Tegan Miller: 20 off staff. Yeah, that will give you 20 off your, your drop in lesson.
[00:34:01] WHITNEY OWENS: Perfect. Yeah. All right. So I didn't tell you, I was going to ask this question at the end, but I think it's a good question to ask you, you know, 1 thing that I've told you that I admire about you is that I could tell you done your own mental health work, like the way you lead the choir, the way you talk about self care, right?
And mental health is very beautiful to me. So with your experience as a client or your experience and understanding mental health, do you have any advice that you want to give, like, parting advice for therapists that own businesses that are listening here to the show?
[00:34:33] Tegan Miller: Well, honestly, I don't know if it's advice, more of gratitude.
I have done, and I'm currently still doing, and I think I will always do, work on my own mental health because I think it's so, so important. And I have seen the, I've seen and I continue to see the benefits of working on my mental health and pouring into myself self care and getting to know myself on a deeper level.
When I think I figured it out, I really haven't. And I'm just continuing to figure it all out. And I, I can't do that without support. And it's really, I'm so grateful for my own therapist. I think we're a really great match and yeah, I'm just grateful for the work that you all do because a lot of people, especially now really need you.
And, you know, I think if, if I had any type of advice for anyone listening, it would be really, and I'm not just saying this Whitney to like, Model or to look to you as a model, because to me, you are doing, as they say, the Lord's work, but you're, you're doing it. You're doing it right. You know, you are inclusive and loving and open to learning and growing and changing.
And wow, how that benefits yourself, but your clients and people need a safe space now more than anything. And, you know, there are some people out there who just feel all alone and they don't have anywhere to go and anywhere to turn, no safe space at all. They need people like you more than ever now. And I think that's my biggest piece of advice is to stay open to learning and growing and creating that safe space for people and meeting different people that are, that are different than you and, and helping you learn and grow and, and hopefully help you help them
[00:36:30] WHITNEY OWENS: more.
Beautiful. Well, thank you for your kind words. I'll take them to heart, especially on those hard days. I appreciate you taking the time to be on the show and have loved the choir. I encourage people to head to the website, learn more about it and yeah, you can live stream and see us sing and it's a beautiful thing.
So thank you again. Thanks for having me. Whitney. Love you so much.
[00:36:56] Jingle: So click on, follow and leave a review and keep on loving this work we do with Whitney Owens and the Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owens and the
[00:37:09] WHITNEY OWENS: Wise Practice Podcast.
Special thanks to Marty Altman for the music in this podcast. The wise practice podcast is part of the site craft podcast network, a collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives to learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network head on over to site craft network dot com.
The wise practice podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.
