Dr. Wendy LeBorgne is an expert on voice and communication, which is why Fortune 100 CEOs and Grammy-award winning artists trust her to assess and optimize their voices in high-pressure communication and performance situations.

When the company she worked for changed leadership and she no longer felt morally or ethically aligned, she struggled with the decision to leave because it was a comfortable, high-paying job. The pandemic forced her hand and she found herself unemployed and struggling with a massive identity shift.  

During this time, she leaned on the tight-knit community of her Bible study group. As we discuss, community is the heart of communication. You’ll also hear about the history of communication, how women and men use language differently, and how living in an era where online connections prevail is making us more disconnected than ever. 

In this episode, hear why it’s ok to not be ok and learn the practices Dr. Wendy adopted to find equilibrium during this transitionary time in her life.

Wendy’s hype song is This Is Me - The Greatest Showman

Resources:

• Learn more at www.drwendyvoice.com
• Connect with Dr. Wendy on LinkedIn
• Follow Dr. Wendy on Facebook and Instagram
• TED Talk: Wendy LeBorgne: Vocal Branding Beyond Words: How Your Voice Shapes Your Communication Image

You know you can go to Zen Rabbit.com to get your copy of the short guide to working less living better - also known as The Five Easy Ways to Start Living a Sabbatical Life. You may also be interested in a brand-new program called Staying Calm in Chaos. It’s 10 short, easily digestible audio sessions that walk you through how to go from being an overwhelmed high achiever to a calm, grounded, and centered person who has peace of mind no matter what. Comes with some awesome meditations and there’s a bunch of other cool stuff to go with it. Check that out at https://get.stayingcalminchaos.com/

Produced by Nova Media

Lori Saitz:

Welcome to Fine is a 4-Letter Word, the podcast that empowers you to say fuck being fine. Tired of being stuck in a place where you say everything's fine when it's really not fine at all. You're not alone. I'm your host, Lori Saitz. I've been there too, and so have my guests. Here's a secret. All it takes is a conscious decision to change and then restructure beliefs so your actions take you in the right direction. That's where Fine is a 4-Letter Word comes in. Each week, you'll hear inspiring stories from people who have transformed their lives and businesses and practical tips and takeaways to move you from spinning in place to forward action so you can create a life of joy. Thanks for tuning in. Let's get started. Hey there. You're in for a treat today as I host the awe inspiring Dr. Wendy Laborn. She's an expert on voice and communication, which is why Fortune 100 CEOs and Grammy Award winning artists trust her to assess and optimize their voices in high pressure communication and performance situations. Married for 27 years in her spare time, Wendy is a triathlon sherpa and cheerleader for her sons. Her happy place is anywhere that involves sand, sun and saltwater. When the company she worked for changed leadership and she no longer felt morally or ethically aligned, she struggled with the decision to leave because it was a comfortable, high paying job.

Lori Saitz:

The pandemic forced her hand and she found herself unemployed and struggling with a massive identity shift. During this time, she leaned on the tight knit community of her Bible study group. As we discuss community is the heart of communication. You'll also hear about the history of communication, how women and men use language differently, and how living in an era where online connections prevail is making us more disconnected than ever. You know you can go to Zen rabbit.com to get your copy of the Short Guide to Working Less and Living Better. Also known as the Five Easy Ways to Start Living a Sabbatical Life. You may also be interested in a brand new program called Staying Calm in Chaos. It's ten short, easily digestible audio sessions that walk you through how to go from being an overwhelmed high achiever to a calm, grounded and centered person who has peace of mind no matter what, and you'll still be a high achiever. Comes with some awesome meditations and there's a bunch of other cool stuff to go with it. Check that out at Staying Calm in chaos.com. Hello and welcome to Fine is a 4-Letter Word. My guest today is Wendy LeBorgne. Welcome to the show, Wendy.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Thank you so much for having me. Laurie It is a pleasure to be here.

