I stand on the shoulders of giants

I stand on the shoulders of giants.

My mom has been powerful her whole life. She’s music educator giving the gift of music and connection to all she encounters. She was raised on a farm with her three brothers doing all the same tasks they did and when she married my dad after her proposed on the marching band field, she hyphenated her name.

At the time this was radical, however as her daughter, these were things I never thought twice about. By witnessing my mom just be who she is, she showed me that womxn can and should be effective, independent and have an important impact on making the world a better place. She showed me that womxn have equal value.

My older sister Erika is not only my role model, I’m lucky to call her my best friend. Growing up I watched her battle life threatening bouts of asthma where she would be hospitalized for weeks at a time. I watched her take it all in stride, move through with courage and many times with a smile. I copied everything she did because I wanted to be her. I wanted to be the strong, soft, grounded being that she was.

Now as an elementary music teacher, I see her hold the minds and hearts of the next generation with love and care. She even supports hundreds 5 years old’s to synchronize a high quality performance together in real time! She an amazing mom to my incredible niece. By witnessing her I continue to learn the power of being who I am, the power of methodical consistent action and immense strength in any kind of hardship.

Both of my grandmothers were badasses each in their own way. And while they may not have used the word badass (potential they are shaking their heads right now) they truly were.

My nana raised four kids on the farm, she did all of the farm books and while doing so she would drive back and forth to classes at Michigan State University. Eventually she earned her degree in education and became an elementary teacher.

She showed me immense faith, devotion to the people she loved and that girls don’t need to ride side saddle. In fact, she consistently showed that womxn do whatever they desire. After my Papa died, she was a shining example to me of how a womxn can live single and her identity and impact are not destroyed. She showed me sturdiness.

My grandma was an avid giver to her family and her community. She was a businesswoman and a philanthropist. She co-owned a store with my grandpa and worked there every day. When her and my grandpa sold their store to retire up north, she definitely did not retire.

Instead she founded a help center in her new town that provided healthy meals and financial support those in need in her new community. This center still runs today and her legacy of service lives on.

My grandma showed me the importance of community and service. She gave me my unending love for the sun. And witnessing her move through Alzheimer’s she showed me the true power of music - past auditions or excerpts, the magic that touches the soul and warms the heart until the very end.

I stand on the shoulders of these amazing giants. These four womxn paved the way for my world view and what I always believed and continue to believe is possible. Without them, the life I lead would not exist and I am deeply grateful.

Being in the presence of these powerful womxn, I could be powerful. Not only could I be powerful, it was celebrated and my own power grew from being in their presence.

And yet, in my adult life as a womxn musician, I look out and I see incredible dissonance between what I was taught and what I see. A dissonance between what I see in the yoga world and what I see in the music world.

Back in October, I shared my personal story of my experience in the culture of classical music. I shared my challenges of perfectionism, low self worth and unhappiness and how I moved through it. I shared how music broke me and mindfulness put me back together.

A huge part of my healing and journey has been being part of groups of incredible womxn. The truth is, in my adult life I continue to stand on the shoulders of giants. And these giants are not musicians.

My friend and teacher Tori Washington held a virtual womxn’s group two years ago that I joined based in spirituality and business. In this container, I expanded my life to heights I never previously knew existed and have been part of her community ever since, including a powerful mastermind this past summer that supported me and inspired me as I went full time in my business.

My yogi sister and goddess Tracy created online writing groups that I’ve been part of since way before the pandemic. She’s a trailblazer. Through these groups I reconnected with my inner child and soared. This happened because of the amazing space that she held with the community of amazing womxn. Without which, I would not be writing this blog.

When the pandemic started, my badass friend and mentor Sarah started a virtual womxn’s group based in the philosophies of yoga. Meeting weekly ever since, I now consider these womxn my closest friends even though we’ve never met in real life. It’s conection based in support and common vision for authentic living and embodying the philosophies of yoga to create the lives we desire.

I met Natalia Benson in Tori Washington’s mastermind for womxn and was immediately drawn to her energy. I learned that she was an empowerment and money coach for womxn to gain tools, clarity, financial literacy and financial freedom. I joined her community of womxn who believe it’s our responsibility to accumulate wealth during this time and then wield it for good. Because of this community of powerful womxn, I stepped into my power in my finances, my business and it echoes out into every other part of my life.

Being immersed in these cleansing, healing and truly transformative groups of amazing womxn, I was inspired to create my own womxn’s group this past summer, providing mindfulness and community for womxn during the pandemic. This was potent to lead and potent to hold, especially as two of the members were also womxn muscians and I heard them express gratitude and say on repeat “This just doesn’t exist in music”.

In all of these deep and soulful communities, one thing has rang true:

There’s something about a womxn in her power. And when a bunch of us come together, we rise. We move mountains.

