wellness
Days after Kathryn Frazier lost her Altadena home in January’s Los Angeles wildfires, she returned to survey what was left. “On my property, I had four little sheds and [one] was a healing room. There was a 300-pound citrine crystal in the middle and a Reiki table,” she says. “When I drove up there, the entire street was gone. Everything on my property was gone — except for that healing shed.”
Frazier has worn many music industry hats across her 30-plus year career. In 1996, she founded the publicity firm Biz 3, which has staffers working remotely in several states. Its roster of 200-plus clients, who are primarily in the music business, includes The Weeknd, Lil Yachty, Chappell Roan and Victoria Monét, as well as known figures in film, TV, sports and comedy. In 2011, Frazier co-founded independent label OWSLA with Skrillex and others. And in 2018, she became an International Coaching Federation-designated Professional Certified Coach, enabling her to guide clients on professional and, if they choose, personal matters. She also teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a certified reiki master and authored an upcoming book about co-parenting.
“All of the tools, routines and perspective that I’ve been cultivating for the last 30 years literally felt like I had the world’s biggest, best insurance policy for emotional and mental health when something devastating or tragic happens,” Frazier says, reflecting on the fires. “And it saved me.”
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Frazier used those tools to keep working despite the personal devastation she had suffered. The fires had upended clients’ plans and her expertise was needed to, for example, help deal with the cancellation of The Weeknd’s Los Angeles show and postponement of his sixth album, Hurry Up Tomorrow.
“A lot of times, you have to keep going because it’s your livelihood,” she says. “And of course all my camps were so loving and like, ‘Please take what you need.’ But there was a certain drive in me [to be] of service to others, whether it’s in a philanthropic way or [the way] I’ve dedicated myself to helping [their] art. It does take you out of yourself in a healthy way. It’s like walking on a tightrope, but because of all the years I’ve been doing this, my tightrope is a wider path, almost like a bridge.”
How have you coped these last few months?
I’ve done a lot of surrendering, a lot of acceptance. For the first month, did I [use] all my tools? No, I was waking up every day in fight-or-flight [mode], just trying to emotionally process. Grieve. Get my family set up so we have somewhere to live. You’re really, truly kind of starting over. And then also taking care of business. The day I woke up from the fires, I had the launch of The Weeknd’s album campaign with a magazine cover. And I just didn’t stop. It was a really big test of how I operate or show up when shit hits the fan. And all the tools absolutely served me.
Why did coaching feel like a necessary next step in your career?
I was becoming very disenchanted with the industry and felt really empty. Then I started to see a lot of people suffer — and not even people I work with. A lot of addiction, a lot of mental health stuff, a lot of just being worn. Resentment, anxiety, depression, all of it. I had a bigger calling, and why not be able to help people [spread their] art? Whether it’s me doing their press or marketing or getting someone into a better headspace. That’s why labels and managers want me to see their artists. And I always encourage people to have [their artists] see me when they’re just beginning so that they don’t go off the rails. Versus bringing me someone who’s totally at the bottom and struggling and now has to cancel a hundred-date tour or something. It’s preventative medicine.
How big is your coaching client list?
I have a waitlist that I operate from. But because my coaching clients travel so much, I can always get people on the list. I coach a lot of large artists. I coach [senior] executives. And I also coach people who have nothing to do with any of that. The one thing I find is it doesn’t matter who they are or what their position is in life. The inner self-talk tends to be the same. The obstacles tend to be the same.
Since you’ve started coaching, have you seen a shift in how the music industry supports the wellbeing and mental health of its artists and executives?
I still constantly hear of people or see people being pushed and propped up, and I don’t think the music industry is negligent. It’s more that people don’t know where to go or they don’t have the resources. They don’t know what to do with a drug-addicted client. Like, “Who do I call? Do you know any sober coaches?” Often, it’s not knowing how to have the hard conversations when you see someone struggling. Many times over the years, I have gone up to artists — and again, a lot of them are not people I rep — when I can tell they’re struggling, in particular with addiction, or when I hear that they’re canceling a lot of tours and shows, I’ll be like, “Sweetie, tell me what’s happening. I can see you’re struggling.” And almost every time, they literally fall into my arms. They want to talk. They want help.
How are you working to broaden a community that can help?
