S.I.M.P.L.E. Newsletter

Hello there beautiful human!! 

So much has happened since we last spoke.  

We wrapped up two back 2 back launches with some incredible friends in Adam Ivy and Tyler Summers and welcomed an entire slew of new amazing musicians into the P.LAB  community, which always lights my soul on fire. 🀩  

I’ve got so much to tell you about but just as a quick reminder for anyone who needs it before we jump in:

The S.I.M.P.L.E. Newsletter is an acronym for

** Story. Inspiration. Music. Plab. Laugh. Educate **

Story Time!

So, if you’ve been following me on social media then you may have seen that the new studio is officially finished!!

This has been such a labor of love, from having a shady contractor who tried to rake us over the coals with pricing, to issues with permits, bahh… needless to say, I’m OVER THE MOON to have this project finished! 

Can I tell you something? 

I’ve never had a studio that felt so “me”.

It’s hard to describe what happens when you build something from scratch like this, but the best way I can describe it is…

This space feels sacred

It’s my creation station.

My babe cave.

My Wunderkammer…

Ok, not gonna lie, I just heard this word for the first time recently and I found it fascinating!! 

A Wunderkammer, by German definition, is “a place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited,” also known as “wonder room” or “cabinet of curiosity”. 

This is straight out of the 16th Century in Europe, and basically they were kind of like the precursor to modern museums. So a Wunderkammer is a room full of things that showed off the person’s knowledge and diverse interests, and could include anything from paintings to sculptures, to a decorated bookshelf. 

So yeah, this place is my Wunderkammer, which let’s be real, is also just fun to say. (2nd to babe cave of course πŸ˜‰) 

And the last, but surely not least exciting thing about the new space is my FUR BABIES are HOME and they couldn’t be happier with their new “catsita”.

This is the best they would do to pose for the camera πŸ˜‚

I’ll be honest, I hated being away from them for so long.

Especially with Ella, and knowing how sensitive she is.  

The whole time I’ve been away from her I imagined how scared she must be. 

She’s always been so shy and would hide whenever strangers came around, so when I finally brought her home to the casita and she started jumping onto my lap again (and floppin’ that belly at me) I felt so touched, like… aww, she missed her mom.  The only person she trusts.

Then, this happened.

That’s right. 

Ella traded me in, for none other than, our beloved community manager, Ben - AKA,  Yoda Ben.

Turns out she’s quite the love bug, who knew?! 

When Ben finally packed up things to go, I saw Ella’s heart slowly break.. and could sense the “you’re leaving me? After everything we’ve been through?  Don’t… dont’ leave me like this..” energy coming from those sad cat eyes… 

It was pathetic.  And adorable.

All that being said, YES, I finally got to meet Ben in person, and we had a blast while he was in Arizona!  We laughed.. we cried… we strategized (sounds like the beginning to a bad song πŸ˜‚) and we ate all the glorious food that I never get to eat when it’s just Jeff and I because, well, my boo got some serious allergies.  Keeps me eating cleaner, but hey, girls gotta splurge, and that we did.

Have you ever had Affogato?  It’s freakin’ espresso and icecream and the only emotion I had after eating it (besides pure bliss) was anger that this had been life’s best kept secret for so many years.  Ben and I chose to go for the “decaf” espresso, it was after 8pm afterall… still we both felt that “zing” for at least a solid after from the sugar.

Ok quick warning, I’m about to go a little woo woo on ya.  You’ve been warned. Let’s go.

Another cool thing I have to mention as part of story time is my recent trip to Sedona.

I decided to sign up with a company called “Sedona Soul Adventures” to do 3 days of healing, energy work, and “soul work”.

Talk about a mind blowing experience. 🀯 

I don’t even think there’s enough time to cover all of what I experienced in this newsletter, so I’ll just talk about the session that blew my mind the most. 

I started off the adventure with a  “hand analysis” and if you’re anything like me you might be thinking, huh??  Like palm reading?  Ok, no… but yes.  And, let it be known that I went in with zero expectation for this and had my mind BLOWN. 

It was like having a stranger you just met read you the book of your life.

No joke.

I instantly teared up and surrendered, and let the reading flow…

One of the things I learned during the session was that I came to this earth with a deep imprint of fear…

… like…an abnormal amount.   

And that it’s not uncommon for people with this imprint to become addicts, because the fear is so intense (i.e. all those damn anxiety attacks) that most will choose to numb it out before they’ll face it.  

And this was eye opening, because for years I “medicated” this fear through things like

  • Drinking too much
  • Mindless scrolling social media
  • Binge watching TV 
  • Avoiding feeling my feelings 

Aaaaand now it all makes sense. Man, I’m so happy I gave up booze.

Not because drinking is “bad” or “wrong”, but because the way I drank was. 

(By the way, if you want to learn more about how I quit drinking, I wrote an entire blog on it recently for my 4 year sober-birthday.  You can check that out here. ) 

I also learned that the people that turn towards their purpose, and don’t choose to numb it out, can become very healing for others, which I just thought was so beautiful.  I think we all have our unique soul purposes, but I believe a shared purpose of the collective is to heal so that we can heal others, so this resonated with me BIG time!

