We are closing our doors

A message from our founder Kathe Perez

Dear Learners,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this note. As most of you know, I suffered a great loss in my life nearly two years ago when my home and everything in it, including computers, hard drives and paper files of this program and more, were destroyed in the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colorado. I've worked hard to recover and get caught up on the details of my life, but as hard as I've tried, I still haven't gotten there. It is now quite obvious that I no longer have the emotional or mental bandwidth to focus on this web-based program or the mobile apps, though I am continuing with the one-on-one private coaching lessons.

We will close our virtual doors on December 31, 2023 and have already discontinuednew subscriptions here as well as our mobile apps. Many of the teaching videos are outdated because of the frequency that I mention these apps and I don't have the ability to update the videos.

If you are an active subscriber we will update your account so that it does not renew, and depending on the date of your sign-up you may receive a pro-rated refund. Please take some time to finish up any lessons you've been working on. You will have access to the entire web-based program until March 31, 2023. Of course, this also means that the live classes are being discontinued.

Please know that you, your voice, and being a part of your lives these past few years have been a highlight in my life. The VoxPop emails are already discontinued, but if you have any specific questions, please email us at [email protected]

Warmly,
Kathe

Kathe S. Perez, MA, CCC-SLP
(she, her, hers)
Speech-Language Pathologist

All-New Content and Training Videos!

One Year Subscription $108 (subscription re-news annually)

“My voice is probably the number one most important factor in giving me the confidence to fully be me.”

Subscription-based online learning
Only $108/year.

Hello!

We’re excited to let you know that we're expanding our learning opportunities beyond our mobile app, Eva. This website is where you, as a trans feminine speaker, can access tailor-made learning content to broaden your understanding of how to find, improve and perfect your voice.

Watch Intro Video

Kathe shares about this new site and how we got here!

We care about you and your voice.

The snowflake pattern of your soul

As a creative person, I occasionally reread a book that has been very meaningful to me — The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron, 1992). She has many meaningful, soulful things to say. One of her comments, “The snowflake pattern of your soul is emerging," just tickles me.

Think about it. We are each our own perfect snowflake — your heart, your soul, your voice is uniquely your own.

Over the course of my career, person after person has shared comments such as:

  • “I really hate my voice. Can I do something about it?”
  • “When I speak, my voice just doesn’t sound like me.”
  • “When I hear a recording of my voice it really makes me cringe.”

A voice disorder can do that — cause you to loathe the way you sound. And self-loathing among my transgender clientele is off the charts. Self-loathing can be deadly. Maybe what stands in the way of your progress is your own opinion of yourself!

Creating Change

Changing your voice or changing anything really is being aware of your self-talk. That inner critic has traveled with you for a long time. I call her Polly Perfect. She's relentless. And she can be so mean. She is not helpful and she'll tell you things that are not entirely true.

Pause for a moment and consider another truth. You are a remarkable, unduplicatable, and miraculous person! Of all the people who have come and gone on the earth, since the beginning of time, not ONE of them was or is like YOU!

No one has exactly your eyes. No one has exactly your face. No one's fingerprints are like yours. No one’s voice is like yours. Like a snowflake pattern, you are uniquely you.

Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Together we can do this. I'm here for you.

A Look Back

If you've been following us, you know that we initially launched Eva, which stands for Exceptional Voice App, in 2013 for both iOS and Android mobile devices. Along the way, we experienced our fair share of the trials and tribulations that startups experience. In that process we ‘lost’ the Android version of Eva, and development stalled as we searched for another development/technical person with whom to partner.

Well, we're happy to report that our technical woes are behind us now and we're eagerly developing again!

How Eva Works

Eva (the mobile app) pairs video instruction and structured exercises with real-time visual on-screen feedback for specific speech and voice production elements, such as pitch, loudness and resonance. This visual feedback translates users' speech and voice patterns into easy-to-understand cues, providing a game-like interface that greatly accelerates learning and activates proprioceptive and metacognitive processes.

The Eva learning experience (both mobile app and web-site) includes well-defined objectives that build upon each other through a series of lessons and courses. An integral part of each lesson is its reward system: users are provided with scores to capture important success data, such as their time spent in the “target zone.”

NOTE: EvaF web and EvaF mobile are separate offerings Purchasing one does not provide access to the other. 

“When I open my mouth, people make the wrong judgment about who I am.”

New Features

Recently, we conducted interviews with some of our users in order to better understand how they're working with Eva and what else they might need to help them along with their training. We learned a few key things:

  • You told us that you'd like to interact directly with Kathe and others in order to motivate you to practice more, to improve the quality of your practice and to have others to practice with. The Gal Pal idea (for example: study-buddies and practice-partners) has been used in Kathe's 120-Day Challenge program for years and is a great way for students to maximize their learning. A key element in any training program is the nature of practice — what exactly to practice, when to practice, and how much to practice.

  • We also learned that feedback is very important to you. The visual learning features in Eva provide some feedback, but you said that human contact would also be helpful.

  • And you are looking for ways to use your voice in practice situations that feel safe.

What You’ll Get

Our Basic Membership ($108/year)

  • Eva Courses

    Our web-based learning platform is delivered in a series of 12-week courses that provide new material, new exercises and new transfer-of-learning strategies in weekly articles, videos and homework assignments.

