Five Minute Call - S01E03 - Episode Summary

In this episode of the Five Minute Call podcast, hosts Oren and Claire sit down with Alexia Khadime, a Grammy Nominated actress known for her roles in Wicked (Elphaba), the Prince of Egypt (Miriam), The Lion King (Nala), Les Misérables (Eponine), and The Book of Mormon (Nabulungi). Alexia shares her incredible journey from a young girl who loved to sing to becoming a seasoned professional in the musical theatre industry. She discusses the importance of being authentically yourself when tackling iconic roles and how life experiences can shape an artist's perspective over time.

Throughout the conversation, Khadime emphasises the significance of mindfulness and self-care for vocal athletes. She shares her personal struggles with vocal health and the valuable lessons she's learned along the way. Khadime stresses the importance of setting boundaries, listening to your body, and finding a balance between looking after your voice and living your life. She also delves into the emotional and mental toll that vocal issues can take on a performer and the need for a supportive network during challenging times.

Alexia's insights on character development, being present in the moment, and the power of innocence in performance are invaluable for aspiring actors and seasoned professionals alike. She shares her pre-show rituals and the importance of creating a calm environment before stepping onto the stage. Khadime also pays tribute to her mother, her greatest support, and the one who has been her rock throughout her life and career. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the performing arts!

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Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00] Oren: Hello, and welcome to the 5 minute call. This is a podcast where we take a deep dive into the stories of the people that make theater happen. Today, we're talking to Alexia Kadeem, who has had a fearsome career in musical theater.

[00:00:12] Claire: Alexia has appeared in productions which include The Lion King, Le Miserables, and The Book

[00:00:17] Oren: of Mormon. Alexia has also worked on the Rocketman movie and is a Grammy nominated actress for her work on the Prince of Egypt.

[00:00:25] Oren: We are all

[00:00:25] Claire: about people's Stories and how they came to be doing what they're doing. Okay. So tell us where little Alexia

[00:00:38] Alexia: When I was younger, I would always sing. I think The love for watching people like Whitney Houston on TV, the Pointer Sisters. I mean, it was so severe that the Pointer Sisters, I wanted hair like them.

[00:00:49] Alexia: And I remember there was a day my mom was in the kitchen and they had their hair in a particular hairstyle. And I was like, I want that hairstyle. And I took To the scissors and cut. I cut my hair and then my mom came back in the room. She was like, Alexa, what have you done?

[00:01:08] Alexia: And I was like, don't worry. We can put it back because I'd seen, like, extensions and stuff, but I didn't realize, you know, like, you you can't just put it back. My mom was traumatized by that, but, you know, like like, I love the Pointer Sisters. I loved all of that. And it was only when I got to probably about In my teens, really, um, when somebody said to my mum, have you thought about her doing, like, vocal training and stuff?

[00:01:32] Alexia: Was that a teacher or a No. That was just somebody who had said to my mom, you know, like, you should do something with that voice because, I mean, whether it was in the supermarket, whether it was, I sung everywhere. Like, I was that child who would skip down the road, and I was always doing something. I was the 1 who was putting on shows for Sit down on a Saturday after ballet. You know?

[00:01:53] Alexia: Sit down and everyone has to pay. Right? That's your ticket. Right. So now putting on a show.

[00:01:58] Alexia: Like, I was that with my cousins and stuff. Like so, um, like, I guess people had, like, had heard me, you know, like like, you should do something with that, and it was only later when I started Get my voice trained, but my mom did put me into dance classes and drama sort of classes like after school or on a Saturday sort of thing Just to kind of, I guess, exercise all the energy. You know, like but because I just did I enjoyed it. I loved dancing. I absolutely loved dancing.

[00:02:25] Alexia: Was anybody in your family into No. Really, really. Where did they come from? I don't I don't really actually know. A lot of people say, are there, like, singers, like, In your fact, they're my family can sing.

[00:02:38] Alexia: Yeah. There are members who can sing, but nobody it wasn't career bound. Like, there isn't Many that I kind of unless I don't know. I mean, I'm I'm not particularly too, like, sure of that. But, um, Yeah.

[00:02:55] Alexia: And, like, I do the figure skating, I do the ballet, I did, like yeah. Like, it was all just kind of good fun, so to speak. And so then when somebody did say to my mom and I've been doing, like, like, dance classes and all that fun stuff, like, on Saturday sort of thing. And I started to get my voice So I guess having singing lessons privately, and I was doing opera in my teens, and, like, I Also was doing, like, the drama classes, um, after school, but then school was important. So, like, I had to take a back seat a little bit on that.

[00:03:26] Alexia: But that's kind of How from have going to those, like, um, drama classes and all of that, I the woman had an agency, and She would send me up for audition. So I'd done TV work and stuff when I was younger, so I did Grange Hill. I did, yeah, I did The Queen's Nose. I did, um, commercials for, like, Chez into a world of adventures. I did stuff like that.

[00:03:49] Alexia: Um, I did the bill. Gosh. Is that still around? I don't think it You know, like, I did stuff like that, but my first kind of theater job was actually at the Hackney Empire With, um, Susie Susie McKenna, she gave me my first professional theater Job. And I was in that weird in between sort of, like, young sort of I think I just turned 16 At the time And what was it?

[00:04:18] Alexia: We did Cinderella at the Hackney Emperor and Sharon, um, Sharon d Clark, wasn't it? Clive Roe wasn't it? So So that's so I met them way back then. Wow. And then after that, I then went on tour.

[00:04:28] Alexia: Like, I just I like because I just was going up for auditions and I was able to get, like, jobs and stuff. I went on a tour and I did, um, the leader of the pack, which was great. I played Ronnie Spector, which was great fun. I just got to wear all the beehive wigs and all that kind of stuff. I then got into Lion King.

[00:04:44] Alexia: That was in its early stages of just opening in the West End, and I I covered Nala. Okay. So I was 17. How was that? 17.

[00:04:53] Alexia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 17.

[00:04:56] Alexia: How was that? It was great fun. It was so much fun. I mean, everyone, It's so funny. Like, now in companies, I find that the average age tends to be quite young, actually, you know, like, I don't know.

[00:05:09] Alexia: Early twenties, teens. When I was doing it, I was, like, the youngest in the company. There's 1 other person who was Dean, Jonathan, Andrew Hume, and, um, everyone else was in their thirties Or early thirties. And it's so funny now how that's not really the case. No.

[00:05:29] Alexia: But everyone else was kind of in their thirties, so I was really young In comparison to them, you know, but I really got along with them. You know, like Were

[00:05:37] Claire: you still at school during this period, or had you

[00:05:40] Alexia: I I I was actually. So I stayed on to do my a levels in psychology, ink literature, and maths. Nothing at all with industry Whatsoever. I don't know.

