Wendy Spencer

Merced, CA

• Where I'm from: I grew up here in Merced, and am fortunate enough to be able to return with my family after living in other areas for 15 years.
• Family: I have four wonderful children and I love being their mom!
• Interests: I love to learn, read, dance, and homeschool my children.
• Schooling: I have a B.S. in Elementary Education, and continue learning every day.

I have been a Singers Company Director for 15 years, and I LOVE it! I absolutely love spending time with these adorable girls each week. I am a singer, dancer, teacher, and performer--which fit perfectly together in directing Singers Company.

I love watching little girls become more confident in themselves and showing them how wonderful they truly are by providing a safe environment where they are accepted and loved. I love to sing and dance with them each week at rehearsal, because it's fun! I love when we perform for others, because we bring happiness to their lives.

Our community needs strong and happy girls and women who are confident that they can make a difference in the lives of others. That starts right here in Singers Company. Each week when they come to class, I teach these girls that they are important and amazing. As they take in these positive messages, they become stronger and happier as they grow up, which then blesses their families and our community. All through song and dance! We also bring joy to our community every time we perform. I always tell the girls that our goal when we perform is to make people smile--and that's exactly what happens!

Every girl needs to feel important, because she is! I know that each hour I spend with each girl is crucial--everything I do during rehearsal and shows influences how each girl feels about herself. Girls who feel great about themselves can do GREAT things! I love helping shape these girls for their futures. Girls who 'grow up' in Singers Company are confident, happy girls!

Kathy Tonas

Roseville, CA

• Where I'm from: I’ve lived in Roseville for the past 14 years. I grew up in a city not far from here.
• Family: I have a wonderful husband and two amazing children, a boy and a girl, that I absolutely adore! My family is my greatest source of joy!

I am the youngest of seven children. I have four brothers and two sisters. Growing up I was always singing, dancing and performing. My first experience performing as a young girl was something very similar to Singers Company. I continued to participate through my youth in choirs and various performing dance groups. When I was a teenager, my two sisters and I formed a singing trio and performed throughout the community for many years. It’s been a blessing to be able to touch people’s hearts through music. About eight years ago I thought I would take up tap dancing. I loved it and have been dancing on an adult tap competition team for the past six years.

I’m so excited for the opportunity to be a director for Singers Company! This is something I have always thought would be so amazing to get to do. Being able to teach music and dance to young girls and watch it come alive in them makes me so happy! I can’t wait to watch the girls in my community blossom!

Colorado

Lachelle Bodine

Colorado Springs, CO

• Where I'm from: I grew up in University Place, Washington, lived for 9 years in Arizona after college but have been living in Colorado Springs, Colorado for almost 2 years.
• Family: I am the oldest of 5 kids and have 4 younger brothers. I have been married to a wonderful man for over 7 years and we have two girls and are expecting a baby boy in the next couple of months.
• Interests: I love to read books, exercise (especially running), play the piano, and spend time doing fun things with my family.
• Schooling: I graduated with a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Business Management.

I grew up in a very musically accomplished family with all of us playing different instruments and singing. My mom truly loved music and I was exposed to all types and varieties of it! I started taking piano lessons when I was around 5 years old and have been playing ever since. When I was in elementary school, my mom started to put me in some singing and dancing groups to help me overcome some shyness I had and to transition me during moves we made to different states. I loved the time I spent in those groups and can see how it helped me later on with going out of my comfort zone. This is just one of the many reasons I am excited to get started as a Singers Company Director! I know firsthand just how important it is to work and develop self esteem through a singing and performing group and I am thrilled to share this with Colorado Springs! Being a mom of two girls, I already know how girls need to feel like they are important and have talents worth sharing and this is my main goal in being a Director of a Singers Company group. I can't wait to see the girls in the group learn, grow and have fun in Singers Company!

Hawaii

May Shumway

North Shore: Laie, HI

• Where I'm from: I was born and raised in the Philippines. In 1991 I enrolled at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and have lived in Hawaii ever since, except for 4 years when we lived in Virginia while my husband attended law school.
• Family: I come from a family of 10 children. We all sing and play the piano. My father was my first piano teacher when I was 5 years old. I’ve been married to my best friend Aaron for 19 wonderful years and we have 6 children, 2 boys and 4 girls.
• Interests: I am passionate about music. Aside from my Singers Company group, I have 25 piano students, a combined boys and girls choir and a women’s A Cappella group. I love to dance, sing and play the piano, and have the most fun when I can do it all together J I love cooking, scrapbooking, throwing parties, and spending time with my husband and kids.
• Schooling: I have an Associate’s Degree in Piano Instruction and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. I have taught private piano lessons and choir groups for the past 20+ years.