  • Eva on iOS & Android

    The classes in EvaF web, provided in 12-week courses, closely follow the lessons in our mobile app. But they are separate offerings. Purchase of one does not provide access to the other. We do recommended that all EvaF web subscribers download EvaF mobile (iOS or Android). The Voice Tools in the mobile app will facilitate your training in the web program.

  • Supplemental Materials

    In addition to the 12-week courses, you'll be provided with supplemental materials such as weekly articles with practical tips for feminization, communication and life in general, as well as additional homework exercises.

21 Years of Experience

Kathe’s work with transgender people began quite serendipitously on a January morning in 2000. The telephone rang. A brawny voice on the other end said, "I’m having a problem with my voice.” Joann described herself as a transsexual and said that she had had surgery for her voice, but that it failed, and she was left with only a slightly higher-pitched voice that was raspy and still sounded considerably masculine. She asked Kathe, “Do you have experience working with transsexuals?” Kathe responded that no, she had not, and Joann kindly said, “Well, I’ll teach you about us and you can teach me how to get a better voice.”

A week later, Joanne walked into Kathe's small office in Boulder, Colorado. She shared her life’s story. She spoke of the travails of trying to fit herself into the man society believed her to be, rather than become the woman she knew herself to be. She had done the manly things expected of her, like military service, where she excelled. Then there were her radio days when her booming baritone voice carried across the airwaves never revealing her feminine soul. After the required psychotherapy, Joann had her GCS (gender confirmation surgery) in Trinidad, Colorado–once the “Sex-Change Capital of the World"–by the famous and now deceased Dr. Stanley Biber.

While that physical change meant the world to her, every time she spoke, her voice revealed the person she once had to pretend to be. "It's excruciating," she said. Depression knocked her down hard. Having once been a radio personality, she knew a thing or two about the voice. She worked on her own trying to create soft feminine vocal tones, but the desired effect was not achieved.

Kathe and Joanne worked together for about a year. She progressed, but really couldn't overcome the hoarse, weak voice that resulted from the surgery. Nevertheless, she confided that her voice sounded closer to the image she had for herself and felt happy with her voice.

“Getting my voice aligned with who I really am is by far the hardest thing I've had to do in my transition.”

A voice is not just a voice. There’s a heart connected to it, quite literally. Anatomically, the left vocal fold nerve dips into the chest, loops around the aorta and travels upward and innervates the larynx. So, the heart and voice are indeed connected. No wonder the voice means so much to us. It's a window into our souls.

As a transgender person, you are well aware that a huge component of living your authentic life is your voice. When your voice is aligned with who you really are, you are more likely to feel safe and be free to navigate unhindered through your daily life. People tell us that a sense of inner peace (reduction in gender dysphoria) follows when their voice aligns with their inner soul.

As a speech pathologist with over 30 years of clinical experience, training and caring for human voices, and 20 years caring for transgender voices, Kathe has developed a unique voice-training method for transgender people.

EvaF.app provides a way to work with our training content — exercises, articles, videos — in a subscription-based learning platform. Subscribers will have exclusive access to new practice routines, new videos, new exercises and practice strategies, and access to each other.

Your Yearly Subscription

Only $108/year (renews annually unless you opt-out)

  • Voice Feminization Fundamentals

    This 12-week beginner’s course is an independent study that rolls out over twelve weeks. It closely follows the Eva F mobile app lessons and exercises, although new exercises, homework assignments and a new video to accompany each of the 12 lessons is included.

  • Weekly Homework Assignments

    There is nothing more important than daily practice. Each week, in addition to one of the 12-week courses, you'll be provided with a simple transfer-of-learning assignment. You can work on your own for this assignment or with other gals in the program.

  • Monthly Ask-Me-Anything

    Engage with Kathe, the other instructors and each other, in our monthly AMA sessions! These interactive experiences are live on a predetermined date and time and will also be posted on the membership site to watch later.

But wait, there’s more!

  • Suplemental Articles

    What else would you like to know about training your voice? What else would make a difference in your mindset about the change you want to make?

    Each week we'll post a new article to address your expressed interests and more. And a bonus for you is that each article is available as an audio recording so you can listen and learn as you drive to work, get a manicure, work out at the gym, or go about other daily activities.

  • Eva Community

    Another important thing that we learned when we interviewed our users is that you want access to each other. Your subscription provides a format to post your questions to instructors and to each other, and to find a Gal Pal with whom to practice and complete assignments.

  • Special Discounts

    With a basic membership you are eligible for special discounts and advance notice of other courses and live webinars, and more.

    For example, get 40% off our 12-Week Bootcamp, a special course we just developed that benefits students of all levels!

Course Benefits

  • Access to new learning content

  • Weekly articles and homework assignments

  • Voice Feminization Fundamentals 12-week beginner’s course with all new content

  • Monthly Ask-Me-Anything live webinars

  • Eva Community access where you can engage with each other and instructors

  • Discounts for special programs and events

  • Brainstorming, goal setting, and big-picture strategy sessions where you receive high-level information, strategies, and feedback

  • Videos, homework templates and worksheets and other downloadables such as the weekly articles

  • First-to-know information, news and announcements about EvaF events and new content

We believe in you!

Be clear about your goal and your path and you will find success. Invest in yourself. You’ll be happy that you did!

Note: Subscription of EvaF web-based program does not provide access to EvaF mobile app. Go to App Store or Google Play to purchase separately.