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Brienne Hennessy – Your Vocal Vitality
On knowing that you can take steps to keep your voice strong: “If you’re speaking for a dense period of time and your voice starts to crack, starts to sound hoarse, you can’t get through a workday, let alone a workweek, there has to be something more we can do.”
We all use our voices on a daily basis. As creatures that thrive on communication, we use our voices on the phone, giving speeches, chatting with friends and shouting for joy when our kid scores a goal. But when was the last time you took some time to think about your voice, and the mechanics in your body happening to make sure your voice stays healthy?
Brienne Hennessy, founder of Your Vocal Vitality, joins us on the show today to discuss why her business was built, what we can do to prevent voice issues and how important it is to keep our voices strong.
Listen as Brienne gives us some tips to keep this often overlooked tool in tip-top shape so that the next time you need to communicate with someone, you have the voice you want.
Enjoy!
Visit Brienne at: https://www.yourvocalvitality.com/
Podcast Overview:
02:03 Increasing responsibility load & challenges in healthcare.
03:46 Talker owns need for vocal self-care
06:49 Some voices have personalities, can be grating.
11:53 Voice training incorporates exercises for vocal warm-up.
15:27 Skeletal muscle fatigue similar to voice fatigue.
18:57 Indications for lifestyle changes, allergies, acid, laryngologist. Comprehensive approach for untreated issues.
21:30 Helping restore sound and speech, with preventative care.
25:44 Challenging environment, struggling teachers, confident speakers.
28:40 Identifying nervousness and training for presentations.
29:56 Beliefs, perceptions, experiences shape public speaking.
35:05 Getting comfortable with uncertainty is key.
38:47 Improved audio quality signals clearer communication.
39:41 Great mentors have helped me build businesses.
42:32 Teams is a struggle, trust is important.
48:22 Task delay causes disconnect and tough decisions.
50:10 Understanding teamwork, maintaining momentum, and growth.
Podcast Transcription:
James [00:00:01]:
You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at draw in customers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. And today, we’re welcoming slash preparing to learn from Breanne Hennessy, owner of Your Vocal Vitality. And I’m excited because it’s a podcast, and we chat a lot. Yep. So then let’s start with what is your Vocal Vitality?
Brienne Hennessey [00:00:32]:
It is the business that I started with the mission of Empowering our voices. Oh. What that means is to me is that our voices are an expression of who we are, but also, I believe, a conduit To our well-being. And what do I mean by that? If you don’t have your voice, you can’t do what you need to do effectively. Interesting. And so that’s the the idea behind it, and I go So about that in a few different ways.
James [00:00:57]:
Alright. And you’ve been in this industry for a while?
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:00]:
Yes. So my background is actually as a speech and voice pathologist, and I’ve done that, 14 15 years.
James [00:01:06]:
Wow. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:06]:
Yeah. So that was that was the kind of core, crux of my training and my specialty and really Digging into knowing all things about voice, and then that really opened up the possibility for me to fill in the gaps that I saw, shall we say, for where I could serve people in a greater way.
James [00:01:24]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:24]:
Yeah.
James [00:01:24]:
So you were working in a mansion for some corporate giant?
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:27]:
I used to. Yes. Yes. So a couple of the the places I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from was Emory Voice Center in Atlanta. I was then at Vanderbilt Voice Clinic in Nashville, See?
James [00:01:37]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:38]:
And most recently, I was at UW, a voice and swallow clinic just down the street in Madison.
James [00:01:42]:
Gotcha. So what made you make the jump from there? Mhmm. You know, the biweekly paycheck, the paid vacation, whatever, the things to starting off on your own.
Brienne Hennessey [00:01:54]:
In the day Today, my favorite thing was sitting in front of that person in the room and being able to interact with them in their voice.
James [00:02:02]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:02:03]:
Anything outside of that It started to become very heavy, and that could be anything from the responsibility load that was increasing. For those of you in health care, you know that that is It’s continuing to be a a challenging time for folks. Plus, I saw this continual gap between folks who would come in Say, I don’t know what’s going on with my voice. I’ve been able to talk for x number of years. Why now? I never heard of this before. I didn’t know I could take care of my voice before something goes wrong, and that gap never really closed. And so I saw this opportunity to be Preventative. Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:02:37]:
Proactive. And for most things in health care, we talk about preventative wellness, but I don’t always see The follow through with that.
James [00:02:47]:
No. Not at all. Not at all. Because I think we’d be told to exercise more and eat better.
Brienne Hennessey [00:02:52]:
Yeah.
James [00:02:53]:
But we are now see are now told, I should say, here’s a pill.
Brienne Hennessey [00:02:57]:
Yes. Who wants the quick fix?
James [00:02:59]:
Go away.
Brienne Hennessey [00:02:59]:
Yeah. Yes. How can I make this go away quickly enough? And I think there’s there’s There’s a bigger holistic approach we could take.
James [00:03:05]:
Totally understand. Yeah. Yeah. So when I met you, I remember thinking, wait. What do you do? Because I understand if you wanna be healthy, right, quote, unquote, exercise, eat well Mhmm. But making your voice healthy
Brienne Hennessey [00:03:19]:
Mhmm.
James [00:03:20]:
Mhmm. That never dawned on me. What do you do? Like, I’m trying to think. You do barbells on your vocal cords or something? How do you How do you take care of your voice?
Brienne Hennessey [00:03:30]:
The the crux of it does come down a lot to exercises. There are actual exercises, and most people think of, Sample, well, it must be only for singing, but my focus is really the speaking voice. You and I spend the majority of our time speaking as do many professions.
James [00:03:45]:
Arguably too much. Right?
Brienne Hennessey [00:03:46]:
Sometimes. Admittedly, I’m a talker. I’ll own it. And so that is something that we can look at and say, if you’re speaking for an Densive period of time and your voice starts to crack, starts to sound hoarse, you can’t get through a workday, let alone a workweek, there has to be something more we can do, And exercise is a great start. But the other piece of that is exercises alone aren’t enough. For example, if anyone listening ever had the experience of speaking out, sharing your opinion, asserting yourself, leading a group or or a show, and not feeling heard? That can take an emotional toll as well.
James [00:04:24]:
Oh, interesting. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:04:25]:
So it comes into both sides of the voice. If If you are physically overdoing it too much, too loud, too often, you’re gonna feel that. Whether you’re a sports coach, a teacher in the classroom, Sales on the phone, whatever the case may be. But on the flip side, I’ve even had clients who don’t feel heard at their own dinner table with their families.
James [00:04:44]:
And is this because of their voice or their
Brienne Hennessey [00:04:47]:
tone? Or Yeah. Good question. It can come across that way. I believe the voice a barometer, so it’s going to give those little signals that something underlying is is probably the culprit. It can be how they believe about themselves and whether they think they’re worthy to be heard. And that’s the biggest thing that I started to see over the years, self worth or a lack of self worth was actually being expressed through their voice. So you add that to the stresses of the day, how much you have to talk, and that can all culminate as risk factors for the voice starting to have
James [00:05:18]:
Yes. Interesting. Yeah. So it goes well beyond just how are your vocal cords.
Brienne Hennessey [00:05:22]:
Yes. But to your question about tone, that’s the first thing most of us humans perceive. What is someone’s tone? What is it telling us? It’s gonna give a lot of clues, and there are times where the tone of voice can be misunderstood. I spent The 1st 32 years of my life being misunderstood for my tone of voice. And 32 years? Oh, yeah.
James [00:05:43]:
That seems like a while. Was it It was. Was it monotone? Was it high? Were you super low? I
Brienne Hennessey [00:05:48]:
don’t know. Yeah. No. Great question. There there are folks That that do experience that and kinda get stuck, like, in a a certain type of voice, think of mine was more I would say something and I expressed myself, and it would come across as maybe too harsh Oh. Or too irritable, too Whatever the person perceived it as. And internally, I’m thinking, I’m just trying to share. I’m just trying to express myself.
Brienne Hennessey [00:06:13]:
Right. But there was this disconnect between Me believing in what I was saying truly and trusting what I was saying Oh. And how my voice was conveying that. And so when people didn’t Perceive me as hearing kind of what I was trying to say, that would start to create these, like, miscommunications, and difficulties. Then you have tone of voice. Like, yes, we all know folks who are either monotone. They just don’t have a lot of variation in their voice. Sometimes that is is from other issues, but often, they just don’t feel comfortable being outside of this little box where they kind of hover here.
James [00:06:47]:
Yeah. You tend to be shy.
Brienne Hennessey [00:06:49]:
It tends to be with some personality characteristics. Then you have types of voices that can sometimes grind on the ear a little bit. For example, if we pulled a Kardashian voice right now, this is kind of where people live. If they live here for too long, that also can reduce Your impact. You can’t project your voice in that mode. And then we have the times where if someone is going into, let’s say, projected voice, We all know someone who walks in the room and you know they’re there. Mhmm. And that’s that’s a beautiful thing to be able to have that physical capacity, but it also means you’re going a 110% all of the time, and nobody or body system can sustain that.
James [00:07:30]:
I might be a little guilty here.
Brienne Hennessey [00:07:33]:
Okay. Alright. Interesting. Right? Like, you can just start to kinda take inventory of, like, what do I do with my voice? Where do I overdo it? It’s a very powerful and Resilient instrument, it’s just not invincible, which I think a lot of people mistake.
James [00:07:47]:
Yeah. It’s one of those things where you just Assume. I imagine it’s like eyesight when you’re talking to a guy that I was just in urgent care because I use a circular saw without safety glasses. Oh, like a moron. Right? It’s dumb. I’ve done it hundreds of times before.
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:03]:
Right.
James [00:08:03]:
And if it was ever an issue, you just kinda rub it and just deal with it for
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:07]:
and
James [00:08:07]:
a few minutes later, fine.
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:09]:
Yeah.
James [00:08:09]:
This time, I wasn’t fine. And I remember sitting in the urgent care thinking I wanted to save time. The safety glasses where I had to look for them. Right? So I just gotta make this cut quick. No big thing.
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:24]:
Right.
James [00:08:24]:
And now I’m in urgent care for whatever reason is a half far away. Yeah. So it took, I don’t know, 3 hours thinking around.
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:32]:
Yeah.
James [00:08:33]:
And I’m like, that was more time if I wanna just grab the safety glasses.
Brienne Hennessey [00:08:37]:
Absolutely. But isn’t that funny how, yes, as humans, we live, you know, usually by the mistakes we make, but there’s also so much to be said for What do we wanna prioritize for the things that are important to us? Like, our eyesight and like our voice. It’s a it’s the same thing. Folks come in and say to me, But I’ve screamed at my kids’ games before, or I’ll go to the football match and shout and cheer or the concert, and my voice is fine the next day until it wasn’t.
James [00:09:01]:
Right.
Brienne Hennessey [00:09:02]:
And then they’re 3 days into work, a week into work, 2 weeks later, and something’s still not right, and it’s already starting to impact their productivity, their Activity, their communication, and physically, they don’t feel well. It’s not them anymore. It’s not their voice. Yeah.
James [00:09:16]:
You know, so when I’m sitting at my kid’s soccer game.
Brienne Hennessey [00:09:18]:
Yeah.
James [00:09:19]:
And the parents around me are screaming
Brienne Hennessey [00:09:22]:
Yeah.
James [00:09:22]:
At the kids. It’s always my kid and I always joke about it after the game because the parents are yelling then like, shoot it. Like, the kid’s gonna be like, good thought.
Brienne Hennessey [00:09:31]:
Yeah. Exactly.
James [00:09:32]:
So I can just tell them, hey. You haven’t warmed up your voice yet. Yeah. So maybe just don’t say anything this game. Yeah. And then next game, when I’m not here, you can talk all you want. I
Brienne Hennessey [00:09:43]:
think that’s totally reasonable. Folks don’t even think twice about it for the for the most part. I’m a big fan of anything nonvocal. So if you’re the parent with the cowbell or the maracas or whatever you wanna choose, It’s a great way to preserve your voice, and it doesn’t mean you can’t express yourself that way. Not at all. This is a what’s best For your instrument, have you warmed up and prepared it?
James [00:10:05]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:06]:
And do you know your signs if it does start to to feel a little tweaked? So, like, if someone’s shouting and they Think, oh, whoops. I felt the scratch, but they keep powering through and shouting.
James [00:10:15]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:16]:
It was probably the sign that they were headed in the wrong direction.
James [00:10:19]:
So I can remember being at a
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:21]:
concert. Yeah.
James [00:10:22]:
Well, just about any concert I’ve been to when I don’t know if I’m singing along or screaming woo
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:27]:
Right.
James [00:10:27]:
Or whatever. But the next morning, you wake up and you’re like, oh.
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:30]:
Pretty like this.
James [00:10:32]:
That’s that’s not right. No.
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:33]:
Yep. Not right at all. And and we are inherent Healers. I believe we can heal ourselves, and yet if the voice the rule of thumb, typically, if the voice has not resolved itself within 2 weeks Okay. That needs to be looked at by a
James [00:10:47]:
couple of weeks. That seems like a long time. It is
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:49]:
a long time, especially for those who are voice professionals who are like, wait. Nope. I need I need it now. Yeah.
James [00:10:54]:
How about now?
Brienne Hennessey [00:10:55]:
And and Then we get into this sense of, okay. But I’ll just I’ll just keep talking. That’ll warm up my voice. It usually puts more pressure on it when there’s already a sign that there’s an injury. So there are things that can be done to triage it. I do help folks kinda triage through those acute times, but it really comes down to, Alright. What steps are you gonna take so that this doesn’t happen again?
James [00:11:14]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:11:15]:
And if it does, how can you reduce that time? Well, it’s not 2 weeks, and you’re not putting yourself at Long term entry.
James [00:11:22]:
So what are you having people do? Is it something as simple as calling them on the phone and saying, hey. I have no idea. I don’t know. Gargle salt water. I have no idea.
Brienne Hennessey [00:11:30]:
No. Great. That is that is great for some colds and and and some laryngitis type symptoms. This is I prefer, more interactive work when possible. Of course, in person is my favorite. Virtual is what, you know, most of my business ended up going into Yeah. Because we all a lot of us had to the last 3 years.
James [00:11:47]:
It’s funny. I’m totally ignorant of this. So I’m super interested.
Brienne Hennessey [00:11:51]:
Yeah.
James [00:11:51]:
It’s just like, what do you do?
Brienne Hennessey [00:11:53]:
Yeah. We See, I actually take people through ways to look at how they’re using their voice. Like, your examples are perfect. If you go through your week and you’re like, what do I do with my voice every day. And then there are actual exercises. It can be anything from some people have heard of things like humming or doing a lip trill, for example, so if I was to do something like Alright. That can help warm up a voice.
James [00:12:15]:
Can it really?
Brienne Hennessey [00:12:16]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh. In certain doses, in certain ways is that are feeling really easy and good for the person. Things like humming in the shower, really good on the voice. Oh. Things like Belting aloud every song in the car on a road trip, not so great for the boys. But Well,
James [00:12:33]:
I’m doing it all wrong. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:12:35]:
But it’s not, again, to take anything away. More just to notice like, oh, how much am I doing and when and have I overdone it? So those are some of the kind of technical exercises, sizes, but the other things really come down to, are you aware of your body? Are you aware of your breath? Are you speaking in a way that actually feels good to you? Or by the end of the day, are you exhausted Sid, and it’s because of the way you’re talking.
James [00:12:58]:
How so that last one. How do you know that?
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:01]:
Good question. Most people describe it as Fatigue or a pain or a soreness here.
James [00:13:06]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:06]:
So they’re like, oh my gosh. I just feel like I can’t get another word out. I didn’t even wanna read to my kids tonight at bed, And they just feel an ache, sometimes physical ache. Sometimes they feel an overall just sense of drained and exhaustion. And other times, Times like when you wake up in the morning after that concert, if you go to talk and you’re like, wow. I’m I’m having to really push to get my voice out.