Lori Saitz:

I am excited to get into this conversation. And as we were talking before I turned on record, I was saying that people are interested in how I meet my guests. And so just going to throw this out there right at the beginning. So I don't forget in that you and I were introduced by Mike Sackman and Mike was a guest, a previous guest on this show. He was episode 62, also known as Season two, Episode 26, because we renumbered and we stopped doing seasons. This might be news to my listeners now because the first time I'm mentioning it, but we're we just started we went back and renumbered from one to. I think your episode 96 or 97. Well, check check the numbers when it publishes. And yeah. Anyway. Many thanks to Mike for introducing us.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yes, absolutely. And he and I met I think he had he had seen my TEDTalk and reached out and I was like, sure, I'll be on your podcast. And then it just it grew from there. I think this idea of networking with people is, is so amazing. I that's been one of my favorite things is meeting new people from so many, many walks of life. It just makes the world interesting and exciting.

Lori Saitz:

Yes. And it's it's fun. Like we talk a lot about how this experience of life, what what is life like? What's the meaning of life? And and we can get into that more later, too. But the whole idea for me is that it's an experience and that we're here to have fun.

Wendy LeBorgne:

And I'm always truly amazed at the amount of connections that you have with people that you really actually don't know. Like you and I and our pre conversation. You're in the DC area. I was born in DC like you know just there's all of these connections that we never met each other before and then boom and we can continue to create community around conversation and what we do and I think I think that is really cool.

Lori Saitz:

It is. It definitely is. So speaking of creating community because that's something that you do really well too. How did you like what were the values and beliefs that you were raised with? And was was there something about that that in your growing up years that contributed to your ability to do this now?

Wendy LeBorgne:

I think probably one of the biggest thing that was instilled in me from the time I was little and part of it might be on my personality, but just this I have just an internal drive to be the best that I can be. And that was kind of instilled in in me by my parents as well as like whether you are a ditch digger, whether you're a, you know, a neurosurgeon, your goal is to be the best you that you can be in, whatever that is. You work your hardest. Some days are good, some days are not good. But if you have left it all on the field, so to speak, I think that that was huge for me and that allows for no, I would say no regrets. I mean, I think there's always things we can change and what we do, could we have done it differently? Would it have made a different outcome? But in that moment of time, in whatever moment of time it is, do you do the best job and are authentic to who you are and what you do? And that that has really been something that was instilled in me and hopefully I have instilled in my children as they you know, my son actually graduated from high school this weekend. And you're like, did you do enough? Is it is he ready to spread his wings and go in the world? So.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, well, you know, you do the best you can with the tools you have at the time. And I really believe. And I say this to myself as well as to everybody who's listening, that we the regrets part is like, you can't go back and change anything. Everything has worked out exactly as it was supposed to.

Wendy LeBorgne:

I believe that.

Lori Saitz:

And moving forward, holding on to this idea that there are no wrong choices. There are no wrong decisions.

Wendy LeBorgne:

I love that. Yeah, whatever.

Lori Saitz:

Whatever you decide will be the right thing.

Wendy LeBorgne:

And it is what it is in that moment of time. And it will guide a path forward. And I, you know, I've had a lot of change in my professional life in the last couple of years. And what has been really interesting for me is to look at, again, all of these threads throughout my life that you don't recognize in the moment of time, but that actually kind of come full circle in some capacity or someone you've met or, oh my gosh, do you have this connection to be able to move this forward? And I don't think you can see that until hindsight. So regrets good and bad, but also learning from experiences. And I don't always say learning from mistakes because sometimes you learn good things from bad experiences and bad thing from good experiences. It can be. Flipside.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, you mentioned being the best you that you can be at first. First it brings up wasn't there like some Dr. Seuss story? That was about that? No.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Oh, the places you will go. That's. That's what's in the in the forefront of my brain at the moment. But it's the book. Yeah.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah. It sounds like a Dr. Seuss theme, but the other thing it brought up for me was there was a movie, and I just looked it up because I don't have the year off the top of my head. But it was it came out in 2006, Call You, Me and Dupree and Owen Wilson was one of the main characters. It was Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, Seth Rogen was in it. Michael Douglas. But Owen Wilson's character is like this total slacker. Who lives with his friends, like sleeps on their couch and then decides he wants to become a motivational speaker and he talks them. So it's crazy, stupid movie. But it was funny. But he talks in there at the very end when he's doing his presentation about Eunice, like being exactly about being who you are and your Eunice.

