What does strength mean to you?

Strength means overcoming personal challenges no matter how big or small.

Could you tell me about a time when strength was evident in your life?

I’ve had emetophobia (phobia of vomiting or other people vomiting) for as long as I can remember and up until about six months ago it was crippling me 24/7 (panic attacks, nightmares, avoiding socialising etc). For me, strength has been most evident over the past year as I've faced my fears multiple times and am now, as a result, very close to being able to say that I don’t have the phobia anymore.

As a songwriter, do you think having an honest creative outlet is helpful, or is it testing on your strength?

It’s both helpful and testing. The majority of my songs are very personal and are written from my own experiences. Sometimes this makes a song easier to write but I've broken down during the songwriting process a few times as it makes things very real for me when writing the lyrics.

Which song of yours took the most strength to write? And why?

It’s very cliché but it’s a breakup song called ‘fairytale’. The break-up pretty much destroyed my self esteem and writing that song was a way of reminding myself that I'm actual an incredible human being and I have nothing to blame myself for. It feels empowering every-time I sing it, especially when hes at my gigs! And when my friends sing along.

Your Instagram is so bright and positive and full of happy memories and messages, do you think filling your personal spaces like your social media with positivity is beneficial to your strength?

I have a strict rule that only happy and positive things are allowed on my Instagram, and that definitely makes me feel stronger. If I'm feeling down, scrolling through my Instagram feed is the biggest happiness and confidence boost as its filled with photos of memories where I'm surrounded by wonderful people who care about me and enjoy spending time with me. It’s the same with twitter and facebook, although I sometimes slip up and post negative statuses in the hope it will make me feel better but I always regret it aha.

You’re constantly sending messages of love and support to your friends, do you think having a good base of supportive friends is essential to strength, or is a good relationship with yourself more important?

At the end of the day, the way you feel about yourself is whats most important but I find personally that having supportive friends is the biggest help towards feeling that way. It’s difficult to believe that you’re amazing when there's no one else reminding you that you are, but if whoever's reading this feels like they don’t have that support from others, I promise them now that they are still an amazing person.

Do you think strength is having total control of yourself, or letting go of control?

That’s such a good question. I think it depends entirely on the situation. For example, having the strength to stand up to someone who’s not treating you right involves having control over yourself. Whereas facing up to my phobia involves giving up control, because you can’t avoid sickness, but being able to deal with the situation when it arises.

When do you feel strongest?

I feel strongest when I'm with my friends, when I'm giggling, and when I'm dealing with a phobia situation well.

Could you sum up what strength means to you in three words?

Courage, self-belief, achievement.

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Caitlin is such an amazing songwriter with a glorious, angelic voice, definitely one to keep your eye on!

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