It’s what I’m teaching. My course at UCLA is about the music industry, and it has become really popular. The kids call it “the manifestation class.” It’s half “What do you need to do to move forward in music?” Almost all of them are musicians, as well as people who want to be in the industry working. It’s also [half] “How do you navigate your own inner voice?” The negative self-talk, the imposter syndrome, the scarcity mindset, the indecision, compare-and-despair. And then, “How do you navigate and handle the outer voice?” The media voice, the public voice.
Your partner Dana Meyerson represents Chappell Roan. How did you feel about Chappell’s Grammys speech regarding the industry supporting artists’ mental and physical health?
I got tears in my eyes immediately and I had a resounding “Fuck yes” come through me. Because we do need to take care of the people who are actually creating the business of this entire business. And I so applaud anyone with a platform using it in service of helping other humans, especially with their mental and emotional health. It made me very proud that [Chappell is] a part of Biz 3. It made me so proud that I have a business partner in Dana that can recognize amazing talent and also have artists that say something on our roster. Dana has truly done the come-up in this industry and now is the reigning queen of PR, in my opinion. She finds the best, most amazing artists and builds them up to massive success.
Have you thought about helping other music companies establish career and wellness coaching?
That would be my dream. The main thing that would require is a budget. If even the smallest amount of earnings could go into hiring a couple of [personal and professional] coaches that could help your staff and your artists for 45 to 50 minutes every other week, you would have such a different company culture. When I quote unquote retire, it’ll just mean I’m fully coaching, writing books and teaching. And maybe that’s me trying to spearhead coaching divisions at companies.
How has the role of a publicist expanded over the years?
All the big press stuff is still there, but there’s also a lot of paid media. That’s been the most disheartening part for me. I’m afraid for it to go too far because then we stop having editorial, we stop having curatorial voices, we stop having people who are truly discovering what is amazing out there versus what got paid for. So I’m really hoping that doesn’t usurp the true editorial and curatorial.
We’re also seeing an uptick in influencer-based media. How does that affect your approach to publicity?
It changed the scope. There are more conversations with YouTubers that review or do music or certain shows [on] TikTok. I am 1,000% a glass-half-full person — I’m a recovered cynic. I’m like, “All right, what new opportunities are there for us?” There might be some magazines shuttering, but what other interesting way can you get good art out to the masses? Like, I’m not going down with the ship. Let’s keep it moving.
The music business needs a hug…and a punch to the gut.
As someone who cares deeply about mental health, wellness and supporting people in need, my intentions with this letter come from the purest place of love and empathy. But if I’ve learned anything from my time in the music industry — it’s to be direct. Today, I’m calling for more consistent, accessible personal and professional development support for the people who keep the music industry’s wheels turning. These include things like leadership and communication training, adaptability and resiliency coaching and a basic understanding of emotional intelligence. We cannot have a healthy industry inhabited by healthy humans without the intersection of mental health and professional and personal development. We need to move beyond just checking boxes for things that look good on paper, but do not actually impact those owning the day-to-day operations of our business. It’s unsustainable long-term. What good are resources if the business itself doesn’t support their use? How can we seriously promote wellness while maintaining conditions within the workplace that undermine it? The need to invest in both our well-being and create healthier work environments is becoming dire as we navigate unprecedented mergers and acquisitions, rampant layoffs due to our ever-evolving business, and an increasingly competitive landscape that shows no signs of slowing down.
To start, we could benefit from operating with less ego and more empathy. Leaders can always strive to be better decision-makers and communicators, with a focus on humility and understanding for their teams and partners. They hold the power to make change, but also face immense pressure, and we need to support them in guiding the industry. We also need more people who genuinely care about human growth, and are equipped to fight for changing outdated systems.
These precursors are required to address what our artists are expressing on stage at award shows and what professionals are discussing off the record over dinner. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak for the hundreds of people I’ve met over the past five years, including those who attend our jump.global Annual Summit, where we host open forums on these critical topics. Yes, we’re good at calling this all “mental health,” and to some extent, it fits under that umbrella. But it’s so much more than that. It’s dealing with the real-life effects of endless company reorgs, constant performance critiques, burnout from the grind, lack of healthy work-life boundaries and an industry that prioritizes making money without making sure its people are happy with their personal growth.
