[singlepic id=344 w=200 h=250 float=right]This spring, Wendy has teamed up with Austin divas, Tameca Jones &Courtney Sanchez for the Austin Phoenix Project. These three women will be embarking on a journey to take their lives, lifestyles and careers to the next level with the help of Austin-based sponsors in wellness, fitness, nutrition, music business, marketing, vocal coaching & more.  Visit www.austinphoenixproject.com  and “like” this project on Facebook or Twitterand follow these women through a transformation of a lifetime.

One of the things that makes this Austin Phoenix Project so cool is that Courtney, Tameca and I are all so different and similar at the same time.  Yes, we are all Austin singers/artists who have worked hard to work toward our dreams, make our names and earn our keep here in this highly competitive music scene, but we all have quite different passions, projects, priorities and ways in which we move through life. It’s been amazing just hearing both of these ladies talk about their dreams and what they’re willing to do to reach them. . .

[singlepic id=341 w=240 h=130 float=left]So we’ve all set different goals in fitness, wellness, business, craft & performance skills and we’ve been blessed by some amazing local sponsors to help us along the way. Everything from business mentoring to 5:30am bootcamp to nutritional counseling to pole dancing classes are available to us and we are OH SO GRATEFUL. . .  It sounds fantastic and like a dream-come-true, but it still really requires us to be accountable to ourselves and our goals as we all have busy-as-hell lives already. . .

Aaaaaand it is going to  require a TON of humility because there is a very not-so-glamorous side to this whole project. It’s scary as hell for us. It’s way easier for us to act like we’ve always got it all together with our slick bios and our press quotes and our FB statuses and tweets and show announcements and head shots and avoid addressing the tough stuff like working in a mostly-bankrupt music business that judges women on appearances and curvy chicks in their 30’s, no matter how talented just don’t get as many breaks in the biz. . . So it’s gonna be real too. This project wasn’t made for the classic ego-stroking chatterbox “you’re awesome, no you’re awesome, no really you’re awesome” schmooze.

so here we go. . . here’s a little about my part in this whole thing. . .

[singlepic id=342 w=150 h=200 float=right]Here are some goals and some past realities.

in 2013 I want to:

  • Write, resource and record a new studio album
  • Tour from May through October
  • Get in and maintain the best shape/health of my life.

This all sounds peachy except for a few things.

  • The average amount of songs I’ve composed per year has been about 3.5 for the last five years and funding/resource stuff paralyzes me
  • Booking/selling is my least favorite task in the business part of my job
  • I have struggled for the last two years to lose about 20 lbs that I gained when I started touring full-time in 2006 and not a pound has budged despite eating gobs of kale, doing several cleanses and multiple half marathon/triathlon months of trainings and events.

I’m not going at this with rigid expectations. . . In fact I realize I may not meet my ultimate goals, but I also realize that along the way of every journey the gifts arise in the things we don’t expect. . . So here we go. Curious and committed. . .

Here we go on this “cheerful” adventure. Humility and I are going to be very close friends through the months. . .