[00:05:50] Alexia: Psychology is pretty high up. I know. True. True. True.

[00:05:53] Alexia: That's very true. That's true. And psychology was the thing that really I I was like, if anything, that's what I'll probably do. And then because I have got the opportunity to go on tour, I was like, Well, this doesn't come around every day. This will be fun.

[00:06:08] Alexia: Bye, guys. Do you know what I mean? So that's how I kind of ended up kind of getting into the industry, and I just Kept on getting, like, jobs. Were your parents supportive of that decision? Yeah.

[00:06:18] Alexia: Yeah. My mom was always supportive. Amazing. Um, it was, you know, It was an opportunity, but I did like the mentality even when I got into Lion King was, okay, well, I'll do this, and then I'll just have to go back and Do but then I got another job. You know, um, um, at 1 point, I did some stuff in the music industry, Um, also and I did also, like, with Star on the Wind, I did another tour.

[00:06:43] Alexia: So I toured a couple of times, and then I came back to Lion King. So yeah. And then just things have kind of, like, spiraled and done a whole bunch of other shows within the West End. Do you think

[00:06:55] Claire: you'd imagined that No. You know, pre 15?

[00:06:58] Claire: Had you No. It wasn't seen

[00:06:59] Alexia: that at all? It was never a career in my mind. This was fun, and this was a moment, and it's an opportunity, and we're gonna enjoy this and have it as an experience. But now after that, we're gonna find what The career is.

[00:07:13] Alexia: That's why whenever somebody asks me, I'm always like, I I feel like my career picked me as opposed to Me picking it, and that's not necessarily the wrong way around or anything, um, or the right way around. It's just that's the way it kind of Happened for me. I felt like it it almost wasn't my choice.

[00:07:32] Oren: Where did you feel it transitioned from being Fun, hobby, having a good time to this is now a job. This is a thing that we've got to focus on as

[00:07:41] Alexia: a career.

[00:07:42] Alexia: It was After interesting. When I went back to Lion King the second time around where I played Nala, I was like, hey. Great. Well, I've ticked that off because I remember seeing Lion King and being like, I wanna play that role. That would be great fun.

[00:07:57] Alexia: That's it's still fun in my mind. Right? And then I've now played this role, and I was like, oh gosh. Well, I better stop thinking about going back to do that psychology. Um, but then I auditioned for Wicked, Pippa Alien.

[00:08:15] Alexia: I remember her Seeing me for something else at the time, and she said to me, have you looked at that material? And I was like, no. Why would I? Like, that's not a casting for me. And she was like, look at it.

[00:08:29] Alexia: And then I was called in to audition for it. But again, I didn't think that it was really a thing, and it was really only after I got the job and done that job where I was like, oh, 0, this is my career. Mhmm. It took a while because it there was nothing informing me, I think, Within the industry, I didn't know very much about the industry neither, um, that was saying there's a place for you here, and this is this could actually be a career for you. Nothing was nothing was pointing in that direction for me.

[00:08:59] Alexia: So yeah. Do you think

[00:09:02] Claire: that gave you permission to be more playful with it at the beginning? I would

[00:09:05] Alexia: say I'm more I guess so in some respects, Being that there isn't the pressure of thinking, I need that next job. Yeah. Do you know what I mean?

[00:09:16] Alexia: Like I mean there is there is that. And so there is less There was, I think, less pressure of walking in the room and doing an audition and thinking, I've gotta Get this. Do you know what I mean? Like, there wasn't. There was, this will be fun.

[00:09:32] Alexia: Yeah. You know? And I think audition rooms can afford to kinda change to Have a little bit more of that creative space, actually. Yeah. I think when I was younger, I was being even more so authentically myself Yeah.

[00:09:46] Alexia: In the room because you you there is especially having just I think I pretty much stopped doing, like, drama classes at the age of, like, 13, you know, like, going to, like, the drama class on a Thursday and being able to see your friends and Yeah. You know, or do some improv and, you know, like yeah. Um, so it it's that thing of, like, oh, it's there's this fearlessness of, oh, I don't know how this works. I've never no one's told me how I go into an audition. Uh, you know, like, my mom will always present yourself.

[00:10:22] Alexia: Mom will always say to me, like, present yourself. But, like, You would just go in, and I was told, okay, you gotta sing the song. I always was prepared. Like, that's what we do. Do you know what I mean?

[00:10:30] Alexia: That was just something that my mom had instilled in me From the get go, but there was no hard and fast. Like, I never thought, okay. I've got to do this. I've got to do that. There was never any pressure on it.

[00:10:40] Alexia: I think that's probably A

[00:10:42] good

[00:10:42] Claire: thing. It sounds like a fantastic thing. It sounds like what There was a so many people are chasing that feeling, and yet there's So much weight on an audition usually. Yeah. There's, you know, your next 6 months are paying the rent or whatever it is.

[00:10:55] Claire: There wasn't that. Amazing to have the opportunity of being able to go in almost with a naivety by the sounds of

[00:11:01] Alexia: things. Hundred percent. Hundred percent. And also my mom also was really good at Saying what's for you is for you and what's not for you, you'll be glad for it not being there.

[00:11:14] Alexia: Do you know what I mean? And And don't worry when 1 door closes, another opens. I mean I mean, I don't know also if that's from when I was younger doing TV and, like, not getting jobs. You know, um, and my mum having to explain it to me from such a young age, that wasn't for you because you've you're gonna do something else. You know, like, some of that Could be good for the youth of today of that.

[00:11:40] Alexia: If you don't get this thing now, maybe you're not ready for it now. Maybe it's later on. You know? Mhmm. You'll never get more than your portion, and what Comes to you comes to you at the right time because you're ready for it at that time, and there's something that you've got to go through as a learning curve For that future thing that's coming.

[00:12:02] Alexia: It it

[00:12:03] Oren: feels very much like those experiences you've had early on have really informed These ideas Yeah. Which I think is great. Yeah. How do you think that it has informed Artistry. What what I mean by that is like, do you think those early experiences in working on television have informed how you now approach a role and go about, You know, just, uh, work on a character and then going and

[00:12:28] Alexia: performing.

[00:12:28] Alexia: I think that was something, like, that I'd learned before. You you're winging it In some respects. Do you know what I mean? You really are because you're just like, okay. Well, this is good, and this is how I would just do it.

[00:12:38] Alexia: You're not even really thinking about all necessarily the layers. Whereas I think as you get older and you're in the industry and you're learning from people who are around you and what's not, that actually there's a lot more layers in terms of, like, How you then approach something. So how I maybe, um, approach something now is not necessarily how I would have approached it when I was younger. It was kind of like all on feeling, and this is how I would say it, and this is how I would do it. Whereas now you're, like, looking at the more perspective of where has that person been?

