My shoe of choice

I like my height and so I don’t wear heals except to an occasional cocktail party or award show.

My uniform for the last 10 years has been jeans, cowboy boots and a great shirt/jacket. I am comfortable and feel powerful.

It’s the boots. They command a respect that other shoes do not.

In my boots I can walk a long ways. I feel sexy, confident and I have a sense of freedom knowing I can run in any direction.

When I wear heels, I feel like I am acting. I am a diva balancing on a high wire to get my point across. And I can never wait to take them off.

“Give the girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.”

— Marilyn Monroe

Getting around the writers block

I set aside the time, I settle into my space and begin the process of writing and... nothing. Sometimes, nothing comes out.

There are those who say that there is no such thing as writers block, it's a myth, made up to describe the lack of inspiration that leads to procrastination. But, when you're feeling frustrated, what do you do?

For the most part, I have always encouraged my writers to not be angry at the block but to ride it out... and in the meantime, use the time wisely.

Why keep staring at a blank screen? Do something else!

I believe the quickest way out is to challenge your body. When you want something to change in your life, change something in your body first and your mind and soul will follow.

If you stopped the junk food diet and started eating healthier tomorrow , your body would be singing a different tune . All of a sudden you would be shouting the great effects of Gluten-free to the world and anyone who would listen. Your mind would have changed because your body did. No different when you can't find your words.

So, when you find yourself alone in the dark, first honor that place of nothingness. And then rattle your cage to turn the light back on.

Go do a handstand in the middle of the room.

"If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word."

— Margaret Atwood

I wrote a song, now what?

At the start, Mrs Fields spent months giving away samples of her cookies in malls to attract people into her shop to buy more! She came up with a great recipe, made her product and then gave samples away for the sole purpose of making sales and making people happy.

Same with you songwriters. You come up with a great song, make a demo/record, give it to other artists or market it for yourself for the sole purpose of making sales and making people happy.

Making the product can be challenging. I will say it right now up front: if you can produce your own demos then you are way ahead of the game. You can realize your track, sound, feeling as you are creating the song. The other option - just as valid, but more challenging - is finding someone to do it for you.

I recently interviewed David Hodges and one of the things I am so impressed with is his ability to work in so many different genres. He understands how to build the appropriate container for the stories he is telling in a way that sensitive to the voice that is going to deliver it.

The demo is VERY important so if you need to hire someone to do it, then find someone who loves what they do, is a multi-instrumentalist, and is easy to talk to.

How you present your songs to get you to the next step in your career is crucial and before you can hire someone to do the job for you, you have to understand the job yourself.

Take control. Get educated. Know what you want for your song and how to communicate it.

Taking a meeting

The difference between singing and talking is just a little nuance.

If you were to push the air a little harder through your vocal chords, you could sing (and dance) your way through a meeting!

The same attention that you give to your voice, melody and lyrics when you sing, should be given to how you use your voice, melody (emotions) and lyrics (words) when you speak.

What do you want from the meeting and how are you going to get it?

A good friend of mine says he makes a decision on which voice he needs to use - Clint, Ghandi, or Curly - and that guides as far as how he needs to approach any given meeting. Will he have to be tough, be all zen, or inject comedy to get what he wants?

How you present yourself and identifying the information you need them to have are essential to getting the response you want. If you are unsure of yourself or your plans and present them in a way that is not understandable then you are not going be successful in getting what you want out of that meeting.Respect the time you are being given by being prepared.

Lisa Loeb recently cut a deal with Costco to start carrying her eyewear line. You can be sure she had to be a professional business woman when it came to sitting with the execs to convince them that they should invest in her and her product.

Your general approach to taking a meeting is no different whether you're selling glasses or songs. You should go into it feeling confident that you have a product that others will want, and be prepared to see to it that they get that message.

Leadership

For most of my life in Corporate America, I had amazing bosses. Men who understood me and respected my talent.

However, at the end, there were a few in particular who made me wonder how they had achieved the success they had, given their lack of leadership skills.

