“Working with Sonia has been the most transformational experience I’ve had as a writer. Her deep empathy and creative guidance in the form of thoughtful and tailored coaching sessions have steered me from my first tentative steps into writing to having completed full drafts of a novel and a novella, and a finished short story under my belt. Sonia has taken great care with bringing alive and nurturing my creative spirit. She has taught me to better understand my own work and writing process and as a result of her generous input, helped me problem solve my way out of tricky plot points, discouragement and decision paralysis! My work with Sonia has given me the gift of new daily habits to support my writing and new frameworks with which to see both the world around me (as reflected in my stories) and my own creative process. Were it not for the past 3+ years of regular coaching with Sonia there is no way I’d have completed even one, let alone 3 projects. She is an integral part of my process and is an utter pleasure to work with.”

— SPD

“I'd been in a creative slump for eight months by the time I began working with Sonia. After years of making music I became disenchanted in the process. The anxiety I developed about what this meant for my future felt palpable. I desperately wanted to find the joy and wonder I had seemed to have lost. Sonia approached things slowly—helping to guide me through understanding my relationship to my creativity and my own thoughts, values, and feelings. She challenged me when it mattered, and opened my eyes, mind and heart to appreciating my own unique voice and perspective. She reconnected me with why I had started to create in the first place.” Everytime we meet, Sonia is able to create a safe and open space to share ideas, celebrate wins, and explore new creative opportunities. Each session feels specifically catered to me and my own creative needs. Her guidance has been invaluable to my life over the last year. I’ve found new ways to express my creativity, and joy at the possibility of what’s next.”

— Sabrina S.

“Tatiana Manaois has a song called 'Like You'. In the song she sings, "People will find you, but they don't define you. And you will find people who help redesign you." Sonia Rao is that person for me – she is the creative midwife to a process of personal redesign that has made my life so rich, so beautiful, and so exciting. Over the process of working with Sonia for the last 4 years, I have become a different person: I used to think I was a musician who only played other people's music; now, I have 10 of my own original songs on Spotify. I used to feel that I didn't have the stories or skills to be a singer-songwriter; now I'm sharing what I've learned and made at music workshops from the United States to Sierra Leone. I used to idolize musicians whose songs I heard in published channels; now my kids and their friends add my songs to their playlists. Sonia is the facilitator of this change: her open, non-judgmental, and practical attitude toward creative work; her deep lived experience and training as a creative; and her lifelong learner attitude make her the best of coaches. I'm so grateful that our paths have crossed in this lifetime, and that I'm one of the privileged people to experience Sonia's gifts to the world.”

— Kate Krontiris

“Sonia, I know I don't need to explain any of this to you, but I want to because I absolutely LOVE our sessions so much. I can't even put it into words. Every session feels like a gift to my soul. I always feel so seen and understood by you, and working with you helps me to see and understand myself more deeply. I'm just so incredibly grateful for you and how much you've helped me. I'm tearing up just writing this! Thank you thank you thank you for everything.”

"When I started working with Sonia, I think I was hoping she'd offer me some long-elusive secret tools for approaching my creativity and creative entrepreneurial journey better. (You probably know the ones. The ones it seems everyone else has, but not you.) What I've found, instead, is I've had them all along. The process with Sonia has awakened new avenues to cultivate and fall more deeply in love with the creative journey. The coaching process also holds up a mirror showing me what I wasn’t seeing. Rooting me in tools and strengths unique to me. Rooting ever more deeply in the power of my own journey to take me where I want to go. Not someone else’s secret superpowers. My own. So, yeah, I’m a fan. And I 100% recommend working with her. But only if you want to fall in love with your craft again and connect with your own power."

— Brian Perry

“Sonia is meant to do this work. A lot of coaches phone it in or are plug and play but I can tell that she actually thinks about me and tailors things to me. I can bring my writing, my creative dreams, and my fears to her and she really hears and understands me. She is extremely smart, the resources and frameworks she’s provided have been invaluable, and I just love working with her.”

