Stepping Into Creativity & Music to Reach Our Potential & Honor Ourselves

Carolyn grew up teaching herself to play the ukulele at the age of 4, and taking formal piano lessons at the age of 7. She became the lead trumpet in the Hawaii State Junior Orchestra, Concert Band, Marching Band and Jazz Band. Carolyn earned a Bachelors in Music Education from the University of Hawaii and a Masters in Church Music with a major on piano and choral conducting from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. In 2000 she opened Neighborhood Music School, teaching piano to kids in her neighborhood and expanding to studios in Malibu, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel, and Arcadia. She worked with mommy and me classes and has coached beginner students all the way through the advanced level of the Certificate of Merit exam and her students have received up to 100% in music theory awards. She coaches her students to see the chord structures of their music, in order to venture off the piano score and improvise, a technique which is essential in church music. After opening her Arcadia school she began studying Mandarin and has since devoted her life to relief work in China. She coaches piano, vocal, and theory students in Mandarin as well.

Katy is best known for encouraging and inspiring virtual beyond-surface-level participatory sessions, attracting repeat attendees seeking to practice collaboration. Her active engagements in global virtual sessions has led to virtual engagement tool kits, best practices and insights - the invaluable in-depth knowledge library for leaders and coaches actively refining their craft.Her childhood in Hong Kong sparked her love and appreciation for cultures and perspectives. Along the way, her training in design and research strengthened her superpower in uncovering patterns, themes and threads in human stories. Learning from perspectives and belief systems fuels her quest to build vibrant communities with individuals and organizations craving for iterative conversational spaces and re-connection to humanity. She is a trained UX researcher experienced in building usability interviews, scenarios, and scripts. Practitioner of empathic customer motivation discovery, transforming thought process and behavior into actionable insights and roadmaps to inform product dev and stakeholders on ‘what’ to build for the next version. Conversation Facilitator ✧ Interviewer ✧ Moderator ✧ UXR Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-mason/ and Instagram @modernchi