Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nicole Gress, founder of Undead Voice, located in Seattle, WA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Undead Voice Lab is an online platform for the transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse community to transition their voice to one that aligns with their identity.
Tell us about yourself
I'm Nicole Gress (she/they). I started working in the trans voice as a speech-language pathologist living in San Francisco. After a few years of working at a private practice and a hospital, I started to feel pretty frustrated. I noticed that a lot of my trans clients either ran out of motivation, money, or insurance coverage before finding their voice. The techniques that I was taught weren't working, and I didn't have the freedom to explore new approaches while still working in a traditional medical setting. So I decided to quit my job and create a space where I could do things differently.
To be accessible to everyone, I moved my business online and demedicalized it so that I could help people transition their voices without waiting months on a waiting list or convincing their doctor for a referral. I set out to make voice transition faster, easier, and affordable. To start, I asked a single question. Why don't traditional methods work?
In 2020 I met with over 500 trans folx to discover why people like Claire and Evelyn struggled to transition their voice with traditional methods. I learned that even if you have an unlimited budget, all the time in the world, and practice every day, you will still struggle to find a clear guide with easy-to-understand techniques to transition your voice. If this sounds like your story, too, let me be clear. You aren't failing. The institution is failing you. Traditional methods taught by speech therapists don't work because they were designed for those with voice disorders - not someone transitioning their voice. The research behind traditional methods is conducted on an entirely unrelated control group. Bad input equals bad output. These methods are inherently pathologizing, stereotyping, and ultimately ineffective. Your gender-diverse voice isn't a disorder that needs curing. Trans folx deserve evidence-based techniques that work.
I decided to abandon what I was taught as a speech pathologist and start over. I spent six months studying different singing techniques, speaking strategies, voice acting methods, and countless other alternative approaches. Sought out the world's only trans researcher studying voice transition within the community, Lily Clifford. I Immersed myself in the online world of Reddit and Discord to learn what trans people were already doing to alter their voices that worked, and through my personal gender exploration, I transitioned my own voice as well. With a whole new lens, I developed the first-ever full voice transition curriculum made of brand-new techniques and approaches based on science and proven through lived experience.
It was time for a Trans Voice revolution. I put the Undead Voice Lab curriculum into an online program and recruited a diverse group of 100 trans folx to test it out. Along the way, I learned so [clap] much [clap]. Community is vital/strength in numbers. It was surprising to hear how isolated and alone most members felt. Some lived in less liberal areas and had never even met another trans person. So I put them into online groups and had them meet each week so they could talk about their shared struggles, encourage, and motivate each other to keep going. These groups also served as a place to practice using their transitioning voice while talking about life or embarking on epic quests playing Dungeons + Dragons.
No two voices are the same. Each person's roadblocks were as unique as they were, so they all needed a coach that knew them intimately. I decided to do what no program or coach had before and open the lines of communication completely. Every member had daily access to me as their expert voice coach so they could ask questions when they had them and get feedback while practicing between our twice monthly LIVE group coaching calls.
Affordable = Accessible. Paying an online voice coach $50-$300 a week isn't in the budget for most. That's why every time we hit member quotas, we slashed prices. We've finally landed at a comfortable price point that's well below the average weekly co-pay you'd pay for insurance-covered services and less than even the most inexperienced 1:1 coach. We also fund 60-80k of partial and full needs-based scholarships each year. Motivation matters.
Over the seven years I've worked in trans voice, I've found that when you're expected to practice for hours each day, staying motivated is the number one reason people don't reach their voice goals. So I designed Undead Voice Lab's eight core courses using habit stacking where you practice in short (like 1 minute), frequent bursts of practice throughout the day. That way, you stay accountable, experience small wins daily, and never feel like you're falling behind.
Voice Dysphoria is the f*ing worst. Being trans is already a struggle in this world, and having a voice that feels incongruent with your preferred presentation can feel debilitating. Even when you find the right program, voice dysphoria can be a real barrier to progress. I recruited mindfulness expert, Katie Crooks, to create a series of exercises to help heal the self-judgment and inner doubt that voice dysphoria puts in the way of finding your affirming voice. All of this wasn't enough. Even with community support, a coach to check in with each day, and easy-to-understand online courses, I still found that FLEXIBILITY was the real problem. When a member stopped practicing for a few days or weeks, it took an average of 2 months to get back on track. When this happened, they felt anxious that they were falling behind and wouldn't meet their voice goals before their membership ran out. They needed something that worked and evolved with their life and schedule. So I made the most radical decision yet and granted everyone LIFETIME ACCESS to Undead Voice Lab. The Undead Voice community is now over 50,000 strong. It's safe to say: The Revolution is here.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is increasing accessibility to effective, affordable trans voice resources to the transgender community by being able to provide $80,000 in needs-based scholarships yearly.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Switching back and forth mentally between a CEO mindset and a working mindset and learning how to turn off the mental work after hours.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Community is vital. Being in communication with other entrepreneurs who are driven keeps you motivated and accountable.
- Have a vision. With a mission to drive you, it helps you organize your priorities and choose where to spend your attention and energy.
- Trust your future self. When I feel imposter syndrome or anxious about a big step I'm taking in my company, I reflect on how successful I've been on things I was nervous about in the past. Trust your future self will be able to handle the hard thing when it comes.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.undeadvoice.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/undeadvoice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/undead.voice/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/undead-voice/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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