187: #1 Vocal Coach On How To Pivot Your Creative Business and Soar, with Cheryl Porter

Hello everyone, this is Kathy Caprino and welcome to my podcast, Finding Brave. I've created this show for everyone who longs to create something bold and brave in their life. To rise up, speak up and stand up for who they are and to reach their highest and biggest visions. Each week I'll be speaking with inspiring guests from all walks of business, leadership, entertainment, the creative arts and the entrepreneurial world. And they'll be sharing their intimate stories of Finding Brave and offer their best strategies for building your most rewarding, joyful and meaningful life, business and career. Speaking of that, I'm thrilled to share that my new digital course, the Most Powerful youl is available now. This transformative eight module training course is based on my top selling book, the Most Powerful you and is designed to help you close what my research has revealed are the seven most damaging power gaps that keep 98% of professional women from thriving at the highest level and reaching their most thrilling, rewarding potential. In the course, you'll be taught transformative action strategies and mindsets from me and from more than 30 of the nation's top experts that will help you experience dramatically more power, confidence, communication, skill, leadership growth and authority over what transpires in your work. And you'll be guided on how to take the seven brave pathways to career bliss which are Brave Sight, Brave Speak Brave Ask Brave Connection, Brave Challenge, Brave service and brave healing. If you're finally ready to close your power gaps and rock your career, visit mostpowerful you.com and join the course today. And if you'd like to learn more about these seven gaps and how to close them, take my free webinar 7 Ways to Rapidly elevate your career. You can find that@mostpowerful you.com elevateyourcareer. Thank you and I hope to see you there. Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Finding Brave. Kathy Caprio here and I'm jumping out of my skin. I'm so excited to have our guest today, Cheryl Porter. Cheryl, we had some time zone issues, but here we are. Thank you for being here. I know you're so crashingly busy.

Thank you. Thank you darling. I'm just so happy to be here. So nice to meet you. You so pretty. You prettier than your pictures girl. That is not possible.

I will die.

Well thank you for that because in these Covid times, you know, people are going out with no makeup. You know, you put your hair and it's nice to look pretty during COVID time when you do actually do your hair, put on some mascara, put A little bit of extra.

I so feel the same way. I even wear perfume, even though it's me and my son living here. Just because we can't go down the rabbit hole of not caring, I think.

Yes. And I noticed that about myself, too. It's like, you know, wake up when put on the lashes, do a little bit of something because. Because of the mask, you know, you get so used to, like, oh, your face is covered. And, you know, it's like, but who cares? But it's so nice to just wake up and just say, okay, today I'm going to look pretty. So you look pretty.

Well, you are gorgeous. Right back at you. Thank you, Cheryl. All right, people, so let me tell you about Cheryl in a second. But I want to also say that you. Some of you know that I'm a singer on the side and have been a singer for. Since 16. And you know, when I meet someone who is rocking it at the highest level in their creative dream and passion and vision, I'm so excited because we all know it can be very rough to first of all, bring forward that amazing talent in a way where. Where we're monetizing it and having joy and having passion and running our own business.

Yeah. So.

And. And you are just doing that at the highest level. So we are going to talk about all things creative. We're talking about how to pivot.

Yeah.

Your creative business so you can soar, which I think you're a fantastic expert at. All right.

So much. I hope I can give some tips. Anybody want to hear it? I'm happy to share my experience here.

Well, I'm going to ask you so many questions. So let me tell you all about Cheryl. Amazing. Cheryl porter is a YouTube star and classically trained opera singer with her motivational coaching videos and inspirational approach to teaching. Can't wait to learn more. She has over 125 million views on YouTube and is considered the top vocal coach and vocal education influencer in the world.

Wow.

She is a sole creator of the innovational Cheryl Porter vocal method and has created over 300 vocal exercises to specifically target and correct vocal flow flaws, increase vocal range, and dramatically improve vocal skills for beginner and advanced singers. And I am going to ask a particular question about one of my vocal flaws that I know all of my friends are going to just dig into. Cheryl has given vocal masterclasses in Russia, Israel, Poland, Italy, France, Indonesia, Singapore and the US and has coached students all over the world. And this is so cool. She's coached singers who have performed on the Voice X Factor. America's Got Talent. All together now. Italy's Got Talent. Eurovision. Is it Sanremo. San Remo Festival.

Yes, yes, yes.

And also a vocal coach for the Italian trio Il Volo. Is that how we pronounce it?

Yes. Wow. My gosh.

All right, we have got to. Let's start a little bit from the beginning.

And.

And I'd love to know about your background as a singer and then how you morphed into this incredible vocal coaching and educational.

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Kathy, you know, it's. It's been a long road. You know, it's like I was, what, yesterday? I was watching just the. The. The biography, the film of the life of Frank Sinatra and I. And, you know, even as myself, I don't think a lot of people realize how long the road is. So, you know, it a long, long, long. And you learn so much along the way, and there are a lot of lessons and things. So when I think about my story, it's always difficult to figure out where to start.

You can start from the beginning. Were you an amazing. Were you an amazing singer, you know, from your little years?