[00:13:08] Alexia: Where did they just come from? Why are they feeling this way? What is their relationship with that character? You'll think about all of those things now. So Even when I'm singing a lyric in a show, I'm thinking about why I'm singing that lyric.

[00:13:24] Alexia: Whereas before, it was you were just singing. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I think what is important now for me, even more so, is that I find it Hard now to sing a lyric without knowing why I'm singing that lyric.

[00:13:40] Alexia: It has to make sense to me. Otherwise, it does just kind of It it I tell spin in my head. I'm like, it just doesn't make sense though. But now I'm just singing these notes for the sake of singing these notes. I don't wanna just sound Nice.

[00:13:54] Alexia: Lots of people can sound nice, and it can sound pure, and it can sound beautiful and be pitch perfect. Sometimes I want a little bit of that imperfection because, Actually, it's that imperfection that kind of makes it perfect because we are imperfect human beings. And even when we're Explaining things in life, and I'm giving you a window into my soul or into that moment on stage. I want you to see a little bit of that imperfection. It's not about the Perfection.

[00:14:21] Alexia: It's not about that perfect no. I

[00:14:23] Oren: really love this. I really love it because I've seen a a a lot of interviews and I've read a lot. And In a lot of the things that in the way that you describe that you're described as a performer is very different from how you might describe others in the, like, your performance style. And I think it's this that sets that apart.

[00:14:43] Oren: Yeah. It's Finding that imperfection that actually brings more of that honest performance. Yeah. Anybody can stand there and sound pretty. I had to say a

[00:14:52] Alexia: hard thing.

[00:14:52] Alexia: It could you could you but the problem is that we we can zone out. Yeah. No matter how fantastic that song is. Yeah. You'd be like, oh, that was really pretty.

[00:15:01] Alexia: Wasn't that lovely? Oh, that was nice. When she hit that note, that was nice. I don't want you talking about the note that I hit. I want you talking about what I'm evoking in that moment and the story that I'm telling.

[00:15:16] Alexia: Like, you'd hear people say, like, oh, I can't bear musical theater. They're they're just gonna break out into song. But it should technically be just a monologue. It's a win it's it's literally you being able to see this moment. You're getting almost like that.

[00:15:32] Alexia: It's it's a zooming in. And sometimes a lot of the story is actually in the music and in the lyrics that you're singing. So why are we wasting it away on these wonderful notes and something that has been written beautifully? Fantastic. We love it when something's been written beautifully.

[00:15:48] Alexia: But why not add the other layer Of what you're trying to say because, ultimately, I want the audience to be able to connect with me or maybe find something, like, they understand So they can walk away having understood a story and actually see the arc of a character rather than that was Pretty. I don't feel like I've done a great job if somebody says, oh, it sounded lovely. Yeah. Do you know what it was about? Yeah.

[00:16:17] Alexia: Yeah. How

[00:16:18] Oren: does how does that make you feel from from your perspective? Because a lot of that is, I want the audience to feel this. I want the audience to take this away. What do you get from

[00:16:27] Alexia: it?

[00:16:31] Alexia: Um, I I find for me, it's not about me saying, oh, I wanna do this and so that the audience go, do the audience feel this? It's not that. It's never that. It's so long as I am connected and I feel like I am Telling the story, and I'm being honest in the moment and present because it's when you're on stage and you're doing the same show every day, You can get stagnant. Yeah.

[00:16:53] Alexia: It can get stale, but the idea is to be present. If you are present and you were alert, Then you won't fall into that trap so much. I'm not gonna say it's not gonna happen because I think that's just not humanly possible. But if you were present, Sometimes an actor might deliver something to you differently, which causes a different reaction, and that's what you have to be present for. That might change.

[00:17:21] Alexia: That whole scene has been now said slightly differently, made the stakes slightly higher today. So then that affects the way then you've sung the song that then leads into that. You know? Do you think I

[00:17:33] Claire: have so many questions. I have

[00:17:34] Alexia: so many questions.

[00:17:39] Claire: So okay. Just rewind for a second Yeah. Because you were saying that at Beginning, it was more of an instinctual thing. Do can you look back and and see do you think you can see what those casting directors So because now we definitely see somebody with all these skills and all this Wisdom and all this courage to do to do that storytelling. I

[00:18:03] Alexia: think they probably saw the potential.

[00:18:05] Alexia: There there's always potential in someone when they're able to read text And convey it. But then there are levels. And when somebody sings well, I think they probably saw the potential of what I had. And then, I guess, through giving me the job, it's then in the rehearsal room Of them being able to then get that out of me, of how to try and get me to be creative and not get locked in. I remember when I was younger, be like, if I got a script and I would say my lines and what's not, and we'd be in rehearsals or whatever, and I'd get into emotion of saying the lines in a particular way.

[00:18:45] Alexia: And if I remotely was given, like, a note to say something in a different way, you're so I was so held on to that way of saying it. I'd almost forget my lines. Do you know what I mean? It just comes back to the psychology of it. Yeah.

[00:19:00] Alexia: Yeah. Yeah. I always forget my lines because you're just You're just married to this thing. You're holding on so tight. Yeah.

[00:19:06] Alexia: You know? Whereas now, I'll get irritated with myself if I'm Holding on to something, and I'm not allowing my mind and myself to be more open and present To how I would react. And also not doing that thing of, well, you said it like this yesterday, so you can't say it like this to to, um, you know, like Today, we can't do that neither because that's still not being present. So that's also so you might say it the same today and yesterday Because that's what it was in that moment. But it's dangerous to get into thing of, well, I sounded like this today.

[00:19:42] Alexia: I must sound like this tomorrow because then you're still You're you're kind of trying to get a a a square into a circle. It's not working, and it gets sticky. And that's when it's not real, and that's Some people can't connect. But if you're present and and there, I feel like you connect better. I just feel like you connect better.

[00:20:04] Alexia: Do you have I feel more alive. I feel more like I've done my job. Don't get me wrong. I walk away some days and say, Oh, well, that wasn't a good show for me to the media. You know, I've done that in many shows where I've been like, oh, today, I didn't feel like I I just couldn't Find it today, you know, um, but you go back and the beauty is that you get to do it again.

[00:20:27] Alexia: You know? And, you know, And you're on find

[00:20:30] Claire: it easy to sorry. I'm literally backing up

[00:20:33] Alexia: to Adrian.

[00:20:36] Claire: Do you find it easy To to get into a new headspace when the show hasn't gone well, to to go back in the next day and be able to put that behind you?

[00:20:45] Alexia: Yes.

[00:20:46] Alexia: I that that has been a learning curve also Because, you know, like, you don't wanna get into the mindset of, well, that happened yesterday. Remember that went wrong. So Yeah. It's to let go. It's like even I used to do this thing, Um, where I had to do the same thing.