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These aren’t new revelations. The industry has long been criticized for its broken promises and dehumanizing culture, but we’ve reached a tipping point. People are mentally and physically exhausted, overwhelmed by constant fatigue and the whiplash of relentless demands. They are caught between morning meditation and breathwork sessions, only to be thrown into the chaos of endless emails and unclear paths to advancement. It’s real, and it’s widespread, impacting every part of our personal and professional lives. The music industry must embrace the people who have always been its heart and soul — artists, fans and workers alike. It’s time to nurture the relationships that sustain it, offering the support, care, and recognition that has often been overlooked, and ensure that everyone involved feels valued, heard, and connected. It needs to become so systemic that it’s as common as composing an email or pitching a release. Are we truly listening to the feedback of our teams as much as we are to the charts? If we put people over profit, we can turn this around — but without this shift, we risk burning out the very people who keep this industry alive.
This sentiment is echoed by the coaching community I’ve turned to for my own research and development. “When mental, physical and emotional health are prioritized as part of the fabric of an organization, company culture changes, people get more creative, productivity increases, communication improves, performance gets stronger,” says Marni Wandner, board-certified health coach, executive coach and 22-year music industry vet. “I work with both executives and artists, most of whom are trying to prevent burnout, or recover from it. When people are at their best, the whole industry benefits – and the way we take care of ourselves and each other affects the wellbeing and success of the artists.”
Outside of overall health, It’s important to note how much leadership training plays such a crucial role in all of this. “When we develop our leaders and prepare them well, they can manage their teams effectively and compassionately. We can create better work cultures, retain talent in the industry, reduce burnout and improve performance,” Tamara Gal-On and Remi Harris, UK-based coaches and Co-Founders of the Music Leaders Network, share in a joint statement.
Effective communication has also been identified as a crucial component of strong leadership. Tracey Pepper, a veteran media and public-speaking coach and certified personal coach, shares, “I work with high-level executives every week who are expected to inspire and motivate their teams, whether it’s sharing ideas or delivering feedback, but who have never sought support around developing their communication style. Yet, how they interact with colleagues and co-workers has a significant effect on company culture and, in turn, productivity. Being aware of how you’re impacting others by how you speak to them is a game-changer in leadership.”
I ask nearly everyone I meet about this disconnect, and the consensus is clear: our industry doesn’t necessarily lack awareness of how important professional and personal development resources can be, it lacks the time for people to properly dedicate themselves to it because of how intense and fast-paced their jobs can be. Without an immediate ROI, development often feels like a “luxury” that companies and people can’t afford or something we save for an end-of-year planning session. But what if we stopped viewing it that way and started treating it as the necessity it clearly is?
While I applaud any music company with Learning & Development programs already in place, I hope the journey doesn’t stop after one-off grants, seminars or annual workshops. We need to create ongoing learning environments where professionals are empowered with the tools to thrive personally and professionally. The strength of the business lies not just in the artists we promote or the music we create, but in the culture we nurture within our teams. Developing strong, emotionally intelligent humans that work in music isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s critical for the long-term success and sustainability of the industry. “What is emotional intelligence?” is a fun one to type into ChatGPT, and then compare back to the music business.
Of course, there has been discussion and debate over whose responsibility it is to provide tools in these areas. To be fair, I think it’s everyone’s collective responsibility. Thankfully, generous programs and organizations are already leading the charge to end stigmas and provide essential resources, research and guidance. Again, while much of the headlines focus on mental health, a lot of them work intersectionally through all the areas I mentioned. Backline, Music Industry Therapist Collective, Music Health Alliance, MusiCares, Amber Health, Keychange and numerous coaches and therapists are making a lasting impact and creating meaningful, sustainable change in the industry. We owe a lot to these organizations, as well as those leading ongoing efforts in diversity, equity, inclusion, gender parity, fighting ageism and supporting neurodivergent education.
That said, there is always more that can be done and this is an invitation for all of us to do our part if you are not already. While innovating and commercializing music, we must also dismantle outdated systems and create forward-thinking support for both creatives and the workforce. As we work to heal the world with music, we must first extend that same care to those who make it all possible. Through compassion, empathy and kindness, we can do this.
We are all human, and no matter our title, company, or paycheck we all can, and will, benefit from these changes. To the artist managers who just lost their biggest client, the marketing directors struggling to juggle 20 releases, the people who have devoted their lives to a role only to see it eliminated, the CEO who ascended the corporate ladder only to be knocked back down and to anyone who has ever felt unseen, unsupported, or confused by the industry they love … I see you. This is why we need systemic change that supports you consistently, not just when it becomes impossible to ignore. Whether it’s implementing a new way to foster open communication within your department or simply gifting a coaching session to a colleague – we can all work together to shape more resilient cultures.