When I started my own company, I was asked what my definition of Leadership was. This question prompted me to set out on a quest to determine exactly how I was going to lead.

The best answer that I came up with is this: A leader is not someone who towers over his audience and tells them what to do, but kneels in front of them and asks, "What do you need and how can I help you, to do your job better?"

Inspire, educate and protect.

So Simple.

Getting better

Recently I asked David Choi what advice he would give to budding young songwriters. He answered, "put in your 10,000 hours." According to author Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, 10,000 number of hours of practice that it takes to achieve mastery in a given field. And I could not agree more.

To take it a step further, consider the fact that we are human beings, not human doers. Most people think that they should concentrate all of those hours on practicing their work, what they do. But we must also allocate time to the practice of being who we are, therefore being more capable of living a well-rounded and fulfilling life.

If you are building a career, then installing a Self-Development process is a good use of your time. What do you need in order to stay current, educated, and inspired to do what you do? How do you challenge yourself to go to the next level? How do you get better at telling your story?

You have to ask yourself those kinds of questions for the rest of your life because no one else will.

Put things in place to help make you better at being you.

For more of my thoughts on how to hone your craft, watch this video.

Songs are your product

In the time we are living in, it is up to you to take care of yourself and your career.

Artists used to hand their power over to executives in exchange for not having to deal with the business. Now It is a do-it-yourself industry. Because of this, it is more important than ever that you treat your career as a business.

The first thing you'll need to do is acknowledge the fact that you have started a business. What do you need to know about copyrighting, song splits, joining a P.R.O., documenting, pitching, collecting etc...?

Songs are your product. You create them, package them, market them, and sell them. No different than if you were making shoes.

Treat your company with the respect it deserves. Protect it legally, account it properly, and market and sell it wisely.

After being in a major record and publishing deal, almost 10 years ago, Lucy Woodard is now the CEO of her company. She leads her career successfully with a team she has put in place to help her in all aspects of her business.

"To open a shop is easy. To keep it open is an art." - Chinese Proverb

Taking care of business

If you are a successful songwriter it doesn’t just mean you write great songs. It also means that you take care of your business so you can be paid. When you co-write for a career (as Shelly Peiken has done her whole life), you have to be smart about making sure that you and your co-writers have each agreed on their share of the song.

Even in my workshops I witness co-writes in class and am always amazed at how very fearful people are of ‘saying the wrong thing’ or not 'offending the other person.' But this mentality means that you will end up sabotaging yourself.

Asking for clarity on song splits should be a routine discussion. You are only as powerful as your voice is.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a form that I made for my writers that made it very simple: Name of the song, writers and their info, splits, date and voila! You politely ask your co-writer to sign it before they leave the session and now you have proof of what transpired so 2 years later when the song is cut, memories don’t go south.

Talk about it.

Introducing Door to Door

I am so excited to introduce my new web series, Door To Door.

Join me as I interview renowned songwriters – James Lipton-style – about their creative processes, how they get inspired, and more!

I have been working closely with songwriters for over 30 years. And because of that, I know first-hand, the way that someones else’s story can influence and inspire. The goal of Door to Door is to provide a unique platform for established songwriters to motivate young, aspiring songwriters, producers, and artists.

Check it out! Tyler Hilton is up first.

Radio interview

I recently spoke to Music Charts Magazine about my career in the music business. Please feel free to listen below by clicking on the link.

The onion

I am not perfect. Though no matter where I turn I am told that is what I must strive for. How do I discover me when then there is no room for failure? Hell, even our laundry detergent is held to a higher standard when every month it is new and improved. For god’s sakes it’s soap!

For so long I strived towards the illusion, the mirage. But over time, I got tired and could not keep up the pretense of always trying.

So, I found another story to tell myself that rang home.

I am an onion. I will spend my life peeling back the layers discovering in each one a different part of myself. Peeling off the hurts and showing off the multi-dimensions and complex creature I am.

With this new story, I have room to grow.

Change your story, change your life.

My thoughts on Miley in People magazine

I shared my thoughts on Miley Cyrus for this month's special edition of People Magazine. Here are the rest of them!