[00:21:01] Alexia: So weird before a show. I remember I remember even being in Book of Mormon, like, I used to be I clearly, I was obsessed with hand sanitizer before the pandemic. But I was like, why do I have to sanitize my hands At a particular time because I felt like it would all go wrong. So weird. Like, who does that?

[00:21:23] Alexia: Do you know what I mean? Like, it's silly things. It's breaking habits so that I don't hold on to them and to know that every day is different, And you can only live in the moment.

[00:21:35] Claire: Yeah. 1 of the big red flags to me when I'm working with somebody in a production is if they come to me and they say, so I did this Show the other night, and I I knew that number wasn't gonna go well because that note that I do, you know, 15 minutes into the show, that that's kind of my check note.

[00:21:50] Claire: And if that no good. Then I know the rest of it's not gonna It's not gonna yeah. Super, super tempting as a singer to to have those check notes, but actually Really counterproductive. Yes. Because you're also then just telling your story, yourself a story.

[00:22:02] Claire: A

[00:22:02] Alexia: hundred percent. Like, you could be in a show, and you're like, Oh, it doesn't feel as great today, but I'll be you know, like, I I feel like I'll be okay. Let's see how it goes. But then as you're going through your show, Your voice cleans up. You can't measure it on the start of your show because by the end of your show, you You got all the notes.

[00:22:23] Alexia: You know? Like, you can be totally fine. So it's just like it's impossible Say, but I mean, like, you've just also got to know for yourself where your line is and when when you have to Stop. How do you learn that? It's a hard lesson to learn.

[00:22:42] Alexia: Sometimes it is you going out there, and you've pushed 1 too many. The following day, you've woken up, and you sounded like Barry White for you to For you to to learn that I should have never have done that. It's like touching the fire. Right? Yes.

[00:22:57] Alexia: Ow. That burnt me. Yeah. Hello. Wake up call.

[00:23:01] Alexia: And you can't keep on doing it. And it's a conversation that I always have, but, like, no lozenge is gonna save you. You just have to stop. I think there's a thing of people forget the voice is a muscle. And just like a runner, if he's just Constantly running.

[00:23:17] Alexia: Constantly running. It's gonna get tired. You know? Or if it hasn't had the rest Absolutely. It's gonna get tired.

[00:23:23] Alexia: Right? Right? It's gonna it's gonna get Right. But there is a mentality because our voices are used to speak. Yeah.

[00:23:30] Alexia: That it's just meant to you're a singer, so you sing. That's it. No. You are vocal athlete. Yeah.

[00:23:38] Alexia: That's what you are. And so it's going to get tired, And it's okay. You you know, like, your range is not is not a testament to say, like, you're not good enough. Yeah. I think that's also there's a, um, a not so great mentality around kind of, like, losing voice.

[00:23:56] Alexia: Oh, gosh. She's losing her voice. Or, oh, gosh. She's a like, No. No.

[00:24:02] Alexia: It's like it happens. You can get a cold. Like, there are so many elements. Emotional stuff Can literally like, if you're stressed, all of these things are factors for our voice. You think About if you're about to cry and how, like, your voice, like, completely, like, trips out, and you could have been totally fine prior to that That very moment before crying, it's connected emotionally, and I think there needs to be a better language And a better understanding around the voice and truly knowing your instrument.

[00:24:36] Alexia: People can give you advice about things, But it's important for you to know your own voice and where your limits are because you can ask, do you think I should do this? But, ultimately, only you truly know whether you can or you can't. But I say, if you're asking, you probably should

[00:24:54] Oren: stop. Is that is that the answer then? So how how does somebody find those limits for themselves?

[00:25:00] Oren: How does somebody know? Is it you go to that point, and then Once you have that realization, or is there think

[00:25:05] Alexia: if you're trying to say, like, if you're warming up at home or something, you've got, like, a gig or you know? And your voice is just not Complying or you've got it out a couple of times, all the other times it's not been but if and then you stopped for a while, and then you You you tried again, and it didn't work. I think red flag is what I'm saying. It's like it's waving Yeah.

[00:25:28] Alexia: Yeah. And that's saying No, actually. As much as you might be able to push through and you might be okay, why would you wanna go on mic? So

[00:25:36] Oren: it's a lot of mindfulness. Mhmm.

[00:25:38] Oren: Do you practice mindfulness? Do you do any mindfulness activities?

[00:25:40] Alexia: Yeah. I do. I I write to myself.

[00:25:43] Alexia: I do. I write to myself a lot, And it kind of helps me to compartmentalize and rationalize my thoughts, um, so I don't go down the rabbit hole. Well, I think it's, like, um, something that I've learned to do because you can. You can just spiral where you're second guessing, doubting. But it's it it's good to kind of have some kind of checkpoint, even if it is just a friend to be able to vocalize and help you rationalize Your thoughts.

[00:26:16] Alexia: Um, and in this industry, ultimately, I think we've got to remember you are the product. It's not buying, I don't know, a bottle of water and saying this is the product. You are the product, so you're never really kind of letting go. Just think about, like, if I'm doing a show and even if I've got, like, a day off or holiday or something like that, I'm always thinking about my tools. There isn't really a complete off for me.

[00:26:43] Alexia: Why is that? I just think we've been given I've been given and blessed with a gift, and It's a part of me. And if it was taken away tomorrow, I would feel like I lost a limb. And that's no disrespect to anyone, but it would genuinely feel like I've lost a massive part of me because it's something Thing that I've always been able to do. Yes.

[00:27:06] Alexia: I trained later on in life, but it was just something I thought everyone could sing. I thought everyone could sing. I thought it was just a thing, like talking, like breathing. You know, let's sing together. Yes, guys.

[00:27:18] Alexia: Let's put on this show. Do you know what I mean? But if tomorrow it was taken away, I would have lost a lot. I would have lost a

[00:27:25] Claire: lot. Did you spend time thinking about that during

[00:27:28] Alexia: the pandemic?

[00:27:28] Alexia: I think even pre even pre Pandemic. Times where, you know, like, I've got a cold, and it's knocked me out for a long space of time. That Feeling, because I I remember the first time having a a cold that really knocked me for 6, and it was just taking ages for it to, like, come around. It had never happened to me before. Never.

[00:27:50] Alexia: Like, my voice was there every time. Sorry. Sorry, guys. It was, like, there every time. Like, it would just be there.

[00:27:59] Alexia: I would always be able to do it. And the day it doesn't, Yeah. That's the fear that you feel. And that you you go through a lot of emotions, and you and it really is a journey Before you can get to a place of, oh, okay. You've you realize in that moment, hold on.

