Your Authentic Voice In Business With Ziza Natur – Episode 22

Ziza Natur is a voice coach & mentor, award-winning singer, musician, writer & performer based in Bucharest, Romania. She has worked as a singer, actress, performer, music composer, radio host, journalist, TV collaborator, film director assistant & cultural event promoter to name a few. She has qualifications in theatre, journalism and media communications and is about to get her 3rd degree in music and vocal coaching. She now helps entrepreneurs with their communications & visibility strategy to become superstars in their businesses.

Connect with Ziza

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ziza-natur/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/the_voiceofpower/

0:31 Welcome to the Confidence in Singing Podcast. I’m Aideen. My guest today is Ziza Natur. She’s from Bucharest, in Romania. And welcome, Ziza.

0:45 thank you. Thank you so much, Aideen for having me.

0:47 Oh, it’s so exciting to have you. Let me tell everyone a little bit about you. Ziza is a public speaking voice coach and mentor. And she’s an award winning singer, musician, writer and performer. She’s worked as a singer, actress, performer, music composer, radio host, journalist, mentor, TV collaborator, film director, assistant, and cultural event promoter to name a few. She has qualifications in theater journalism, and media communications, and is about to get her third degree in music and voice vocal coaching. She now helps entrepreneurs with their communications and visibility strategy to become superstars in their business. So interesting what you’re doing, and so exciting to get to hear your take on using singing and sound, not just for your mental health and your well-being and to have fun, but also in your work. Tell us a little bit about the degree that you’re currently taking, and how you’re relating, singing and music, to performance in a work environment.

1:57  This is really exciting for me, it’s actually a conclusion that I came to after working with entrepreneurs for a while, because I knew music was really beneficial in our lives in general since I was in the middle of it. But somehow I wasn’t very sure if this would help other people who don’t have a background in music. But I started to incorporate working with music, doing voice training, and creating singing affirmations for people to just help them feel much, much better and more confident using different types of frequencies. And after a while, I realized, hey, they feel much better, they start their day off much better. And their musical perception, the perception of the pitches is much, much, much better. So it’s not just the voice training, the vocal technique, this has also improved, they hear pitches much better. So I said, Okay, I need to use this in my degree paper. And this is what I’m currently working on. It’s this theory that using music and music related activities into your daily routine, will increase your work performance, you will have better focus, you will have a better emotional state when you get to work. So obviously, this will contribute to your business success.

3:15 Amazing, I love it. And this is something that I think could really transform someone’s life, especially someone who’s not currently interacting with music a lot, because people who don’t interact with music a lot, they forget how good music helps them to feel. And also, I’m a big believer in that, you know, when we use music and singing that are that we are better problem solving because of the interactions between the left and right side of the brain, when we are using music in our daily lives. So I am so excited for this to see your results and to see how people in your test subjects how they do. So yes,

4:03 I am very curious about that as well, because you start with an idea, but you have no idea where it will go. But I do have a hunch that is going to be even better than expected with some people, even if not at all.

4:14 Well, I really think so because one of the things that I’ve been reading a book called The Happiness Advantage, and it suggests that just being happier helps you to solve problems better. And I know for me, singing makes me feel happy.

4:30 Yes, yes. And I think it’s the same with everyone. Who would be sad after singing?

4:35 exactly, exactly. So tell me a little bit more about your background and what your journey has been to doing what you’re doing now.

4:48 my journey has been quite complex. I’ve started as a singer, so I’ve been on stage for more than 22 years, but it’s been different environments that say I started as a singer And I’ve attended multiple singing competitions, then I’ve transitioned towards theater, it seemed like a no brainer that I need to put them together. Because I am a huge advocate of synergies and mixing up the arts to just create a much richer experience for yourself as an artist and also for the public. And then I transitioned into public speaking competitions, it just seemed like I have a powerful message that I want to showcase using different types of expressing yourself. And after a while, after working in all sorts of environments, the ones that were the ones that you mentioned, in the beginning, I realized that I have this wealth of knowledge that I can put together because all of these the communication side of things, journalism, the public speaking, the theater, and the music, they can be combined into something really helpful and very supportive. For people. This is how I managed to find this niche, let’s say, where I help business owners, because I’ve asked myself, okay, who is this going to be useful to singers, okay, they get this kind of training in school, and actors, they get it in school, who needs to be in front of audiences, but doesn’t have this kind of training. So then I said, Okay, entrepreneurs because they get exposure, and they don’t get that kind of training. And this is where they stumble, where they get afraid to show up, and they don’t know how to do it, right. So this is where I am helping them with that. And obviously being so passionate about singing, I subtly incorporated voice coaching into the sessions and working with music, because in my mind is why it was like this is going to be useful. I know it will be. And obviously in the beginning, they experienced some resistance. They were like, how, how is this going to help me in my journey? I was like, try it. And you’ll see, this is something that you feel, no matter how much I explain it, you won’t know how beneficial it is unless you feel it. And then they were like, Oh, wow, you were right. You were writing this is so helpful.

