I’m excited to be bringing the grant competition back this year. The purpose of this grant is to help a new or new-ish music teacher launch their studio. The grand prize includes a $1000 cash grant and host of other tools, products, and training programs from our amazing sponsors, which include: Duet Partner, Fons, Cascade Method, Steve Hughes’ Virtual Piano Studio, Dynamic Doodle Co, and Alamo Music Center. You’ve heard from the entrepreneurs behind several of these businesses already on the po...
Apr 13, 2022•38 min
Today I’m back again with Karen Thickstun for the second part of our discussion on fundraising. Our topic today is specifically about grants: how to find grants, how to evaluate if your project is a good fit, how to reframe a project to expand the grants you might be eligible for, and much, much more. This topic is especially timely because there are a number of grants available for music teachers with spring deadlines. The Music Teachers National Association has several grants that Karen will m...
Apr 06, 2022•58 min
If you hit play on this episode thinking, "I don't have a nonprofit, so fundraising isn't really for me.", I think you'll be surprised by the discussion. Karen covers so many more types of fundraising than I ever would have thought about and talks about how even for-profit studio owners can use fundraising to stretch their impact. Be prepared to take notes! A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode098.
Mar 30, 2022•48 min
It seems fitting that this week, right around the two year anniversary of COVID shutting things down in the US, I’d be interviewing the inventor of a mask specifically designed for singers. Today I’m talking to Stephanie Tennill, about what inspired her to design this mask, how she manufactured it, distributed it, and how, even as a for-profit business, she has prioritized helping others and giving back every step of the way. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at Musi...
Mar 23, 2022•45 min
Today’s podcast is part one of a two-part interview with the founder of a website that will be familiar to a lot of music teachers. That website is makingmusicfun.net. This website is full of sheet music, theory worksheets, music lessons plans, and video lessons. In our conversation, founder Andy Fling, takes us back to the very beginning of Making Music Fun and talks about how he monetized it from day 1 AND how his monetization strategy has changed over the years as the internet and social medi...
Mar 16, 2022•25 min
Today’s podcast is part one of a two-part interview with the founder of a website that will be familiar to a lot of music teachers. That website is makingmusicfun.net. This website is full of sheet music, theory worksheets, music lessons plans, and video lessons. In our conversation, founder Andy Fling, takes us back to the very beginning of Making Music Fun and talks about how he monetized it from day 1 AND how his monetization strategy has changed over the years as the internet and social medi...
Mar 09, 2022•29 min
Today’s interview is going to have you rethinking what you thought was possible for the lifestyle of a full-time piano teacher. Today I’m talking to Anna Fagan about how she moved her house and studio on the road during COVID and now lives and teaches full-time from an RV. We talk about how they adapted the RV to create a teaching studio, the tech she uses, and how she guarantees she has the best possible internet connection, no matter where the RV is parked. A full transcript and resources from...
Mar 02, 2022•44 min
This time of year I get a lot of financial questions from teachers. We’ve just gotten through the holiday spending spree, new year’s might have inspired some financial goal-setting, and then there’s the looming tax deadline in April, so there’s a lot to think about. Sometimes the questions I get are really specific to an individual, but lately a bunch of clients and listeners have said “hey, you talk about reviewing financials on a regular basis as a way of getting more familiar with my financia...
Feb 23, 2022•9 min
You’ll recognize today’s guest from an episode a few weeks ago about the MusiCARES Volunteer Music Teachers Facebook group. Today Judy Naillon returns to talk about how she began offering recreational group ukulele classes to boost her studio income during the summer and expand her network for private lessons. Anyone who struggles with the summer slump or just wants to try something new will be sure to enjoy what Judy has to share. For a full transcript of this episode, visit musicstudiostartup....
Feb 16, 2022•42 min
Today’s interview is with a solo teacher who wanted a way to better prepare her students for advanced music studies. Candace Hamm’s solution was to develop an intensive conservatory prep program. Although we talk a lot about the specific program, this interview has plenty to offer for any studio owner. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode091.