[00:28:18] Alexia: If I didn't have this, I've gotta look after this Differently. I've gotta make I think that's probably also 1 of the turning points of me really, really knowing my voice. It's that low place of really getting to know your voice. Yeah. Really getting to know and wanting to know The actual science also kind of behind it, how your cords come together, what it means when you're coughing, what it means when you're even, like, You know, like, when you're getting things like postnasal drip or whatever, really what that's actually all doing, all of that stuff, knowing as much information and the more informat I I always wanna learn more.

[00:28:55] Alexia: You know? I I

[00:28:57] Claire: don't have a single student who's been through vocal trauma, who isn't on some and it sounds weird to say, But on some level, glad that it happened because they know so much more about their

[00:29:09] Alexia: voice at this point. Hundred percent. Yeah. 100

[00:29:12] Claire: And very often say, as you're saying, that until that point, they're

[00:29:16] Alexia: just kind of used to however.

[00:29:17] Alexia: Yeah. You're used to however. And the thing is, When you're young, you got the bounce back. That's what I call it. I call it the bounce back.

[00:29:23] Alexia: Right? You've got the bounce back, and and you Recover quicker. You you know, like, it's it's great. Right? But you could also be causing a lot of damage along the way.

[00:29:36] Alexia: And then when it comes, it it's not the nicest. I mean, like, I say French is, um, better than the cure. And, you know, like, The more information that you can learn from when you're younger and simple things like even vocal hygiene of, like, making sure that you're hydrated and that, you know, like, it's Great conditions that your voice is working in and that you don't just go like oh, just because you can wake up and you can sing atop sea, that you don't just wake up and sing atop See that you actually warm your voice still into that that moment. It's things like that. Just don't take it for granted.

[00:30:08] Alexia: Like, you should just never be singing without Warming that voice and getting it. Back

[00:30:12] Claire: to the mindfulness thing. So I could well imagine somebody hearing this and, again, going down the rabbit hole of Yeah. Okay. I'm looking.

[00:30:18] Claire: How do you How do you balance looking after it, having a deep respect for it, and understanding its importance in your life Mhmm. With That it taking it. Trusting it and Yeah. Allowing yourself to to live.

[00:30:35] Alexia: Mine came with just experience.

[00:30:38] Alexia: I I wish I had the formula of what exactly that is, but you do have to find balance in that It can't take over your world. I think for me creating boundaries also has helped, and knowing it's okay When to say no? There's looking after your voice, but also not obsessing. You don't wanna be in that place of where you're just It's just you're you're eating, living, breathing. You know, it can't be that because then your voice is under stress.

[00:31:09] Alexia: Yeah. Yeah. And it's not gonna work. So you really have to find that balance. And if you are an anxious person, Then it is practicing things like mindfulness.

[00:31:20] Alexia: It is maybe doing some meditation. It is maybe talking things out or however it is. I love baking, bake. If it's I love knitting, I knit. If it's I love reading, read.

[00:31:33] Alexia: What whatever the other thing is to kind of Balance yours. You need to do, like, therapeutic things to balance that out. I I would say, though, with me, it has been kind of experience. And Even now if I get a cold, it's it's it's still upsetting. You you know, it's still upsetting when, you know, the voice is not Happy, it's still upsetting, but it's about talking yourself off the ledge.

[00:32:01] Alexia: You've gotta talk yourself off the ledge. Okay. Hold on. I say it to myself. Have you had a cold before?

[00:32:08] Alexia: Yes. This is literally the question you have to ask. Have I had a cold before? Yes. Did you get better?

[00:32:15] Alexia: Yes. And then that you might have the little mean man on the other shoulder thing. Yeah. But took you a really long time. But did you get over it?

[00:32:21] Alexia: Yes. You have to keep on reminding yourself, this too shall pass. It's not here forever. It will pass, But you have to be patient in the season of waiting. You weren't meant to be there today.

[00:32:35] Alexia: You weren't meant to do that gig. Leave it alone. And it's hard to find peace with that, especially when sometimes when you want to really do something or maybe somebody was doing the gig, but you'd really love to do that. You have to learn sometimes That was not for you.

[00:32:48] Claire: And and how do you cope with exterior pressures?

[00:32:51] Claire: Once once you've got your own head Mhmm. Set straight about, no, this isn't for me, um, I need this time. How do you then cope with the pressures from outside saying, well, you gotta do it or couldn't you it sounded okay last night. Come back on to

[00:33:04] Alexia: Boundaries. You have to put your boundaries in in place because people like to think of you as being a diva just because you're saying no.

[00:33:11] Alexia: Right? But it's not about that. It's about boundaries. Because if I'm not okay, then I can't go out there and do my best. So I have to create boundaries of what is this is too much for me because, ultimately, you're the 1 who's left to have to pick up the pieces.

[00:33:26] Alexia: So are you gonna do this thing of I'm not feeling particularly too well, I'm gonna do this concert, and because, you know, they they don't have anyone else, and it's it's last minute. I've got this cold the night before, and it's last minute. So, So, you know, like, I'm gonna push myself to this limit of doing this concert, and then they're just gonna say thank you, and then you're at home, and you're in bits, and you're in recovery for, what, the next 6 weeks. I think people don't really sometimes understand the mental of what that does. That is more scarring Sometimes almost then not being able to sing a few notes that you need maybe for the next 4 weeks Because you remember it, and it hurt.

[00:34:07] Alexia: You know, the mental scarring is a lot. I think

[00:34:10] Oren: that's why the voice It's so different to any other musical instrument. It is an instrument, but you can replace a piano. You can replace You can't

[00:34:20] Alexia: replace a voice. Yeah.

[00:34:21] Oren: It's

[00:34:21] Alexia: treated Like it's replaced. Replaced. You can. No. They can replace you with somebody

[00:34:28] Oren: See, that's the thing, isn't it?

[00:34:30] Oren: From

[00:34:30] Alexia: their perspective. Yeah. You can be replaced with somebody else. And I think that's what needs to be remembered. Like, you can't do that gig, it's okay.

[00:34:36] Alexia: They will find someone else. Yeah. And you'll get better. And guess what? They have another gig in a few months' time, you'll be able to do that gig.

[00:34:44] Alexia: And don't get me wrong. You I have my moments. I just oh, I wish I could have done that. Yeah. You know, like, oh, it's a shame.

[00:34:49] Alexia: That would have been really, really good. And you think about it, and the stews Ferment's there in the back. Right? Um, but then sometimes I'm like, my gosh. I'm really glad that did happen.

[00:34:57] Alexia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like, That's really good that that actually didn't happen. Like, something was looking out for me.

[00:35:04] Alexia: I wonder whether there

[00:35:05] Claire: might be people who are watching or listening who think, well, That's okay, you know, from the point of somebody a Grammy nominated, constantly working singer Can now say, I'm sorry. I have to pull out of that gig and has enough of a reputation to be able to then still be asked the next time. Do you think that's the luxury of Having had a long career, or is it something you could have done in your

[00:35:28] Alexia: twenties? I should have done probably in my twenties. Um, I don't think it has pushed me along for through at all.