James [00:13:25]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:25]:
Those are some of the common signs.
James [00:13:27]:
Interesting. Yeah. So what is happening physically in your larynx? They’re all over?
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:32]:
Yes. Exactly. If you put And here.
James [00:13:34]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:34]:
And then you make a sound, whatever the case may be, especially at your Adam’s apple, go up a little higher. Okay. You’re gonna feel vibrations. That’s normal. The vocal folds are coming together and vibrating. So what’s physically happening is our larynx is the housing. The vocal folds are like a little v. They just sit this way
James [00:13:50]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:13:51]:
Throat. And as right now, you’re breathing, James, so they’re just open. Mine are moving and vibrating because I’m talking. And so that’s happening because the breath is coming up through the vocal folds, making them vibrate very fast. We’re talking anywhere from a 100 times a second up to if a high soprano Saying a high note at a 1000 times a second.
James [00:14:10]:
A second?
Brienne Hennessey [00:14:10]:
A second.
James [00:14:11]:
Holy cow. Okay. It’s bee’s wings type shit.
Brienne Hennessey [00:14:14]:
Yes. Exactly. So this is where we perceive things like pitch, Like a low pitch and a high pitch and all the things in between that has to do with that rate of vibration. So then it’s one thing to say, okay. I’ve got my breath. I’ve got my breath going Going through the vocal folds, but what happens if we don’t have anything else? It would just sound like a buzz. We need to have it resonate or travel through the spaces of our head and neck. So you put that on, and that’s why you sound like you, and I sound like me.
Brienne Hennessey [00:14:39]:
And we each can have our own unique sound because we actually have a space, a filter to pass that Found through.
James [00:14:45]:
So it’s like a toweling tube or something like that?
Brienne Hennessey [00:14:48]:
Exactly. And so the exercises themselves, it’s not necessarily always some specific exercise. It’s what Actually activates the optimal way for you to take that breath in the right amount through the vocal folds in The right amount, and make sure that it’s amplified through your face and nose and sinuses in a way that actually projects And feels good to you.
James [00:15:10]:
Alright. Yeah. So when you feel sore
Brienne Hennessey [00:15:12]:
Yeah.
James [00:15:12]:
From talking too much, like, now that we’re talking about this, I don’t know if it’s because we’re talking about it.
Brienne Hennessey [00:15:17]:
It happens. Been battling all day. Like, wait a second.
James [00:15:20]:
Why? Wait a second. That’s that’s not a good feeling.
Brienne Hennessey [00:15:23]:
Yeah.
James [00:15:24]:
Is the idea that you’re you’re fatiguing?
Brienne Hennessey [00:15:27]:
Mhmm. Essentially, you can think of it very loosely related to, like, a skeletal muscle fatigue that you would experience at going The gym or the end of a long day. The the structures and the the system of the voice is a little bit slightly different, however, Very similar. The fatigue can happen to the muscles around, so we’re supporting our larynx here. This is like think of it like a little suspension system. The larynx is just kinda Dangling in the neck and supported by muscles out here. So you may even go, oh, oh, that’s tender. Like, you can actually feel it.
Brienne Hennessey [00:15:56]:
Like, you go to a massage therapist, and they hit that sweet spot. It’s Kind of like that. So there’s massages and things that can be done. Internally, tissue can fatigue. So think of it like getting a blister On your foot. Okay. After a while, because of that friction, that’s gonna create a stress and strain, but then the tissue is just like, oh, I can’t no. No.
Brienne Hennessey [00:16:15]:
And usually when that happens, you’re either gonna feel it as a as a scratchy feeling. You’re gonna feel it as a cutting in and out, or you’ll start to notice this that there’s no more consistency to your quality. Usually, when that happens, when we take a look with a scope, we can actually see that little changes to the tissue have happened, Like a blister growing on the vocal folds Oh. Or like a, kind of a section of strained muscle, if you will. And that’s when we need to say, woah. Here is the plan. We’re gonna try to reorient how you’re using your sound.
James [00:16:48]:
So that to me sounds like you’re You’re sticking a camera down someone’s I
Brienne Hennessey [00:16:52]:
used to do that every single day.
James [00:16:54]:
Every single day?
Brienne Hennessey [00:16:55]:
Yep. Yep. I probably scoped thousands of of voices at this point.
James [00:17:00]:
Holy cow.
Brienne Hennessey [00:17:00]:
Yeah. It’s incredible. It’s incredible instrument. We can look with a scope through the mouth or through the nose. It’s not as scary as you would think. Don’t worry.
James [00:17:08]:
Okay. Someone’s science fiction freaky.
Brienne Hennessey [00:17:10]:
I know. I’ve done it on on everything from 2 year olds all the way up to 95 year olds. Wow. Yeah. But it’s fascinating because the important thing is this is an instrument that lives in the dark. Can you think of any other musician who can’t see and take apart their instrument? No.
James [00:17:26]:
No? In any Stevie Wonder? I don’t know.
Brienne Hennessey [00:17:28]:
Right. I mean, but he and then he plays piano. Right. Right? He’s singing. Sure. But as far as vocalist go from a Speaking standpoint and singing standpoint, we don’t see this instrument. And yet, if something’s going wrong, we’ve got to be able to look at the physical structure and be able to see the vocal folds vibrate, which we can do. It’s pretty cool.
Brienne Hennessey [00:17:43]:
We use a special light called the Vocal folds vibrate, which we can do. It’s pretty cool. We use a special light called the stroboscopy light, the short term, strobe. So, yes, like a party on the dance floor. Got your strobe light going? What happens when you see the dancer on the floor? Right? They look like they’re going in slow motion. It’s the same idea with the vocal folds because remember how Fast I Said They Vibrate Mhmm. You can’t see that with the naked eye. Oh, interesting.
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:02]:
Looks like it’s fuzzy until you get the strobe light in there, and then you can see the Detail it.
James [00:18:06]:
Looks like a
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:07]:
really cool.
James [00:18:07]:
Timing laid on a car. Correct. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:09]:
Yep.
James [00:18:10]:
Interesting.
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:10]:
Yeah.
James [00:18:11]:
So let’s just say you stick that camera down there Yeah. And you see some bad stuff.
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:15]:
Yeah. What What
James [00:18:16]:
do you do? How do you
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:17]:
fix it? At that point, ideally, you are already with a specialist. I’m a big fan of specialty in this case because This is not an everyday, you know, primary care physician kind of issue. This is this is a specialty where folks like Speech language pathologists who have specialized in voice, ENTs who have specialized in voice know the refined detail and latest research. So when we look down and we say, oh, Something’s going wrong. There’s already a physical change. There’s a lump bump lesion, etcetera. We can create a treatment plan that usually looks something like voice therapy. That is the best way to start getting the voice to work as its optimal way.
Brienne Hennessey [00:18:57]:
There is often a indication for maybe Some lifestyle changes. Maybe it’s how much talking. Maybe it’s things like allergies, sinus stuff, reflux, acid, all of this. And then the final thing is meeting with the laryngologist. That basically means an ENT, ear, nose, and throat doctor, who spent an extra year specializing in voice. Wow. And, Similarly, when that laryngologist has a team like I worked on with a speech and voice pathologist, someone who trained as a speech pathologist but took an For a year to learn voice, you are literally getting a comprehensive approach to something that otherwise have I’ve seen many times go untreated and get worse for people if they weren’t headed in the right direction.
James [00:19:38]:
Interesting.
Brienne Hennessey [00:19:39]:
Okay. It’s really cool because between conservative things like Voice therapy and lifestyle management, you are much more likely to avoid voice surgery. There are some some instances that people need to have surgery on their voices and And ultimately, that much more prepared to have longevity. 2 year talk.
James [00:19:56]:
You know, my dad Yeah. Had surgery on his voice after a stroke. Yeah. Wow. He, so he had a 2 years ago, roughly.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:05]:
Okay.