So, dear music business humans, I hope you’ll accept this hug and pass it on to the friends you’ve made along the way, the teams you manage, the interns you inspire, the artists you collaborate with and those you’ve yet to meet. To all of the music business-at-large, the gut punches may feel like love taps, but I promise you they carry enough weight to impact your bottom line — today or tomorrow.
With immense love, gratitude and concern,
Nick Maiale
Nick Maiale is the founder & CEO of jump.global – an agency solution for music executives and companies looking to grow their influence through B2B trade marketing, conferences & panels, international relations, college mentorship and more. He is studying to become a certified executive coach with a mission to bring more personal and professional development events, such as the jump.global Annual Summit, to the music business masses.
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Creative/business partnership company COLTURE (Brent Faiyaz, Soulection’s Joe Kay, Emotional Oranges) is expanding its stake in the wellness arena. The firm has launched the Mirrors Wellness Club Studio, a new division under its Mirrors Wellness Club banner. Marking the launch is the studio’s first music release, Sound Bath in Watts. A second project will arrive in October.
Credited to Frankie Rivers — the moniker adopted by COLTURE’s team of producers and creative executives — Sound Bath in Watts features soothing wellness music described as embodying both “soul and character.” Its 10-track set list includes intriguing titles such as “Playas Cry in the Rain,” “$700 Pants Don’t Make You Happy,” “Soft Life Baddie” and “Well Ness Monster.”
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“Mirrors Wellness Club Studio is about telling Black and brown stories via wellness music, visuals and activations,” explains COLTURE co-founder Ty Baisden. “Our next artist launching in October is SafeHouse. Each wellness project focuses on specific sounds. Frankie Rivers is all about the sound bath experience, whereas SafeHouse is about ambiance sounds for sleep and studying.”
Available now, Sound Bath in Watts served as the musical backdrop at the welcome dinner for COLTURE’s annual women’s wellness retreat. Now in its third year and always held during Labor Day weekend, Mirrors Getaway — another Mirrors Wellness Club component — took place at Ambergris Cay in Turks & Caicos.
Inaugurated in 2022 in Saint Maartin with 19 invitees, Mirrors Getaway welcomed 30 invitees in Barbados last year. This year, Baisden and COLTURE’s content team, including productions and events manager Venessa Gonzalez, were among the 39 attendees stepping out of their roles as executives, entrepreneurs, wives, mothers and caregivers to recalibrate and focus on themselves. Each day (Aug. 29-Sept. 2) featured a list of various activities, from yoga, massages and tubing to breathwork/meditation, e-biking, conch/lobster diving and game night/karaoke.
According to Gonzalez, Mirrors Getaway invitees are selected by Baisden, who “brings together women of similar industries and spaces.” Among this year’s invitees, in addition to Billboard: Epic Records vp of A&R Vivian Yohannes, Moet Hennessy vp/head of inclusion, diversity & equity Tiara Chesmer-Williams, confidence coach Karen A. Clark, Cruz Control Digital founder Kisha Maldonado, and COLTURE’s co-founder/head of creative services Jayne Andrew, head of operations Phylicia Goings and head of finance Jennair Rennie.
The 3rd Annual Mirrors Getaway of 2024’s group of extraordinary women on their final night of their trip on a private island resort in Turks & Caicos.
Courtesy of Mirrors Wellness Club
“This year we wanted to be truly intentional about rest and overall wellness,” says Gonzalez. “Oftentimes, women don’t truly get a chance to stop being ‘on’ even when they’re supposed to be ‘off.’ This is our way of saying ‘We see you’ and giving them the space to truly prioritize themselves. For just a few days, they get to disconnect and someone else will take care of it.”
Sharing her own takeaways from the retreat, Irina Melkumyan, vp/ERG program manager at City National Bank, tells Billboard, “This retreat didn’t just give me the opportunity to disconnect to reconnect. It also reminded me of how powerful we are as women, as humans … I walked away empowered.”
Baisden, named Billboard’s Indie Power Players 2024 executive of the year, notes the long-term goal for Mirrors Getaway is “for this experience to be the golf course for women. It’s about community building in an extremely healthy way.” And now with the addition of Mirrors Wellness Club Studio, “there is no Black wellness company that is using storytelling, music and IRL experiences to elevate the wellness lifestyle while simultaneously investing directly into women.”