I started Singers Company in September of 2012 and have enjoyed everything about it! I have seen my girls transform from being shy and tentative to being confident, happy, outgoing, and talented performers. Singers Company is such a wonderful program for girls. I am having as much fun as my girls.

As a young girl, I always loved performing in front of an audience, whether dancing, singing or playing the piano. I’ve been part of musical plays and musical productions all through my high school and college years and really enjoyed myself. Although I work, I’m glad I am at home doing things that I love to do… teaching music!

Illinois

Ashley Carter

Naperville, IL

• Where I'm from: I grew up California. Me and my husband moved to Chicago after finishing school.
• Family: Me, my husband Brad, and our adorable 2 year old daughter Maggie.
• Interests: I love music and am an accomplished pianist

I am the youngest in a very musical family, our home was always filled with music. I participated in singing groups as a child before starting my own group in high school. I have experienced first hand how music can influence and improve our selves and the lives of those around us.

Becky Fife

Summerlin, Las Vegas, NV

• Where I'm from: I live where the cutest girls on earth live! Las Vegas! I grew up in Fresno, California. With a mother who taught me how to sing and perform!
• Family: I am married to an amazing husband, of 16 years... and we have 6 children! Life is beautiful! My oldest daughter, Suzanne, is 13 and is my assistant director for Singers Company! She was in my first Singers Company years ago and now is teaching by my side! I love it!
• Interests: Aside from playing games and hanging out with my kids, I also love to go running, take yoga classes, dance classes, go hiking and camping... oh, and make chocolate chip cookies! OH! And go out to dinner with my cute husband every once in a while!
• Schooling: I graduated in Exercise Physiology, with a double minor in Music and Dance. I was a collegiate cheerleader for 5 years, and LOVED every second... although I about ruined my singing voice!

I am a Singers Company director because I LOVE music, and I LOVE little girls!!! It is the perfect environment to have fun, and do something that is meaningful, and lasting. I grew up performing on stage my whole life, in a company just like Singers Company, and I feel that it gave me my greatest foundation to build my dreams upon and it continues to bless my life even now!

I love Singers Company and how it gives young girls the opportunity to discover how amazing they really are! I love watching 'the light' click on inside these girls as they sing and dance, and truly feel happiness from what they are doing. It gives them such great confidence to know that they do hard things... like learning tons of songs and performing in front of 200 people! They start to thrive as they learn that what they offer... with their music and smiles... is something that makes others happy, and leaves the world a better place! I love it!!! Music is so powerful when used in the right way!

Our community needs that bright, happy feeling Singers Company brings to our audiences when they perform! At every performance we have ever had... people come up to me with tears in their eyes to thank me for doing something so special. Singers Company touches hearts in a real way. Little girls, smiling faces, and wonderful music... it is just magical and so rewarding!

I have learned that all little girls want to feel good about themselves, and feel loved. And when you give them that love, it comes back to you one hundred fold. My best friends are from the ages 4-11 and I LOVE IT! They are so loving, and genuine. Singers Company is a lot of time and energy, but I end up being the one who is blessed the most. I love each of those girls so much!!!

I also feel that Singers Company strengthens families! It makes me smile to think of how the girls must feel when their families watch them adoringly, and praise them for all their hard work and great performance. It is such a wonderful thing to hear about the girls performing their songs at Family Christmas Parties or Family Reunions, or teaching their songs to younger siblings. So cute!!! They are sharing the joy of music right within their own home, I love it!

North Carolina

Cami Fife

Winston-Salem, NC

• Where I'm from: I grew up California
• Family: My husband and I have been married for eight years, but we've known each other since my first day of middle school. We are the proud parents of one cute baby boy!
• Interests: I enjoy cooking, spending time with family, playing games, playing the piano, and making my baby laugh.

I am so excited to be part of Singers Company! From a young age, I've been involved with music, including performing in singing groups as a young girl and directing a group during high school. After years of being away from it, I've been waiting for the right time to get involved again and the time is finally here! There are so many great things about Singers Company. Not only is it fun to sing and dance with the girls, but I love making so many new friends! The best thing about Singers Company is that it does what it claims to do...it builds confidence. I've seen it happen and I love that I get to be part of it again!