James [00:20:06]:
I remember it was during pandemic because we couldn’t see him in the hospital. So that’s that’s how you know.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:11]:
That’s how yeah.
James [00:20:12]:
But he’s when he got out of the hospital, he had a very high pitched voice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:16]:
Did he?
James [00:20:16]:
Oh, yeah. It was surreal. Not to the point of helium
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:21]:
Yeah.
James [00:20:21]:
But it sounded like somebody was trying to sound like a little girl.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:24]:
Yeah. And I bet that really frustrating.
James [00:20:27]:
Yeah. So he he had surgery. Wow. And that was better, but it’s not not the same voice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:33]:
Especially when something like neurologic happens to it as well, let alone yeah. Not not being who you remember him sounding. Yeah. Ah.
James [00:20:41]:
It was bizarre. He went through a lot of changes, a lot of stuff Yeah. Physically and whatever. Yeah. That’s still don’t have a stroke.
Brienne Hennessey [00:20:49]:
I’m not ideal. Speaking of preventative care. Yeah. Make sure there’s there’s other ways too to prevent that too.
James [00:20:55]:
Yeah. So it’s interesting because in that case or in, surgery on The Voice, what are they doing?
Brienne Hennessey [00:21:02]:
Depends solely on what the diagnosis is. So for example, Some people who may have a lump or bump, they need that removed. Other people are not getting their voice their vocal folds to close completely, so they are Having a lot of air escaping. Oh. So they need help stenting it or bringing them closer, for example. Other folks, that I worked with ultimately It would present with laryngeal cancers and actually have their entire voice box removed.
James [00:21:29]:
Woah.
Brienne Hennessey [00:21:30]:
Yeah. And so we help them in different ways to restore a sound, an ability to make some sound and and speak again, but it can really run the gamut. And so it was, I think, most fascinating in that gap I talked about about preventative care, People would say, well, maybe it started 6 months ago, a year ago. And by that time, for example, when you think of a blister, if you let a blister just go, like, It could just get worse and worse and worse. It’s similar with this. Some of those impact lesions, those lesions that come from Lots of impact and stress. If they get worse over time, it’s gonna be harder to remedy with therapy, harder to remedy just with conservative measures. So I always thought it was great for the the really excellent surgeons that I worked with.
Brienne Hennessey [00:22:14]:
Surgeons don’t want to do surgery, you realize. Oh. They get into surgery Because, yes,
James [00:22:19]:
they are
Brienne Hennessey [00:22:20]:
talented as this. But the surgeons don’t want to get to that point if they don’t have to. They want people to make those Lifestyle and behavioral changes. They want it to be a quicker recovery time. Voice surgery means you have to be on voice rest completely, no talking, for minimum 3 days, Sometimes up to 7 days.
James [00:22:38]:
Wow.
Brienne Hennessey [00:22:39]:
I don’t know any including myself. If you wanna try to experiment that with yourself this afternoon
James [00:22:44]:
Yeah. Right?
Brienne Hennessey [00:22:44]:
Can I not say a word? It’s tough. It’s a it it impacts your quality of life. It’s, yes, something that is temporary, but it it really is a lot to ask Like your urgent care visit.
James [00:22:56]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:22:56]:
Like, man, can I afford afford a surgery, afford to lose that much time of work, Afford to shift my way of being?
James [00:23:05]:
Yeah. I’m just thinking about no singing in the car.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:08]:
That’s right.
James [00:23:08]:
No complaining about traffic.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:10]:
Nope.
James [00:23:10]:
No communicating with your kid. No. No.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:13]:
That’s some things you might want. Yeah.
James [00:23:16]:
I really do. No telling the the parents behind me at my kid’s soccer game that, they’re ruining their voices.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:23]:
So it should be quiet. Right? You just become someone 1 with a sign. Yeah.
James [00:23:27]:
White words.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:27]:
They’re like, here’s what it is. And that’s and and, honestly, there are some times where that becomes kind of a useful temporary measure for folks. But ultimately, again, the the the surgeons are there to make sure that the whole person is treated. And, The reason that they enjoy and excel at being surgeons is because when you do have surgery, especially with the folks who are at the UW Voice Clinic, they are pristine.
James [00:23:53]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:53]:
You don’t wanna be with just, like Bob’s a pretty good surgeon down the road. No.
James [00:23:58]:
Bob’s a pretty good surgeon.
Brienne Hennessey [00:23:59]:
Yeah. Oh, that’s funny. Yeah. Yeah. It’s It’s it’s remarkable, kind of the differences in and I get it. Everybody has, I think, choices in most cases with health care, but I think There’s something to be said for second opinions, for ensuring you’re in the right place.
James [00:24:14]:
Totally.
Brienne Hennessey [00:24:16]:
A lot of times, we get asked often, especially when I worked in Nashville, which is also known as Music City. So a lot of different types of of folks would come in who do have singing careers. One of the things that gets heard of a lot are those horror stories. Right? Things like I had surgery, but they left me with scar. Oh. Scar does not sound like yourself anymore. The vocal folds need to be pliable and loose. I had surgery, but my range is gone.
Brienne Hennessey [00:24:41]:
I had surgery, but I can’t talk as long as I need to. So there are still practitioners out there that are not the most up to date Oh. State procedures. Interesting. Okay. That’s also part of my my work. I love answering folks’ questions to be able to say, where do you live? Who can I send you too because I want you to just do not pass go? Do not collect $200. Go straight to, like Yeah.
Brienne Hennessey [00:25:00]:
The source. You know? Alright. Yeah.
James [00:25:02]:
Interesting. Kristine. Yeah. So in your business Yeah. Who are the people that you are typically helping? Are they typically I mean, you go towards, like, singers or podcasters. I don’t know. People are jabbering too much.
Brienne Hennessey [00:25:14]:
Yeah. Well, for the most part, it’s it’s really fascinating because once people Start to consider how can I be proactive about my voice? The a lot of folks that I’ve seen are entrepreneurs, usually ones who have a podcast, who are needing to coach their clients, who are leading their teams, so they are talking a lot, who are speaking on stage. So I focus in on the speaking voice, but then there are folks To our educators. I have a big heart for teachers, and teachers are one of the most at risk populations for a voice change.
James [00:25:43]:
They’re talking all day.
Brienne Hennessey [00:25:44]:
All day. And then expected to go home and talk some more usually. And it’s it’s challenging in an in an environment where there’s maybe Not the best acoustics. Mhmm. Maybe there is, you know, harder to command classrooms, and teachers can really have a struggle once they start to To have changes to their voice. There can also be folks who are wanting to feel more confident, speak up more. And so those are the type of folks I work with as Oh. Alright? So singing comes into it in some of the exercises we do because I think it’s fun, and I think everyone can sing for the joy of it regardless of how it sounds.
James [00:26:15]:
Fair.
Brienne Hennessey [00:26:16]:
And it’s it’s not Not my primary focus as far as, like, if you’re a singer, I will direct you to some of the wonderful singing and voice instructors that I know. Mhmm. However, I want people to really look at their voice as A tool and a thing that they can love.
James [00:26:31]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:26:32]:
Yeah.
James [00:26:32]:
So when somebody comes to you, are they typically coming to you because they have a problem? Or they want they’re aware, they’re smart enough, smarter than me, and wanna fix it before it’s broken kinda thing?
Brienne Hennessey [00:26:44]:
A little bit of both. Usually, though, they’ve already kind of veered into noticing things like my voice cuts out when I get nervous, or I have this Big presentation coming up. What am I gonna do? And they wanna be more proactive. But for the most part, in the especially in the last couple years, I’ve been able to really shift it to where folks know to come to me on the early stages. Alright. So maybe they’ve started noticing, but only because, like, you just did. Like, wait. Oh, that does sound like me, or, actually, I could notice some of those symptoms sometimes.
Brienne Hennessey [00:27:16]:
And and that’s what I think is really cool about it because then we can always say what’s possible to improve. Right? How can I look at this in a way that there’s nothing wrong with me? There’s nothing I have to fix, but could this be better? I have a gentleman I’m working with right now, and he was already very mindful of, well, if My body ages, and I wanna mitigate aging. What if I could mitigate my voice aging? But you can. Oh. So that’s kind of some of the things we’re working Alright. So yeah.
James [00:27:41]:
You mentioned something about voice shaking when people are nervous.
Brienne Hennessey [00:27:44]:
Yes.
James [00:27:44]:
I was just at a presentation last week, And a person was talking, they’re talking about their business. And, I mean, it was a small room. We’re talking 12 people, 10 people, whatever.
Brienne Hennessey [00:27:54]:
Right.
James [00:27:55]:
Small crowd.
Brienne Hennessey [00:27:55]:
Right. And
James [00:27:56]:
you could hear shaking in their voice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:27:58]:
Yeah.
James [00:28:00]:
And I thought, I wonder if you could train that out of there? Or is that more of a mental thing rather than a physical voice thing?
Brienne Hennessey [00:28:08]:
It could be both. So because of my background, one of the Relations that I used to work with a lot is actually folks who ended up having voice tremor. So that is something that is Neurologic, meaning just the same way someone could have a stroke, someone could, experience ALS, someone could experience MS. Voice tremor is something they can’t help. It’s a neurologic thing. Oh, the voice will start shaking now. Typically, we tend to perceive this as the old age voice Yeah. Because it tends to show up in the later decades.
Brienne Hennessey [00:28:40]:
Mhmm. But I’m always mindful of that when I hear someone shaking to Listen for, is this truly nervousness? Is this truly something that they are dealing with, from from their presentation skills, or is it something that I can’t help. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is, yes, it can be that they are nervous, that they don’t know what they wanna say, or they don’t like being in front of crowds, But there are ways to train people through that. And it’s really cool because a lot of times, folks, again, wanna go to the quick fix of, I I have a presentation tomorrow. What can I do right now? It’s like, well, that’s a
James [00:29:13]:
little short notice. Years ago.
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:14]:
Yeah. That’s a little short notice because think of how when we Train our body. Any athlete is going to look, you know, 6 weeks, 6 months in advance. They’re not gonna expect their body or their nervous system to change overnight.
James [00:29:26]:
Right.
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:27]:
Now anything is possible, and some people are quick learners. But remember, when we’re trying to a new skill. It’s something that we’ve gotta get the whole body on board with. It’s not just enough to be like, I’m gonna power through, and I’m not gonna shake, and I’m not gonna sound nervous. That also it doesn’t convey usually the energy they’re trying to
James [00:29:44]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:45]:
So it can go both ways.
James [00:29:46]:
So when you’re coaching someone on that
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:48]:
Yeah.
James [00:29:49]:
Do you touch on the I don’t know. I guess, in this case, confidence or
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:54]:
Yes.
James [00:29:55]:
Something of that nature.
Brienne Hennessey [00:29:56]:
Yes. And, usually, that comes to What do they believe about themselves? Like, how do they perceive themselves as a speaker? How do they want to be perceived? What Historically, have they experienced? Most of the time, there’s some experience, whether it’s initially singing, oh, I was told when I was in 5th grade wasn’t a good singer. Like, mhmm. Wow. People say and and, you know, we run into all sorts of different different messages growing up, but people say some really harsh things about and people Internalize that. Then we have things like people not even liking the sound of their own voice, so they don’t want to speak.
James [00:30:33]:
I you know, it’s interesting you say that. Yeah. Because I just had an employee call answering service.
Brienne Hennessey [00:30:39]:
Yeah.
James [00:30:39]:
We have a new client.
Brienne Hennessey [00:30:40]:
Yeah.
James [00:30:41]:
And I said, hey, employee. Yeah. We need a few recordings
Brienne Hennessey [00:30:44]:
Yeah.
James [00:30:45]:
For this client, the voice mail recording
Brienne Hennessey [00:30:46]:
Right.
James [00:30:47]:
The on hold. We have a little thing where we just babble. It’s essentially just instead of ringing or dead air or elevator music. Right. It’s just something to entertain the person on hold.
Brienne Hennessey [00:30:56]:
Yeah.
James [00:30:56]:
Stuff like that. And she it took her 2 2 or 3 days to put together these. We’re talking I mean, a voice mail message, like, hey. You know, when you reach this company, Leave a message, you know what to do kind of thing.
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:09]:
Right.
James [00:31:10]:
And I bug you a little bit. I’m like, why? Yeah. What what is the challenge here?
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:15]:
Yeah.
James [00:31:16]:
Because I gave you time to be off the phones
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:18]:
Right.
James [00:31:18]:
To do this, so it should have been knocked out. 5 minutes
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:22]:
Right.
James [00:31:22]:
Could’ve knocked it up. And she said that. She said, I hate the sound of my voice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:26]:
Can you imagine, James, though? Like, that that is like waking up every day in the mirror and looking at yourself And saying, I hate this.
James [00:31:33]:
It was so bizarre to me because I think she’s got an incredible voice. That’s why I hired her.
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:37]:
That’s the thing, though. Right? Exactly. Well, how we perceive ourselves Is usually very different than how other peoples perceive us. Okay. That’s true. Fair. To voice, most people, because you’re hearing yourself through bone in your ears And the air hear something on recording, which is only through the air Mhmm. And they are, like, jarred.
Brienne Hennessey [00:31:56]:
It’s like, that’s not me. I don’t know what That is. And they haven’t had as much experience hearing themselves as the way you’re hearing them.
James [00:32:02]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:03]:
So, yes, we have bias to what types of voices we like and all that, which is fine to a point, but Also, for a person to be that reticent to share her voice because she internally is not liking it
James [00:32:15]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:16]:
I find that that’s gonna actually show up in the message and the energy of what she’s recording and what she’s doing.
James [00:32:22]:
Fair. Totally fair. It’s interesting you say that because in the recording
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:25]:
Yeah.
James [00:32:26]:
It was, I would say, 90% perfect. Uh-huh. But there was a little hiccup. Mhmm. And the first thing I thought was this totally confidence thing. Yeah. Totally a confidence thing. Yeah.
James [00:32:36]:
Which on my from my point of view, I’m like, you’re smart.
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:41]:
Mhmm.
James [00:32:41]:
You have cool voice, and you’re in a smart, cool voice business.
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:45]:
Right.
James [00:32:46]:
So you have all the skills, so there should be no confidence issue. You’re you’re like a marathoner that’s going to a, whatever, 5 k. This is no problem.
Brienne Hennessey [00:32:55]:
And yet, what Perception. Backstory, that’s right, does she bring To the table.
James [00:33:00]:
I don’t know. I didn’t know how far to how deep to go with that. And I was like
Brienne Hennessey [00:33:03]:
And it’s not something, you know, most people feel either comfortable with or even that person is willing to address, they have to be ready. Right? Say, wait a second. There’s something underlying this. And then the cool thing about the work is that I encourage and help people feel comfortable in finding that natural voice, honoring it, listening to it, and doing things that they actually then enjoy about their voice. Right. But it’s until they they choose to make that that change and that difference, It’s them every day in a dissonant space.
James [00:33:35]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:33:35]:
Right? They’re they’re internally saying one thing, but their voice is expressing a different thing. So they’re thinking, oh my gosh. I hate this sound. I can’t believe I have to do this. Nobody’s gonna like this on playback, and then trying to put on a voice.
James [00:33:49]:
Sure.
Brienne Hennessey [00:33:50]:
But if that dissonance continues, that only increases that misperception, that internal Hate.
James [00:33:58]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:33:58]:
For how they’re saying it.
James [00:33:59]:
Oh, that’s strong. Oh.
Brienne Hennessey [00:34:00]:
Yeah. It is. When people say the word hate, that’s a very strong word. Yeah. So I I would cringe for them to it breaks my heart because when they say that, that is, again, a self image piece that not many people think about, and, Yeah. It can be healed.