Wendy LeBorgne:

I think that that's so important. But I also think we all have to recognize that hopefully you change and grow over time. And so I think where people get stuck sometimes self included is, am I my same self at whatever age I am, which we're not going to talk about as I was ten years ago, as I was ten years before that. Right. And so where if there's a one of my friends here and he is a wonderful author, Todd Henry has a book called Die Empty. And it is about like if you are not growing, you're dying. Right? So what does that look like? It's a wonderful it's a wonderful book. But just at the end of your life, like, have you done all of the things to fulfill what you're supposed to fulfill in this moment of time?

Lori Saitz:

Yeah. I don't know if you could. Actually reach that point, Like to be like, I've done everything possible that I wanted to was here for even if you are 150.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yeah, yeah. We don't know the timeline right on, on what it is. So I think in that moment of living the best life you can in each and every moment. Yeah. Um, in this crazy fast forward world, you know, as you were like YouTube and this and that and whatever, right? All of these things, I think it becomes so challenging at times to be to maintain presence in the moment. You know, as I get older, to maintain that presence in the moment versus either thinking about what's coming or living in the past, right? What is happening now.

Lori Saitz:

It's such a human thing. Like that's what we do because we have that capability. Absolutely. If you look at a cat or a dog. They probably aren't doing that because I don't know. As smart as my cats have been. Do they have that cognitive ability? Yeah. And are they better off without it? Like there's there are arguments that could be had that they're better off without that ability.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yes. There's a what do we say to our youngest son? We you know, if he's playing playing like baseball or whatever, we're like, you got to have the memory of a goldfish, dude. Like, you have to. It's done. It's over. Like memory of a goldfish. It's done. It's over. We're in the next moment. Um, because, you know, those are things we learn over time, right? Yes.

Lori Saitz:

Yes, for sure. So because the show is called Fine is a 4-Letter Word. Tell tell me about the time or a time, because some many of us have more than one time that you were in a stuck in a place where you said everything was fine, but it wasn't fine at all.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yeah. I mean, I think probably in, you know, I saw I call it BC before Covid and then after Covid. Right. But, um, you know, I, I was living in this very, very comfy life and, you know, went from, you know, undergrad, master's, PhD. Great job, great family, great marriage, the all of the things. And then, you know, the company that I worked for had changed some leadership. And I knew that I was not probably morally or ethically aligned with some of the leadership in that company. But I wasn't really willing to change or modify because it was I mean, I actually love what I do and still do, but I knew that that was probably maybe not the best fit in that moment. And it became very, very evident as the pandemic progressed that I was in a health care situation. And it was it was very challenging and ended up making a pivot that I probably I was super uncomfortable making because I went from a very, very comfortable six figure job to 0 in 2 weeks, essentially. And so figuring that out like but that was probably the best move I've ever made in my life. So yeah.

Lori Saitz:

Did you make that choice yourself or was that choice made for you in terms of a layoff or something like that?

Wendy LeBorgne:

It was essentially made for me, yeah.

Lori Saitz:

Okay.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Which as a as as a as somebody who was kind of the head of household financially from a from that standpoint, it was it was huge. It was. And as someone who's incredibly I think there's a lot of women and probably a lot of men, but that my identity is very much wrapped up in my career. Um, that was not just a shift in career. It was Who am I? What do I do now? What what am I like? It was it was a very, very massive shift.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, that makes complete sense. Were you. But you had been thinking like you already knew. You mentioned that you weren't aligned at all.

Wendy LeBorgne:

That wasn't aligned. And I have always had. What's the next goal? What's the next thing? And I had been with this company for close to 25 years and um, I had I'm not sure where I was going to where my next goal was. So, I mean, I'm an author, I'm doing lectures outside of there, like all of the things. And it had been it would have been a great, great, great situation and then went in a very not great direction.

Lori Saitz:

So Yeah, right. But you were saying that you were kind of out of alignment with their values and their morals, and so you knew you couldn't stay there, but you were afraid to make the move. And so the universe, as often happens, did it for you.

Wendy LeBorgne:

You said, I'm shutting this door for you. Thank you very much. Thank you for playing. Yes. And I am so fortunate and blessed to have a community around me as an individual that live outside of that world to be able to provide some perspective, saying this is not healthy. You can't stay in this situation. Um, situation. So yeah.

Lori Saitz:

Talk to me a little bit about that community. How, what, how did it come to be? How did you build that?