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And I absolutely was not a prodigy. I absolutely was not one of those young. I've always loved to sing, but, you know, I grew up on the south side of Chicago, you know, in a pretty poor community, you know, typical south side chic. My parents were divorced. You know, my single mother. My mother was a janitress, and, you know, she raised my sister and I with a lot of dignity. You know, it's like we grew up poor, but I sure didn't feel poor, Kathy, I tell you that. And it's great when you can grow up poor and not feel that you're poor or feel that you're lacking anything. But, you know, my mother was a great. My mother is a great mom. She still is. She's 86 years old. She's fantastic. She's tough, you know, she's a tough lady. And the thing is, I didn't grow up with any speakable talent in the arts other than I love public speaking. I loved acting, I love drawing, I love doing everything. But the thing I wanted to do the most, Kathy, was sing. And I said, lord, you've given me all these talents. Why haven't you given me the gift of song? You know, it's like, that's the one thing that I want to do. Lord, how come you haven't given me a voice? I can draw. I can do portraits and landscapes, but I wish I could I could sing. And it's the one thing that I never, ever thought I could do. And you were telling me before the podcast started, I wanted to sing so bad when I was younger. I would just sit in front of the fan and sing so it could give me, like, the vibrato. And I was like, oh, I would just pass days just singing, like, oohs and ahhs in the fan, in the vibrato. I was like, oh, my God, one day I just wish I could be having to become a singer and have, like, my vibrato voice and sing, because I absolutely, absolutely loved it. And, you know, when you grow up on the south side of Chicago and, you know, people are dealing with issues and financial issues and cultural issues, you know, it's not easy to be an artist growing up in the ghetto because it seems as if you're just a dreamer. You know, your dreams are not. Are not valid if it's something that people can't understand. So I think with my story, it starts off as being an artistic child who was not supported in the least in home or by family. Like, you know, stop that singing. You know, you're wasting your time. You know, do something serious. You know, you're not going to be anything. You're not going to do anything. So I think, you know, what I deal with as a coach is to help people of all ages get over that lack of support and that lack of, you know, I teach people, you know, you have to be your own biggest fan, because when you're a dreamer in anything, nobody is going to support you if you do something. And you can't expect people to see what you see because, you know, when you go to nightcap, to bed at night, Kathy, and you have a dream, you're the only person who can see that dream. And I believe that our dreams about our life are the same. You know, those dreams are for you. Other people just cannot see it. You can try to convince them to see it. You can try to tell them how to see. You can tell them what you saw. But you have to be strong enough in character, in your character to believe in yourself enough that no matter how many. And that's. That's the toughest part of, you know, this, Kathy, you a successful woman. You know how hard it was for you to get where you are. And it's true of all disciplines. If it's music, if it's radio, if it's dance, if it's anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur especially, it's very difficult at the beginning but the most important thing is to hold. Is you have to be. Have the kind of character that you're not afraid to make people upset. You have to say, okay, well, you don't understand. And not always try to convince people to be on your side. And that's a lot. That's a lot.

Can I punctuate. Can I just punctuate what you just said? I think not only do people not understand the creative path, there's also so much jealousy about it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like you think you're good enough to do that.

Exactly.

So we not only have to hang on to those dreams, but those naysayers, we gotta pop them out of the sphere. Out of our sphere.

Absolutely.

And not let it in. Now, we're not saying let's be a narcissist and not take any feedback. We need feedback. But you're going to get so much pushback. And it's true. Even as a career coach or a writer, it's anything that you do that comes from that soul and that heart. You've got to have a boundary that protects you.

Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. I most definitely agree, Kathleen. I most definitely agree. And the truth about who makes it in this world of anything if you're a dreamer is not just the talent, but who is strong enough to fight it out. You know, it's like you gonna make it if you got. If you strong enough to fight it out. Because I know so many talented people, and I know you know them as well and could have done incredible things, but just got tired of the fight. You know, you gotta wake up and fight. Use you know how it is.

All right, now tell me. So you're singing into the fan to get the vibrato, and then what happened? What? Tell us all of it.

Well, you know, I started singing. I didn't get a lot of support at home, but thank God I got a lot of support in school. So I would sing in school, you know, my choir director, I was in the school choir. And she said, oh, you have a beautiful voice. There was my school, they about to put on a musical, the Musical Dream Girls. And she said, well, why don't you audition? I said, are you crazy? Said, I can't sing no Dream Girls. And she said, well, you know, you have the talent. I'm like, listen, I love to sing, but I don't have the talent to pull that off at all. How old? I was only 14.

She saw it in you. She saw it in you.

I was only 14 that auditioned. I got the part and I have a recording of it. It's absolutely horrendous. I said, this little girl. I said, I'm so proud of this little girl. I said, because you. Like, she was really doing her best. But even then. And I listened to myself, Kathleen, I will tell you. I will tell you, this is God's honest truth. I can honestly, honestly say I can see why people didn't believe in me. And I could see because, you know, it's not like I exemplified any extraordinary talent. But I also believe that determination is a talent. I believe that having a hard head is also a talent. I believe that fighting is a talent. I believe the will to learn and improve is also a talent. And that's been my biggest talent. With the talent that I had, which I'm telling you, it wasn't a lot. With that talent that I had and the determination and the studies that I had, I did incredible things. After. After high school, I auditioned for. To enter into the music program as a music major. I didn't think that I would get into the music program. And the next day they called me with a full scholarship to study opera. So I'm like, wait a minute, hang.

On, Cheryl, I gotta ask something. Aren't you being a little too humble? Like, I've watched your videos. That voice is from heaven.

You know, it wasn't always.

You've learned so much about how to use that instrument.