Growing up at Disney, a culture unto themselves, Miley had very solid boundaries around her every day that required 100 percent of her dedication to their vision.

It was the equivalent of high school and college for her. Executives (teachers) tell you what to do, where to go and how to act. It was an amazing education, but when we are in the throws of developing into who we are as people, we all need a bigger playing field to test our limits.

Because her walls were stronger and stricter than most, when she left Disney, Miley pushed beyond them, and then some. Mostly in rebellion to the confinement.

But this is what kids her age do. We all do at that age. We all pushed limits and we all made mistakes. But the majority of us didn't have to do it in the public eye, and with Social Media no less!

Millions of fans were just waiting to see what she was going to do after Disney. Her next step was to take everything she had learned, go out into the world and build her own career and life - not Disney's.

So she gave everybody a show. She captured everybody’s attention.

And now that everybody is watching her, well, let's see what she does with her amazing voice, impeccable work ethic and the platform she has built for her talent.

What Miley has, is an amazing opportunity to set her own boundaries with intention, which will inspire others to do the same.

Those are my thoughts on Miley. What about you? Feel free to comment below.

What’s more important?

One of the top 5 most ridiculous questions asked of any songwriter is, “What’s more important - music or lyrics?"

If one would really think about what they are asking, they just wouldn't. The answer of course, is 'neither and both.' It depends on so many variables that one simply could not exist without the other.

This is the question that I am most frequently asked when I sit on panels at music conferences, and I used to dread it. That is, until I saw the movie “Music and Lyrics’ written by Marc Lawrence, and starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. This movie is a spot-on about the act of co-writing.Drew (Lyrics) adamantly explains to Hugh (Music) why words prevail.

Now when I'm asked this question (after having seen the film a dozen or more times), I answer using the following quote:

Hugh:

“Lyrics are important. They're just not as important as melody.”

Drew quips back:

”I really don't think you get it. A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex .But then, as you get to know the person, that's the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath.

It's the combination of the two that makes it magic."

Heal your body first

My front yard on Vashon

For the last 5 years I was in Corporate America (2004-2009) I owned a home on Vashon Island, a 15 minute ferry ride from Seattle. It was my sanctuary. I would go up and get lost in the earth in an effort to heal my soul, which was being sucked dry by the death of the Music Industry as I knew it.

It was there, where I ultimately gained the strength I needed to leave and start my own company.

One of the great pleasures on the island (and there were many), was a sunday dinner held at a farm owned by a friend of ours. He added to his property, a stand-alone Farm House kitchen/dining area that looked just like a picture from a magazine. Tall windows lined all four walls and inside there was long antique wooden table with benches on each side. It had seating for 20 on one side and on the other, a cook's dream kitchen. Almost all of the ingredients he used came from his farm/garden. The first year for dessert, he made an Upside-down Tomato Cake with fresh whip cream...oh my....

I've adopted a motto from a book that my brother gave me called, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollon. He says, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." Thanks to that piece of advice and my experience on the farm on Vashon Island, I have cleaned up my act and it has helped heal by body.

Making the decision to only eat non-processed foods and foods with no pesticides was the turning point for me.

What you put in your body has a direct effect on your mood, emotions and overall attitude - all of which affect your words, thoughts and intentions.

Heal your body first, and your soul and mind will follow more easily.

Songplugger

In 1978 after I graduated from college and all my friends were either getting married or working for IBM, I was listening to music and getting paid for it.

I have held many titles throughout out my career - Manager, Director, Vice President, Senior Vice President - but though my responsibilities grew and evolved, at heart I always knew that I was always a Song Plugger. A Songplugger is someone from a Publishing Company who pitches songs to Record Labels with the goal of getting them recorded and released.

My job description was simple - know all the songs in the catalogue, and match them up with the right artists. It was also my job to guide and coach writers to further develop themselves, and to set up co-writes between writers and artists.