Wendy LeBorgne:

Oh, my gosh. So there's a couple different arms of this. Like I have this powerhouse women Bible study that we would get up literally 6 a.m. on Friday mornings and meet. I'm not sure God was awake at 6 a.m., but we were all there because these this this particular group of women are all these high power like CEOs, attorneys, judges, physician, like really, really amazing women that support each other. And I'm one of the things I found, even in my own profession is and I don't know if this is just my profession or if it is across the board, but I have found that I generally align better with women who are in similar levels of leadership, but not in my direct field of study or field of work versus just having people because we are all kind of competing for the same jobs, if you will, if you're all in the same field. So everybody's had very similar experiences but in different sectors. So it was really beneficial and just constantly having that support, knowing that what was said in the room would stay in the room regardless of who it was. So it was a very safe space. And just knowing that somebody had your back. And then I have this community of great friends that were just that were just there for me and still are there for me every day. And just we are so lucky. So, so lucky friends. And yeah, my faith for sure.

Lori Saitz:

I asked that question because I often hear from people I was going to say women, but it's really all genders, especially when they reach 40s and 50s having difficulty finding new friends or making new connections. Yeah. And, and being able to build a community like that or a support system like that. And that's why I was curious where, how you, where yours came from.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yeah. And some of them are long standing friends, like 20 plus year friends. Um, but I will say that I am one of those people. I have a lot of acquaintances and very few close friendships and those close friendships are huge. I do think it's challenging to kind of network and meet new people. But going back, my work was also my family, right? So when that was like having a divorce that you didn't actually ask for or want, and then nobody sees each other anymore and you're like, Oh my gosh, how does this work? What am I going to do? Um, so having to put myself out there with friends, I started going to some networking groups eventually after the pandemic kind of did its thing. Um, but yeah, because I don't think that social media is they are acquaintances for the most part, right? Like, yeah, what people know of me on social media is a digital footprint.

Lori Saitz:

Allow me a quick moment to thank you for tuning in to Fine is a 4-Letter Word. If you're enjoying the show, please take a second to hit the follow button so you don't miss an episode. And if you haven't already, I'd love it if you would leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts. Your feedback helps the show reach more listeners like you. Fine is a 4-Letter Word is available on all major podcasting platforms, so no matter where you listen, you can stay up to date with the latest episodes. Now let's get back into the conversation. Right? Right. Social media, people think they have connections and you have you are connected to people. That doesn't mean you know them. And that's part of the challenge of living in the day and age that we do, is that so many people are have so many connections online, but are at home by themselves, lonely because those aren't true friendships and deep connections.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yeah. And I will say in the last probably 6 to 12 months, I've really cut back on my social media consumption and posting same because it's exhausting. Like it's mentally exhausting. Um, all of the things I am ready. I am a people person and I love Zoom and I love the ability that we've gotten to do this, but I need to actually be with people in person because to me that is part of community, right?

Lori Saitz:

And we've talked about this before on the show about the difference between. Virtual connections and in-person connections. And there's an energetic I mean, energy is ubiquitous. It doesn't matter where you are, you can feel someone's energy. However, it is different when you are in a room with somebody versus when you are, you know, in a virtual room with somebody.

Wendy LeBorgne:

100%. And so as a as a voice pathologist and as somebody who does hands on work with patients and clients, um. That is one of the things that I can do a lot of therapy via telehealth, that human touch, that ability to create a physical connection, number one. And also without getting like too woo woo on the situation. But I'm.

Lori Saitz:

All good with woo woo, all.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Right. I'm trained in myofascial release and some craniosacral work, but that requires actual touch and energy in some capacity to feel the tissue under your skin to know, okay, there is an area of restriction in their muscle or there's muscle tension. I can't do that virtually. And so I think that ability for sure is super duper important.

Lori Saitz:

Yes. Yes. You know, we were talking we're talking here about community. And I had a note written down from our original our first conversation with I have a note and it has a star next to it. And that is that the root of communication is community.

