In this episode, Amber Mogg Cathey is joined by renowned artist development coach Wendy Parr for a powerful conversation on discovering your true artist identity.
Wendy shares how real artist development starts with self-discovery, authenticity, and understanding the personal stories that shape who you are. Amber and Wendy discuss how to lean into your unique identity, connect more deeply with your audience, and build a brand that feels true to you.
They explore:
• Why knowing yourself is the foundation of successful artistry
• How your lived experiences shape your sound and creative choices
• The role of trusted feedback in defining your artistic path
• How to develop your identity in a constantly changing industry
If you’re an emerging artist—or a seasoned one looking to reconnect with your purpose—this episode will help you step into the most authentic version of your artistry.
00:00 Introduction to Wendy Parr
00:49 The Evolution of Artist Development
03:41 Embracing Your Unique Identity
06:00 The Importance of Self-Discovery
07:52 Feedback and Audience Engagement
09:46 Conclusion and Resources
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I am so excited to be joined by the fabulous Wendy Parr on today's episode. Wendy has been working in the entertainment industry for 30 years. She is a holistic vocal and artist development coach, and she has worked with such a wide range of artists, everyone from Great Big World to Regina Spector to one of my all-time favorites, you listen all the time, Sara Bareilles. So I'm so thrilled, Wendy. Thank you for taking the time.
Wendy Parr (00:24)
Tee
amber cathey (00:29)
So come on and share some of your expertise with the audience. And what I would love to, I'd love for you to just talk a little bit about yourself and your career with everyone. And then I'd love to just hear your take and thoughts for people listening on cultivating their artistry, kind of furthering that creative muscle.
Wendy Parr (00:49)
Well, I started working as a professional performer artist when I was eight. started songwriting very young, television, voiceovers, musical theater, and...
A lot has changed in the industry and a lot is not any different than it ever was. you know, artist development is really left to the artist now. Like there's very few people, basically the industry is waiting for you to figure it all out. And once you have, or you go viral, they'll be like, we're interested now. Let's scoop you up and just put our energy behind what you already have built. And for many people, once you have that going, you don't need someone else. You've built it. So then it's partnerships. ⁓
build it? How do you get there? And for me that core is always about listening to that inner voice, really looking at who am I? What am I about? It's challenging. It's hard to look at yourself. We literally look out at the world, right? We can't see ourselves without a mirror and other people are our mirrors. Mentors are our mirrors. We learn about ourselves through interactions. So it's listening to those things. Like go to
Five people who know you really well, who are generally kind people, right? They're not jealous, you know, whatever. But just five people you really trust and ask them, you know, how would you describe me as a person? What do you think are some of my great qualities? If you were to put up a dating profile, what would you say about me? And go to those people individually and see what you get back. And I would bet you're gonna hear variations on the same themes. That's who you are.
So if someone says to you, oh my gosh, you're just like a, I'm gonna just say this, you're like a mom, you're like a mother, like mother. And you might go, ooh, why do you say that? What? Look at the, what does that mean? Oh, someone says I'm like a mother. Oh, I'm nurturing, I'm caring, I'm supportive. Oh, okay, so how do I create my art and lean into the nurturing, lean into the caring? Patricia Bahia, she's in my Compass program.
we just did a conversation together and she said this, she said, people have said I could be like a teacher. And she's like, I just don't, that word teacher for me does not vibe. But when we were in Compass and we went into archetypes and she found Sage.
She's like, ⁓ Sage passing on wisdom. ⁓ I love doing that. And now she's leaning into the role as an artist and how she shares her content into.
jobs and roles she's taking as a mentor. She's like, I'd love to mentor and pass on wisdom to other artists as a songwriter, as an artist. So sometimes it could just be the word that you choose, know, find the archetypal word, find the one that resonates. But what does it mean when someone says, if everyone says you're a goofball and you're like, I want to be the ingenue. If you're, right? Like,
amber cathey (03:42)
Yeah, I totally,
yeah.
Wendy Parr (03:44)
I mean, I'm silver haired now, but like I've been told I'm cute my whole life. And it, no, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I will not be the ingenue. ⁓ I, but I, and I came to terms with it at 31 when, ⁓ someone I was dating said, ⁓ Wendy's so cute. And that, was literally falling to bed that night and went, ⁓ cute. Always cute. Wendy. I never liked my name, Wendy. I liked Wendy Parr, like the whole thing.
amber cathey (03:47)
You are cute, Wendy. It's true.
Yep, totally.
Wendy Parr (04:12)
And that night I realized, ⁓ it's the cute I don't like. I was like, Wendy, you're cute. You'll be cute to the day you die. You'll be cute when your son like towers over you when he's 13 years old. Like, can you just embrace that you're Wendy and you're cute? And I was like, yeah, right. Yeah. And it's like, you know, the...
amber cathey (04:21)
Yes.
Wendy Parr (04:33)
The doors open, the waves parted, like life made more sense when I embraced you're cute, you're five feet tall, you got sass, most Wendy's are sassy, you know? So for yourself as an artist, like lean into who you are and then highlight it, magnify it, go ultra cute,
amber cathey (04:41)
You
What it reminds me of, two things I think about, one, that's always what I'm talking to singers about, taking those things that make you different, that many times I think the average Joe early on in their career, they're trying to see how can I fit into what's already out there? How can I, and I'm like, why would you?