Yeah, but. Wow. Absolutely. And, you know, I'm telling you, I've still got this thing with Frank Sinatra on my mind. And I was watching his interview and he said, oh, my God, you know, he said, you know, I didn't even know how to sing when I did Blind Me to the Moon. He's like, I was still. I didn't. Haven't even started voice lessons. And I'm like, what? Because, you know, he started taking voice lessons later in life and everything before then, Frank, he will say of himself, he said, oh, my God, I can't listen to it. I didn't know how to sing a lick. And it's crazy because it's like, you know, he's. I. And I admire him so much because he's one of those singers that really, really. And a lot of singers don't, and they should. It sort of seems like it's like a dark secret or something that if a singer studies and if you have a coach and you have to improve, you know, it's not as talked about as much as I would like it to be, because I think a lot of singers just need you Know need to show other singers the importance of study. And so I didn't. When I. And I listened to myself as a coach, I said, oh, little girl, you know, you were flat. Your vibrato was all over the place. You know, you didn't know anything about your vocal registers. You didn't have any range. You didn't have any power. You know, you sang like a butterfly. And then when I won my full scholarship to niu, to Northern Illinois University, and I said to myself, I said, if these people see something in me, then it wasn't all an illusion. Then I wasn't just imagining it in myself. Because if you're in high school, it's something, but go to college, and the next day, you get a call from the director of the music department, the vocal department said, we want you to study. We want to give you a full opera scholarship because we think you are incredible talent. And it's crazy. And that's what turned everything around, Kathy. That's what turned everything around. So I believe in the beginning, you have to believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself enough in the beginning, those people who believe in you will come along. Sometimes you have to wait for them, but you're not going to find them if you don't believe in yourself in the beginning. So for me, as a coach, I try to teach most definitely vocal technique, vocal skills, teach that voice to fly. But the most important thing that you have to teach is the soul. You can't teach the voice without teaching the spirit. The two go together. And you know that because you're a singer singer. And you've done incredible things with your talent on multiple platforms. And you know you cannot teach the voice without teaching the soul and the spirit, and they are one. If your soul is crushed, your voice is not going to fly. If you do not believe in yourself, you're not going to be able to hit those notes. If you have any doubt whatsoever in yourself and in your talent, your vocals are not going to ever be 100%. So first, you have to teach that soul. You got to break. Get into it. What are you afraid of? What are you. What are you scared of? What are the things that you're holding on to? Why are you holding back on that volume? Why are you holding back on your expression? Why aren't you interpreting as well as you could? Come on, baby, get. Get into the. Get into the blood of it. Get into your soul to the deepest part. And that is the story that we as singers need to tell. So it starts with the soul you train what comes out. Because I don't, I don't, I can't. You know, when someone comes to see me the first, first time for a first lesson, said, you know, I don't teach shy people, you're gonna have to get out that shyness really quick because I don't, I don't teach a little, little, little shop folks. And I don't care if they're three years old or 60 or 70 or 80. You're gonna have to come out of that shell because I'm not gonna teach somebody that's in the closet. You have to come out and show up. If you don't show up, you better go home.

And I, I don't even want to stop you, but I, that I, I think people need to hear, may I? About how we get our soul crushed.

Yeah.

When you're talking to me about, you've got to. And that's exactly what I do in career coaching. If you're, if your personality, if you, who you really are, your soul, your spirit has been crushed, forget you're never going to have career success. We've got to get to the bottom of it.

Absolutely.

When you were talking, you know what I remembered, which is traumatic for me. I went to Allstate in New York, got selected to write. We all go. And I was a chubby, you know, 16 year old, but I had a lovely voice, let's face it. But there's 200 kids from all over the state and there was a very famous conductor, very famous. And we're rehearsing Cheryl. And he. 200 people. And he screams to pointing to me, you, you're coming in late on in the measure.

Oh my gosh.

And I'm. And first of all, when someone points and there's 200 people, you know, and so I just cry. I still cry talking about this. I turned and looked like, is he talking to me? He goes, yes, you.

Oh my gosh.

Oh, I, I truly have drama over that. That has now. I can't let it out. I can't let it go. But I must say, I got over it, you know, and I was a little ostracized afterwards. People were like, oh God, geez, she must have been terrible. I got over it. I kept pushing myself. I tried out for St Patrick's Cathedral choir and made it and tried out for this and tried out for that. But to, to your point, when there's been some sort of trauma like that, how do you. And it pertains to the voice to speak up to singing how do you. I mean, we don't have hours. I know, but how you help someone who, you know, you say, look, I don't teach shy people. You got to come out. What. What do you do with someone who's had a traumatic moment? They sang a high F, and it was terrible. What do you do?

Yeah, well, you know, I think you have to just get down to it, relive it. You know, in my. In my studio, it's full of tissue. I have tissue in every corner because, you know, when people come to, you just start crying immediately. You got to break down and get to it. You know, it's like when I have. I have four. There's a. There's a box of tissue at. Near my. Near boxing gloves. One on my desk, one over by the piano, and one in the back, because there's going to be tears. And I think once you address. So when I. When I. When I work with my teachers of all my students of all ages, I address the spirit. So I address the deeper part. It's not like your voice, and sometimes it is the voice, but it's stems from something so much deeper. Kathy. You know what I mean?

I do.

So when I speak, I'm speaking to that deeper part. I'm not worried about. I am worried because I'm very much of a stickler for vocal technique, even though it may not sound like a bad conversation. But you cannot get to that technical part until you get to the nitty gritty and you open up that door and it's just about, you know, just like you said, you know, you still may be dealing with it, but you're not afraid to open up that door again and say, okay, let's look and see what happened. You know, this man. You know, I came there, you know, I was a little kid. You know, it wasn't me. How dare someone embarrass a child in this way? You know, you go back and you re. And you revisit it, and you look and say, you know, was it me? Was it my fault? Was it something that was under my control? And you relive it and you try to understand so you can come to grips with it in so many different ways. I've had so many singers with so many traumas. You know, I have a lot of women that come to me that have, you know, been abused by their husbands. Kathy. And then we do a couple of lessons, and they come back and they said, I left them. I found my voice. Because when you found. When you find your voice, you find Your voice. When you find that voice, you find the voice that's not just the singing voice, but it's your inner voice. And I love to see women, and I love to see people of all ages, but especially women to find that voice to speak up and say, this is. This is. This is not how loud I can sing. This is how loud I can be. This is my power. My voice is my power. This is my strength. So when you find that singing voice, you find so much more, Kathy. And I know you know what I'm talking about, and that is what I teach. I teach the voice, I teach the spirit, and I most definitely teach the vocal technique. But you cannot get to that technique until you get down to the nitty degritty and say, are you going to show up? Up because I'm here. Because if you're not going to show up, I'm not going to show up. But you're going to have to show up. 100 or you save your money, save your time, and I see you when you're ready.

The parallels between what you do and what I do are so similar. You know, like every course I have, people are crying and they always apologize. I said, no, that's it. If you don't. Crying, probably we're not doing the work we need to do. Now let's. Let's hear how you. You morphed from. So you were on stage singing and you were making a living that way, or did you pretty much go right into coaching?

No, you know, I never wanted to coach, you know, and because I was a professional singer. So after college I moved to Italy and, you know, I've had a great. You know, I've been living in Italy for 24 years. I still have a house in Italy. So my husband is. And you're. And I was wondering. So this cat, the Caprino, that's an Italian name. Catarina Caprino.

Dad was Sicilian and there's nothing like Italians and singing. My God.

Oh, honey. Of course. And for 24 years I lived in Italy. I moved to Italy actually to continue after college to continue studying. And instead of studying, I needed immediately started with my career. So I auditioned, did a lot of great things and I've had a wonderful career. And I've sung with this last year. I'm the voice of the circle of life. I'm a Disney singer of the lion king for the Italian version, you know, I've sung for the pope. I've sung with Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Katia Ricciarelli. You Know so many fantastic singers and done so many fantastic things. 30 albums under my belt, you know, traveled all over the world, so I was living as a singer, and that's it. And because I'm a classically trained singer, but I also do gospel, and I also do jazz, and I also do musicals and things like that. People would always ask, do you teach? And I said, no, I don't teach. I'm just a professional singer. I don't. And they would say, well, why don't you coach? I'm like, I don't coach. I was like, I'm a professional singer. And I never did. You know, this coaching thing is just something that sort of. I realized that I had a gift for it, but I was always asked to do, like, master classes and things like that. And then I figured out, I discovered that I loved it. You know, my husband said, well, listen, Cheryl, if people are always asking you to coach, maybe it means that you have a gift for coaching. I'm like, I don't. I was like, I don't want the responsibility. It's like, you know, a coach can either make your life or it can ruin you. It's like, I don't want to be the person to ruin anybody's life. I don't want to be the. I don't want that responsibility. And, you know, my husband said to me, he said, cheryl, listen, I understand what you mean, but in this life, you're responsible for what you do and what you don't do. So if you don't do what you're called to do, then that's just as bad, you know, and as you doing something. I said, oh, my God. And it just. It floored me. You're responsible for what you do in this life and also the things that you refuse to do. So if you're gifted in this and you don't do it, there's a consequence to that. So I said, okay, fine. You win. It was like one of the few. Few arguments that my husband won.

Thank goodness.

Thank.

We thank him.

Yes. We've been married 20 years, and he's. And I said, you know, okay, then I'll. I'll give it a try. And I started training, you know, kids that were going on tv. I started off doing younger. Younger students and then older students. And I found out, Kathy, that I loved it. I found out that it was my calling. I found out that I was great at this thing. I was like. And I was like, where did I learn this? I'm like, where did I learn? And it's like all of the things that I had learned as a singer all of those years on stage, because I do believe, you know, if you're going to teach, you have to come with some experience. So. And I think that's the thing that, that, that shows my difference as a vocal coach, because I did it after I did so like a bio like this long, and then Disney and all of this. And, you know, I've toured, sung in over. Over 35 countries and always been on tour. So it's. The coaching thing was never anything that I wanted to do. Never. And it sort of fell upon me, you know, just fell upon me. And I love it. But I try to do it with. I try to do them justice, you know, so. Especially with me having a beautiful career. Oh, my God, I want that for them. I want that so much for them. I want them to have the experiences that I've had, to meet the people that I've met, to travel around the world. And you don't get a chance to travel around the world to do that solo in your church and say, oh, I. I killed that solo. You know, they still talk about that solo I did on Easter, you know, oh, I did, you know, I killed that Christmas concert, you know. You know, they wanted me to do this solo. That old holy night. There's never been a holy night like God did it back in 22, back in 2015, they still talking about, you know, so it's all of those victories that you have, those. And I don't want to call them small victories because they're actually huge victories, but they're huge victories in small places that can change your life, that change the people's lives when they see you. And I want that for them so much, Kathy. And it's become my life's work. I never thought that I would be here talking to you, talking about coaching, but it's an incredible, incredible honor. Oh, what a story.

There's so much to talk about. Let me just highlight a few things. Can I be honest with you or ask you an honest question? I'm going to give you a parallel. Years ago, a friend of mine said to me, she lives in California, and there's a fantastic radio show. Yeah, I think it's called the Aware Show. And she said to me, I think you'd make an amazing host of a show like that. And truthfully, Cheryl, I mean, I'm being transparent. I was a little bit like, my ego was like, I don't want to be a host of a show. I want to be a guest. That's in my mind.

Yeah.

I gotta say, some of the most fun things I do in the world are interviewing here and in my Forbes blog and my personal blog. So here's my question to you. Do you. In your own life, like when you said, I'm not a coach. I don't want to be a coach. I'm a professional singer, Was there any part of you that was a little bit like, no, my ego is here.

Oh, it was nothing but ego. Nothing but ego. That's all it was. I was like, how dare you call me a coach? I am a performer. You know, it's like, how dare you? And I.

That's how I felt over this.

