The Determined Society with Shawn French

Episode: Singing as Medicine: How Liz Caplan Healed Through Music

Date: December 15, 2025
Guest: Liz Kaplan (vocal coach to the stars)
Host: Shawn French

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the transformative and healing power of music, specifically through the story and wisdom of renowned vocal coach Liz Kaplan. With her personal journey—from battling childhood asthma to becoming a sought-after mentor for A-list celebrities—Liz explores how singing became her medicine. The conversation unpacks music as a vehicle for personal healing, emotional resilience, and genuine human connection, offering tools and perspectives that go far beyond the world of professional singing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Music as Personal Medicine

• Liz’s Childhood and Asthma:

  • Liz recounts discovering she had asthma as a young child and how singing not only helped her breathe better but eventually became an integral medicine for her ([00:11], [13:29]).
  • “Singing helped change the way I breathed. I could almost get myself out of it from my own techniques.” — Liz Kaplan [00:11]
  • “Have an asthma attack, sit at the piano and start singing. No more asthma attack.” — Liz Kaplan [00:27]

• Healing Properties of Music:

  • Both host and guest emphasize that music is a tool for healing—more powerful than self-destructive distractions many people chase ([00:31], [12:16]).
  • “There’s so many people out there struggling right now. They don't know what their medicine is. They think it’s chasing boys, chasing women, drinking alcohol, doing drugs…” — Shawn French [00:31]

• Audience Reaction & Personal Expression:

  • Liz describes her first solo performance at age six, realizing that singing could be healing for both herself and others. The applause was less about ego and more about genuine connection ([03:25], [04:58]).

2. The Inner Workings of Liz’s Teaching Philosophy

• Creating a Safe Space:

  • Liz is adamant that singing—and teaching singing—must be safe, non-threatening, and focused on healing ([05:43]).
  • “The word threatening should never come into play when you’re learning anything, I think.” — Liz Kaplan [09:56]

• Integrative Breathing Techniques:

  • Before every session, Liz incorporates a unique breathing series blending yoga, Pilates, Alexander technique, and mindfulness ([10:10], [16:10]).
  • “Why use drugs? Because the high you get from deep breathing is real.” — Liz Kaplan [17:32]

• Holistic & Individualized Approach:

  • Liz’s coaching combines academic, spiritual, homeopathic, and holistic elements, adapting methods to each client’s energy and needs ([21:42]).
  • “It’s academic, it’s homeopathic, it’s holistic, it’s spiritual. It’s like everything, and it’s not the same for each person.” — Liz Kaplan [21:42]

• Chakras and Sound:

  • She relates musical notes to the body’s energy centers, using color and mindfulness to unlock blocked emotional/physical states ([21:42]).

3. The Emotional Toll (and Reward) of Helping Others

• Energy Boundaries & Decompression:

  • Both discuss the exhaustion that comes from being an empathic teacher/podcast host, and Liz shares practical decompression rituals:
    • Spinning to release energy ([24:45])
    • Bringing knees to chest and breathing into lower back to "reboot" the adrenals ([25:00])
    • Taking a thorough shower to “scrub off” the day’s energy ([27:00])
  • “You can feel people’s energy on you so you have to actually try to remove it.” — Liz Kaplan [27:00]

• The Importance of Coming Home Recharged:

  • Both stress the importance of leaving work energy at work to be present with family. Emotional hygiene is critical for maintaining loving relationships ([30:57]).

4. Behind the Curtain: Working with Celebrities

• Stories of Big Names and Staying Grounded:

  • Liz reveals her journey to working with stars like Hugh Jackman, Stephen Colbert, Ben Platt, Amanda Seyfried, and Andrew Garfield.
  • “In a million years I would not have expected my life to have ended up this way… You attract the kind of people you want to attract.” — Liz Kaplan [36:07]

• Celebrity Vulnerability:

  • She emphasizes that fame does not insulate people from struggle. Celebrities are human—many seek out Liz for healing and confidence.
  • “Just because they’re on tv, just because they’re super famous does not rid them of a personality. Does not rid them of their actual human experience on this planet.” — Shawn French [42:16]

• Notable Client Stories:

  • Hugh Jackman: Working on "The Greatest Showman" and helping transform his vocal style ([36:07], [41:58]).
  • Andrew Garfield & “Tick Tick Boom”: Guiding a non-singer into a Broadway-caliber vocalist in collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda ([45:41], [47:54]).
  • Stephen Colbert: Valued Liz’s spiritual and emotional aspect in voice work ([22:59]).
    • “I missed the spiritual message that your work provides.” — Stephen Colbert (quoted by Liz Kaplan) [22:59]

5. The Journey: Building a Life and Career Around Service and Determination

• Small Steps to Success:

  • Liz started by teaching three friends, which snowballed into a world-class clientele ([54:01], [57:28]).
  • Both inspire listeners: progress is incremental but exponential with consistent purpose.

• Serving Others Above All:

  • Both see their roles as fundamentally about healing and serving others—whether coaching voices or creating meaningful conversations.

• Advice for Listeners:

  • Find what lights you up—your own “medicine”—and pursue it even if society says it’s not possible ([54:01]).
  • “Just think of that one thing that just sets you on fire that you just love so much that you think you can never make money doing, and just go do that thing and do it for free for a little while.” — Shawn French [54:01]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• [00:11] Liz Kaplan:
  “Singing helped change the way I breathed. I could almost get myself out of it from my own techniques.”

• [09:56] Liz Kaplan:
  “The word ‘threatening’ should never come into play when you’re learning anything, I think.”

• [17:32] Liz Kaplan:
  “Why use drugs? Because the high you get from deep breathing is real.”

• [21:42] Liz Kaplan:
  “It’s academic, it’s homeopathic, it’s holistic, it’s spiritual. It’s like everything, and it’s not the same for each person.”

• [22:59] Stephen Colbert (quoted by Liz):
  “I missed the spiritual message that your work provides.”

• [36:07] Liz Kaplan:
  “In a million years I would not have expected my life to have ended up this way…”

• [42:16] Shawn French:
  “Just because they’re on tv, just because they’re super famous does not rid them of a personality. Does not rid them of their actual human experience on this planet.”

• [54:01] Shawn French:
  “Just think of that one thing that just sets you on fire that you just love so much that you think you can never make money doing, and just go do that thing…”

• [59:15] Liz Kaplan on Determination:
  “A willingness to certainly keep going and continuing the same work with the same mission statement that I began with… use love and caring and empathy to make people realize that they can be comfortable with you and then ultimately themselves.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:11 – Liz shares how singing was her medicine for asthma.
• 03:25 – Childhood performance and the dual power of music as self-healing and communal connection.
• 10:10 – Liz’s explanation of her breathing/physical warm-up for singers.
• 17:32 – The real, sustainable “high” from breathing.
• 21:42 – Holistic and individualized approach to teaching singing.
• 22:59 – Stephen Colbert’s testimony about the spiritual side of Liz’s work.
• 24:45 – Practical rituals for decompressing from others’ energy.
• 36:07 – How working with celebrities unfolded and what it taught Liz about success.
• 41:58 – Inside the process of preparing Hugh Jackman for “The Greatest Showman.”
• 45:41 – The story of transforming Andrew Garfield for “Tick Tick Boom” and how music/teaching becomes a healing journey.
• 54:01 – Shawn and Liz on ignoring naysayers, doing what you love, and finding your own “medicine.”
• 59:15 – Liz’s personal definition of determination.

Resources, Further Engagement & Closing

• Liz invites listeners to connect on social media and her websites:
  • Instagram: @LizKaplan
  • Website: lizkaplan.com / lizkaplanvocalstudios.com
• Announcement: Liz is shopping a book on “singing as medicine.”
• Final message: No matter your field or lottery of birth, your healing “medicine” is waiting for you to discover and share.

“We’re all human beings. We all have our struggles and we all need our tools and certain medicines to help us through things. … We really talked about self wellness, and there’s a bigger message here…” — Shawn French [62:10]