Wendy LeBorgne:

It is so the Latin root, the root word of communication is like communists is at the end. And that actually means community and you cannot do that in isolation. Um, and so, and it requires honestly people being together, it is not ever meant, it was not ever meant to be. And in a virtual situation.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, right. Because think about how many years we have been living. As humans in community without virtual like this virtual thing is only maybe the maybe the last ten years.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Right. Right. And even things such as I will almost rather have a phone conversation at times because we pick up more emotional cues without visual input than we do by having visual and audio combined. Um, we can tell the only people that can effectively lie verbally that we can't tell in their voices as a as somebody who assesses voices, right? This is my world are sociopaths and trained FBI agents who can do that. The rest of us are able to actually pick up cues of emotion, sadness, grief, happiness, lying. Um, by listening to the sound of somebody's voice because it's hardwired from the brain. So it's very interesting. Um, and just in communication, women's goals of communication historically, I mean, I'm talking back to caveman times, hunter gatherers. The, the goal of communication for women was to create a relationship or to create community. The goal of communication in men is actually they use words to in language to get a job done. So even back to caveman times, cave people, times, that's actually the role of communication.

Lori Saitz:

Wow, That's so interesting about the audio piece without video. Like there's there have been many times that I would rather have a phone conversation and I never knew that. That's probably why. Like it just is easier. A lot of times it's just easier. Let's just go old school phone and. Often people are like, Yeah, let's do that. I'm tired of being on Zoom and it's a better conversation.

Wendy LeBorgne:

100%. Yeah. I don't have the study name off the top of my head, but there was a study that they that that they did and I can send it to you later. Just so if somebody wants to look at it, they can.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, we can put it in show notes.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Right. So they basically took a couple of groups. They had one that was doing verbal, uh, verbal only conversation, one that was verbal and visual and one that was in complete darkness. And you only had auditory cues. Um, the listeners and watchers picked up the correct emotional context most accurately with auditory only.

Lori Saitz:

Mm. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting. So how did you you talked about your your communities helping support you when you were in the transit transitory place of moving from from that job you'd been at for 20 something years to where you are now? What are the other tools? What other tools did you use and how did you find your way, especially given what you mentioned earlier? And I can completely relate to this, that that job was your identity, right?

Wendy LeBorgne:

Um, you know, for anybody out there that's gone through a pretty massive transition, I think it's okay to not be okay. I think that was one of the huge things that I had to learn. I am a super stubborn, strong, headstrong person who's crazy driven. So that was that was a moment to take.

Lori Saitz:

That pretty much describes everyone who's listening. So. Yeah. Okay, good.

Wendy LeBorgne:

So I'm not alone in the world in this, but I will say that it was a good. I'm not gonna lie six months to a year easily because it was happening during the pandemic, so it was like no normal life anyway, right in the midst of all of this crazy, which I think has happened to so many people. Right. And especially that. So there was some healing time for sure. So there was a lot of self-reflection. I did a lot of journaling. I pretty much meditated and still do every day. That was not something I did on the regular basis. Prior to all of this. I would do it occasionally as needed. Yeah, this became a part of my life every day. Um, I had to learn to be quiet, to listen, if that makes sense. Yeah. Um, and so that was a skill that I worked. I work and continue to work hard to build in listening, but. I don't know. Hopefully some of your listeners out here can relate to this, but my mind goes like 100 miles a minute and meditating for five minutes and just being quiet is hard for me because I say I have monkey mind. It just goes constantly. But in order to find kind of this path forward, um, really being able to find quiet, to be able to listen and make that happen and then create a plan.

Wendy LeBorgne:

I work with a coach who has been really helpful in my world and she's been amazing and had, interestingly, a very similar experience in her professional career. Um, and so learning from that and that has been huge in my life and my husband has been a huge support. Um, we, it's crazy because during again, I think this is normal, right? You have pandemic happens mom's trying to do, you know, run a run a business from home in health care, migrating everything. My husband happens to be a music educator who is a percussionist. So we are now doing marching band online in the other room. I've got a seventh grader, a sixth grader at the time, fifth and sixth grader who needs direction as we're trying to learn, because you can't just put a fifth grader in front of a computer for eight hours and hope that it all goes well. And I've got a high schooler who is trying to learn online. So it was all of those things where we just said what is happening? And so that took a lot of transition. Um, yeah, but meditation was vital to even start my day because that could not happen without some quiet before and after.