“I started working with Sonia because I felt very blocked with my creativity after becoming a mother and going through some major career transitions. She helped me explore the root causes of this block, accept and heal from old wounds, and find a new creative path forward that aligns with where I am in life now. An unexpected and wonderful bonus was the impact her work had on other areas of my life. Sonia guided me towards understanding, loving, and trusting myself in my relationships, in business, in society... I think that’s the beauty of her work. She knows that creativity can’t fully thrive if the person as a whole isn’t thriving. I feel like I am finally thriving and Sonia was, and still is, instrumental in getting me here.”

— Bess Rogers

“Thank you so much, Sonia. I feel you rooting for me. I heard a talk over the weekend in which the speaker said that sometimes in life we go through times we feel like we've been buried. But that's a misread of the situation. You've been planted and prepared to grow into new life. I'm leaning into that. I've not been buried. I've been planted. Onward. Thank you, again for your support, affirmation, and understanding. It is a gift working with you.”

“She was amazing. One of most inspiring artists we've booked. A ton of students were asking about her afterwards and kept saying how much they loved her.”

— Penn State University

“Sonia, thank you so much for all of the insight, wisdom, help, and growth that you have provided to me, and that I see you provide to so many others. Our work together has been transformative and is constantly being integrated and helping me in ways I could never have foreseen. You are such a special soul with such incredible gifts and I am so blessed and lucky and grateful to know you. Our sessions really made an impact on my psyche and really made me think about and evaluate how I’ve spent the hours of my life, and how out of alignment I’ve been w the values that I actually hold dear. It shook me and in the time since I’ve done a lot of reevaluating and setting new priorities and goals. I’m really ready to take action maybe for the first time ever in my life. You are the best. I’m so grateful for you and all of the support, help, energy, workshops, and revelations."

“Sonia, thank you for you. You are a gift.”

“Working with Sonia has been the kick up the ass I needed to focus my creativity but in the most lovely way. Meeting with her weekly online gave me the motivation to do the things I was avoiding that were holding me back from developing further as a songwriter / producer and if I didn't make one of the goals, I wasn't made to feel bad or guilty. I was consistently guided in a gentle way towards what I wanted to achieve and if my goals were unrealistic, we made them fit for me in a way that encouraged me and gave me confidence rather than a fear based approach. Also Sonia's nervous system based approach, focusing on regulation and mental well being before getting into what needed to be discussed was invaluable and something I have taken into my everyday life to great effect. I now have a general routine in my week that helps me prioritize my creativity at the right times so I don't get sucked into admin when I should be songwriting or vice versa and this has massively helped my productivity. I feel more in control of my career as a songwriter. Since working with Sonia, I have hired a recording studio that I write in regularly with collaborators rather than my home which is far more professional and has led to some great music being made with new artists. I'm about to pitch an EP to labels that I have co-written / co-produced with an artist and more tracks are in the pipeline to be released in 2024. I have arranged and recorded music for a feature film called This Is Christmas and appeared in it too. The most surprising thing to me about working with Sonia is how focused I became when not being bullied into it! I wanted to make my goals, not because I'd get told off but because I knew they would help me in the long run.”

— Dom Martin (Shevlane)

“Thank you so much for being such a safe space. You are a godsend and truly invaluable. I’m so grateful for your continued guidance.”

“Thank you so much for everything. I really needed this. I also just wanted to thank you for helping me with that process. I'm going get paid [redacted] for the project which grants me peace of mind.”

“Sonia was a terrific listener – that's what stood out above all. She had the ability to take in what I was saying without any preconceived notions, and then help me construct a plan based on my needs. She had a calming presence and was easy to talk to, a big plus when you're trying to discuss long-neglected creative ambitions.”

— Hiten Samtani

“I have been doing Creativity Coaching sessions with an artist and coach named Sonia Rao. My life had been feeling chaotic with balancing a variety of projects. I felt overwhelmed and didn’t know how or when to split my time. Sometimes I would just sit down in my studio and start to spiral with anxiety because I couldn’t decide what to work on. And if I was working on one thing, I felt like I was neglecting another. She helped me organize my work schedule, map out exactly what was required of each project and plan a day for each one. It sounds so simple, but it felt really overwhelming to do by myself. And now that I’m in this new schedule, I feel 10x more productive and relaxed! It’s kind of a miracle.”