7:10 Yes, it’s almost like, you’ve come to it the opposite way to me, because I’ve always been about the singing. And then I realized I started working with people who also had small businesses, and they were asking for my help. And it’s almost like we are serving some of the same kinds of people, but from completely different angles, and doing such similar things like vocal warm ups and things like that. And I love what you’re saying, because I think a lot of it comes down to presence. And for me, presence is about self-awareness. And it’s about self-love. It’s about accepting who you are right now, how your voice sounds, what it’s capable of, and you know, becoming comfortable in your own skin. So that when you’re talking about something that’s you really believe in, that you’re not too self-conscious, and to worried about how it’s coming across. So it makes complete sense to me.

8:06 Yes, yes. I really think that this kind of support that we offer can help so many people, when you think about singing lessons and voice training, it seems very narrow. Oh, no, this is just for singers is for people who need to sing on stage or to speak on stage. But it’s actually much more expansive than that. We may not be able to make the connection right away. But when we step into it, we realize how much it influences other aspects of our lives as well.

8:38 Absolutely. And for me as well, I love the idea of bringing listening into singing, you know, so and I think this is really important for public speaking as well, where you pause, but when we pause when we speak or sing, if we’re overly thinking about what the next thing is. We’re not in a relationship with that moment. We’re not, we’re kind of in our heads about it. So I’m sure that comes up a lot for some of your clients too.

9:08 it does. It does. Obviously, when it comes to public speaking, the voice coaching is just one side of the support. Because then it’s about how do I help them get out of their heads, and finally release their voice and be confident to express it. And even if they stumble a little bit or they make a mistake, they learn not to make such a big deal out of it and find a way to move forward and a way that represents who they are. So it is something that comes up very often. And it could be also related to this difficulty of connecting your inner voice, let’s say, to your physical voice. Sometimes it’s hard you’re not able to verbalize what you think or how you feel. Because you’ve created all of those fears around you. I don’t know what people will say about me. What if they will judge me? I don’t know. If what I’m saying is right, if it’s acceptable, and all those fears create that, let’s say obstacle, they put the obstacle that cannot connect your physical voice with the spiritual one or the inner one, you can call it however you want. But it’s that little thing that you hear inside, and that wants to come out of your mouth.

10:20 Yes, I really love that. Because I think entrepreneurs are often guided by this instinct that they have, you know, so they might not call it their inner voice or their spiritual voice, but they, they maybe have this, like gut instinct, I want to do this, you know, I’m passionate about this thing. And, for me, I really knew when I wanted to, to get back into using music and in my work, and I just said, you know, okay, I need some help here. But I made a little kind of request or prayer. And I said, next year, I want to spend 70% of my time doing something music related, even if I earn in other ways. And I had a little voice come into my head that it didn’t feel like my voice. And it said, Do this singing workshop, do singing workshop for adults. And I was like, I don’t want to do that. But that’s teaching. You know, I like I’m a performer. So we get guidance, sometimes in our own minds. That isn’t what we thought we wanted, but is another way forward. So I really love you bringing up the inner voice. Because I think that if we tune into our own inner voice, and we tune into that subtle voice and the still silent kind of, you know, communication going on, that it can be very powerful and bring us in a new direction sometimes.

