I grew up north of Dallas in McKinney, Texas. My love affair with music began before I was born, quite literally. My mom recounts (in a story that I love) that when she was pregnant with me and standing in church singing hymns, I would kick and jump around in utero whenever the music played. It wasn't long after I started speaking that I started singing -- usually just to myself -- and it wasn't long after I learned to read and write that I started writing poems. I was a quiet kid, but singing and writing were always two ways I felt comfortable expressing myself.

 

After attending a small private school in McKinney for 10 years (with a high school graduating class of 22 people!) I was amazed to be accepted into Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. At Vanderbilt I had the wonderful opportunity to earn a liberal arts degree with concentrations in English, History, and Music, graduating in 2010 summa cum laude. After college, I stayed in Nashville to try my hand at songwriting and to learn more about the music business. While taking songwriting classes, I interned with the independent music publishing company, Bug Music (now part of BMG), and rehearsed as an actor for a new country musical "One Kiss Cafe."

 

After "One Kiss Cafe," I moved back to the Dallas area and focused my creative energies on performing musical theatre. This is now my favorite thing! I love musicals! I love the story-telling, I love the music, I love how each production combines so many art forms at once, and I love the community that is built with every show. I frequently act with regional companies in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, sing in concert settings, and lend my voice to studio projects -- commercial and personal. I am truly grateful to be able to pursue something I love at a high level in Dallas while also being close to my family and to the community in which I grew up.

 

As I get older, I am also increasingly passionate about mental health and how making art can be a valuable tool for healing. I see artistic work as an essential way we stay in touch with our creative spirits (and our sense of play!) as humans. I recently finished my master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at The University of North Texas, and am now a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A) seeing clients at Bright Space Therapy (locations in Dallas and Plano) under the supervision of Katie Nix. As I further immerse myself in this work, I continue to be amazed at the powerful ways art, mental health, self-expression, spirituality, and community intersect!

 

You can find info about my work as a counselor and book appointments with me at: https://www.brightspacetherapy.com/mindybell.  It would be my honor to connect with you as a coach or counselor. 

 

Enough about me. Tell me about you.... I would love to connect!!