I transitioned very late in life, and so was lumbered with a deep male baritone voice that had had over 60 years to install itself deeply into my vocal tract.
This presented a huge challenge that previous efforts with other voice practitioners, including one of the country’s most prominent, had largely failed to temper. To say my self confidence had been dented would be a big understatement. I had even reached the point of planning voice surgery as a last ditch attempt to gain some sort of reasonably feminine voice.
And then I found Celia, who convinced me that I was not the hopeless case that I felt, and worked hard to restore my self belief that I could really do this without surgery.
Other testimonials have praised the wide range of voice techniques and the vital tools and materials that she introduced into the transgender voice feminisation training. All I will add is that I consider those comments are 100% spot on.
Yes, with my background it was hard work, interspersed with laughter and not a few tears, but Celia bolstered my morale when I felt low, and challenged me with the material, much of it beautifully appropriate to a trans person, and eventually that light at the end of the tunnel started to grow brighter.
Finally the magical day when I was told I was ready to go out into the world and fly solo. Yes there is still work to be done to fully embed my female voice into my unconscious mind, and I anticipate a few bumpy landings along the way – but I am flying. And as a pilot friend once said, “any landing that you can walk away from is a good one”.
So, with apologies to Maya Angelou …
“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.”
Well my secret was to find Celia.
Thank you so much for having faith in me Celia.
– CS, Hampshire