First, they called our position "song demonstrators," employed by department and music stores in the early 1900’s to help sell sheet music which was used to advertise hits before recordings were widely available. The pianist would sit and play whatever the store clerk sent him, or patrons could select a title and hear it before they bought it. Songpluggers worked for directly for music publishers pitching new material to bandleaders and singers.

Throughout my career, I have pitched every kind of song to every kind of artist and band you can think of. Each time, it feels like I am solving a puzzle. Putting the right words with the right mouth.

They say, "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." I am very fortunate to have found a way to make a living doing something that I am so intrigued by and passionate about - Music.

Breaking the rules

You have to be able to sing to write. However, you do not have to be able to sing like Beyonce.

Last week I produced a showcase at Ghengis Cohen for my final class in my Basic Workshop Series. My students all performed songs that they wrote before or during the class. I have now produced 12 Basics Workshops guiding my students through an 8 week process. Sitting in the audience once again watching them perform left me with a the feeling of pride at the growth they have made on this journey

Every class brings a different gem to the stage. Besides the songs, this evening brought voices.

After we were done, I had time to spare so I asked 2 guests to come up and grace us with a song.

First, Griffith Frank, a recording artist and songwriter who also is a graduate of my Basics and Intermediate Workshops got up and sang a new song he wrote with my client Jordan Higgins. He brought the house down. His voice is like butter and he does have a way with words.

Then I coaxed Kenny Hirsch, an Award winning composer, to get up and sing one of his hits. The thing about Kenny is that he is not a singer but he got up there, played the keys, and sang to his heart's content, “No One in The World,” a hit (for) performed by Anita Baker. As soon as the audience figured out what song it was, they were cheering and singing along and no one seemed to mind that his performance was not perfect. The moment, however, was perfection.

At the end of the evening, a writer came up to me and told me that he wished he had seen Kenny’s performance a long time ago. It would have saved him from missing out on the enjoyment of performing. Instead, he spent years worrying about how it looked, and thinking all this time that he had to have a good voice to write.

Sure having the voice of a superstar helps, but it is not the end all be all of a great musical career.

Intention

Intention - an aim or purpose

I believe the number one ingredient in magic is Intention. If I intend to do something, I usually do it! Voila, Magic!

Five years ago, I started a tradition. At the beginning of every new year, I write down my intentions for the year. I put my pages in an envelope, seal them in a box, and wait to read them at the beginning of the next year.

The act of writing them down, focusing on the words I've chosen to express my desires, brings energy to the thoughts.

By the end of the year, I often forget some of what I wrote down 12 months earlier. So when I opened my list this year I was shocked to see that my #1 intention was, “ heal my back”.

I had injured it 4 years before when I fell on my morning hike and then, like a fool, didn’t get it looked at or treated. The pain progressively got worse and in the last year was unbearable. I finally had an MRI in June 2013, that showed 4 additional discs (besides L5/S1 herniated 15 years before) had been compromised. That set me on a healing journey that included a decompression machine, physical therapy, swimming, herbs, meditation, visualization, acupuncture and massage. It was such a wake up call with a splash in the face of the knowingness that I had the ability to heal my body.

Now, I am back together again. When I get my MRI, I will report the results but expect to find a healthy spine. I found that my body responded favorably with the proper tools, hard work and encouragement.

Just like the power of intention can be applied to the goal of healing a physical ailment, it can also be applied to career goals, relationship goals, material goals - everything and anything you can desire.

I set an intention to heal my spine so that I could live the rest of my life in song. Movement is the song of the body. When my body works and is in peace, I can think and feel easier. It's easier to breathe and be me.

The writer meetings

In 1994, I started holding monthly meetings for all the staff writers at Warner Chappell. These meetings were also open to songwriters visiting LA from other cities. Most of the time it was a packed room with a minimum of 20. We would always go over the casting list - a list of record labels and artists who are looking for new songs to record. I would also have guests such as Artists, A&R execs , Music Supervisors execs, all who were looking for songs for their projects.

My intention was to create a community and open the waves of communication. I wanted them to all know each other, as it was a mutually beneficial opportunity. It was selfish also. I knew I could not do it alone. My writers helped me as much as I helped them. They inspired me to work harder for them!