James [00:34:16]:
It can
Brienne Hennessey [00:34:16]:
be changed.
James [00:34:17]:
Alright. And so that’s what you help people with? Yeah. And is this, one and done? Like, hey. Thanks for coming. You’re all 6 now. Yeah. Or is this, more like, hey, man. If you wanna train for a marathon, you gotta come to the gym more than once kind of thing?
Brienne Hennessey [00:34:31]:
More like the latter. There usually is at least anywhere from, you know, 6 weeks to 6 months that people need. Why? Habits take time to form. We know that even from the research. Habits are not a 21 day phenomenon, no matter what we’ve been told. On average, habits can take anywhere from 66 Stays onward to form. And then that’s with the frequency, how much they’re willing to prioritize the practice, And then just that initial, like, getting over the hump of the awkwardness. I make people say silly sounds.
Brienne Hennessey [00:35:02]:
Let’s just be clear. Right? Because gonna do a lot of different things.
James [00:35:05]:
That’s the business.
Brienne Hennessey [00:35:05]:
That’s the business. So just seeing people kinda be like, what is what am I doing? Like, getting comfortable with that, That matters. If your nervous system is like, mm-mm. No. Thank you. That’s gonna be a lot harder learning curve, right, than being like, okay. How can I baby step this? So For the most part, the people that I see the most success with are those who choose to dedicate anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. And that really comes down to when I speak with them, we kind of cocreate what duration and what package looks best for them.
James [00:35:35]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:35:35]:
But life happens too. Right? We have we have things where folks are like, oh, I have the holidays. Oh, I have this vacation. So I like the flexibility of that too because like any athlete, we go back to they’re not gonna do conditioning for a season.
James [00:35:48]:
Right?
Brienne Hennessey [00:35:48]:
They’re going to learn the skills and keep conditioning. And, yes, there may be ebbs and flows. Can we have maintenance periods? Can we have little reboots? You know, things like that. But the sooner you begin to see yourself as a vocal athlete, the sooner you start to notice this is a way of being that I want to incorporate in my life, Not just a, yep, check that off the box and on I go.
James [00:36:09]:
Fixed voice. Alright. We’re all good.
Brienne Hennessey [00:36:11]:
Yeah. And that doesn’t mean that it’s us working That intensively the whole time. My goal is for you to have that toolkit, that independence, but also that trust that You’ve learned your voice so well. You know what to do when. Alright. I think that’s really powerful for people.
James [00:36:27]:
So a lot of this to do or is it all I guess you tell me. Is it, in person?
Brienne Hennessey [00:36:33]:
Ideally, yes. Most of though, I will say, my my business success initially came from folks online, Virtually. Yeah. Okay. Because of the the the changes in the last 3 years and having to to go online, a lot of my clients have been Been online, and that was an adjustment for me, to be honest. I am one who wants to I need to hear the voice. I’m doing screenings. I need to feel I like to feel and palpate things, what’s going on.
Brienne Hennessey [00:36:59]:
But also, I like I said, it’s very holistic. So we’re doing different movements and whole body kind of approach to it, But I’m excited now to get back to more in person.
James [00:37:08]:
Oh, nice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:09]:
Yeah. I really wanna So
James [00:37:10]:
you have an office?
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:12]:
I work from home right now, and I usually go to the person’s house.
James [00:37:14]:
Oh, you do? Okay. I was just gonna ask.
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:16]:
Yep. So one of my most recent clients, she it was great. We I go to her house. She has this great space in In her basement, and then we would be able to do all the different Okay. Different exercises. Yeah.
James [00:37:26]:
So as far as equipment, is it just your mind, or is it microphone, speakers, headphones kinda thing.
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:31]:
Yeah. Definitely grateful for my ears. It’s a lot lot of lot of the ears and then usually things like having having, their homework, which usually I keep Very digital now. Some things simply like a straw. Some of the exercises require a straw.
James [00:37:45]:
A straw. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:47]:
Making sure there’s they’re drinking There’s gotta be some some liquid involved. But, yeah, as far as tools, it’s pretty minimalistic. Alright. Yeah.
James [00:37:54]:
Well, that’s super cool.
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:54]:
Yeah. Interesting. Great.
James [00:37:56]:
And so when you are helping someone remotely
Brienne Hennessey [00:37:59]:
Yeah.
James [00:37:59]:
Do you ever find I guess, now that I’m thinking about this, when they listen
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:03]:
Yeah.
James [00:38:03]:
Yeah. It’s going through their whole body, whatever.
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:06]:
Right.
James [00:38:06]:
And when you hear it like we are now, it’s going through the air.
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:09]:
Yep.
James [00:38:10]:
But now you’re introducing A microphone, speakers, and software, and the Internet servers, whatever, compression
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:19]:
I can’t hear you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
James [00:38:21]:
All that stuff.
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:23]:
I’ve noticed it’s gotten better. Some of the platforms have gotten better clearly over the last last couple years by necessity. But, yes, there is a consideration for when I hear something. I do little extra checks for now, what I want to Have them try what I’m listening for. And sometimes, I often just have people straight up record a voice memo for me. Oh. So our our phones all have Voice Memo app, which has been awesome.
James [00:38:46]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:38:47]:
And that’s a much, you know, clearer signal. But I I’ve been really fortunate because The platforms I use have gotten much better in their in their audio quality. Yeah. But that’s also with a lot of grace to both. Again, I want the person to Become familiar with what they’re hearing. And if there’s any concern at all, I’m always able to refer them to have that screening. Go See that laryngologist. Go see that speech and voice pathologist in the clinic to get the scope because we wanna make sure everything is a okay to begin with.
James [00:39:18]:
Sure.
Brienne Hennessey [00:39:18]:
So That’s easy enough to do even on a phone screening without any any other tech.
James [00:39:23]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:39:23]:
Yeah.
James [00:39:23]:
Well, that’s cool.
Brienne Hennessey [00:39:24]:
Yeah.
James [00:39:25]:
So you started your business. You got rid of the corporate stuff. You’re on your own, what have been some of the biggest challenges that you’ve run into?
Brienne Hennessey [00:39:32]:
I would say, for me, because I Love to learn. I shiny object syndrome. Oh. Actually. Yes.
James [00:39:40]:
Interesting. Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:39:41]:
When when I first started and I had a great mentor who is able to kinda show me the foundations of how to build a business and what that looked like, that was really helpful, and I kept Looking then for the next thing and the next thing and investing in this program and this mentor. And I’ve been really fortunate on the whole to have Really great mentors and look at what I’ve implemented as successful. I can also look and say, Was I just learning for the sake of learning because I didn’t trust Uh-huh. That what I was learning I could do?
James [00:40:17]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:40:18]:
Or was it just that this was, you know, me hoping that this next thing would help me take that next leap, whatever that looked Like, I think it’s a combination of both.
James [00:40:29]:
I don’t
Brienne Hennessey [00:40:29]:
think people really talk enough about the fact that you can Take all the learning in, but you have to be able to implement it and trust that what you’ve learned is enough. And Remember one of the reasons I said that I started this is because to me, when our self worth is intact, we’re gonna be a whole different kind of level of performer.
James [00:40:52]:
Absolutely.
Brienne Hennessey [00:40:53]:
And so if that level of enoughness is messing with business investments, with, you know, implementation, it’s very tempting to be like, well, it must be this next thing. I’ll just buy this one more course. I’ll just do this one more thing. And so that’s that was my initial Full struggle. And so in the last year, I’ve really been able to let that go. I’ve really been able to release that and say what I know is enough. What I’m able to implement is going to be the thing that I’m going to put the focus on, and that’s been awesome.
James [00:41:23]:
That’s super cool.
Brienne Hennessey [00:41:24]:
Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. It’s helped me finally hone and finish my voice health course project, which I’ve been working on for years when and that felt alone just like, oh my gosh. Like, this is complete. I can now get this out into the world. And so it’s those kind of moments where that that struggle, I think, Turned into more of a strength Alright. At this point.
Brienne Hennessey [00:41:45]:
Yeah.
James [00:41:46]:
Nice.
Brienne Hennessey [00:41:46]:
Yeah. Yeah.
James [00:41:47]:
So have you do you have employees?
Brienne Hennessey [00:41:49]:
That would be my 2nd struggle. I don’t know how many of of y’all other entrepreneurs out there have that, you know, how to build the best team kind of kind of situation if if you’ve ever experienced that. I James, in your years of experience, I have no doubt That is something that I am in the midst of a a season of stretch, let’s say.
James [00:42:10]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:42:10]:
I’ve I’ve been fortunate to, Employ 2 different assistants over the the last 4 years, and it’s also time to look at, Okay. What does it mean to to get the right people in the right places and truly delegate?
James [00:42:27]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:42:28]:
I like to think I can do it all myself? Oh, we
James [00:42:31]:
all do to a point.
Brienne Hennessey [00:42:32]:
Yeah. To a point. And so because we we we want that vision to be, you know, come to fruition. But Teams to me has been a a big struggle, actually. I’m still kind of finding my way, through that, and it’s a trust thing. It’s a it’s a big trust thing For me to delegate, see it through, and be able to say, okay. Someone’s as invested, maybe not as invested as,
James [00:42:52]:
you know, we are at our own.
Brienne Hennessey [00:42:54]:
I get that. But also just being able to trust that it’ll be there, you know, as a as a outlet for the long haul.
James [00:43:02]:
Oh.
Brienne Hennessey [00:43:02]:
I I don’t I don’t want to be a solo act. Okay. I want this to be a team approach. I want to have a support system in that way. And so that’s it’s it’s in a it’s in a changing season right now.
James [00:43:16]:
Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:43:16]:
Yeah.
James [00:43:17]:
And is the challenge finding the people or knowing how to look for People are knowing where to look for the people?
Brienne Hennessey [00:43:23]:
Both. All. Because in that, there’s so many, you know, levels of How far do you vet them? You know? Mhmm. What do you you can list out your lovely, you know, expectations and tasks, and then what? It’s just so different than, like, when I was in my clinical role mentoring students, leading fellows. So our fellows would come in, that was their first That I loved that.
James [00:43:47]:
Oh, nice. Okay. That.
Brienne Hennessey [00:43:49]:
This is very different, I feel like, which is fascinating. So Some people could say, well, you’re still leading. It’s still, you know, you know, guiding people, and it’s it’s different. There’s there’s just a different feel. So, so I think right now, yeah, it’s been finding Low knowing where to look, finding the right people, and we as the hiccups come throughout the time, how best to Reorient.
James [00:44:13]:
Okay.
Brienne Hennessey [00:44:14]:
And how best to make sure that is what I’m asking reasonable? If yes, how do we streamline it? So I I think that’s been really, really fascinating for me to wonder, are my standards too high? Or is it No. That I’m not high? You’re
James [00:44:30]:
never too high.
Brienne Hennessey [00:44:31]:
I I appreciate you saying that because I definitely I crave that efficient, like, streamlined team where everything’s going, you know, Running smoothly.
James [00:44:40]:
Mhmm.
Brienne Hennessey [00:44:40]:
And at the same time, it’s it’s a matter of of really finding that person who’s willing to to put in the the the work for it.
James [00:44:50]:
Right. So are these voice experienced people, or these are just people that are working computer kind
Brienne Hennessey [00:44:56]:
thing. Exactly. Exactly.
James [00:44:57]:
How to copy and paste.
Brienne Hennessey [00:44:59]:
You’d hope.
James [00:44:59]:
I know what an email is.
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:00]:
Something like that. Exactly.
James [00:45:02]:
Yeah. I don’t in that case Yeah. I would dare say that your standards are not too high. Okay. I feel like universally, just to get on my little complainer soapbox.
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:13]:
Yeah.
James [00:45:13]:
That a lot of employees or people that are looking for jobs Yeah. Are going the route to the post office, which is it cost more, but the service is lower. So and I feel like there’s universal compromise where people are just People employers are tolerating it to a point. But
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:31]:
Rather than trying to raise the bar Yeah.
James [00:45:32]:
It’s it seems like we’re circling the drain. Like, we’re all or a lot of the people that we see in the market
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:38]:
Yeah.
James [00:45:38]:
As far as employees are, just saying accept it or go away. Interesting thing with, the interns
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:46]:
Yeah.
James [00:45:46]:
Is that they probably had a 3 month, 6 month internship.
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:49]:
Right.
James [00:45:49]:
Or if they left that
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:50]:
Right.
James [00:45:51]:
That internship kinda goes with the school season. So if they left that internship, they can’t find another one for another semester or whatever.
Brienne Hennessey [00:45:58]:
Right.
James [00:45:58]:
So there’s an obligation to be there. Yeah. Where an employee, if they wanna find a different job, they just quit this one within a few hours, they have another one.
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:06]:
Go to another one. Yeah. So what In your experience, how does how does one craft the best team? Man, I don’t know.
James [00:46:17]:
I I have an answer or answers, but I’m nowhere near having that all figured out.
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:23]:
It’s a And
James [00:46:24]:
I would dare say that I have not met anyone that does. Yeah. Because if you go to interesting. If you go to just about any business
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:31]:
Yeah.
James [00:46:31]:
Right? They’re having this same issues or similar issues. Right. And really quick, long story that I’ll make into a short one.
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:39]:
Yeah.
James [00:46:39]:
I had a problem with an employee, different business that I had. They caused some headaches with some clients.
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:45]:
Mhmm.
James [00:46:45]:
So I reached out to the clients to try to do damage control.
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:48]:
Yes.
James [00:46:49]:
And the funny thing funny now. The funny thing is People
Brienne Hennessey [00:46:54]:
laugh about it. Yes.
James [00:46:55]:
Yeah. The funny thing was that when I called those clients up and said, hey, essentially, it was I mean, it was nicer than this, but I said I had a garbage employee, did some not so great things.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:05]:
Yeah.
James [00:47:05]:
I gotta figure out what he did, with your help to so I’ll make it right.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:09]:
Right.
James [00:47:10]:
And what I got out of that almost every single phone call
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:13]:
Yeah.
James [00:47:14]:
Was stories that were worse than mine.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:17]:
Oh, wow.
James [00:47:18]:
So they’re just like, oh, yeah. No problem. This is what he said. This is what’s going on. This is where we left, and I’m like, okay. So I know how to make it right. And they said, this is nothing. And then they would tell me some employee story.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:29]:
Wow.
James [00:47:30]:
And my first thought was like, oh, that’s cool. Right? That’s cool. But But then my 2nd thought was, wait. This gets worse.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:36]:
Right. Like, why are we going, like you said, to the lowest common denominator?
James [00:47:39]:
Yeah. It was bizarre. Yeah. So and I joke with employees or potential employees when I’m interviewing them
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:45]:
Yeah.
James [00:47:46]:
Saying we’re essentially on a first date, and I may ask you to marry me
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:51]:
Yeah.
James [00:47:51]:
After this 1st date.
Brienne Hennessey [00:47:52]:
Yeah. And I
James [00:47:53]:
talked to another guy that said he was on his 10th interview. And I’m like, 10th interview. Yeah. Who doesn’t have a job by then somewhere else?
Brienne Hennessey [00:48:01]:
The processes have become much more
James [00:48:03]:
Yes. Intensive. It’s interesting because I’m like, I don’t I can’t do ten interviews because I don’t it just feels weird then.
Brienne Hennessey [00:48:10]:
There yes. I think there is a happy middle ground, and I think it’s important to make sure it’s a good fit and that the skills They’re actually there. Yeah. I think that’s the thing. It can be easy to inflate that. Mhmm. Oh, I can totally I’m a really good learner. I’ll learn anything.