Feb 09, 2022•41 min
Often travel teaching is seen as a way to start a studio if you don’t have a permanent space to use or are trying to break into a new market, but today’s guest built his career in travel teaching for almost two decades. Today’s interview with Tony Parlapiano is chock-full of practical advice on how to make it work as a travel teacher, everything from pricing to policies. There are insights both new and veteran teachers will appreciate. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be fou...
Feb 02, 2022•44 min
I’m gearing up for the start of Business Building 101 next week. I’ve already gotten to talk to several of the teachers who are enrolled and they’re a great bunch. Today’s episode is a mini interview with a past Business Building 101 participant - Carissa Pitkin-Cox. In it we talk about having clarity around a studio vision, how that influenced some key decisions and changes for this teacher’s studio (including a rate increase) and how she introduced those changes to families. A full transcript ...
Jan 26, 2022•32 min
Today I want to take a few minutes to talk about the upcoming Business Building 101 course! I'm going to talk about what the course is and also what it isn’t. But first, there's been a slight change of plans in the schedule. If you've been listening the last few weeks, you know that the next live cohort was set to start next week! I'm excited to get this next cohort going, but I will be postponing the start date by one week. My family got covid this week and we just need another week to get back...
Jan 19, 2022•6 min
If you’ve ever searched for information about a college or university level music program, you’ve probably come across the website MajoringInMusic.com. Today I talk to the founder of this incredible resource - Barbra Weidlein. We talk about how she stumbled into entrepreneurship, the inspiration for MajoringInMusic.com and some of the complexities of managing a website designed to serve different stakeholders. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.c...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Today’s episode is a slightly updated rebroadcast of an episode I released last year around this time. In it, I explained my process for reviewing the past year and setting goals for the year ahead. This has been a year of leveling up for me. I’ve had some incredible professional opportunities come my way that have prompted a lot of personal growth. It’s been challenging in all the ways that make my entrepreneurial heart happy and it’s been a really fun year. My goal-setting has leveled up this ...
Jan 05, 2022•12 min
I hope you’re all enjoying time with family and friends this holiday season! I’m keeping today’s episode short and sweet so you can keep those holiday vibes going. As music teachers, we are often blessed to receive many, many gifts during the holidays. Where there’s a gift, there’s usually a thank you note to follow! Today I am sharing a super helpful 3-sentence thank you note template to help you knock out that thank you list with heartfelt and personalized notes in record time. A full transcri...
Dec 29, 2021•5 min
Today I’m talking to violinist and entrepreneur, Susanna Klein, about her multiple business projects. We talk about communication, rejection, psychology, intellectual property, and how she is learning and practicing for her own long game in business. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode086.
Dec 22, 2021•42 min
Welcome back and a HUGE thank you to everyone who reached out to express their excitement for the podcast returning - you all bring so much joy to my work and life! Today I’m talking to violinist and entrepreneur, Susanna Klein, about her multiple business projects. We talk about communication, rejection, psychology, intellectual property, and how she is learning and practicing for her own long game in business. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup...
Dec 15, 2021•40 min
Although the podcast feed has been quiet for a while, things have been all but quiet behind the scenes. New baby. New house. New work with a brick and mortar startup. And lots of new Music Studio Startup developments in the works, which I’ll be talking about more in the near future. But today, I’m so excited to be back with a new interview for you! Today’s guest, Lisa Spector, is a piano-preneur, a pet-calming maestro, and a piano ninja. And if you don’t know what those things are, listen on to ...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Hey there! Just a quick pop in to say that I'm taking an early summer break this year. If you can call it a break... I'll be taking some time off from podcasting to welcome another little human into the world. I've already got an amazing lineup of episodes in the works for when I return, so make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss them when they start dropping. I’ve gotten inquiries about whether or not I’ll be running a cohort through Business Building 101 this summer. The next live cohort...