[00:35:36] Alexia: Because like I've said before, what's for you is for you, and it will not pass you. It's for me, it's already written. Just because you're not able to have done that gig doesn't mean that it's not maybe gonna come for you later on in life. Who put it on their Insta the other day? Someone put a post on their Insta the other day about having auditioned for something when a show came out.

[00:36:00] Alexia: They didn't get the gig, and they were so gutted. But now, years later, they have got this gig and the understanding now that they weren't ready then Yeah. For that gig. Yeah. They can Appreciate the journey in between because they've learned all the other stuff in between.

[00:36:20] Alexia: So maybe you want that gig. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And And you're like, oh, I'm ill, but if I just push through but why would you go along? Let's say if it was an audition, sing, then remember you having a sore throat, etcetera, And not being able to do it very well than just pulling out and saying, I'll audition another time.

[00:36:40] Alexia: You can learn so much in between anyway If, you know, like, in between that time, doing other stuff, whether it's concerts, whether it's workshops, whether it's whatever it is. And all of that It's literally building you up for the very thing that you want. As much as it's like, oh, But you're Grammy nominated and, you know, like, you're working and stuff. There are moments where I'm not working. It doesn't all just flood in for me.

[00:37:05] Alexia: I still have to audition like the next Farson, I'm not do you know do you know what I mean? Like, you've got to listen. You've got to come first. You cannot pour into anything if your tank is empty. You just cannot do it.

[00:37:17] Alexia: It's physically impossible, and it's only a matter of time where

[00:37:22] Claire: And have you been there? Have you been where your tank is Empty.

[00:37:26] Alexia: Yeah. I've been in a place where my tank is empty, and I've constantly sacrificed myself. And I would say it is Almost something like the pandemic that has made me say, hold on a second.

[00:37:45] Alexia: How am I expecting to do this If I'm not okay. And I think, again, it's okay if you're not okay. There is a mentality that it's not okay if you're if you're not okay. It's not okay. No.

[00:38:00] Alexia: It's okay if you're not okay. This too shall pass. This is not for you right now. You are human. Just like all the other people who are, like, creating these jobs for all these shows and all these gigs and, you know, all these casting directors are They get colds too.

[00:38:18] Alexia: They have to go off what to. Do you know what I mean? It's just unfortunate that maybe when you got your cold, It's fallen in a time when you have this audition or the fact that you are a singer, a vocal athlete, where a cold will affect you differently. Somebody who does a 9 to 5 can sit down and be like, oh, I've had a cold for a couple of weeks. It's it's going, but it's kind of still there, and I'm a little bit I've still got a little bit of a cough.

[00:38:43] Alexia: Unfortunately, that might knock you out instead for 6. Yeah. And that's the reality. And I think there is a mentality of, Even pre pandemic, you can get a cold and it can knock you out for 8. 8 weeks, it can knock you out 4.

[00:38:58] Alexia: And it's unfortunate. And it, Don't get me wrong. You fall you bang your head against the wall. I'm not saying like, oh, it's fine. You just sit down for 8 weeks.

[00:39:06] Alexia: No. Of course, you're going to stir crazy. 100 percent, you're going to stir crazy because you wanna get back out then. You wanna be doing what you love and, you know, like, being creative. We're creative beings.

[00:39:17] Alexia: You know, you have to ride the tide. And if you're frustrated, get those frustrations out. You know? But there's no point in Trying to do something before you're ready to, before your body's ready to, because you're coming back, what, 50 percent better? How long before you get knocked out again?

[00:39:35] Alexia: It's a countdown. It's okay. You got through this 1. Okay. You got through that 1.

[00:39:39] Alexia: I'm getting a bit tired now. No. I can't do 3. That's a laugh. Then you're in this stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

[00:39:45] Alexia: And then that's a whole other mental game. You have to pick almost like your You're poison. You know? Yeah. You have to pick, and you have to make a decision to say, hold on.

[00:39:56] Alexia: Actually, I'm not okay. Me taking This little time off where it doesn't feel hundred percent alright, and I know that I'm pushing myself to achieve something It's not worth it because the aftermath of that and what I'm gonna have to deal with apart from me getting myself back In a good vocal place, it's the mental and the emotional and the spiritual of what that does to you. There are so many layers. It's beyond the sound that you're able to produce because, again, the Sound is connected to you emotionally. Yeah.

[00:40:37] Alexia: Any

[00:40:38] Claire: disagreement? Either of us at all. You were talking earlier about how you build a character. Uh-huh. How much of yourself is present in that character, and how much do you give up Yourself for the character.

[00:40:52] Alexia: Oh, good 1. Um, I think there's always an element of yourself In a character because it's coming from your lens, even if it's I don't know if you were to be playing. I don't know. Let's say a a drug addict. Let's say for the sake of it, it's a bit bit extreme.

[00:41:06] Alexia: I have been watching I have been watching all the the crazy things on Netflix lately. So that's probably why I've come out a lot of the track. It It would still be your perspective and your lens of how you're perceiving how a drug drug addict would how they feel in that moment, they can tell you, but it's still your lens. So there's always gonna be an element of yourself, I think, within The character. How much I give up of myself was the next part of it?

[00:41:40] Alexia: I think you do. You I think you have to fully surrender to fully immerse yourself Into a character. Otherwise, there are still too many elements of yourself, and then you're not really being Authentically. And is is that does

[00:41:58] Claire: that then come into the being present? Is that 1 of the prerequisites for being present?

[00:42:04] Claire: Yeah. Hundred So do you have tricks for getting yourself to that place when maybe you don't feel like it?

[00:42:10] Alexia: Sometimes I do watch things or, You know, like, listen to things that would help with the character. Like, I remember when I was doing, um, Navalungi, it was Looking at the research around, you know, a young African girl Who's living in poverty. And though it was a comedy, it doesn't have to be a dramatic piece in order for you to it's it's always important, the layering of character.

[00:42:37] Alexia: But then also the innocence In the mind. And so it was like, I almost used my nieces for that innocence, That wide eyed is to actually believe it. To and it's so hard almost to be young again because We're tainted. Not genuine. But, you know, like It's true.

[00:43:01] Alexia: But, you know, like, we we the the the our The innocence gets lost as we get kind of older Yeah. Because we see what reality has kind of shown us. So it's like To try and delve into that and as much as possible, let go into that belief that The to believe, like, to fully let go and truly think that there is this place called Salt Lake City. Like, really believe it, and that's what makes it funny. Yeah.

[00:43:35] Alexia: Yes? Yeah. Yeah. Without question. Yeah.