Brienne Hennessey [00:48:22]:
And it’s like, no. I need it done and now. Yeah. Like, already In the queue. So it’s interesting to see where that disconnect maybe comes in for people because they they if especially if they are excited about it, and at the same time, I yeah. It has to be an aligned fit. If it’s not aligned, especially especially when it comes to the mission and the values, but if it’s They’re not aligned with you said you could do this task, but it’s not getting done, then there’s gotta be some hard decisions.
James [00:48:50]:
Yeah. I think it comes down to over easy ones. Right?
Brienne Hennessey [00:48:52]:
Yeah. Or or maybe easy ones. Yes. Yes.
James [00:48:55]:
Difficult conversations, easy decisions. Yeah.
Brienne Hennessey [00:48:57]:
There you go. There you go.
James [00:48:58]:
So we, so I guess to answer your question
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:02]:
Yeah.
James [00:49:02]:
I ask questions and interviews that are not typically asked.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:05]:
Ah, okay.
James [00:49:06]:
And try to get, try to find or watch their reaction.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:10]:
Yeah.
James [00:49:10]:
And it’s not there’s no wrong answer.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:12]:
Of course.
James [00:49:13]:
Like, one of the questions, for example, is what is something that you used to believe that you no longer believe?
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:17]:
Cool.
James [00:49:18]:
Something like that where we can get them kinda thinking. Mhmm. And it’s not just like what are your strengths or weaknesses kind of things that that practice that or they’re like, I just worked too hard. Right? That’s my weakness. Something like that. Right.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:31]:
Oh my goodness. Yeah. For those
James [00:49:33]:
Something just bizarre. So I ask questions like that to see how they react and try to learn about them as a person.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:41]:
That yeah. That’s a really good one.
James [00:49:42]:
Well, there’s no wrong answer, but you can learn what is important to them, what are their beliefs, what are they What is their work ethic?
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:50]:
Yeah.
James [00:49:50]:
Exactly. In the end, you try to find that
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:52]:
Yeah.
James [00:49:53]:
Which is you can’t just come right out and say that or ask that.
Brienne Hennessey [00:49:56]:
Right.
James [00:49:56]:
Because they’d be like, great. It’s phenomenal. Best ever. Don’t look at the last 3 jobs that
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:02]:
they’ve been in 2 weeks. Do a trial period then and, like, see how
James [00:50:05]:
It’s tough. Yeah. It’s very tough.
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:06]:
Yeah.
James [00:50:07]:
But I get I mean, kudos to you for growing. That’s that’s impressive.
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:10]:
I feel yeah. I feel confident in the sense of now I understand what it means to To focus on team you know, building a team Mhmm. Because there are things, you know, that we aren’t meant to get bogged down with. We’ve gotta keep No. Momentum going. And, you know, thank goodness that it’s possible to to create a team, and at the same time Yeah. It’s just a growing growing pain season.
James [00:50:35]:
Yeah. You know what? It is interesting.
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:37]:
Yeah.
James [00:50:37]:
You mentioned opportunity there. Yeah. It is incredible. Yeah. Because I think I can throw an ad online. Mhmm. And in a day or two, I’ll have hundreds of applicants.
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:48]:
Yeah.
James [00:50:49]:
Majority are garbage.
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:50]:
Yeah.
James [00:50:50]:
But, I mean, if I were to do this before when there wasn’t an Internet, I gotta go to the newspaper
Brienne Hennessey [00:50:56]:
Right.
James [00:50:57]:
And wait a week for it to actually show up. Mhmm. And then people are gonna call. And if I miss their call and all this
Brienne Hennessey [00:51:03]:
All the time. Yeah.
James [00:51:05]:
Yeah. We wouldn’t have the remote No. The Zoom meetings or whatever and stuff like that, good or bad. So whatever.
Brienne Hennessey [00:51:12]:
Exactly. It’s it’s it’s remarkable what we’re able to do now, and I’m so grateful and that is one of the reasons that taking the leap from corporate world was so enticing To pave my own way.
James [00:51:27]:
Yeah.
Brienne Hennessey [00:51:28]:
And and to see what’s what’s possible to not be told it’s always been done with this way. Oh. My least favorite phrase.
James [00:51:34]:
Fair.
Brienne Hennessey [00:51:36]:
And and short of people saying I hate my voice, like, that’s that’s something that I think is just so limiting. Yeah. And And so, yes, the resources that we are privy to, the capabilities is just astonishing to me, and it keeps me grateful. So that keeps me moving in Days that you just wanna
James [00:51:54]:
Yeah. We’re just looking for business. Right? Any business or any really relationship. Yeah. I mean, a business is A bunch of relationships.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:03]:
Right? Exactly. Your relationship with your business, your relationship with the people in your business, and in whatever capacity.
James [00:52:08]:
There will be challenges.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:09]:
Yes.
James [00:52:09]:
Right? Challenging days, challenging moments.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:11]:
Exactly.
James [00:52:12]:
And I always tell people nobody gets excited to go on a flat roller coaster.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:16]:
Yeah. So, I
James [00:52:17]:
mean, just except that these are kinda the the hills and the screaming part with the curves upside down.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:22]:
Exactly. Yep.
James [00:52:24]:
It’s kinda fun. Yeah. Kinda Oh, yeah. There are days.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:26]:
There can definitely day be days where you’re Like, I got to do this. Like, how amazing is that? Mhmm. And not everybody is is cut out for it. And and how does that phrase go? Like, entrepreneurship is self growth on steroids.
James [00:52:38]:
Oh, I’ve never heard that before.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:40]:
Yeah. To reintroduce the self growth
James [00:52:41]:
on steroids. On steroids. Alright.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:43]:
Would attest to that for sure.
James [00:52:46]:
Yeah. We’re right there.
Brienne Hennessey [00:52:47]:
And I think that’s That’s worthwhile. And and it’s okay that it’s not for everybody too because to our our, you know, pain point of teams, we need those supports. See, you know, we need those skills, and we need people who are in that community with us.
James [00:53:00]:
So I
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:00]:
think that’s exciting. Yeah.
James [00:53:02]:
Yeah. Brandyll, thank you so much for on the show.
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:04]:
Thank you so much, James. This is such a pleasure.
James [00:53:06]:
How can people find
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:07]:
you? The easiest way is to find me at www.yourvocalvitality.com. They can also find me on Facebook, Your Vocal vitality.com. They can also find me on Facebook, Your Vocal Vitality LinkedIn at Breanne Hennessy, and Email is the easiest too. You’ll find emails on all those sites. So I look forward to hearing from y’all.
James [00:53:24]:
And you can help people nationally?
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:27]:
Yes.
James [00:53:27]:
Okay. Alright. Super cool.
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:29]:
Yeah.
James [00:53:30]:
That is awesome. I learned a lot here.
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:32]:
I’m so glad.
James [00:53:33]:
Yep. My throat hurts a little.
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:34]:
It’s good. We’ll do a cool down Sure.
James [00:53:36]:
Don’t worry.
Brienne Hennessey [00:53:36]:
I’ll help you out. It’s all good.
James [00:53:39]:
This has been Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle, stories, and triumph and successes business owners across the land. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. If you could do us a huge favor and please that algorithm by giving us a big old thumbs up, commenting, and, of course, sharing it with all your entrepreneurial friends as well as the people you know that probably talk a little too much, which I think is just about everybody. But maybe I’m wrong. I never take the time to listen. My name is James Kademan, and Authentic Business Adventures is brought to you by Calls on Call, offering call answering and reception services for service businesses across the country on the web at callsoncall.com, as well as the Bold Business Book, a book for the entrepreneur in all of us, available wherever fine books are sold. We’d like to thank you, our wonderful listeners, as well as our guest, Breanne Hennessy, the owner of Your Vocal Vitality. And, Breanne, can you tell us the website one more time?
Brienne Hennessey [00:54:34]:
Yes, sir. Www.yourvocalvitality.com.
James [00:54:38]:
Easy enough. Super cool. Past episodes can be found morning, noon, and night. The podcast link found at draw in customers.com. Thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week. I want you to stay awesome. And if you do nothing else, enjoy your business.
