Your Passaggi Professor with Sarah Neely

Bumping Into Your Old Self at a Conference

This week Sarah is at her first national NATS conference in San Antonio — presenting with colleagues, reconnecting with old mentors, and standing in the same city where she did her master’s degree. It should feel like a full-circle moment. And it mostly does. But it also brings up something she didn’t expect: old scarcity thinking, old comparison spirals, and a version of herself she thought she’d outgrown. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why scarcity and comparison mindsets can resurface even after you’ve done real work on your confidence * What happened when an old mentor retold a story from Sarah’s past — and why the discomfort that followed was actually useful information * Why awareness has to come before you can make any real change to a pattern * How the same tools that work for social or identity triggers apply directly to performance anxiety * Why you shouldn’t expect a triggered feeling to disappear immediately — and what to do instead * How to normalize being in the “messy middle” of change, without needing to have it all figured out ✨ Coming next: Adventures abroad and preparing repertoire while on the road. 📣 Resources & Mentions * Sarah’s Performance Anxiety series — Episodes 15 & 16 🔔 Subscribe & Review If this episode helped you, please share it with a fellow singer or creative who needs a dose of healthy self-confidence. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, leaving a rating and review is one of the best ways to help more singers find this work. 📲 Connect with Sarah * Instagram: @sarahsingersmindset * Newsletter: sarah-neely.kit.com/d7d3234f95 [https://sarah-neely.kit.com/d7d3234f95] 🎵 Music Credit “Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [http://incompetech.com]) Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com [https://yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Scraped Knees and Reframed Stories

This week, Sarah set out to have a fun, carefree vacation in Mexico — and ended up with a scraped-up knee, a stomach bug, and an unexpected case study in her own coaching tools. What started as an embarrassing scooter accident on a quick lunch run turned into a real-time lesson in noticing the stories we tell about ourselves, and why those stories matter more than the actual event. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why noticing your thoughts — and not automatically buying into them — is so important, even when you have plenty of evidence to back the story up * The difference between excusing yourself out of accountability and giving yourself grace for where you were in the moment * Why becoming the next version of yourself requires thinking and acting in ways that don’t yet match who you currently are * How the stories we carry about ourselves, even unconsciously, can shape what we attract into our lives * Why reframing isn’t about ignoring what went wrong — it’s about choosing what you focus on moving forward ✨ Coming next:Next week, Sarah will be in San Antonio presenting at the National NATS Conference. 🔔 Subscribe & ReviewIf this episode resonated with you, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen. It helps this podcast reach more singers who need these tools. 📲 Connect with SarahInstagram: @sarahsingersmindset 🎵 Music Credit“Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com [https://yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Trial, Error, and the Beginner's Mindset

I’m recording this one from a balcony in Mexico, coffee in hand, after a walk past more bougainvillea than I knew what to do with. This episode is less scripted, more freewheeling. It ended up touching on AI, rest, beginner’s mindset, and how to practice in a hotel room without losing your mind. Consider it a grab bag of hot tips from vacation brain. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why I’m experimenting with a less-scripted format this week — and what prompted it * The tension between using AI to overcome resistance and using it in a way that skips real thinking * Why “B-minus and done” can be more valuable than perfect and never finished * What beginner’s mindset is and why it matters for technique, character work, and score study * Why I built a daily “slow start” into my schedule, and why rest doesn’t look the same for everyone * Practical strategies for practicing or warming up in less-than-ideal spaces, including SOVT options that don’t require a straw * Why drilling memorization, subtext work, and physicalized practice matter even when you can’t sing full out * How to reframe practicing under pressure as a form of performance practice 📣Resources & Mentions * Jules Acres — Slow Brew newsletter (inspiration for Sarah’s “slow start” routine) * Brené Brown and Adam Grant — conversation on AI and the value of thinking 🔔 Subscribe & Review If this episode helped you, please share it with a fellow singer or creative who needs a dose of healthy self-confidence. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, leaving a rating and review is one of the best ways to help more singers find this work. 📲 Connect with Sarah * Instagram: @sarahsingersmindset * Newsletter: sarah-neely.kit.com/d7d3234f95 [https://sarah-neely.kit.com/d7d3234f95] 🎵 Music Credit “Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [http://incompetech.com]) Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com [https://yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Best Investment You'll Ever Make

What’s the one investment that never loses its value — no matter what the economy does, what technology disrupts, or what unexpected detour life throws at you? In this episode, Sarah gets personal. Drawing on her own winding path through burnout, career pivots, and some unexpected detours, she makes the case that investing in your own mind, skills, and resilience is the most important thing a singer — or any creative person — can do. She also shares her current, evolving thinking on AI and adaptability in an uncertain world. You’ll learn: * Why an investment doesn’t have to pay off the way you expected to still be worth it * How career detours build the adaptability muscle you’ll draw on for the rest of your life * Why neuroplasticity — keeping your brain flexible and learning new things — matters long after formal education ends * How to think intentionally about where you invest your finite time and energy * Sarah’s current (and openly evolving) take on AI and what it means for singers ✨ Coming next: Season 2 continues — Sarah takes you on the road with her through a summer of performing, traveling, presenting, and learning. 🔔 Subscribe & Review If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen. It helps this podcast reach more singers who need these tools. 📲 Connect with Sarah Follow along on Instagram: @sarahsingersmindset Link in bio to join the weekly newsletter and grab your free resource, The Singer’s Survival Guide: 5 Mindset Shifts for Life, Auditions, and Everything In Between. 🎵 Music Credit “Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com [https://yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Pastiche Career:

What if the non-linear, patchwork nature of a singer’s career isn’t a problem to solve — but actually the point? In this Season 2 premiere, Sarah introduces the concept of the pastiche career: the idea that a life in music is rarely a straight line, and that the patchwork of jobs, skills, roles, and creative projects that make up a singer’s career is something worth understanding — and even celebrating. Drawing on her own overwhelmingly full summer as a living example, Sarah reframes what it means to build a life in the arts. You’ll learn: * What pastiche means and why it’s the perfect metaphor for a singer’s career * Why the non-linear path is often presented negatively — and why that framing does singers a disservice * How even a “stable” university job is its own kind of pastiche * What it looks like to consciously choose this life — and own that choice * Why the adaptability you build in a pastiche career is one of the most valuable things you can develop as a human being ✨ Coming next: In the next episode, we’re continuing the conversation with a topic that came directly out of this one: investing in yourself, adaptability in an uncertain world, and why developing you is the most resilient thing you can do as an artist. 🔔 Subscribe & Review If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen. It helps this podcast reach more singers who need these tools. 📲 Connect with Sarah Follow along on Instagram: @your_passaggi_professor Link in bio to join the weekly newsletter and grab your free resource, The Singer’s Survival Guide: 5 Mindset Shifts for Life, Auditions, and Everything In Between. 🎵 Music Credit “Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com [https://yourpassaggiprofessor.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]