That's. That's how you feel. And, you know, you see it as a demotion, and it's actually a promotion. And you. It's a promotion. It's. It's really rising you above others. And I didn't see it that way. I didn't see it that way in the beginning, which is why I fought it so hard. So I would do concerts and things like that, and they would say, okay, presenting Cheryl Porter and the singer. And my husband would say, I want them to say vocal coach. And I said, would you please leave this vocal coach thing along if they're presenting alone? Like, if they're presenting. He's like, no, because I want people to know that you're also. And I was like, it. Sort of embarrassed to me. You know what I mean? Kathleen, I felt embarrassed by. It's like, well, I don't. Because, you know, there's also this idea that if you coach, it's because you didn't make it as a singer. And even though you know that. That most definitely is not the case, that stigma and that idea was what got me, you know, it's like, well, I don't want people to think I'm, like, a vocal coach maybe thinking I couldn't make it, you know, that I'm not a professional singer because that's what I do. And it was all ego, selfishness. But. But if you don't. And, you know, you. We're all born to do something exceptional. And you. I don't think. And I'm glad, you know, I made 48 this year, and I. It's incredible that I really feel like I'm finally understanding what I was born to do. Everything had its reason, you know, for me to be here, but now God is like, okay, this is what I was preparing you for. It took 48 years, but now this is what I want you to do. This is. This is what I was. All of that struggle. That's what it was for all of you. Falling on your face. That's what it was for all of you. Not having any money and trying to make it and doing all these shows that you didn't want to do. This is what it's all for. So it's incredible. And I applaud anyone who comes into, quote, unquote, success at a certain age because it takes a while to appreciate it. I'm happy because I most definitely appreciate it more. I feel like I understand it more. I can understand what I've been through more, and I can understand the reason behind it all. And it's. And it's incredible, but I. But it's. It's an. It's an incredible. It's an incredible journey because I put on my online singing course back in. In March.

Yeah, let's hear about your. Your pivoting a little bit. Tell us about the pivot from live to virtual.

Right, right. And so, you know, I started putting on these videos on YouTube and I, you know, I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think any. They were anything huge or anything like that. And I just left it there. I didn't put any attention into YouTube or online or anything like. And I put this video online and a series of videos. And then a couple of weeks later, I went back and a friend of mine. Did you see. Did you see your YouTube page? Because all the videos are in the millions. And I said, what are you talking about? It's like your videos, all your videos are there, like, in the millions of views. And I was like, you're crazy. I was like, what are you talking about? And then she kept telling me about it, and I said, let me just look and see. She's got me mixed up with somebody else. And I looked, Kathy, and all of my videos that I put of me teaching were in the millions, like 9 million, 8 million, 4 million, 3 million. And I was like, what's going. I was like, why are these people loving these videos? Why are these people watching these videos? I had no idea. It wasn't my intention because I always have my students record their lessons so that they can, you know, you have to record the lesson to be able to listen what happened. And also I record the lessons to see where I was going wrong. Maybe when I was a little bit too tough or I was, you know, maybe going on too long until I can learn from my team my mistakes. As well. And then I'll look at my videos, like, oh, Cheryl, why were you being so mean? Or why did you just let it.

Go like you and I are the same person? Because I. I record my courses and I'll look back and say, wow, okay, you. What the heck was that? You were.

Yeah, like, let it go, girl. Let it go.

All right, so. So these, These were videos of your lessons with people?

Yes, they were just of my lessons, and they all went viral. And then at the same time, my. My personal assistant, she said, cheryl, something is going. Is happening because we're getting like 100 requests of vocal lessons a day. And they're from Japan, they're from Israel, they're from France, from all over the world. And I said, well, that's weird. And so I didn't put the two together. And she was telling me, she was like, we have so all of these requests. So basically all of these people were seeing my videos and they were writing me, okay, I'm coming to you. I need to do this lesson. Will you be able to help me? You're the. I saw your video and, you know, you're the only one that could help me and everything like that. And it became like this movement of singers saying, okay, I want to. I want to sing with Cher Porter. I'm. I know she can get something. She can get it out of me because I'm going to get it out of you. I mean, I am. That's. I'm good at that because I'm not going to teach a shell. You have to come out. You know you're going to show up. Because I won't. I don't. I don't accept. And it's easy to say, but I do not accept people not showing up because I will literally kick you out. Because if you don't show up, you know, you have to show up. And it's an emotional show up. So when you walk through that door, you have to be able to say, listen, I've been through this. I've gone through this. And, you know, I tell students, I said, what are you afraid of? Like, I'm afraid of messing up a note. I said, no, you're not. I asked you what you're afraid of. Of. You're not afraid of messing up a. No, no, it ain't got nothing to do with it. What are you afraid of? Tell me what you're afraid of. No, it's just like the note. It's not the note. It's not the note that you're afraid Of.

And are they afraid of humiliation?

Afraid of, you know, afraid of humiliation. Living through, you know, that parent, that father saying, you know, you're not gonna make it. You know, of, you know, times when they were on stage and bond, you know, people have a fear of success, of not being successful, and they also have a fear of success. You know, people do. People are afraid of being successful. There's, you know, people say, you know, well, I don't want to fail. But people are also afraid of not failing because, you know, you struggle your whole life to get something, and then you get it. And it's like, well, okay, well, now how do I deal with this? So it's so many different things that people deal with, you know, and it's just of being successful, of not being successful, of proving to yourself that you could do something that you never thought you could do, you know, of kid issues, family issues, physical issues. You know, I won the most beautiful lessons in my life, and I hate that I didn't record. It was with the young lady from Verona. She was in a wheelchair. And, you know, we do, like, in my studio, we always start off dancing, and so we just. I'm just rolling her around my studio. My studio is huge. I have, like, the lower floor in a hotel. So my studio is humongous because I want it to be, like, as big as a stage. So we're, like, walking around, and I'm, like, pushing, and we, like, dancing around and everything like that. We have such a good time, and we get ready to sing the song. And I said, girl, you have to give me some power. And she said, well, you know, I was like, I don't care if you in a wheelchair. You got power. I said, no, no, come up here. I said, you have to come. See? I said, I told you. I said, you have to give me that support. Give me that support. I said, you're sitting, but you can't sing like this. You give me that posture, and just, like, if you're standing, you give me that vocal support and you feel that approach on that chair. You should have heard this girl's voice, how it flew out. Kathy. It was still one of the most magnificent moments I've ever seen in my teaching career. And she said, oh, my God, I'm exhausted. I said, that's because you finally singing, girl. Said, guess what? Singing is tiring. So. Oh, my God, I'm exhausted. Is that me? Is that you? I said, yes, girl, that's you. Don't you let that chair get you down. You sitting down. But you better stand up.

