Before getting into this month’s piece, let me give you all a bit of background information. I am a piano instructor and entrepreneur. I am the founder of an Ottawa, Canada-based music academy. I also have a passion for disability rights and social justice. If you get a chance to read last month’s article: “Out of Sight Out of Mind”, you’ll get an idea how deep my passion runs on the subject. Back in the spring of 2017, while looking for piano teaching jobs, I got into an interesting discussion with an owner of a local music school. When I brought up my vision loss, the first thing he said to me was “I can’t begin to count the number of children with disabilities who walk into our school looking for lessons.” This gave me the idea to open a fully accessible music school for people with both physical and developmental disabilities. I set about putting together a business plan, consulting with both music and business mentors, and looking for space to run my academy. In the fall of that year, a former college professor and business mentor of mine introduced me to the wonderful world of coworking spaces. By the way, side note here, if you’ve ever wanted to start a business from the ground up, I would highly recommend looking into coworking spaces in your area. They are cost-effective, and you get to collaborate with other entrepreneurs, take part in networking events, and take advantage of the on-site mentorship services they offer. In October of 2017, I signed up for a membership at a fantastic coworking space, and spent the final months of that year moving into the space and working on branding and logo design. This brings us to this past 2018 year. What a year it has been!

My music academy officially opened its doors on January ninth, and thanks to a great digital marketing agency, the word spread. An article came out in the Ottawa Citizen promoting the academy and telling my story. You know how it is, once one media outlet picks up the story, the others follow. The academy and I were featured on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning, CTV News Ottawa, AMI (Accessible Media Incorporated), and Rogers Daytime just to name a few. With the media attention, clients began to take notice. I had the pleasure of teaching people with all types of disabilities, and while doing so, I learned a thing or two. I learned that, even with the best of intentions, I did have my own misconceptions when it came to people taking lessons with us. Someone would come through the door with a disability affecting the use of most of their fingers, and my first thought would be “How is this person going to learn to play an instrument?” I knew we’d find a way, and we did. I also learned just how challenging yet exciting organizing and running an open house can be. The Academy’s open house was a success, and we landed another client or two because of it. I could not do it alone. I brought on a hardworking, dedicated intern, and together with a solid team from our coworking space, we made it happen. Several months later, with the loss of a bunch of students and at the request of parents, we decided to take the academy in a different direction and include anyone interested in taking lessons, disability or not. We decided to make integration a huge part of our brand, and here we are today!

I am so excited about this coming year. We have a set number of students we want to land by this time next year, and a step-by-step marketing plan to get us there. Bring on 2019, the year of the hustle! Happy new year everyone! Here’s to health, wealth, and success.