Oregon

Julie Vistaunet

Medford, OR

• Where I'm from: My Dad was in the Navy until I was 9, so I moved a lot: Maryland, Mississippi, and South Carolina. I moved to California when my Dad was done with the military. I lived there until I went to college.
• Family: I have a great husband who is a Phyisical Therapist and 4 children--1 boy and 3 girls.
• Interests: Sing (I sing with the Rogue Valley Chorale), Run, Help at my children's school, and Tutoring
• Schooling: I have a BA in Physics Education with a minor in Math.

I decided I wanted to become a Singers Company Director as I watched my girls learn and perform a musical number from Annie this summer at a family reunion. They loved learning it, they loved singing it, they loved performing it, and they are still singing it 5 months later. That is the power of music. I want to be able to share the power of good music with other girls and continue developing it with my own.

I love everything about Singers Company. I love singing, I love performing, I love practicing.

Makell Boyd

Keller, TX

• Where I'm from: I grew up in the Seattle, Washington area.
• Family: My husband and I have been married for 12 years and have 4 beautiful, fun, and energetic children who range in age from 9 to 3yrs.
• Interests: I love, love, love music and singing. I always have. I get teased for having a song for every topic of conversation. If I'm not singing, then I'm whistling a little tune. I catch myself singing in the line at the grocery store, at the doctor's office or wherever I might be! I enjoy being outdoors, working out, reading and spending time with my family.
• Schooling: I double majored in Elementary Education and Italian and then went on to teach elementary school until I had children of my own.

I am a Singers Company director because it allows me the opportunity to spend time with some of my favorite people, cute little girlies!! I participated in a singing group as a young girl and absolutely LOVED it. Some of my fondest memories stem from that little group. I hope to be a positive influence in the community and to brighten the lives of these sweet little girls as well as those that are privileged to hear/watch them perform!

For me, this is the ideal job. I get to be a stay at home mom and have fun learning right alongside the girls. I am thrilled at the opportunity to coach them as they learn new things about themselves and gain a confidence that will stay with them for a lifetime. This is the perfect chance to get together, meet new friends, have fun in a productive way, learn new skills, and feel completely accepted and at ease with one another.

Having spent a great deal of my life singing and performing, I feel, has helped to shape and mold who I am, how I feel about myself and has brought nothing but loads of fun and happiness. I know that Singers Company will do the same for your daughter! I can't wait to watch my own daughters, even, as they learn and grow through this experience.

Utah

Joni Hayes

Farmington & Kaysville West, UT

• Where I'm from: lil' old Farmington UT
• Family: I have 4 awesome kids! And an incredible husband!
• Interests: I love to sing and I love to dance! I also love to run and exercise, i love to read, i love to watch movies with my kiddos. And i love to eat chocolate covered cinnamon bears!
• Schooling: I went to BYU, then William & Mary Law School with my husband.

I am a Singers Company Director because I love to sing and I love to dance--and I get to do that all the time now! And help others learn to love it as well!

Singers Company emphasizes the things I love and think are important. It provides an opportunity for girls to feel like the beautiful starts they are! It provides a safe and fun environment to learn.

Singers Company will give the girls participating confidence in themselves. They will discover that they have amazing talent and can share that talent. As they share their beautiful voices they will see the great effect it will have on those around them. Music and dance performance gave me confidence as a little girl and Singers Company will do the same for all these girls!

Singers Company is a BLAST! It is incredible to be part of something so wonderful.

Bianca West

Sandy/Draper, UT

• Where I'm from: I was born in Denver, CO. My family moved to Salt Lake City, UT when I was 3.
• Family: I am the middle of five children born to a Brazilian mother and American father. Classical music has surrounded me as long as I can remember: My dad played classical piano (and only listened to classical music and opera), and my mom was a classical ballerina – eventually opening her own school of classical ballet in our home.
• Interests: I am extremely passionate about music. I’ll admit that one of my inner nerds is that I love choral music (I was in a lot of singing groups growing up) – I especially love barbershop music! Singing is far and above my favorite musical expression, but songwriting, playing the piano, and dancing are other ways in which I love to experience music.
• Outside of music, I am very active. I love to ski, run, walk, hike, swim, play tennis (not that I’m very good at all of these activities), or anything else that involves exploring or being outdoors. I would like to say that I have a healthy sense of adventure.
• I also love spending time with my two awesome nephews: Luc and Ike. We love playing board games, shooting our homemade bow and arrows, going to the park, and just running around together. They are my little buddies!
• Schooling: Bachelor of Science—Business Marketing, University of Utah (with honors).