— Bess Rogers

“Sonia was super helpful! She walked me through what I should be doing before, during, and after shows which made me feel a lot better. It made me feel like I had a plan rather than just hoping things would turn out well.”

— Julia Bhatt

“Sonia Rao is a musician who's not only seriously talented but also extremely productive and because of these two factors, very successful. At the beginning of COVID, when we all hunkered down and tried to navigate working from home, I was only ever: a) procrastinating b) getting annoyed with myself about this and c) telling people I was procrastinating and annoyed with myself about this. I had a head full of projects and managed about three hours a day on a good one. While wearing the same dressing gown covered in drippy eggs and very drippy almond butter. When I learned Sonia was offering Creativity Coaching, I had to look it up because it doesn't sound like a thing. But it is. In one-on-one zoom sessions, she helps people get creative or already creative people get more so. Sessions are individually tailored to each person's needs. We talked about my creative history, structured my work day from waking up to going to bed, came up with a morning routine, got my inbox down to zero, organized my projects, unpicked a lot of my creative blocks, did breathwork exercises and journalling and all sorts of fun artist dates. In the one month since I started with her, I've written every weekday for six hours, which is huge for me. I've got such a great routine and a better work life balance. I know I'm really lucky to be able to write for a living, but now I'm grateful for that AND actually doing it. Rather than annoyed with myself for not making the most of it, while still covered in egg butter.”

— Amy Hoggart

"Things are finally progressing for me. You have been so instrumental in getting this going for me again and providing inspiration through our sessions. Thank you so, so much. It is invaluable."

“I worked with Sonia when I decided it was time to start a solo music project and record an album. She helped me get organized, make a plan, and take things one step at a time. With her extensive experience in the music world, Sonia was able to give me loads of practical advice, but equally important was just having someone who could warmly hold space for me as I stepped outside my comfort zone.”

— Audra Nemir

“Sonia, that was amazing and I'm really so grateful. This is opening a whole new outlet for me. I really can't wait to pour some of myself into some songwriting...was already tinkering and had to stop because I was tearing up too much because my well is dug very deep and I've been missing a bucket to bring it up. Thank you for generously sharing your gifts. 🙏. I am indebted.”

— Marcos G.

“Speaking with Sonia always has a calming influence on me. She is so supportive, patient and kind. She understands my waves of creativity and has a way of helping me to keep distractions at bay, and my self belief strong.”

— Natalie S.

“I so appreciate all of Sonia’s wisdom, especially the part about using social media in a way that feels good to me. In general, I've decided to keep it real with my album - I want to create some art, and have my songs on the radio, and do a tour and an album release show with a band. So I'm sticking to that and not worrying about anything else.”

“Working with Sonia helped me get more deliberate with my songwriting and composition. I was tired of guessing chords instead of knowing where to go. The wild thing is, working with her showed me I had way more knowledge than I thought. Empowering!”

— Richie R.

“Sonia is an amazing human. She has been an incredible source of support, kindness and inspiration to me for four years. Working with her has meant the world to me: spiritually, creatively and PRACTICALLY!”

“Sonia, I want to say again how invaluable our sessions have been and how much I've really gone for everything this year as a result of your guidance. It is amazing to think how much I've accomplished since I started working with you and how much of a difference your coaching made. Thank you so much.”

“Thank you so very much for all your support, encouragement and counsel. As I have said to you before, there is 100% no way, we’d be at this point if it weren’t for you. It has made a WORLD of difference. Had we not worked together I’d have a half baked outline and maybe 5 couple of chapters written. Instead of which I have a whole story with multiple characters, storylines and worlds! You are the best. I truly appreciate you and look forward to our time together each week.”

“Sonia, I wanted to say a special thanks. Having a solid framework and go forward plan has really helped pull me out of the existential questions and into execution mode. It’s also just made me a lot less anxious generally as I have a structure within which to operate and that feels calming and safe. The fact that we can flex it to make it a little aggressive is also helpful - right now I seem to be working well under the pressure. Feel night and day different about this relative to before. Thank you so very much.”