11:44 Oh, yes. Sometimes we don’t even realize how powerful it can be. If we just let it guide us. I think I am a little bit lucky. Because whenever I get that creative nudge, let’s say the instinct, it’s very loud. And I’m like, I need to do this right now. I know, this is how I got the inspiration to create the singing affirmations as a support for people. And if you were to think about it at a first level, how did how is this going to help people? Will they even want to do it? Maybe they, it’s not gonna resonate with them. But I had that calling, I need to do this, I need to create them. And I started to test them in all sorts of environments. On clubhouse when I was doing my workshops, my networking events, and people were like, wow, these are so amazing. And I was actually singing with you. And I was like, Hey, I guess they’re enjoying them. So there is a reason why I’m doing them. And then people started to ask about them more and more, when are we going to do them, because I just feel so good after. So I was like, hey, you know what, it’s a good thing that you listen to that instinct, even if it made no sense at all. In the beginning, I don’t think anyone would want to try them, they will probably just listen to them in the background the most. But they are actually singing with me. And I think this, this is wonderful, because these managed to help a lot of people open up a little bit more to singing people who weren’t singing before. And I think this is a huge milestone.

13:17 Absolutely. And it’s all about making something more real. And you know, when you say something like, I am happy, or you write down, I am happy or you saying I’m happy, you know, it all becomes more and more real and more and more, you’re basically manifesting. By bringing it more deeply, you’re using more of your senses. And when we seeing we’re using our whole body, so we’re really, we can feel it a lot more than just saying the words.

13:51 Yeah, this was actually the thought process behind it. After I had that little creative hit. I said, Okay, this is because affirmations are powerful. But singing is also even more powerful. Because singing actually heals the heart. This is how I feel about it. So I said, Why not put them together. And this is going to maximize the potential of both of the tools. So let’s put them together. And this is how they were born.

14:17 that’s a beautiful, a beautiful idea. And, and I love that what you said about you know, singing heals the heart because I know for a fact that more emotions come through our voice when we sing about something than when we speak about it often. And we can kind of experience ourselves at a deeper level through a song than through talking with our therapist, you know, we can be in tears because of the breakup or whatever it is when we hear a song that and that allows us to feel what’s real for us and allows us to move that emotion and allows things to change. Because sometimes we’re too afraid to look at something and not being able to look at it. Kind of keeps it there. It doesn’t actually change, it doesn’t actually, you can’t heal it, if you’re not willing to look at it and say a music allows us to look at stuff that is hard to look at sometimes.

15:14 Yes, yes, it does, it does. Because I think that there are some things that we cannot explain very well through words. But if we use music, it seems to be much more encompassing of a feeling. You hear a sound, you hear some tones, and you are just overwhelmed with emotion, with so many things that are very hard to put into words, but you feel them very strongly in your heart. So this is why I think that music is much more powerful than words. If we can pair it with powerful words, it, it gets even bigger.

15:56 Definitely, and sometimes I think, when I’ve been working with students with singing, I’ve realized that they think they’re singing only about very sad songs for you know, the every single song is bad, like sad things. And which is good, I think, because it helps to heal some of that. But what you’re saying also is when we pair the music with powerful words, and powerful ideas, that that can be even more transformative.

16:21 Yes, yes, I think so. I think so. And we can go on to different into different directions, let’s say with music, obviously, you can use it as a means to express your feelings, even if they are sad right now, because you need to let them out. And as long as you’re suffering, you might as well create art out of it, right. So you won’t suffer in vain, because you’ve created art. And it could be the other direction where you use music to empower yourself, and to lift up your spirits and to have a really bright and shiny day. And just to make you feel. You know, it’s I think it’s just two big feelings that music can create. One of them is suffering, but not in vain. So you still feel empowered, and the other one is feeling enlightened, and happy and full of joy. And both of them are super necessary in life. Right?

17:17 100% I love it. Love it. Love it, love it. I actually know of a guy who writes power songs with people, he does something similar to what you’re doing. So that’s really interesting. I was trying to get him on the podcast, but it hasn’t happened just yet. Would you like to share a singing affirmation with our listeners today? And give them a little taste of that as an experience?

17:43 Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I like to use background tracks that I’ve created myself as well. And I Okay, I like to use it say medium ranges the most, just because they are the most calming ones. So I’ve actually put them into series, depending on what we’re working on that week. It can be affirmations around embracing your creativity and being super open to expressing yourself to being very confident in the process and accepting that things can come at the perfect moment. So they are different, and I like to change them up sometimes. And it really depends on the context, but they can vary from I am complete to I embrace my creativity fully to I am excited about sharing my story. I love my voice, obviously, I love my voice is always present over there. So it really depends on the feeling that we’re looking to create. But I love playing around with them all the time.