Lori Saitz:

Absolutely. I think it's interesting to note that you mentioned turning to meditation in a time of kind of a crisis, and I think that's how a lot of us come to it. Like my listeners probably have heard me tell the story of how I was introduced to meditation when I was ten years old. My mom took my brother and me to a meditation course, but then I didn't practice it regularly for 40 something years. And it wasn't until after my mom passed and I shut down my first business and was asking the same question of like, Well, who am I now that I don't have that business? That's when I turned back to it. As on a regular basis. And but years before that, I had a friend who was going through a divorce and I'm like, you know, meditation might be something that could help you. And so she started doing it, but I wasn't doing it. I just recommended it to her. So it becomes, you know, again, it's when you're ready, the the right resources and teachers show up. But it's interesting that that's that's when people most come to it. Is is during that time. And I also wanted to mention because you said you have a hard time sitting still that there are active meditations. You don't have to sit still quietly.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yes, it is a good thing for my brain to try to and not just the sitting, but just for me. I try to make a difference between a meditation mindfulness and manifestation. For me, like mindfulness is that is easier for me to do in motion meditation. I do try to park my butt in a chair. I have my meditation chair and I try to sit there and be quiet. Don't disturb me. But yes, so much so that I actually, because I teach at a university, I was allowed to take X number of graduate like I needed a I don't want to go back to school or, you know, I want to continue to be a lifelong learner, but I don't think I need another degree at this point. But they have a graduate certification in integrative medicine and integrative wellness from the medical school. And so I was like, all right. So I actually took a mindfulness course through the med school. I've taken traditional Chinese medicine I love. I think acupuncture is really cool. I love I think our bodies have an amazing way of healing themselves. I think our brain, I think we yeah, I think the foods we eat, the things we eat and drink, all of those things as I grow, like my lemon balm in my backyard, like all of the things I it's a fascinating to me the chemistry that can exist in this world.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, it really is fascinating how how strong our minds are in terms of controlling our physical wellness. Yes. And again, this is knowledge that's been used by humans for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. And then somehow in the past, I don't know, 100 or 2, we kind of forgot about it or we thought we knew better. Like we've evolved to know better. But it still, yes, there are places for what do you call it now, like Western medicine?

Wendy LeBorgne:

Well, yeah, I think that there's got to be that marrying between preventative wellness and crisis management, right? Like, yes, in in in Western society, we often live in crisis management. And do not get me wrong. Like I if I'm in a car accident, if I have cancer, if I have those things, I want traditional Western medicine. But I do think that we can do a lot for ourselves, mentally, physically, emotionally to support well-being, to minimize the tipping point into being unhealthy. Because, you know, again, my my life has been evaluating and treating vocal injury all the way from like overuse to laryngeal cancers. So that that's been a thing.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah. And now that you have gotten more into using those techniques, meditation and those things, are you bringing more of that into your practice than you ever have before?

Wendy LeBorgne:

What's interesting is I, I had brought it into my practice a long time ago. Um, I was trained in myofascial release probably 10 to 12 years ago. So I've used hands on for a long time. Um, again, being super left brained, I sort of want to know the why behind what I'm doing. And so I think my. More recent education, if you will, has been a deeper dive for myself, um, and to continue to grow and learn like the, the herbal supplements and the herbal stuff. That's it. Chemistry has always been interesting, but, you know, how do you combine turmeric with lycopene to get the most benefit? It's not just about green tea or turmeric. It's how are these things combined to create a positive chemistry? And just like with Western medicine, with every benefit, there is a risk. And that is the same thing in like herbs and herbal supplements. And I think it's really important that people actually know that too. So that's how I've kind of incorporated it because I live in a world of high level professional vocal athletes. So they'll come in and they'll have done like tea with honey and lemon or cayenne pepper in apple cider vinegar for acid reflux. I'm like, What made you think this was a good idea? Where did this come from? Because, yes, some of these things may be beneficial. However, we know that this can actually burn your esophagus. So you doing that might not be your best choice. But, um, there there are things. It's really interesting.