Becoming a Singers Company Director was like a sock finding its long-lost mate. It blends everything that I am passionate about together in one: music, dance, character-building with our youth, and being a little silly.

Throughout my life, I have gravitated toward working with youth. Whether it was through church or community outreach, I have been working with youth since I was a teenager. I have also spent the last several years of my career in the human and leadership development fields. I absolutely love teaching the principles that help people and organizations communicate better and lead happier, more balanced lives. I have always felt that these skills need to be taught at a much younger age; hence why I am so excited about the Singers Company. It is not only teaching a skill (music and dance) but also teaching interpersonal skills, and building the character of our young ladies.

Music and dance have been the air I breathe all of my life. I am ecstatic about being a Singers Company Director because it allows me to share this passion, energy, silliness, and warmth with these wonderful girls.

I have seen first-hand what Singers Company can do for a community. First and foremost, Singers Company provides an atmosphere where every girl is accepted just as they are. I have seen girls flourish into happier and more confident young ladies. I have seen close friendships form, I’ve seen the joy their performances bring into the lives of parents and communities, and I’ve seen how much fun they are having in the process.

It’s been said that “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”, and I truly believe that. These girls will eventually be leaders in their own lives, families, and communities. Strong and confident women literally “rule the world”, and I am committed to being one of the hands that builds the amazing women of tomorrow.

Stephanie Magleby

Saint George, UT

• Where I'm from: I grew up in Merced, California.
• Family: My husband, Monty, and I have been married for 18 years. We have three wonderful children we adore: Taylor-17, Megan-11, and Matt-8. We love to be together, spend time with family and friends, and are active in our church and community.
• Interests: I love to spend time with my family and friends, travel, play the piano and organ, listen and dance to good music, be politically involved, read, watch good movies, and relax at the beach.
• Schooling: I graduated from Brigham Young University in Political Science.

My parents, Jerry and Kathy Callister, are both very musical so music was always in our home. I am the oldest of seven children and we all took music lessons and performed as a family. For years my sisters and I participated in a Singing Group my mom started and directed. Several of us have had our own Singing Groups. (My amazing and talented sister, Katie Parker, started Singers Company! I am so proud of her!)

I love music! It has always been a huge part of my life. I directed groups of my own in Provo and Bountiful, Utah and now I am a Singers Company director in St. George, Utah. I love helping girls develop a love for music and performing! I love to spread the joy of music to people in my community as my groups perform! It is so much fun and truly rewarding. Singers Company provides a way for me to be involved in something that I love and simultaneously allows me to be a stay-at-home-mom and provide income for my family. It is wonderful! I have three other sisters who are Singers Company directors and my daughters assist me with my groups. It is great to be involved in Singers Company as a family!

Amy Parker

Kennewick, WA

• Where I'm from: I was born and raised in Ronan, Montana.
• Family: I have an older sister (Linnea), a younger sister (Heidi) and a little brother (Jordan). My parents are Amazing, I have always been a Daddys girl! I now live in Kennewick, Wa with my amazing husband, Sean, and our 4 kids Joel & Ryan (twins), Luke and Megan.
• Interests: I am blessed to be able to Homeschool my kids and really love watching my boys play sports! I have always loved music and dancing! I was in a show Choir during HS, and enjoyed being in community musicals such as South Pacific. I later met my husband on tour with the Continental singers!

I decided to become a Director for Singers Company because I love singing, dancing, and also love seeing little girls lives changed through music and dance!

I love that this opportunity allows me to make some money doing something that I love to do! As a stay at home mom, this job gives me a lot of flexibility. I am able to teach every week, but I never have to sacrifice any time with my family. I also just love seeing those sweet girls each week. They are so cute, happy and work so hard. I just love them!

Our Holiday show that we did at one of our local Retirement Communities brought soooo much joy to those residents. The day after the show, I received a phone call begging us to come back. I also have several girls that started the year super shy and would have never sang in front of the other girls, a few months later, they are singing into the microphone, in front of crowds, and bringing so much joy to their families and friends. Very rewarding!

I have learned that there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a little girl who is super shy, turn into a confident performer. I have also learned that compliments and encouraging words mean the world to little girls and will always earn you a smile or a high five in return!