In partnership with Faiyaz, COLTURE recently wrapped its fourth annual Show You Off grant program, awarding 12 women $10,000 grants each to run their own business or launch a new idea. Thus far, about half a million dollars have been donated to Black women-helmed businesses. COLTURE also houses a full-fledged media department, including TV, film, podcasting and digital content, plus real estate and start-up investments; a sports division is also in development.
Music industry professionals are not, by definition, first responders, but they do have the ability to rescue people.
That fact alone may be a buoy for many music-affiliated workers who are suffering their own form of burnout, despondency or depression.
Reminding music professionals of their product’s impact is one of the finer points delivered during 24/7: A Mental Health in Entertainment Conference, presented Aug. 7 by Belmont University in Nashville.
“I’ll have individuals in the industry come to me and say, ‘Well, it’s not like we’re doing brain surgery. I know our place in the music industry isn’t that important,’ ” Entertainment Health Services president Elizabeth Porter said during the conference’s “Work/Life Unbalanced” workshop. “I say it’s more important … I say there’s two big influencers in the world: the entertainment industry and politics.”
Politics is all too often divisive. Music, at its best, can rally a group — or, at least, an individual. Porter’s Call founder Al Andrews remembered a “very dark and suicidal time” decades ago when he discovered Jennifer Warnes‘ “Song of Bernadette,” and he played it repeatedly, reveling in its healing message as he bounced back. During his work as a therapist, Andrews has encountered numerous stories about songs that led his patients back from the brink.
“We all have moments when we are rescued, moments where we were sinking and someone threw a rope to us and pulled us in,” he said during the day’s closing session. “Often music is involved. Hope is accompanied by a soundtrack. It almost always is.”
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The power of music is what pulls many into the industry’s labor force. But the experience of working daily with emotions — particularly when companies are understaffed and the job never seems to stop — makes music’s employees particularly vulnerable to burnout and depression. The allure of a vocation connected to fame and entertainment compounds the issue.
“We have a really unique industry because I think it’s one of the only ones that ties so closely to our personal identities,” C3 Presents festival director Brad Parker said. “The pandemic showed that to a lot of us. I kind of felt like part of me was stripped away whenever live music went away during the pandemic, and I did a lot of soul searching to really reinforce that people enjoy Brad Parker outside of the identity of ‘He’s the Bonnaroo guy.’ “
Parker recalled how he was more than willing, during the first five to seven years of his career, to take work-related after-hours calls, fearing that if he didn’t, others were standing in line to replace him. It’s that kind of fear that keeps many of the industry’s worker bees buzzing on the job into the evening.
“The industry is 24/7,” Shading the Limelight founder Cristi Williams said, “hence the title of this conference.”
Williams, in the event’s first presentation, explored the mindset of celebrities, whose emotions and behaviors influence their staffs and ripple outward across the rest of the industry. Fame, she said, is accompanied by two driving forces: a sense of unworthiness that creates self-imposed shame and a competing sense of entitlement that leads to unrealistic expectations. The celebrity’s outlook rides a pendulum, Williams said, that swings back and forth between those points. If that phenomenon goes uncontrolled, the pendulum can become a wrecking ball.
“Success is a lot harder to manage than failure,” she said, “and when the pendulum is oscillating further and faster, it tends to derail us.”
That pendulum — and others — are unavoidable. Mental health, Williams maintained, comes from controlling the swing and the emotional reaction to it.
In recognition of the industry’s fragility, Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business dean Brittany Schaffer announced plans to create a Center for Mental Health in Entertainment. She cited four leaders for a steering committee — Andrews, Onsite Workshops vp of entertainment and specialized services Debbie Carroll, Prescription Songs A&R manager Rachel Wein and Music Health Alliance founder/CEO Tatum Hauck Allsep — charged with shaping the program, which will eventually be housed in Belmont’s Music Row building, projected to open in 2028.
“Until then,” Schaffer said, “we are going to work on building out the team to support the center so that it can exist long before the building does.”
Warner Music Nashville co-head/co-CEO Cris Lacy laid out four issues that trip up the emotional well-being of artists and the industry around them: the tendency to compare their careers to their peers, negative criticism from social media, executives who prioritize self-promotion over their support role and a “texture of scarcity” that, presumably, leads to fear and depression.
One obvious solution for artists and the business as a whole lies in the industry’s own product. There is, Andrews suggested, a “noble purpose” in music, and every person in the business contributes to its influence.
“If you’re in the industry, every one of you is a part of getting the songs out there,” he said. “Everybody in this room has a song that saved their life, and you’re a part of the songs that get out there into people’s hearts. Some of those people, like you and me, are lingering on the edge or not in a good place, or maybe they’re just fighting a great battle, and you’ve brewed [hope]. I want you to believe that. I want you to embrace that. Be encouraged today for what you do.”
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All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Yoga has become one of the go-to stress relieving tools, with 80% of adults in 2022 using the practice as a […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. When it comes to scented candles, Cire Trudon has earned the reputation of being one of the oldest candle makers around, […]
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Skincare isn’t the only way you can practice self-care: for men, grooming your beard is just one of the various tools you can have in your arsenal. And, for those looking to surprise their dad, husband, partner or father-figure in their life, Braun’s popular all-in-one trimmer is being discounted 20% off — and just in time for Father’s Day.
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If your dad is no stranger to taking very good care of his beard, instead of treating him to yet another bottle of beard oil, Braun’s all-in-one trimmer aims to be 12 devices in a single device, allowing him to trim, contour, blend and even fade, without having to constantly switch devices or make a barber appointment. Normally, the device is priced at $100, but for a limited-time the trimmer is being discounted for a more wallet-friendly $80.
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Keep reading to discover where to buy Braun’s 12-in-1 trimmer on sale online.
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Take advantage of 20% off the Braun styling kit and enjoy 40 length settings to choose from, which can be used on the body, beard and head. The blades are also meant to remain sharp for a lifetime while the trimmer is completely waterproof, which means it can be used in and out of the shower. One full charge can last up to 100 minutes of continuous use, too.
Braun’s Series 7 trimmer has also been labeled an Amazon Choice for beard trimmers by the brand, with more than 1,000 of the grooming tool bought in the past month, according to the site.
And, if you’re looking to keep your gifting under $50, you don’t have to settle for the typical wallets or golf gear that are popular go-tos for Father’s Day gifts, you can still pick up a luxurious Braun All-in-One tool. The Series 5 model is an 8-in-1 trimmer that’s also being discounted, now down to $40 (reg. $50).
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Similar to the Series 7, Braun’s 8-in-1 trimmer also comes with 40 different length settings and the ability to trim, detail, body groom, precision shave as well as trim your ears and nose. The kit includes a variety of heads to customize each shave, while the battery can last up to 100 minutes on a full charge.
For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the best men’s watch deals, gifts for gamers and portable grills.
Nearly seven years ago, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and his wife, Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger, a fellow musician, made a revolutionary discovery in the realm of skincare. The two, who share a love for science as well — Ann Marie majored in biology, later teaching physics and chemistry, while Mike is a Harvard graduate who has […]
For Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Billboard is teaming with Brandon Holman of the Lazuli Collective on a series of articles focused on mindfulness and the professional development of executives, creatives and artists in the music community.
Today’s conversation is with Kathryn Frazier, the founder/owner of the PR company Biz3 — where her clients include The Weeknd and Skrillex — and a certified life, career and relationship coach who’s worked with everyone from college students to world-famous musicians. Based in Los Angeles, Frazier also recently became a Reiki master, expanding her practice to more thoroughly tend to the mental, emotional and spiritual health of her clients. She says doing so not only helps people experience relief from suffering and makes her life and work more fulfilling but also helps provide the world with uplifting art made by creative people who are mentally, physically and emotionally healthy. Three decades into her music industry career, Frazier is encouraged by the wellness trend but believes many big music institutions could do more to help their employees navigate an innately high-stress industry.
The reason I got into coaching, and now being a Reiki master and the other stuff I’m doing, is because I didn’t see care for artists’ mental, emotional and energetic health. I saw a lot of run-down stressed-out, addict people. People I worked with and people I didn’t work with who were not even able to perform their PR and show obligations and all the stuff that comes with being an artist.
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The parallel, to me, is like Lauryn Hill said: Everything is everything. Your mental and emotional health, what you ate for breakfast, the relationship you have with a partner, your history with your parents, it’s all related, and it’s going to show up in different ways in what you do in relation to music. I started to see that more clearly on my own quest for growth and the layers of the onion I started peeling on myself when I started therapy back when I was 26 years old, and I’m 54 now. The more I peeled, the more I saw how much it all affects everything. I would rather come into a person’s life and try to fortify them on all levels.
I’ve always, and I do it a lot more now, help people with stress, anxiety, impostor syndrome, insecurity and compare and despair, along with pitching you and trying to get you pieces of press or helping you find management. I’ve been in management; I’ve owned record labels. I’ve been on all sides of the music industry, and you can’t really thrive and make a career grow if someone at their core is unstable or not nourished or depleted and hanging on by a thread.
That’s when things like addiction and suicide [can happen], or I’ve seen artists who just couldn’t keep up with it, and their careers just kind of went away. That’s not to say I coach everyone I rep because I don’t. But I certainly bring elements of it in. When talking to people on the phone or at a shoot, I really check in on people’s well-being and talk to them about their feelings, or what’s happening with their energy, or pull out an essential oil or show someone how to do fourfold breath. There’s a lot of artists out there that would be able to say that we’ve done that together.
I had someone say to me, “Oh, like the wellness trend? Are you tragically trendy?” They used some term that was sort of degrading the trend in wellness, and I just laughed. I was like, “That’s actual bulls—, what you just said.” I’m not the most wellness-y in my speech, which is probably why it goes over for the audience. I’m not trying to preach to the choir. I’m trying to get people who don’t already know or care about this stuff to come and get relief. So if wellness is trendy, awesome. How could anyone be against people stopping suffering? Someone else said something to me, like, “Oh, did you see so and so is now a wellness Tiktok influencer?” They were saying it in a negative way. And I was like, “Great.” I can deliver something, and there might be five people who are like, “I’m not listening to her.” But they might listen to someone else. Who cares. Whatever key gets in there and opens the door. The more messengers, the better.
I have [worked with] people who just came out of incarceration and were trying to figure out how to make their way back. I’ve worked with CEOs and well-known musicians and actors. Across the board, everyone has what I think is the same issue: Every single person I coach has some level of having a brain that overthinks, and it causes them pain. It’s what Eckhart Tolle talks about: The biggest thing we suffer from is our own thinking and our own runaway brains. When we are thinking about the past and we’re thinking about the future and we are not in the present, we are suffering. We’re worried, we’re anxious, we’re angry, we’re resentful, we have contempt, we’re shut down, we’re locked, we’re stuck. It’s all related to an overthinking mind.
So I always start with finding out how much a person’s brain and mental chatter are going, and give the tools for that right out of the gate. It’s a really common thing. There’s a famous star that I’m talking a lot with right now, and they have the same compare and despair and negative self-talk and imposter syndrome as a college kid I’m working with. If you had bubbles above their heads saying what they’re feeling, they’re the same, even though they’re in completely different scenarios.
We work in a high-stress world, in music. If I don’t deliver, I have managers and labels calling. There’s a lot at stake. Is working in the music industry going to be no stress and always chill? No, it’s not the nature of the game, but you can make it be better. I spent an hour on the phone with one of my staff today encouraging her, and she just read The Four Agreements, because I encouraged it. I send all our interns and staff The Power of Now. I’ve paid for people to go to Landmark Forum; I’ve paid for them to go to transcendental meditation. Do I get mad or frustrated? For sure. Am I always perfect with my communication or the way I process things? No. But I definitely think I do better than a lot of people in our industry. I just wish I would see [a culture of knowledge sharing] more at some of the bigger institutions. Some of them are great and have people come in and share or provide services. I just think there needs to be more of it.
I was doing these talks at William Morris, and at UCLA with my students, I always say that you don’t need to be an expert or be Brené Brown to share tools. If you’re an 18-year-old intern and you read The Power of Now and it helps you, and you have your high-powered boss who’s in their 50s, and it looks like they need it, share it with them. Don’t be afraid to start sharing with each other.
I was a thousand percent ready to quit the music industry. There was one summer in particular where I was really uninspired with rap music that I had loved and been working on for a long time. It was at the height of lots of bragging, and everything was about monetary success. Media had changed. I just was like, “I can’t do this for even one more second, and it’s such a blessing to be paid and do this, but man, I’m getting sucked dry.”
That’s when I worked really hard on the coaching, leaning in and putting in all the hours. I’ve now done 3,000 hours, so I’m a master coach. I’ve put the time in, and that saved me because then I saw I could bring a different energy to what I do. While I’m helping spread art to the world, I can actually help human beings not suffer, and then that energy gets passed from them to other people too, even if they’re not saying it.