I believe the key to life is not knowing or having better answers.

I believe the key to life is asking better questions.

Since then, I’ve been asking myself why. Why did I have to leave the space of music to discover these communities? To discover mindfulness? Why did I feel broken from music? Why did I think that I couldn’t be happy in music and seriously consider giving up my craft that I love?

And most poignantly, why have the only spaces I’ve experienced these loving communities of womxn been outside of music?

The truth is if you are a womxn in music, you exist in a male dominated field. If you are a womxn in music, you likely play mostly music written by men. And, likely most people that conduct you, are men too.

The gap is real, large and stark. As a womxn brass player, it’s even more male dominated. I used to call a Saturday of work “Saturday with the boys” because every person I was playing with was a man.

I witness some of the most powerful people I know, womxn musicians, exist in a culture that denies their power. And then because they exist so deeply in that culture, they start to believe it.

Add on the ideals of perfectionism, tying self worth to output, scarcity, isolated practice and high levels of competition - of course there are not communities of womxn supporting womxn in music. Many times, womxn in music are just trying to survive.

Well, I’m bringing a new perspective.

What if we could move mountains?

What if we could thrive?

After experiencing the life changing transformations within powerful sisterhoods and queendoms of inspiring loving womxn bringing change to the world, I am bringing this level of sacred community to the space of music.

In January 2021, I am starting a mastermind for womxn musicians called Powerful Womxn in Music: A mastermind for conscious change.

In this community, we will come together to learn, grow and support one another as we build prosperous online businesses during the pandemic, incorporate Mindful Music into ourselves and our teaching, collect new competencies of mindfulness, empowerment, equity and financial freedom and one step at a time shift the culture of music.

Through this mastermind, I will help womxn musician teachers, performers, and entrepreneurs discover, expand and share their power and gifts so they can create prosperity and make a difference now.

Something that people talk about a lot is toxic masculinity. This is absolutely something I’ve experienced and indeed exists. However, it’s not the point. Some of my favorite people I get to play with are good-hearted men of integrity.

Something I want to talk about is the wounded feminine. The wounded feminine is the conditioning that womxn need to shrink themselves to be successful. It’s the perfect puzzle piece for toxic masculinity.

It’s “I need to be small”, “I can’t show my power”.

It’s “I have to say yes to things that I actually don’t want to do”,” I have to not speak my truth because when I speak my truth I lose gigs, I don’t get called back”.

It’s “I’m not allowed to ask for the rate that I desire or deserve, even though I have 3 degrees in music”.

The underlying themes are “I can’t”, “I have to” and deep down on a soul level “I don’t deserve it” because of the lifelong signaling that has been received by womxn in our field.

These are all things that I’m not ok with. And, I’m not ok with them being passed down to the next generation. It’s no one’s fault and at the same time it’s something we get to shift.

This mastermind exists as a safe and brave space for womxn musicians to come together in sacred community to be deeply seen, deeply heard, and deeply acknowledged while they expand and move through these conditioned beliefs.

I’m bringing in the tools that I’ve learned through mindfulness, yoga, spirituality, teaching, and financial literacy. All of these things I fumbled through on my own outside of music, I’m bringing them to you.

Through loving command, deep community, conscious leadership and legacy, competency collection and abundance, we will shift the culture of music one heart at a time.

It starts with our hearts, and then it echoes to the hearts of our colleagues, then to every single kid we teach and how we teach them. Thread by thread it will echo until one day the very fabric we exist in will be entirely different.

I truly stand on the shoulders of giants. And in creating this mastermind, I honor them.

To every powerful womxn that laid the path for me and the powerful womxn that continue to hold me in community, thank you.

I now get to bring it home to music and lay the path for every girl watching and next up to bat.

If we can have a womxn Vice President of the United States, we can most certainly have some Powerful Womxn in Music!!

If any of this resonates with you, I invite you to reply to this email. I would love to hear from you!

And if you’re a womxn musician teacher, performer or entrepreneur who would love to learn more about what this mastermind will be, check it out here and book a call with me! I invite you to join the sisterhood, be the change and become a Powerful Womxn in Music.

Finally, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Think of a devoted womxn musician entrepreneur you know. One that’s been hunched over her computer for months on her own, one who deeply cares about creating positive impact with her art and students and one who is committed to transforming herself and the world around her. Forward this email to her. She is exactly who I would love in this mastermind!

Whose shoulders do you stand on?

What have your giants given you and how can you keep it going in a meaningful and relevant way?

If you knew there was a way to be joyful, create prosperity in music as a womxn, have all the support and connection you desire, and make a difference all in one swoop, would you do it?

Cheers to giants, powerful womxn and opening the door to a better tomorrow and 2021!

In love and community,

⭐️ Adrienne