For decades, Kaci Bolls has been a sought after Nashville session singer and songwriter. When life nudged her to do an about-face, get her Master's Degree in education and become a kindergarten teacher, Kaci found a way to combine her love of music and kindergarteners by releasing chart-topping hits of original children's music. Based on her song, "Dare to Be Me," Kaci has recently released a children's book by the same name.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How she went from a top Nashville singer/songwriter to kindergarten teacher (and being awarded "Teacher of the Year," nonetheless)

• What propelled her to start making chart-topping children's music

• Coming to terms with how she was holding herself back (but NO more!)

• The #1 message she wants kids to know, and the theme of her new book, Dare to Be Me

...and so much more!

We pair every episode with a delicious beverage (because... it's the happiest hour, right?!), PLUS we want a listener to take home a signed copy of Kaci's children's book and a swag pack of fun stickers, a book mark and other goodies! Make sure to enter below for a chance to win and grab the drink recipe while you're there! ↓

Enter to win here!

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Connect with Kaci here.

Grab a copy of Kaci’s children’s book, Dare to Be Me, here.

Enjoy Kaci’s wildly successful (and catchy!) children’s music here.

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The Happiest Hour theme song was written and performed by... me! If you'd like to hear more of my music, click here!

I started my professional career in Nashville as a teenager. My first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry was at age 11. Because I started my professional path so early in life, I have had the amazing privilege of knowing some of my co-writers, collaborators, teachers and mentors for over 30 years (and counting)!

One of those mentors is Kirsti Manna, my guest on Ep. 10 of Happiest Hour (the grand finale Season 1)! Kirsti is a hit songwriter, publisher, record label VP, and a fierce advocate for female creatives.

You’ve heard Kirsti’s hits like “Austin” for Blake Shelton and “Loud” for Big & Rich, to name a few. Her songs have been heard around the world in such places as CMT, ESPN, Gayle King’s Grammy Special, The Tonight Show, The David Letterman Show, Friday Night Lights, and Dance Wars.

Known as the go-to person for inspirational information, Kirsti’s “whatever you do, stay inspired” mantra has helped girls and women find their creative voice. In 2008, Kirsti launched “Songwriter Girl” and “Songwriter Girl Camps” (www.songwritergirl.com).

Kirsti and I sat down to enjoy her delicious watermelon margarita recipe (more on that later), and to chat about the difference music and creativity can make in everyone's life.

In this episode, we also cover:

• How she and her producer-husband, Bill Warner, came to Nashville from Ohio
• Her goal of wanting to move people with her art — and how she’s accomplished that
• What hard work looks like in the music business
• Why mentoring women is so important to her
• Her secret to success of working with her husband and staying married over 30 years
• What she hopes to leave behind

Okay, now back to that mouth-watering margarita. As with every episode, we paired our conversation with a truly delicious watermelon margarita recipe (thanks to Kirsti’s husband, Bill), and a hack for making excellent hummus that I adapted from the woman who inspired me to start this podcast in the first place.

Get your recipes here! Blend yourself up a batch of Kirsti’s margarita recipe, then join us for the conversation!

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Connect with Kirsti here.

Ready to get inspired and spark your creativity? Check out Kirsti’s Spark Your Creativity Course here.

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The Happiest Hour theme song was written and performed by... me! If you'd like to hear more of my music, click here!

In the same way that a great melody is as much about space as it is about notes, GRAMMY nominated hit songwriter, Jay Knowles, puts as much emphasis on the things about songwriting that have nothing to do with the actual writing part.

He makes sense in nonsensical ways. He says more by saying less. He achieves by not trying to achieve.

I consider Jay Knowles a mentor of mine. He has taught me so much about creativity and lyric writing just by being in the room with him. No doubt, he is one of my favorite songwriters on the planet. Alan Jackson, George Strait, Harry Connick, Jr., Jack Ingram, Lainey Wilson and others agree because they’ve all cut songs written by Jay and made them hits that you probably sing along to in your car.

In Episode 9 of Happiest Hour, Jay and I dig in about his what it’s like to have hits by giant artists like George Strait, and I ask him some detailed questions about his writing process. If you are a songwriter, aspiring to be, or want to tap deeper into your creativity, this is absolutely a conversation you don’t want to miss.

In this episode, we also cover:

• His favorite song he’s written that others might not like
• Why his Jack Ingram hit, “Love You,” almost never got recorded
• What he feels like is his best asset as a songwriter and how he approaches new ideas
• His hilarious and poignant Substack newsletter, Song Friends
• How being at the GRAMMY Awards is an ego booster and an ego buster at the same time
• Advice to aspiring songwriters

… and much more. In fact, our conversation got so deep that we will be rolling out a bonus episode with Jay about the particulars of songwriting. Click here to make sure you are receiving emails from me so that you don't miss when that episode rolls out!

As always, we pair this episode with 2 delicious recipes — because it’s not the Happiest Hour without great food to go with our great conversation, right?!

In true Jay Knowles fashion, he puts his own quirky spin on the very specific way he makes the best cup of black coffee. He also shares a nostalgic childhood favorite only the way his mom could make it: peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich. Get these recipes here:

Gimme the recipes!

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Connect with Jay here.

Join Jay’s Song Friends community on Substack (seriously, if you are a creative — and everybody is whether you realize it or not — you don’t want to miss this!).

Listen to Jay’s discography of hits.

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The Happiest Hour theme song was written and performed by... me! If you'd like to hear more of my music, click here!