Wynonna Judd was my first guest ever. She was looking for songs for her third album, Revelations, which was released by MCA/Curb in 1996 and was ultimately certified Platinum. We had become friends after I pitched her a Sheryl Crow song for her first solo album. She was the first artist to cut one of Sheryl's songs before Sheryl was Sheryl. One day while on the phone with Wynonna, I mentioned my writers meetings and asked if she wanted to join us. She jumped at the chance.

She came in with an entourage of 3 people (husband, assistant, and driver) and her dog, Loretta Lynn. The conference room was upstairs on the 3rd floor at that time and we all sat around this huge table. It was the Judy Stakee version of a “writers in the round”. She sat at one end and we went around the room so every writer had a chance to play her a song. Jamie Houston and JD Martin sang their song live. Danny Wilde from the Rembrandts played an outtake from their album. John Keller and Tonio K played their song, "Don’t Look Back," ultimately securing a cut with her.

They were all happy to have had the chance to be in the room where the decisions were being made.

I loved those meetings. I loved looking around the room to see who was seated next to who, and watching new relationships develop over coffee and muffins.

We gossiped, shared stories, and traded information and by the end, no one felt alone anymore. They were part of a family, a community whose core value was supporting each other.

Today, I replicate that atmosphere on a regular basis through weekly workshops and networking events throughout the year. As The Judy Stakee Company continues to flourish, so does the list of opportunities for my ever-growing community, to provide and receive support from within.

My theory

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Over the past 10 years, a lot has changed in the Music Business. We went from an industry that had an established roadmap complete with landmarks and clearly marked routes leading to a divine destination called "success." Now it is up to each individual to make their own map.

In 2004, a combination of 3 things happened, that on their own, would have been horrible. But when put together they were catastrophic. The 3 elements that irreversibly changed the music business were:

Full accountability - the Internet was fully grown and functional and integrated all of us .

Financial Drain - No one prepared a savings account for the huge cost that it took to transfer every single file from paper to digital.

Recession - ripple effect of 911 hit the economy hard and we all started to feel it as early as 2004...

That perfect storm caused permanent damage. Panic incurred, thousands were fired, and doors were closed.

Few were left inside to pick up the pieces and carry on. I was one of those few. I was the Sr VP of Creative at Warner Chappell Music and for 20 years I had always been given more than enough room to mentor the songwriters and artists in finding their own voice. My wing span was huge with the trust that my bosses had in me to do my job. I soared and therefore, so did my clients.

I now had a client list of over 50 writers, double my already full roster, who needed guidance in some way or another.

I had no funds, no support, and no way around it. The industry was falling.

No matter what, I knew I had to continue to champion the song, it’s what I was put on this earth to do. So in order to continue to fulfill that destiny, I did the only thing I could do. In 2009, I left the Music Business and I never looked back.

Now, it’s different. Good different. It took a while but after the debris was all cleared away, new businesses and new ways of thinking have emerged giving a larger playing field for everyone to enjoy.

Vision boards

I will admit, it was rather luminous standing outside the collapsing Music Business that I called home for over 30 years, and wondering, what the hell am I going to do now?

Now I knew I wanted to start my own company but I had only been in Corporate America. And because of this, I knew what I new and I didn’t know what I didn’t know. A blessing and a curse because all at once it was all up to me. And so started my journey towards the creation, building and running of a company, my company.

I made my first Vision Board in January 2009 , the first year of my new world.

A Vision Board has proven to be a great tool to keep me on my path. It is filled with pictures that represent my life’s goals, personal, professional and creative. It’s all the things that make me happy. My dreams in living color, on display every day .

There is no one way to make a vision board. That is up to you. You can use a board any size, shape or color. You can put pictures in a box. You can make a scrapbook or you can frame it. Just make it. Pour yourself into it and then put it in a place that you will frequently walk by, so that it is sure to serve as a constant reminder of the method to your own madness

Give yourself a hand in knowing and remembering where you are going.