Can I tell for people who are listening, I want to say this. I think why you're so able to do that is you. This is my. You know, I know you for 20 minutes. Minutes. But you have this ability to hold someone's hand to the fire, but do it with love. There's this interesting interplay between. I'm not gonna let you be less than you are, but it ain't easy. No, you're hard on them, but with so much love that you create the space for that, I think. Would you agree with that?

I love them, Kathy. I love him. You know, I didn't. I didn't know my students. For some strange reason, they all call me Mama. I don't know where this Mama thing came from, but I think I never said anybody, okay, you can call me Mama. But they all call me. They all call me Mama. And I think it's because they feel that, okay, Mama's telling me this is because she loves me. It's not because she wants the worst for me. She wants the best for me. And I love them. I love them so much. I mean, these people have changed my life, have shown me my life's mission, has made a life of which I thought I was nice into something extraordinary. Because there's nothing like knowing what your gift is and living that gift. But I wouldn't have not. I wouldn't have been ready. You know, I wasn't ready at 20. I wasn't ready at 30. I wasn't ready at 40. I'm ready now to do it. And you have to be the age to receive it. It and to understand it and not to. Not to blow it. Either. You don't want to either blow it.

Oh, my God, I love every word. Now let's.

Can we.

Can we. What's that?

Is that me?

Oh, yeah. I'm hearing myself echoing. Cheryl, did something just change?

I don't think so. For me, everything is pretty much the same. All right.

Oh, let's see. All right. Okay, let's try. And I'm so aware of our time, but I would love to talk about the pivot that you did. And, you know, so we're talking about how to pivot and soar in the creative business. You. You love.

So.

So when this thing happened where you were getting millions of views, which is so miraculous, isn't it? Yeah. You threw it. And there's another interesting tip, people. You know, I've written two books. You can get obsessed with the vanity metrics of your stuff, looking on Amazon, how is it ranking? Look at how many views I have on this, how many followers. Yeah, don't do it. Don't do it. Yes. These are indicators of how successful we are, in a way. But look at you. You threw it up there and you didn't even know. I mean, in some way, we have to be in the flow of what the universe is ready to give us and what. What we're ready to. But sitting there, looking, refreshing the page, looking at your views.

Oh, God.

Yeah, it's just gonna snuff out your spirit.

It.

But anyway, talk a little more about the pivot. So now you're not doing this live with people, right? During what's been happening, then how do you do it?

In February, I finished my tour. I had 40 concerts in Italy, from. From in Italy, France and Switzerland, from. In two months. So I was on tour and a winter tour in Italy, and I finished my last concert in January in France. And, you know, I said goodbye to my. To my team. And, you know, I was always in the process of. Of creating a vocal method, because I didn't know it, but I already had a vocal method created for years because it was the method. So when I first started teaching, I was looking for teaching tools, and I didn't find anything that I liked. Kathy, you know, it's like, I was like, these exercises are bummed. Like, this is the same stuff that, you know, people have been doing in the old bel canto days. I was like, you know, it has to be something more complex. It has to be something more comprehensive. There has to be something more fun. So already in the beginning, I started writing my own vocal exercises for my students. I never use anything that I found. Everything that I use in the share port of vocal method is mine. I created it. And so I had this vocal method. I didn't know that it was a vocal method. One day, a friend of mine, an opera singer in Italy, her name is Veronica Granatiero, fantastic opera singer. She says, sarah, when are you going to publish your vocal method? I'm thinking, I don't have a vocal method. She's like, you do have a vocal method. It's like, you've already created a method. All you have to do is publish it, you know, do a book or do something. And so that stayed in my mind. And I was in the process of. Of getting the vocal method together, and we were getting everything together and doing everything. I finished my tour, and in this last week of January, we started hearing about COVID in Italy. And so, you know, that was ground zero. And I said, guido, I said, listen, we're going to the States. I said, if Covid comes to Italy, we're going to the States. I said, I'm not going to be here in Italy. If we have to choose where to be, we're going to be in the States. And so we were there, and there was like one case In Italy, then three cases and four cases, and then it got up to 35 cases, and they were right around my house. I said, guido, we're leaving. We have to leave today. We have to leave. And my husband like, oh, Sherry, you know, you're just exaggerating. It's not a big deal. Because there was only 35 cases in Italy. I said, 35. I said, then next week is going to be 350. Then it's going to be in the thousands. I said, we're leaving and we're leaving now. And he's like, oh, why are you exaggerating? It's not going to be that serious. Not that big of a deal. And so we were in the process of negotiations in Los Angeles for a big project that I was preparing. And I said, guido, listen, if Covid comes to Italy, we're not going to be able to get out, and I'm going to miss everything that's going on. I said, listen, maybe I'm wrong. I said, but I think we should leave right now before it gets bad. So he said, okay, fine. Let's just go. I packed up all of my stuff. I called my travel agent. I said, andrea, are planes still leaving in Italy? And he laughed at me. He said, why would you say something like that? I said, because the coronavirus is coming to Italy and they're going to shut down. Said they're going to shut down the world. He's like, oh, you're so silly. Why would you say something like that? I said, because the number. That's what the number. And no one was talking about this at the time, Kathy, but no one was talking about it. I said, listen. I said, I need a flight out tonight. He said, well, Cheryl's. No flights out tonight. I said. I said, give me the first flight out. He said, when you wanna leave? I said, tomorrow morning at 6. He said, okay, I'll book you on KLM. Packed up all of my stuff.

Wow, Kathy.