18:47 it’s beautiful. I do I love affirmations. They’re. They can really be useful. I have one here reached for the stars sticker on my computer. And so we so you, so it’s probably more difficult to share them in the podcast format, because you don’t have your backing tracks there. But that gives you a little idea, everybody, maybe we can just pick our own favorite song. And, you know, add our own words that are affirmations, to a song that we already know. And that would be an easy way for someone to try it right?

19:21 Yes. Or even if they have a favorite song, they could just look for the instrumental version of it. And use the melody and just change the words using something that they want to play around with. There are so many different ways to work with these affirmations. And this is what I actually tell the people that I work with. I’m singing them like this right now. But you can sing them completely differently. They don’t have to be like I’m doing them. Find your own way of singing them as you feel. Just let yourself guided by your heart. Mm hmm. I love that.

19:53 Definitely. Great and tell us a little bit more about Some of the work you’ve done with business businesses on when we spoke about the summit that we’re going to do in, in May. So this is like, the news of the day is that I’m going to be holding a full one day event that brings people like myself and Ziza and other sound healers, and coaches who use voice for empowerment, to come together and, and really show and, and get people to experience the voice and how much it can actually change our lives. And this particular event in May, is all about getting unstuck in business. So tell us a little bit about some of your experiences of your clients working with their voices and how it’s actually transferred to their businesses.

20:55 it’s been a wonderful journey to witness how they’ve transformed because the whole purpose was when I started was to put everything around the voice. So I had an idea when I started. But I actually didn’t even expect it was going to be so powerful, starting with the voice training towards working on their messaging and on how to communicate, I always put the focus on using your authentic voice like being who you really are. And you don’t have to speak like someone else, you don’t have to change the way you speak. And this obviously brought a lot of exploring their emotions, exploring their fears, understanding who they really are. And since we used also not just the singing and the music methods, we also use a lot of methods derived from theatre, because I just like to put them together, it seems to me like that, they rarely can go one without the other. It just brought a lot of creativity to the surface. And many of them discover that they’re actually much more fun than they thought they are. And that they have a very unique angle, a special angle that they can use in their business. And the results to say that they had were so different from not being able to speak on camera to being able to go on stage, and sing and recite poetry, because you know, I actually loved singing, but I was scared to do it in the past, because people told me I couldn’t do it. And then I would say, there have been so many different results to being much more confident when speaking in their business, but with their family as well, changing their wardrobe. I know this happened with one of my clients. So I would say that as a general conclusion, it’s rediscovering who you are, by allowing your voice to go where it needs to go without forcing it to go in a place that’s not aligned with who you are. So I would say that the general conclusion is finding your authentic self and getting the courage to express it. And when you do that is just so empowering. Because you allow your voice to go where it needs to go without forcing it to go into a place where it doesn’t feel aligned with who you are. And this actually makes your life so much easier in your business. Because just by using your authentic voice, the right people will feel attracted to you, they will come towards you naturally. And you will have so much fun while doing it, it’s going to be so enjoyable because it’s easy, it’s you. So the effort will be reduced a lot just by stepping into who you really are.

23:32 I just I sense that you’re amazing. These are you really are this, this is something I discovered myself as well. Because when I first wanted to work for myself, I thought I should use all the old skills I had, I had studied nutrition, so I was like, Oh, I’m gonna do that. And I had studied, you know, Image Consulting and you know, clothes and this kind of thing. And, and I did that for almost a year. But when I decided that I wanted to do music, I was like so much more confident promoting myself. And I really felt easy to tell people about what I was doing because it was actually something I wanted to be doing. I wasn’t doing it because it was a way to make money and leverage skills I already had and to trust that you your instinct is correct and to trust that you’ve got something to offer. Today that may not be something that you have a lot of, you know, work experience in it might only be you’ve had to experience it as a hobby or something. But to trust that and to move forward with that. That is how you find out. So I really believe in the idea that rather than thinking about what it is you’re you might like to do but to test it, you know, so I just did one workshop, one singing workshop and within six months I had a business and it was amazing. So I love that you’re encouraging people in the same way to do that. What they feel is inside them, they want to bring it forward. And it’s exciting. Its way more exciting than just setting up another, another copycat business, you know, that someone else has done before you.

