Some careers are about chasing the dream. Others are about rewriting it entirely.

Casey Erin Clark had the kind of résumé most performers dream of: the national tour of Les Misérables, singing at the Oscars alongside Hugh Jackman, years of stage work. But somewhere along the way, she realized that the work she was doing — and the coaching she saw around her — was reinforcing a dangerous norm: teaching people to sound like “idealized middle-aged white men” in order to be taken seriously.

That didn’t sit right. Because what’s the point of being heard if you have to erase yourself in the process?

So Casey, along with co-founder Julie Fogg, built Vital Voice Training — a company dedicated to helping people access more of their voices, not less. Together, they’ve created a space where code-switching is acknowledged for what it is (both a survival strategy and a drain on energy), where psychological safety is non-negotiable, and where authority can sound like… well, you.