[00:43:37] Alexia: You know? If I don't believe that So Talladega City is real, then you ain't gonna believe it. You're gonna know that I'm just along for the fun ride of But if I believe it and that innocence in my nieces of believing things Yeah. You know, like and when you tell them, like, you're, like, you're just teasing them or something, Really aren't I'm seeing that in their eyes, that genuine thing, that innocence that a child has. It's like I had to do that.

[00:44:05] Alexia: I had to pick almost a bit from them. A lot. Sorry. You

[00:44:08] Claire: keep taking a breath.

[00:44:10] Alexia: Oh, my question.

[00:44:11] Alexia: My question. Okay.

[00:44:13] Claire: Last 1 Mhmm. That goes alongside that Is you have played some really iconic roles and roles that are in the, you know, the big shows where there's a new person Every 1 or 2 years playing that role. How do you deal with slipping into those roles?

[00:44:31] Claire: How do you manage? How much of you comes into that? Do you think it's important that you have a new interpretation?

[00:44:36] Alexia: What 100 percent. I think it's incredibly important for you to have your own There's no point in you trying to be like Jane on Broadway.

[00:44:43] Alexia: You're not Jane. It's 1 of the things that I constantly preach whenever a young person asks me, You know, like, oh, how do I deal with this? Or how do I do you've got to be authentically yourself. You are not going to sing sing like Bernadette Peters. Don't try and sing it like her.

[00:44:57] Alexia: You're not going to act like, I don't know, um, via via the Davis or, you know, Mara Streep. Don't you've got to be authentically yourself. Only then can you be the best That you can physically be. Having taken over from, like, lots of people in different roles and things like that, I don't think I've ever felt like I had to be like The person who was before, which I'm kind of grateful for. The whole point, I think, of, like, harsh changes is is that we get to see another lens.

[00:45:23] Alexia: What's the point if you're trying to it's that same thing of, like, that square, trying to getting into that circle. Yeah. It just doesn't fit. You know, you're not that person. You evoke different.

[00:45:36] Alexia: Your lens is different. Your life is different. Your background's different. So you're going to bring something different to the table. And that is the beauty of being able to see all these shows that have been running for so many years, A different lens.

[00:45:52] Alexia: And that's why it's then sometimes like, oh, that's a new perspective. I never thought of it in that way. You're talking about being

[00:45:58] Oren: authentically yourself in that moment. And and by that moment, I'm saying, like, for the period of that production, that's Yeah. But you've done some roles where you've come back into it years later.

[00:46:10] Oren: Yeah. What's Is there a difference there between the previous authentic self and current authentic self? 100

[00:46:15] Alexia: percent. My lens is different because my life experience has happened between that time. Um, comes with age.

[00:46:26] Alexia: Um, you do. And and and it's when you're younger, you hear, like, oh, yeah. People always say that. You know, like, oh, it comes with a and it it does. In in the nicest possible way, it Re it really does.

[00:46:39] Alexia: And only when you get there can you look back and truly see it. It's not that your, Um, your perspective is invalid when you were younger, because what you have been through up to that point in your life is valid. But The way you sometimes even just in life, like, the way you will handle something when you're in your, I don't know, teens versus when you're even in your late Twenties is gonna be different.

[00:47:06] Oren: Which is so interesting, isn't it? Because it's the same character Yep.

[00:47:10] Oren: That is the same age of character, But you're coming into it with new experiences Yeah. That then reinforce Yeah. That same character, which I think is so fascinating because you're playing The same thing Yeah. Potentially very different ways Yeah. From not just yourself, but now

[00:47:26] Alexia: from everybody else that we Yeah.

[00:47:27] Alexia: You're you're just a you're just a different Person. You're not nobody's the same as they were when they were 18. Your life experiences teaches you that. You know, you learn so much along the way, and that isn't Just in your career, but just in life, in family, in friends, in all of that stuff. Even when you're just going to do your normal shop.

[00:47:50] Alexia: Like like, you do you learn different things along the way, And it teaches you. So life is almost part of the teacher of you being able to be a better artist, Better creatively have a wider perspective as opposed to 1 that will be a lot more narrow. When you're younger, your perspective widens as you get older. How

[00:48:15] Claire: do you feel looking back on previous incarnations of roles that you've reprised?

[00:48:20] Alexia: Like, oh, I wish I knew then.

[00:48:24] Alexia: I do look Back in, oh, I wish I knew that. But then at the same time, I don't kind of really want to delve too much into it because that was then, And that was my reality then. Yeah. Yeah. So you can't And also, I

[00:48:37] Claire: think that's something for as much as we're saying as you grow older, you learn more, which It's absolutely true.

[00:48:42] Claire: Mhmm. There was also a magic to The innocence. The innocence and not knowing that we'll have brought something to that role as well. Point. Yeah.

[00:48:50] Claire: So So

[00:48:50] Alexia: you can be really comfortable about Yeah. It's like a new person who's been able to, you know, um, and as much as it feels familiar, it's unfamiliar because You do just feel differently about it. You do look at it differently. We looked at it

[00:49:03] Claire: vocally differently Yeah. As well.

[00:49:05] Claire: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You've looked at, you know, what happens with the voice? How does the voice morph A hundred percent.

[00:49:10] Claire: And how can it be expressed Yeah. In

[00:49:12] Alexia: this new in this new, yeah, new way? I would love to see

[00:49:16] Oren: a side by side recording. No.

[00:49:18] Alexia: No.

[00:49:18] Alexia: No. No. No. No. No.

[00:49:19] Alexia: No. Don't do that. Don't do that. Nightmare.

[00:49:25] Oren: I think it would be so informative to look at that and and I expect, like, you know, I'm thinking about students studying it and understanding those 2 different Mindsets and perspective.

[00:49:34] Oren: I think this thing would be really cool. Yeah. Don't It's a shame. I mean, there probably is.

[00:49:44] Claire: So we're gonna ask Lexi about her 5 minute call.

[00:49:46] Claire: We

[00:49:47] Oren: are indeed. And what's this? We are really curious as to what your 5 minute call is. What what's Do you have a routine? Do you do anything in particular at your 5 minute call?

[00:49:55] Oren: I

[00:49:55] Alexia: would almost say at the half is when I start. I need calm. I can't have frantic around me. This is something, again, I've learned, um, And against that boundaries thing, um, before I would never say no, and I'd allow people to Just be my space, and I'd go out on stage and you're just angst. Whereas now, I need the calm.

[00:50:20] Alexia: And then I might just do a a few little exercises again just to, yep, she's fine. Sizes again just to yep. She's fine. And ironically, it's hearing Claire's voice that Sometimes also puts me in check. That's it.

[00:50:35] Alexia: You know? It's remembering it's just like going over and remembering this is what your voice is today. You know, you adapt, you pivot, and there's nothing wrong with your voice. It's just sometimes we we can Mentally, sometimes hold on to what you want it to sound like Mhmm. As well.

