Andie Day

Patti Austin and Dawn Carroll Launch the “Over My Shoulder” Project

Have you ever wished that you could meet an amazingly talented, down-to-earth individual that is actually making a difference in the world? I had that privilege the other night when I attended a dinner celebrating the birthday of none other than GRAMMY Award winning singer Patti Austin. This was my first time meeting her and I was blown away by her sense of humor, her overwhelming desire to help people young and old through mentoring, and her inspiring work with The Blue Movement and End Domestic Violence Against Women, Children, and Men. Another of Patti’s lifelong dreams is to become an interior designer; this of course only further endeared her to my heart.

Patti’s most recent work has been on The Over My Shoulder Project. This project was recently launched to raise awareness about “Mentorology” (mentoring) and its positive impact nationwide. Created because of the stellar relationship between Patti Austin and songwriter/designer Dawn Carroll, the “Over My Shoulder” campaign to "raise awareness about the impact of mentoring both cross-culturally and cross-generationally." Dawn is a dear friend of mine who is an excellent writer as well as a fellow designer.

Get ready Boston! You will have the chance to learn more about this project on August 13 and 14 as well as the chance to see Patti perform “Over My Shoulder” and many of her other hit songs at the Scullers Jazz Club. Patti hopes to continue her work promoting mentoring through music, she realizes the potential and power of music and lyrics and hopes to continue her work with the Over My Shoulder Project to raise awareness all over the nation.

When asked about the future and her goals, Patti’s response is simple and inspiring: "With everything I’m doing, my goal is to break down barriers that separate generations of people and cultures. Through mentoring, we are all increasingly interdependent on each other, rather than independent individuals. And, because of people’s interdependency, the Over My Shoulder Project hopes to foster respect, diversity, culture and individuality."

If you would like to learn more about the Over My Shoulder Project and hear the song “Over My Shoulder” you can visit Patti Austin’s blog. I hope to be interviewing her soon about her dreams as an aspiring designer, but that will be another blog post.