25:15 Yeah. And, you know, I just recently had a conversation on this topic, you know what I feel it sounds a bit scary to many people, because it goes into the complete opposite direction of what we were taught, that we need to do in order to get a successful business. To have a successful business, you need to be suit and tie super organized everything he needs to be spot on planned in advance for 6, 8, 10 months. So when someone tells you, you can play and experiment and find yourself and it’s going to be much, much easier and much more empowering, it can sound scaring, because it brings a lot of freedom. So I know someone actually told me, you know, I feel this is going to work, but I’m just so scared. Because I don’t know how, usually, by using the old traditional methods, people were able to tell me this framework does this and this, and this and this, and then you are telling me, well, you’re going to play and you will be successful. But you can’t tell me something like very rigid like us, like a script. But I think this is the beauty of it. Because it will allow you to reach that freedom that a specific system, a very strict system will not give you. So the possibilities to expand way beyond what you expect, are very high, and they’re higher than in the old, traditional way of doing things.

26:42 I really believe that and it’s a lot to do with why you’re doing it that way. Like is it? Are you being motivated by fear that you can’t do it that you so the fear means that you’re paying for another course online to find out the way you should do it, instead of trusting yourself? Or you’re going to follow that, that joy and that love that instinct that kind of says, Oh, I’m curious about this thing. And let me see if someone else is also I can put it out as an offer or something and share this, you know, share it and see what happens rather than, you know, having that full certainty it’s going to work, but maybe seeing it as something that the journey is important and not necessarily just the results.

27:30 Yes, yes. And I think it helps you, as a business owner, change so much and grow so much. And it also helps you build up your confidence. Because I always say this, the entrepreneurial journey will bring to the surface, all of the things that you needed to fix in the past, and you didn’t get to fix simply because having so much freedom of decision. If you haven’t fixed something from the past, this will determine you to make the wrong decision. And if you make the wrong decision, your business suffers. So you need to fix that thing in order to make your business work. So I think it’s a wonderful tool to actually make your life better by making your business work.

28:11 Definitely. It’s a personal journey as an entrepreneur, because you have to face yourself, you have to face all your fears of being seen. And like why do you not want to be seen? What is it that you’d like to what is real for you? What did you want to say? And I think when you figure out what your mission is, like, for me, letting people know that their voices have value that each person is their uniqueness is all that’s ever needed. And that is like a motivating factor that keeps me doing the podcast and keeps me doing the work I do because it’s so, so strong and motivation in me that I can’t stop. But there’s lots of other things that, you know, I’ve been told, oh, you should teach children and you know, in schools, you know, because you’re a singer singing teacher. So that’s the typical, but that’s not my mission. My mission isn’t to make children feel good. It’s actually to make adults who maybe didn’t get the opportunity as a child to find that inner, that inner joy again, that inner that that connection to that authentic self that sometimes we have as children, but we lose them lose that as adults.

29:25 Yes, yes, I completely agree. And I think it all comes down to going inward. Because okay, I teach singing or I make music. This can mean so many different things to so many different musicians. So it’s about understanding the angle that you want to use in relationship with music, and it doesn’t have to be the same all the time. But it can be beneficial to so many different people. As long as you step into your purpose in music. What are you meant to create with music in this world?

29:59 Absolutely. It’s a beautiful thing you’re doing. I love it. And I know that you still do a lot of work yourself, for you, and personally in theater, would you like to tell us a little bit about your own connection to your own creativity and how you express that right now? And how you’d like to do more of that in the future? Maybe?

30:20 Yes, yes, I love being creative, as much as possible with all my work. This is what brings joy and to my heart. And I am working towards connecting with other musicians and putting up together a jazz project. And I recently realized, since I also write poetry, then I want to go into this poetic direction around the message and making the voice part of the orchestra. So it’s not like the voice has the leading role. It rather complements the full poetic message that the orchestra creates, this is what I would like to work on. And I’ve recently discovered, I think, a couple of years ago, that I love writing music for film and theater. So this is definitely something that I would like to work more in the future, it just makes me so happy to contribute to that bigger project. And this is also part of my vision of creating a synergy between music and theater.

31:16 Absolutely. And I think so many people underestimate what the music is doing when they are watching a film or, you know, in you know, I mean, I know a lot of drama, they don’t have a lot of music in there. And it probably could use a lot more music because it builds tension, and it creates that emotional background, right? Mm hmm.

31:40 Well, could you watch, I always say this to people try to watch a movie without any music in it. And the experience is going to be probably half or less than what you’ve experienced with the full movie. Even could you watch Titanic without my heart will go on? Oh, is that going to be?

32:01 Exactly Oh my lord, it’s so interesting. It’s like even that message, my heart will go on, you know, while everything else is going down, you know, thinking, but the message of the song is that there’s a survive, you’re surviving as well. So it helps balance that moment. I actually remember I was working in, in the in the airlines as a cabin crew, when Titanic came out. And I was working on the airline, Japan Airlines. And we played Titanic in the plane. And it was such a long movie that they had to take an interval, but all the Japanese women were you know, they were crying and crying cry, I was going around with green tea. And Titanic was just such a powerful movie, but it was so it’s such a sad movie as well, and such a tragic occasion. But that’s where music helps to balance that and helps us to feel hopeful while things are going wrong.

32:58 Yes, yes, absolutely. And, you know, I actually think this is the beauty and the magic of music. Because sometimes you cannot even notice how powerful it is. But you feel the overall experience. You watch the movie and your hardest touched. And you don’t even realize that a big part of that is the music. Or you’re at a show at a performance. And the music hits you all of a sudden, you don’t even know why. But the music contributed to that a lot.

33:29 Definitely. And I think we don’t really realize how important music is until we noticed that we don’t like the music that’s been added to something. So you know, sometimes you’re watching a movie, and it’s like, the music is really cheesy or something. And then it’s like, well, I’m not really that now even you like the story or you like the acting, but the music kind of puts you off. So I would love people to acknowledge that a bit more because I think it’s underestimated a lot in by people who watch films, they just don’t realize how important the music was to their experience.

34:06 I think that music sometimes is like air. We use it all the time. We need it to survive, but we don’t really think about it, right?

34:15 that is beautiful. Absolutely. So, so deep, you’re so deep. And I’ve had so much fun talking with you Ziza, and I’m really excited for the voice summit that we’re going to do is to get unstuck in your business through voice and sound. And for anybody listening. Watch this space where our date for the summit is the 14th of May. And that is this year, which is 2022. You might be listening to this podcast in few years from now, but hopefully we’ll have something else going on then. But we’re really excited. This is the first time we’re going to do it. And I think this is an amazing mission and message to let people know how valuable you using your voice can be not just for health and happiness, but also for getting unstuck in business and for improving your confidence speaking about what you do in your work. Let me ask you Ziza, before we finish, is there anything that you wanted to share about your own business or something that you’d like to say to the listeners to encourage them to use their voices more,

35:25 I would like to encourage them to use their voices more. And I would like to encourage them to sing. This is something that I always say everyone should sing, even if you don’t want to do it professionally, because obviously, not everyone can do it professionally. Sing because as we’ve discussed today, singing heals the heart. Whenever you sing in the shower, you’re never sad, right? So this is why you need to sing because it will bring so much joy into your life that you won’t be able to do without it. So sing with all your heart, it doesn’t even matter if it’s on pitch if someone else enjoys it, do it for yourself and sing to yourself, and your life will be much better.

36:06 that’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Ziza, it’s been an absolute pleasure to speak to you all the way from Bucharest, Romania, to have a kindred spirit, a soulmate in, you know, promoting singing. And it’s just wonderful to know that you’re out there. And if anybody else is listening, that is doing similar work to this, please get in touch with us. And let’s start collaborating. Let’s start working together and supporting each other because I really feel it’s such a great a great mission to be spreading this message that our voices matter and that they can really help us to be happier, through singing and enjoying it whether anyone else wants to listen to it or not.

36:53 thank you so much for having me. It was a real pleasure to have this conversation with you. And I’m also looking forward to our summit.

36:59 yes, thank you everyone for listening. This is the Confidence in Singing Podcast. I’m Aideen with my guest Ziza Natur, and we are delighted that you’ve been listening and we’ll see you again next time. Bye, bye.