Lori Saitz:

It is interesting. And it's interesting to me that you have this this interest and are combining it with what you're doing to help your clients even more like it's a differentiating factor for you, I would think.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yeah. And I think if you're going to do it, let's do it in the healthiest, safest way possible. Again, no judgment. But like if you're going to smoke marijuana, what is the least detrimental way you can do that for your vocal cords? If you're a professional singer, is it potentially better to ingest it, doing it in a bong? Like if you're going to do it, let's talk about how to do it in the most helpful way, because I'm not I can only give you choices. I'm not going to be there with you. So let me provide the choices for you that are going to exist. If you're going to choose to engage in this activity. Just kind of like safe sex is like, right, You're going to do it. Here's a safer way to make it happen.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah, exactly. Educated making so they can make educated choices for themselves.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Yes. Yeah. My job is not to judge. It's to provide you with information to be able to make appropriate decisions for what's best for you. Yeah.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah. Wow. This has been such a good conversation. Like, I feel energized.

Wendy LeBorgne:

But it was all good.

Lori Saitz:

I know, but it was. Yeah, it went exactly where it was supposed to go. You know? I love it before. Before we leave it, I have my two my two questions. You know, my one last question of what what you're all about music and vocals. And so I'm super curious to hear your answer to what your hype song is.

Wendy LeBorgne:

So it's a hands on what I'm going in for, right? Like I told you, I was like, I have a whole Spotify playlist. Yes. Of hype songs. Right. So I sent you a list of some I would say one of my favorites is, um, from Oh, my gosh, Greatest Showman, which is the one that I sent to you. This is me. Um, I would encourage your listeners to watch the YouTube link potentially I sent you, which is in a rehearsal room of the it's not the it's not from the cast album. This is what happened in that rehearsal room. This is raw footage of that and it is inspiring and moving. And so and I love the the, you know, mixed and and edited version, but that version to me is huge. Um, I love Broken and Beautiful by Kelly Clarkson on that is a great pump up song. Um and then um there's one from Zootopia that's also on there that I think wrote It's Birds don't Just Fly, they Fall Down and Get Up Again, which is always a super fun song to write.

Lori Saitz:

I got to go listen to that one because I'm not familiar.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Um. Yes.

Lori Saitz:

Cool.

Wendy LeBorgne:

I have a plethora, like legit a hour.

Lori Saitz:

Oh, yeah. So do I. So do I. I know that that question for me is really difficult, but I love asking it of other people too, because right when you're into music and you love. All kinds of music genres and everything. Like being asked to pick one is virtually impossible. But it is interesting. It's an interesting exercise.

Wendy LeBorgne:

100%. So yes, I have I have lists for what I need in that moment of time.

Lori Saitz:

Yeah. Yeah. Love it. All right. And then lastly, if people want to continue this conversation with you, where's the best place for them to find you?

Wendy LeBorgne:

Probably my website, which is w-w-w dot d r Wendy Voice Dr. Wendy Voices.com There's a contact me form on there. So those come directly to me. I get to filter through those. So if you want to reach out to me, that's the best place you can find me. You can find me on Instagram at Dr. Wendy Voice and LinkedIn at Dr. Wendy Voice. So I'm there as well. Cool. And my Ted Talk, if you go watch it. Yay.

Lori Saitz:

Yes. All right.

Wendy LeBorgne:

We'll put over a million views for me.

Lori Saitz:

Oh, awesome. Yeah, We'll put a link to all of that in the show notes to make it easy for people to find you then.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Would be awesome. Thank you.

Lori Saitz:

Cool. Well, thank you so much for joining me today on Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Wendy LeBorgne:

Wendy Laurie It has been my pleasure and you are so easy to talk to. Thank you.

Lori Saitz:

I don't know why I keep getting introduced to and connecting with people in Cincinnati. There have been several previous guests who live there and next week's guest is there as well. It's crazy. And the funny thing is they don't all know each other, but of course I'm connecting them. And before you go, getting any ideas? No, I have no intention of moving there. I think a lot of us can relate to Wendy's struggle with the massive identity shift. It rocks your world and you do live through it to become stronger. Here are the key takeaways. Number one, there are no wrong decisions even if things don't play out. How you'd hoped or imagined. Every decision you make guides you forward from one moment of time to the next. It's only looking back that you'll notice what decisions led you to where you are today, and you'll be surprised to see how many, quote unquote bad decisions Owens worked out in your favor. Number two, change is scary. And when you're in drastic need of change, the universe has a way of forcing that change upon you. From that point, it's all about what you do with that opportunity.