Meet Taylor Stilson | Content Creator, Model, Massage Therapist, and Singing Voice Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Stilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, looking back, what do you think was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?
The most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make was listening to my intuition. I grew up wanting to feel valued and respected professionally, running the gambit of academia and research. I loved the work but never felt like the institution of higher ed valued me in the ways I know I was capable of. After twelve years of hard, exhausting work I decided to free myself of the constraints of the institution and decided to work freelance. It was by far the most difficult, risky, and financially challenging decision of my life, but through that it has allowed me to express myself fully and has offered me the financial and personal freedom to enjoy my life again.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art is a combination of real-world application and therapeutic mind, body, spirit, and voice. I grew up playing piano, but felt like I was missing a big piece to the art puzzle. After many years as a child piano prodigy, I ended up joining a choir one summer during middle school summer camp and completely fell in love with it. The way voice can portray so many colors, the intimacy, the nuance; it was something I lacked growing up in a small town in Michigan. After many years of performance degrees and collegiate teaching experience, I decided I needed to certify and license in practices and modalities that served me as a young singer.

I think my struggles as an anxious performer and singer are what sets me apart the most as an instructor. I’m most proud of taking my struggles and finding practical ways of teaching them. I certified in massage therapy and laryngeal massage, personal training, hypnosis, life coaching, science-based mindfulness, and trans voicework. Once I landed a coveted full-time professorship at University of Cincinnati’s top musical theater program, I had the encouragement of the administration to launch my Institute- a mind, body, voice experience for singers and professional voice users. I began developing the Stilson Method, a biproduct of this workshop and was in talks to publish it.

I want the world to know that my brand is flexible, multi-faceted, and real-world applicable.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love showing people the city. I think each neighborhood is spectacular in and of themselves. Personally, I love taking lunch at Chulita in Venice, then walking the Venice Canals and parking at the end of Pacific Avenue near The Marina and sitting out on the (typically) empty beach at the end of Venice. It’s so peaceful there and I love the vibe. For a fun night out, I am partial to Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. Of course, there are incredible day parties around the city. My personal favorites are Hot Dog on Sundays and the cowboy-themed rooftop pool party at Desert Spot 5 in the summers.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a lot of my success to the gay community and my dear friends. I’ve seen our community struggle to be seen in the world and it’s been an honor and joy to be lifted up and loved in my community. I owe my family a special shoutout for supporting me in my journey and trusting my decision making in the process.

Website: https://www.taylorstilson.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor.stilson

Other: https://linktr.ee/taylorstilson

Image Credits
Brian Kaminsky
Nathan Lusk
James Loy