Listen, we. There was a. There. I finished my tour. And I'm the kind of person, Kathy, that I always invest in myself. I finished my tour. Didn't make as much money as I would have liked to have Made. I didn't make Harley. I didn't make what I should have made. I didn't make a lot of money. So I finished my tour, still don't have any, any, any money. And I knew I needed to go to the States. I'm like, oh, my God, I need to go to States. I don't have any money. You know what I'm going to do? I need to, you know, put this money off my course. I paid like $10,000 for the website and I paid in some other thousands of dollars for, like, the pictures and the graphics. So I'm out of money, honey. I have anything, Kathy? I had nothing. But I needed to get to the States and I needed to get my method out and I needed to get everything together. So my travel agent, we've been working together for years, he gets me the tickets. I was like, okay, I'll get you the money back when. I'll get you the money back when I get it. So we fly to the States, we fly to Chicago, and the method is in the process of coming out. The person who was supposed to have finished the website for us was supposed to come out on, like, the 10th, wrote us an email the night before the launch of the course, which was going to save us, you know, from, you know, from gloom. I had asked my mother. My mother had loaned me every one of her credit cards. She had given me seven credit cards. I was lifting up living off of credit cards. Kathy. And a friend of mine, a really good friend of mine, Darrell hill, loaned me $15,000 because I still hadn't finished with the website and creation. So I had nothing. I had nothing but debt living off of my mom's credit cards. And my friend Darryl Hill, who gave me the money for the tickets. I needed to get to LA and pay for, like, my hotel. I need to get another ticket to pay for another kid who I'm supposed to coach, who was doing America's Got Talent. And I was down to nothing. I mean, nothing, nothing, nothing. Every day I'm like, well, how much is on this credit card? How much is on this credit card? How much will I have on this credit card? But I said, listen, and after we get. If we, If I could just get over this hump, get my course online. I know we're going to sell some courses because people have been asking for this course, and I know we're going to, you know, we're going to happen. I didn't have, like this great expectation, but I knew it was going to be enough that I could live off of. So, you know, we finally get to get the course. The person who was supposed to do the website in Italy the day before the launch writes us a letter and says, my uncle has the coronavirus. I can't finish your website.

My goodness.

So here we are. No money, no website, no course, no nothing. I spent two days crying. I said, lord, what has happened? Why is this happening to me? You know, And I had given this. This guy $10,000 to do my website. So that's money lost, Kathy. So not only did he not finish the site, I gave him the last of the money that I had to finish the website. And so I'm without a side, without any money, without a job, without anything in the United States. The whole world is shut down. Can't do lessons, do anything, whatever. Completely broke with, like, in. I go online and I said, lord, I know that there's a guy out there, somebody who can help me get my website done. Lord, I know you didn't bring me this far to leave me. I found this guy named George Abu Zayd. And he. I said, listen. I said, george, my name is Sheryl Porter. You know, I'm a YouTuber, and I have this course that's already ready. Everything is ready. The guy who's supposed to have done our website left us, you know, because his family was afflicted with the coronavirus. Can you help us? He said, when do you need to get the website out? I said, three days. Days. He said, I can get it to you in four. So we give him all this stuff. He does the website. My mom is loaning me all this money on her credit card. This. I mean, I was used. I've only lived off of these credit cards because I'm staying in a hotel, you know, my meals, my husband, everything like that. We finally put the course out. Kathy, I'm in nothing, honey, but debt. And in the first day. And we didn't do, like, a really great marketing because at the time, I didn't do, like, you know, click funnels and things like that, that in the first day, I just put on my. On Facebook, my courses out. In the first day, we made $200,000 in the first month. I made my first million, honey. The first million. I ain't gonna tell you how it went after that, but the first million was in a month.

Look at that smile, people. Oh, my gosh, Cheryl. What?

The first honey. And Kathy, it was the craziest thing because I had no money, I had no prospects, but I had my faith. I Said, I know this is going to work. You know, I invested not only the last penny that I had, but the money of others. And when my mother was giving me her card, I said, mama, I said, next week, I'm gonna give you all your money back. And she didn't believe. I said, mama, next. I said. I said, next month I'm going to be a millionaire, Mom. I said, I can just feel it. And she's like, yeah, whatever. Wow. Cheryl. All right, listening point. That's the pivoting point. When I understood.

Can I glean out. And then we. I'm aware of our time here, but let me glean out what I hear, can I, of this incredible inspirational story. First of all, you're very divinely guided. You listen. You listen. That whole story was. Look, there's 35. 35 Covid cases. I'm. I'm leaving. And everyone's like, what. What a nervous. Nervous. They're thinking, you know, you listened. That. That came from, I think, the universe.

Yes.

God. You know, our spiritual guidance. Secondly, you also listen to, you know, your husband was an angel in your life.

Oh, Lord, yes.

You know, he's nudging you. Look, coach. Say you're a coach. Get out there. And don't forget to say you're a coach.

Yeah.

You're also. You also are surrounded by people that have, you know, divine guidance in themselves, and you listen. Right. Thirdly, and I believe that entrepreneurs who really are on the edge have to have this. Sometimes you got to do stuff financially that your financial advisor would say, you're absolutely crazy.

Exactly.

And I've done it. I've done it. It hasn't paid off in that way yet, but this year, here we come. But sometimes you just have to take the leap. I don't mean every minute. I don't mean go broke every three days. Yeah, but sometimes you got to do it.

Yep.

Would you agree with those lessons?