But it wasn’t all daisies and rainbows, this woman called me OUT.

Especially on my overthinking

“You’re not going to be able to “read” or “study” yourself into the next chapter of your life honey” she said in her husky, east coast accent.  

“You need to take action, without knowing the end result, and trust that the universe will catch you.  The Angels, God, and your Spirit Team are Rooting you on dear, they’re cheering in sidelines!” 

Holy shift.

That rocked me.

I’d say overall my biggest takeaway from Sedona was that I am supported by spirit (or the Universe, or God, or whatever you want to call it).

Don’t get me wrong, I love to do the work.

I love to hustle - when I’m doing what I love.

But the truth is, I carry a lot more than I need to, and it feels good to surrender and be guided so that the action I take (massive and audacious as it can be) is inspired! 

Basically, it’s ok to woo the work.

Daily Dose Of INSPO

Alright, y'all, see how this one hits ya

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. 

Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."

- Andy Warhol

I saw this quote again recently in High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard.

What I love about it is that I think it really speaks to a concept we talk about a lot within Produce Like A Boss, which is quantity over quality. 

And I know whenever I say that, someone always inevitably says,

"You mean the quality doesn't matter?!"

And, of course that's not what I mean. 

But the truth is, quality comes from quantity.

You’re not going to “think” yourself into being a great artist or producer.

First you make art that sucks.

Then it sucks a little less.

Then, you get good.

Then you get great.

Much like Andy Warhol says, when it comes to art, getting it done is often the most important thing. Not only will that be the most powerful factor in improving your skill set, but in many ways, having a bunch of unfinished art is almost worse than having no art at all.

I mean… how many songs of ours have gone to die on the harddrive graveyard?

That’s why we must….

It's easy to get trapped in a cycle of perfectionism, relentlessly dialing in every last detail to the point where you never actually produce anything. 

So just remember..

"Perfectionism is really just procrastination disguised as productivity." 

So if you've been putting your creativity on hold recently, hopefully, this can serve as the motivation you need to push that project to the finish line and get on to the next!

Because if you're reading this, then I know you're the type of person who has a hell of a lot of art to give the world!

So get after it!

Music Recommendation

This month I’ve actually been listening to a lot of Hanz Zimmer.  

I read somewhere that listening to film scores helps to improve focus and retention when working/studying.

Not gonna lie, I’m obsessed with this playlist.  And it has become the new work/study/read background music of the Wunderkammer…

P.LAB Spotlight 

I’ve said this before, but as much as I love getting wins in my own career, there is absolutely nothing that makes me happier than hearing about the wins of our students. 

So, I’d like to take a minute here and highlight our P.LAB Producer Of The Month, CINDY SLEE!

Cindy is a student in our Home Studio Boss VIP program and is an incredible example of how hard work and dedication can pay off. 

She recently crossed a huge milestone of knocking out 3 Custom songs in 2 days!

She has been working so hard to dial in her workflow and increase her speed, so this was a DOUBLE win! 

Cindy has been nothing short of a badass and an inspiration in our community and we’re honored to be a part of her journey.

Laugh

So, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Of course I dressed up as Santa, dressed my cats as elves, and wrote a rap song about one of courses.

Would you expect anything less of me? 

This should give you giggles for days, I nearly fell out of my chair just watching it again.

So for those of you who don’t know, we’re actually running a holiday sale right now where we’re offering 50% off our course Beatmaking For Songwriters

I built BFS as a follow-up to our introductory course, “From Voice Memo 2 Demo” (which uses stock plugins only) to give students the tools they need to take their productions to the next level, and master the use of third-party sounds, samples and plugins!  

Btw, if you’ve heard me talk about From Voice Memo 2 Demo, and thought it was too “kiddie pool” for you, this is the place to start.  This could have easily been called “From Demo to Radio”!  

And, for my From Voice Memo 2 Demo students, if you haven’t taken Beatmaking for Songwriters YET, this is the perfect next step on your way to becoming a Home Studio Boss!  

This offer is only available from Dec 8-15th at midnight, so if you want to learn more, simply click here to learn more! πŸ‘‡

Click HERE to Learn More!

don’t forget to use code β€œMAKEBEATS” to get 50% off

Education Station 

And since we're on the beat-making theme, I thought that would be a great topic for this month's education section.

This week I wanted to share an episode of the Produce Like A Boss Podcast featuring Gabe Schillinger. 

Gabe Schillinger is a music producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in hip hop, like Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Too Short.

His business is called Legion Beats, and in this episode, we discuss Gabe's transition from the 'industry game' to becoming not a six but a seven figure producer, and it all started with leasing beats!!!

I think you'll really dig this one!

Alright, and that wraps up our S.I.M.P.L.E. newsletter this month!! 

Wishing you and your family a very safe and merry holiday season!

Chat soon! Xo

To Becoming a Wildly Successful Creator ✨,

P.S. Don’t miss your chance to save 50% on Beatmaking for Songwriters! Click here to learn more.