[00:50:53] Alexia: Mhmm. Um, I wanna sound like this, and I wanna evoke this, and I wanna, But it's just to say, this is you today. Be present in the moment. And also I go over, like, any notes and things that I've maybe been given, and just truly think about them and, like, also give myself grace in that it's okay if I don't get the note in 1. Do you know what I mean?

[00:51:19] Alexia: Like, that it might take time because I need to make it feel normal, but then I'm not perfect. Sometimes I do tailspin. I was saying it the other day. I'm like, I'm tailspinning. Do you know what I mean?

[00:51:30] Alexia: Yeah. Like, I do tailspinning. It's like to somehow get off the ledge. And it it it takes time, but my my 5 minute thing is probably just a couple of exercises And just like a bit of chill. Chill, think about a couple of notes, and just very relax it has to be relaxed So that when I walk down, I'm not in this high anxiety place before going out.

[00:51:58] Claire: Actually 1 of the other shows I work on, we instigated, uh, notices on the dressing room door thing for people who wanted that quiet time Yeah. At the half because it can become so frenetic. It can. And saying no to it You feel groovy. You see the bit of Friction.

[00:52:14] Claire: Yeah. So I'm just just having a notice saying, and it was fine, you know, so I'll knock and do the approval of that. That's that's fine. But Yeah. You're allowed your own space.

[00:52:23] Claire: Yeah.

[00:52:24] Alexia: It's and so the thing is, that's not necessarily for everyone. Some people need the energy around them. Yeah. It kind of, I guess, fires them up for their show maybe.

[00:52:35] Alexia: Um, but for me, I just I just need to feel, like, settled before I go out just so that my head is clear. Otherwise, I just feel like I'm in a high anxiety place, and I feel like my head feels muddy Almost, um, going out there. So I just I do just, like, have a little bit of, like, okay. Do a couple of those Lovely. Fine.

[00:52:58] Alexia: Okay. That's good. Today, this is what it is. Do the best you can. Be present.

[00:53:03] Alexia: That's all you can do. That's all you can do for today. Yeah. I love it.

[00:53:10] Claire: We have 1 other thing for you.

[00:53:11] Claire: Yes. We do

[00:53:12] Alexia: indeed. Scary. So Oh my gosh. We ask Yeah.

[00:53:19] Alexia: All

[00:53:19] Oren: of our previous guests to write a question in this book How about that goes completely unseen by everybody We have not seen it. Until I now read this question to you, and then you get to answer the question, and then you get to write 1 of your own for the next guest. So there's a question in this book that none of us know, and I'm gonna read it to you now.

[00:53:37] Alexia: Goodness. I'm scared.

[00:53:41] Claire: Oh, 0, this is lovely. So this is, has there been someone who has been your greatest support, dead or alive, And given the opportunity, what would you say to them to let them know how special they are and how grateful you are?

[00:53:54] Alexia: Don't make me cry. No. It's Bad.

[00:54:02] Alexia: The person who has been the absolute Constant in my life, um, my rock is my bum. She's wiped my tears. She's been there when I've been low, Um, and she supported from a young age. Like I said, like, from figure skating to dance classes to, Like, just exercising things that were of interests to me, to her teaching me to bake, to her teaching me to knit. I mean, like, literally, I used to knit my dolls' school jumpers because my mom was knitting my school jumper Alongside she is my rock.

[00:54:49] Alexia: I love her fiercely, and I don't think I would be where I am today Nor have the mindset and be able to cope with, um, the adversities that I have come up against Within my career, within life, um, without her, she is a phenomenal woman, Lorna Facey. And she's on a cruise right now. Yes. Yeah. She's, um, she's phenomenal.

[00:55:25] Alexia: She has just been everything to me. Everything. Um, she's even tried to do reading scripts with me, bless her. She's like, this isn't really my thing, but, you know, Um, like, she's she's phenomenal. She she she really is.

[00:55:40] Claire: It's such a great question though, isn't it? Because it is so important that they're, I mean, I consider myself very fortunate that I actually have quite a lot of people who I can take my thoughts to and trust in their opinions. But, Um, I was just listening to a podcast on the way in this morning with Richard Branson Yeah. Saying he it was always his dad for him, and now his dad's passed, it's his daughter. Yeah.

[00:56:03] Claire: There's just that there's that person who you can go to Yeah. And and just hear your thoughts out loud. Yeah. And

[00:56:10] Alexia: My mom's like she's she's honest in a good way. You know, like, even when I'm, like, I'm singing stuff, she's like, no.

[00:56:15] Alexia: That's not it. You know? But she could she's it's funny. She's not a singer, but she would hear if I'm pushing. She would hear if I haven't attacked something correct.

[00:56:25] Alexia: Like, she's, like, She's got the ear. Yeah. I'll give her that. She's got the girl's got the ear. Um, but, like, yeah.

[00:56:34] Alexia: No. She is definitely Person. She is my person for for literally everything. Like, I can't think of any 1 thing, and she's got great understanding. Like I said, my mom doesn't My mom works in finance.

[00:56:45] Alexia: Do you know what I mean? Like, she doesn't she's not at all within the industry, but has, Um, allowed herself to have great understanding for my good I mean, she understands them like mama on vocal rest. They get it. Like, you know, Um, and I think it's all of her support, you know, like, where she's even helped the family to to kind of understand it, and they and they get it. My family, I'm I'm blessed in that respect.

[00:57:11] Alexia: They get it because I'm really strict about that stuff, you know, like, I'm on vocal rest. My nieces even know. I mean, I've even got, like, signs, like, now where they're like, oh, no. Our sex on Vogue arrest, you I know what she's saying. I'll go and get that for you.

[00:57:22] Alexia: Do you know what I mean? Like, like, they know. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's just been something that she's been able to kind of create this space of safety, but, yeah, no. She's awesome.

[00:57:32] Alexia: Yeah. The most

[00:57:33] Oren: beautiful answer to

[00:57:34] Alexia: that question.

[00:57:37] Claire: So thank you so much for sharing your time with us and for telling us your thoughts. There's so much value in So many of the topics you've been talking about this morning, I hope it would be really helpful for people. Yeah.

[00:57:49] Alexia: I know. Hundred percent. Yeah. And thank you for having me because No. Thank you.

[00:57:54] Claire: It's fun. I do

[00:57:55] Alexia: appreciate it.

[00:57:56] Oren: This week, it I mean, there's a hundred episodes easy just in talking to them.

[00:58:02] Alexia: No. I've got more in you.

[00:58:04] Alexia: What more do you want? I know. Do you feel about a weekly interview? How do you

[00:58:08] Oren: feel about let's just ditch The format. Yeah.

[00:58:11] Alexia: Just the 3 of us.

[00:58:16] Claire: Yeah. That was amazing. Thank you. Yay.

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