Oh, yes, Kathy, for sure. You have to. When they say go for broke is serious. When they say golf, go for broke. To the last dime. And even lower. If. And if you really believe. If you believe it, believe it. Believe it, and you can see it. You know how it is, Kathy. You're a dreamer. And you know how you can see it. You know when you get that vision in your mind and you see it and I tell people what. What you see is not a dream. That's your reality waiting for you. But you got to make it. It's not just a fantasy. That's something concrete that you can actually make Happen. And I most definitely agree with what you're saying. You have to do the, the impossible. To do impossible things. You know, impossible things is not going to come from rationale. You know, you can, you can move the world and do crazy things by doing rational things. You can do something crazy by doing something crazy. You get something incredible by taking incredible risk, by taking incredible chances, by leaving, by believing in yourself in an incredible way. So you have to be willing to do that crazy to get that crazy blessing to get those crazy answers. And that's. It all goes back into are you going to show up or not? It all goes back to that. Kathy, are you going to do this? Are you really going to show up? 100%. It goes right back to where we started. We finished it in this interview with where we started. Are you going to show up or not? Oh, I love it.

And I'm going to leave everyone with this one thought. And Cheryl, tell me what you think. There's this wonderful book Maria Nemeth wrote, the Energy of Money. There's a quote in that book that I literally fell off my chair. Literally. She says people are happiest when they're demonstrating in physical reality what they know to be true about themselves.

Yes.

When they're giving form to their life intentions in ways that help others.

That's so true.

Is there a truer word that's ever been spoken?

Never.

First of all, you demonstrated this is me. This is me. And I'm coming out in the biggest way. Number two, you, I think you have life intentions. I think they are to be of service with your gift. Right?

I do. I do.

And you are helping others. I think when we put all of that together, we can really fly in ways we never even dreamed.

I believe it. I believe it with all my heart. Kathy.

What a story. Cheryl. Oh, my God, I could go on for hours.

Kathy, it's crazy. It is crazy, girl. And I told, you know, I was doing it interview, and it's like, well, you know, what's happened? Your 2020. I said, I'll tell you, I never thought I would have been a millionaire this year. I tell you that. But if you would have asked me last year, I would have been like, I just want to be able to pay my rent.

I'm so thrilled that you've had these blessings. But I know you've, you've met the universe where it. You got to come out of the gate and meet halfway, right?

Absolutely. And I, and I say that, you know, and I think you're the only person this is the first interview I've ever done that I've told about the monetary part. And I'm doing it because I think, you know, before I just did. I didn't. You know, it's a bad year for a lot of people, and I'm just thankful for my blessings. I'm thankful for abundance in a time of famine. But. And I tell you because I want anyone who's hearing this to be inspired by it. You have to get to the lowest of your low to get to your height. So when you get down to that low, you know, see it as an opportunity. When you can't go any lower, you really can't go anywhere but up. And I want people to understand I was at my lowest. I didn't have a dime to my name, honey, but nothing but debt. But I did believe in myself, and I kept at it. And I want whoever is listening to this, do not give up on yourself. That dream that you have, it is a reality waiting to happen. It depends on if you're going to show up, if you're going to work through the tears, through the damage, through the emotion, if you're willing to work, work through all of that and get to that prize. It is there. And I want people to believe in themselves because I truly believe, Kathy. You know, like I said, maybe I'm modest, like you said in the beginning, but I truly believe if I can do this, anyone can do this. But it will take a lot of work. It's going to take a lot of tears. It's going to take a lot of determination. And no one, no, there's no one out there who does not have the tools inside. We are all born with the tools to do what we need to do. There's nobody with a dream, and the universe is not giving us the tools to do it. So we all have it in this, Cathy. We all have it in us. And I just hope people have the courage and the patience and the will to dig deeper and to get. To get to what we need to get to to fulfill our destiny. Oh, I love it.

And I think we have to get out of our own way, frankly, half the time that's the problem.

Oh, wow.

Now, where do we learn of you? Where do we take your courses? Where do we get a lesson so you can help my old person, Vibrato. Not old, not old. Mature, seasoned singer. Vibrato. I need help with that.

Oh, honey, listen. I have two courses out. One is called the Share Port of Vocal Method, and there are 60 vocal exercises and you know, I believe, you know, like, I love how you said, listen, I need help with my vibrato. And there was all one whole chapter just on improving vibrato. So it's like singers, I believe that, you know, when you teach vocal technique because you're you. You have great technique, because a lot of singers wouldn't be able to identify that as a vibrato problem. So I break down those. Okay, These are for high notes. This is for register. This is for tone. This is for timbre. This is for vibrato. And I have some excellent exercises for vibrato. And it's all about the muscle. You know, the voice is a muscle. So as you get older, those muscles may get weak, but you can build those muscles back up. That's why, why as women get older and men, they call it the warble. You know, the bravado becomes like a warble. Yeah, you just got to work on those because those muscles become flex. You just have to work and get those muscles back in shape. You know, you can do it. And the website is cheraportermethod.com and then on the 20, on the 18th of December, my new course is coming out. You want to know what it's called? It's called Hit those High Notes, baby. And it's dedicated only to hitting high notes.

I'm on it. Everything you teach, I need right this minute. I love you to pieces, Cheryl.

I love you, too, Kathy. Thank you.

Inspirational story. Thank you for being here. Come back again when you're a, you know, when you're a trillionaire.

We'll have you back on. I would love it. I would love it. Kathy, thank you so much for what you're doing. Thank you for. For inspiring people. Thank you for putting a light on my story. I appreciate it with all my heart, and I hope that my story will help others. And God bless and keep on shining.

Ms. Kathy, you, too, rise and thrive like.

Yes, honey, yes.

All right, people, if you're singing, you want to dance. Dancers dance, singers sing, writers write. Do it, do it. I'm sure if you take Cheryl's course, you're going to be unlocked in so many ways. Hop over there. I'm going to do that today. Thank you, dear.

Thank you, Kathy. Love you, dear. Bye, listeners. Have a good night. Bye. You, too, dear. Bye. Thank you.

Bye. Thanks so much for joining us today. And please don't forget to check out findingbrave.org for more programs, resources, and tips. And tune in next time for your weekly dose of finding brave.