Wendy Parr (05:02)
Yeah.
Or how can I
just be cool? How can I be really good and cool? You know what's cool? Cool is you being you. And here's the thing, you know what's attractive? When you're attracted to people who know who they are, show up being real. That's attractive. Everyone will be drawn to that, resonating with that. We will literally be attracted and drawn to you when you're doing you.
amber cathey (05:13)
Exactly. Yeah. Lean into what you've got. Yeah.
thousand percent yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Wendy Parr (05:36)
Now the question
is, who are you? So that is a discovery process. You have to learn to look at what is very, I'm gonna say normal to you. It might even seem like, I literally used to think, I'm like, my life's boring. Everybody else is so interesting. If I told you 10 things that happened to me under the age of 10, from like, never should have happened, like crazy trauma shit, to just like, you know.
amber cathey (06:01)
Yeah, yeah.
Wendy Parr (06:03)
⁓ I was flying on airplanes alone when I was five. I went to camp for a month when I was five. I used to ride my bike across town when I was seven alone. I hitchhiked literally from like the river, which was two, ⁓ like three houses down from my house, but it was really hot and I was barefoot. So I took this, like that's a story. All this, yeah, this is all like by age six, mind you. But I thought, ⁓ my life's boring. Like nothing's ever happened to me.
amber cathey (06:23)
That's totally.
You
Wendy Parr (06:30)
But if you look at your own stuff, like, this is what makes you quirky and interesting and cool. So we wanna highlight and magnify the archetypal elements of you that thrill you, that really are who you are, go further with them, write your songs or sing songs that match to them.
amber cathey (06:50)
Yeah, yeah. I love that it's just what we think is average because it's our day in and day out is not what is average to somebody else or that whole thing of like what I think of as whatever the word is, it doesn't mean that that's what you think of it. And I think that's such a great reminder, you know.
Wendy Parr (07:04)
Yeah, that's right.
I have, in every cycle of Compass, have somebody who's 50, we've had 50s, 60s, and 70s. And most people, I'm going to say over 35.
But definitely like when we're talking 50, 60 people are like, who wants to hear what I have to say? And I'm like, everyone else who's 45 and older, which we have more of on the planet than ever before, everyone doesn't want to hear a pop song sung by a young female artist. Like people want your stories. People want Ella. Ella Vos did an album and one of her songs is about being a mother and motherhood and it's electronic dreamy pop. And she was like, who's going to want to hear this song? And I was like, guess what? Everybody.
amber cathey (07:52)
There's a whole
bunch of us, yeah.
Wendy Parr (07:53)
Yeah, yeah.
If it's a great song with cool delivery, somewhat original, I would say original, but like your kind of arrangement, your kind of thing, and the level, the quality is high. There'll be a lot of people. So that to me is what it's all about is do the thing you've always wanted to do. Find the way of creating it with excellence. Excellence meaning like your voice should be there. The melody is solid. get feedback
Find some trusted people that can soundboard with you. The songwriting, the song should be there. The song is there, the vocals are there, you and a t-shirt and a guitar. Great. ⁓ And then find how do I, you you've got all these social media platforms, what's the one that delivers the way you best deliver?
amber cathey (08:29)
Yep, totally.
Wendy Parr (08:39)
Do that. Share it that way. Um, if you're reluctant about singing, like I'm not ready, go to open mics.
Go sing a song, here, here, here, here, and start finding out with the audience when the audience thinks you're ready. Because that's a really safe place to not be ready. But also that's how you don't get ready and perform. You perform a lot and you're more and more ready.
amber cathey (09:01)
For somebody listening to this kind of thinking, okay, I've been working on the voice, I've been working on the songs. I really am trying to figure out this kind of brand development, how I'm going to present myself. Is your step one, take some time for introspection and then get your feedback from people that are not going to be total jerks about it and see where the similarities are.
Wendy Parr (09:12)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think.
Going inwards really key. My Compass six month program for pros is six months of diving inward and then me helping them build the world from discovery. My Navigator program is a taste of that. So it gets you asking yourself the questions that are gonna give you the answers you're actually looking for. ⁓ But yes, who am I? And then try stuff out.
amber cathey (09:46)
Yeah, it comes back to what you said at the beginning, figuring out who you are, finding language that feels good and aligned and building from there. Can you tell folks, and I'll put links for everything that you have down in the show notes where people can find you, can find more about the programs you mentioned?
Wendy Parr (09:59)
Mm-hmm.
For sure, wendypar.com, P-A-R-R, everything's there, and I'm on most platforms with my name, Wendy Par. Yeah, yeah. All right, thank you.
amber cathey (10:10)
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much, Wendy. I really appreciate the time. Wendy and I have been trying to schedule this sucker
and it finally happened. yeah. Great talking with you and thanks for sharing all of your expertise with everyone. Thank you everyone for listening. Yes, I'm so thrilled. And I will see all of you listeners in the next episode. Bye.
Wendy Parr (10:19)
We've been fighting a storm to make it happen.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. Awesome.
Amazing. Cheers.
