About Me

Hi there! I’m Zina. 

If you’re visiting this page, you probably want to know a little bit about who I am and what I am about. 

So here goes…

First and foremost, I’m a mama to an amazing, bright and vivacious seven year old girl named Ayla. And to be more specific, I’m a solo mama.  Basically, that means I am raising my daughter with no coparent, all on my own.  I am incredibly lucky to have a loving family, great friends and wonderful community, but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, it’s all me baby! 

You can learn a bit more about my journey here.

Since being mama to Ayla is a huge part of my life and my experience, and really the inspiration for beginning my writing journey, she will be a major feature of my blogs and stories.  

Why Soula Mama?

Soula Mama means soul mother. Although I make a TON of mistakes, and I am often overwhelmed with all that I hold, I always try to remember that raising Ayla is an act of love that comes from the depths of my soul.  In a nutshell, identifying myself as a Soula Mama puts the soul in solo and brings a beautiful, powerful energy to the biggest labor of love I have ever or likely will ever undertake in my life. 

And in that sense, all mothers can be soula mamas, whether you are single parenting, solo parenting, or parenting with a partner.  It’s universal. 

So who am I, other than a Soula Mama???  The answer is SO much more!

I am a creative writer, musician, and teacher, lover of creating beautiful sanctuary spaces, creating abundance, balance and health, an avid gardener and aspiring sustainable homesteader, among other things. 

My daughter and I are budding world travelers. We have adventured to Switzerland, Italy, Mallorca, Costa Rica, and recently took a seven state pandemic road trip to Montana.

I’m all about creativity and growth and working to manifest a beautiful abundant life full of joy, health, love and ease. 

I care about our earth and want to be a part of the solution to creating a better, more sustainable world for my daughter and the planet at large.  To explore how we can be a part of the solution, we will be traveling to Costa Rica again this spring to visit a number of eco villages, holistic retreat centers, and conscious community projects.

I love creating music and expressing myself through song, writing and creative collaborations.  My daughter also loves to sing and perform, so we are working on some projects together.

I crave meditation, practice yoga, and try to stay connected to my higher purpose as much as possible. 

And I am constantly learning.  I am a student of life.  

This is the lens that I write through, with the knowledge that I don’t have it all down yet. 

More about my background:

Singing has always been one of my passions. So when it came time for me to continue my education, I chose to study music. After years of study, I ultimately earned a Master’s Degree in Music.

Then, unsure what I was going to do after graduation, I sort of stumbled into teaching. And there I’ve stayed for many reasons. I found that I really love teaching and creating music with my students. For the last 20 years, I have been teaching public school choral, vocal and elementary music. Whenever I could, I also performed onstage (sporadically) in operas, musicals, and vocal jazz ensembles.  

High School Choral Music and Vocal Jazz have been my primary area of focus since 2012. And since 2013, I have been juggling running an award winning vocal department with being a solo mama. 

The pandemic has changed all of this.

Over the past four years, it’s been a constant fight to protect and preserve my high school choral program. Sadly, in many parts of the country, the arts are often on the chopping block during budget cuts. While we were in distance learning last spring, I learned that my choral program was to be cut for the second time. I was already working 15 hour days to adapt choral music to online learning. And take care of my daughter and support her distance learning. It was just too much.

Feeling incredibly depleted and discouraged, I made the difficult decision to take the year off to care for my daughter (and myself).  During this time off, I am learning to catch my breath, and I have finally gathered the courage to embark on a new journey that has been calling me for a long time!  

In order to create anything, we have to begin right?

And so, here I am, beginning my blogging and creative writing journey, with Soula Mama. It will be the slow unfolding of my own journey to live my best life with soulful purpose as a solo parent, a resource for you, and a place for you to grow with me. 

Welcome and enjoy the ride!

Ciao, Ciao,

Z

Pssst….There’s a little bit more

One of the other really big things I’m doing is opening the private voice studio I’ve been talking about starting for ages.  

Introducing Soula Vocal Studio!

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