Music Studio Startup: Helping music teachers thrive as entrepreneurs

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/episode...

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 ne...

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 stu...

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 postponin...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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 ga...

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,...

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 whe...

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 s...

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...

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 a...

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 equ...

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...

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 tal...

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...

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 entrep...

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 Spe...

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 Shelle...

Today I'm talking to Mirka da Pieva, a piano teacher in Brazil who noticed a shortage of blogs and teaching resources available in Portuguese so she stepped in to fill the gap. She has grown her business to include a blog, in-person and online teacher trainings, and a collection teaching games. She's also done some very creative things to build a strong community of Portuguese-speaking teachers an...

Today I'm talking to two musicians about how they have made a career in music over the last 15 years. I think their story illustrates what it means to be, not just an entrepreneurial musician, but an entrepreneur in general. You'll hear about how they've made plans and pursued ideas, while keeping an open ear to what's going on in the market and world around them, so they can respond with products...

Today I'm interviewing two piano teachers who, although they didn't set out to start a business have, over the last decade, built a thriving enterprise and made a noticeable mark on the world of piano pedagogy. You'll hear about how they came to develop their own piano method, the humble beginnings of their first print runs, how they've expanded their distributor network to reach a global audience...

Today I'm talking to someone with a background in tech who came into music school ownership by opening a franchise! He brings a really interesting perspective to the conversation and there's a ton to learn. Enjoy this conversation with Ashwin Kotian from Bach to Rock - Cedar Park, TX. A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode071