Today we’d like to introduce you to LiCi Soul.
Hi LiCi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, I came to the US when I was 19 to live with Dad and Stepmom and had stopped singing for a while. I had experienced some early life trauma with my Mom passing away from cancer when I was 12 years old. However, singing began for me from I was really young and I remember singing a Whitney Houston song for my Mom at about 3 years old and seeing the surprise on her face from how well I’d sung it! I knew that I had caught onto something!
From there I was singing in church and thanks to my cousin, Kiko, I learnt harmonies which I absolutely love to sing!
Anyhow, in 2008 I started going to this karaoke that a coworker of mine kept bugging me about. I’d known nothing of karaoke so I turned my nose up at it lol. Little did I know I’d meet some very interesting people in the music world and that it would lead me to start singing in Florida bands and touring with other artists singing background vocals.
On the other side of my career, I’m pursuing my Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Capella University. I’ve always had an interest and curiousity in how people work especially regarding my own choices and experiences that led me to where I was. I took more interest in it though whe I started teaching at a Jewish preschool and worked side by side with therapists and the leadership who gave me encouragement to work in the psychology field especially with children. Although I don’t want to jst work with children, I do love expressive arts and want to help people really get back in touch with that playful side. Maybe sometimes I feel like I had lost a bit of my childhood so there is a pull there.
We’ve definitely lost some of the art of playfulness. We’re such an anxious generation nowadays! lol.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road! lol.
I mean… When I got to the US I had a lot of conflict with my Dad and Stepmom and ended up moving out of their home 6 months after I got here. Thankfully, my relationship with my parents has been healed and we’re doing so much differently now. I’m very grateful!
So from the age of 19 I was on my own in this strange place! I never quite felt like I fit in and found myself in strange relationships. I trusted a little too much too quickly and gave a bit more than I realized. I ended up in DV relationships with first my son’s father and then the person I was married to for 5 years. That person also was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder which I had no idea at the time what that was. Now… from school… I do lol! During this time I was barely singing. I was just trying to survive. I must say though that I had some great experiences mixed in such as recording my first song during that relationship and also traveling to places I’d never been before! It was adventure to say the least! Mental health is a strange thing lol.
At a certain point I had to realize that staying married was career suicide and also I felt myself dying. I had to leave. I was pretty much homeless during that relationship due to the constant instability. I ended that marriage during the pandemic and I’ve been way more intentional about my life. I engage better in my relationships and I’m graduating with my MSMHC in March 2028!
Music still calls my name and is still my first love. I’m still recording and touring with an international reggae artist, Wayne Wonder. Life is good!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a singer who is blending her career into the mental health field through the use of expressive arts. I love connecting so my work consists of using music as a vehicle for healing and upliftment.
I sing at rehab centers and ALFs to bring entertainment and music therapy to folks which encourages connection and improves wellbeing. I sing locally at restaurants and at private events such as weddings and holiday parties to bring the hype. I sing with international reggae artists and provide background vocals for artists as well.
I practice mindfulness and movement and use music as a conduit for healing. I have hosted events to encourage the use of bodily expression to release anxiety and stress. I’ve gotten great feedback on this and plan to do more events in collaboration with others in the healing spaces.
I am currently working at a residential facility for mental health and detox where I get to connect with individuals navigating climatic times in their lives and need some relief. I sing all the time there and I get to see the benefits of music and being lighthearted in these settings too. It is serious work that needs lightness. People learn when they connect!
How do you think about luck?
Luck has definitely played a role for me with being in the right place at the right time in furthering my career! Relationships have also helped with this. My name continues to be spoken in rooms I’m not already in! I also have put in the effort and action to get there. Faith without works is dead!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.licisoul.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/licisoul
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiciSoul/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-walker-66b67539/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@licisoul3283