May 12, 2021•2 min
Today I’m talking to the owner of a high end music school in downtown Boston, that serves mostly adults. In this episode, you’ll hear about how the vision Alyssa had for her school has gradually come to fruition and how she’s grown as an entrepreneur, particularly in the area of finance, along the way. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while now, you may have observed a theme I’ve been seeing that a lot of good startup stories include evictions or other real estate catastrophes, and Aly...
May 05, 2021•49 min
A few months ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jamie Slutzky of the expand online podcast to talk about some of the many ways music teachers can expand their businesses. Today, I'm going to be rebroadcasting Jaime's show here on my feed. But before I do that I want to talk about the Expand Online Summit that I briefly mentioned at the end of the show last week. Jaime also happens to be the coordinator for this Summit. It features more than a dozen master classes and interviews with som...
Apr 28, 2021•33 min
We've talked about music publishing and app publishing and digital resource publishing on the podcast before, but in this episode we're talking about something different - fiction publishing! And what does this have to do with music teaching or studio ownership? Well, it just so happens that today's guest, Ashley Rescot, is a violin teacher who took her creative writing hobby and channeled it to address the student retention issues she noticed with her middle and high school students. Ashley tak...
Apr 21, 2021•52 min
Today’s guest is Stephanie Smith of Dynamic Doodle Co.. She’s another “accidental entrepreneur” who was pretty convinced that running a business other than a music studio was not something she’d ever want to do. But when she had an idea for a studio incentive program that would require investing $250 in a button machine, she decided to offer her buttons for sale on Etsy in order to offset that equipment purchase. In addition to recouping that investment many times over, she has also discovered j...
Apr 14, 2021•40 min
Today I’m talking to Nick Schlueter, the co-owner of a type of business that we haven’t had on the podcast before. For lack of a better term, I’d call it a dueling pianos talent agency, but I suspect my guest would say that’s too fancy for a venture he and his business partner started kind of on accident. In the interview we talk about how they got started, gradually made investments to offer more services, eventually expanded to other cities, and hired other performers along the way. A full tra...
Apr 07, 2021•39 min
Today’s guest, Noa Kageyama, got an early start as a violinist studying with none other than THE Dr. Suzuki - founder of the Suzuki method. Everything was on track for his performance career when he took a class at Juilliard that exposed him to sports performance psychology and the trajectory of his career shifted. Today Noa’s sharing the startup story of his blog, The Bulletproof Musician. He talks about how he thought he had run out of content ideas after the first month of writing, but has ma...
Mar 31, 2021•43 min
Today’s guest, Tanuja Gomes, is a former banker turned entrepreneur and music school owner. Tanuja shares in the interview how she has built an incredible business over the last decade that serves 75,000 students. Along the way she’s raised money from investors, pursued different formats for music education, and even built some cool technology. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode077...
Mar 24, 2021•37 min
I’m taking a spring break from podcasting this week to attend the virtual MTNA conference! If you’re registered for the conference, I gave my presentation “Let the Website Speak: Crafting a More Effective Studio Website” on Sunday, but it’s not too late to view! It will be available for registered attendees through June 1. I’ll be back next week with a regular podcast interview. :) For more entrepreneurial resources for music teachers, including a FREE Vision & Values course, check out music...
Mar 17, 2021•2 min
Today I’m talking to Joey Lieber, a music teacher and virtual music school owner, about how he’s made a shift from thinking about income goals to lifestyle goals and how that impacts the way he manages his personal budget and his time. A full transcript for this episode can be found at musicstudiostartup.com/episode076 . Upcoming workshop: I will be presenting a session called “Let the Website Speak: Crafting More Effective Studio Websites” at the MTNA virtual conference this weekend. That sessi...
Mar 10, 2021•31 min
Way back in Episode 048, Judy Naillon was on the podcast to talk about how she started a ukulele program in her studio. In our conversation, Judy had great things to say about the Rainbow Ukulele curriculum she purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers to lead this program. A lot of you have asked about what it’s like to sell on platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers, so today I’m excited to welcome Shelley Tomich, the creator of the Rainbow Ukulele curriculum, to talk about how she started her TpT store...
Mar 03, 2021•43 min
