Who are you?

If you’ve been around a little while, you’ll know that I repeatedly say “Do the thing”.

It’s not because I want you to hire me as your curriculum writer or piano lesson teacher or your instructional coach, though that’s exactly what we do so let us know if you need us.

No, I want you to Do The Thing because Life has a way of interrupting.

• Truth: Most of us are not doing the thing we dreamt about when we were kids.
• Truth: The thing is, a lot of us learned other things we absolutely love and pursued that.
• Truth: And we did this, quite often, against the tide.

In my case, it took family members and close friends telling me over and over that there is no incentive for studio owners to hire me if they are already making money. Why would they hire someone to train their teachers to become educators when they’re already earning their money and doing well?

It makes sense, right? Why in the world would anyone try to convince a successful company that they need training that they need to pay for? And my training, in particular?

Who am I?

Here’s why me:

Because as an educator and as a concert pianist, I have an edge. I have quantifiable proof that the framework I use works, without question, and is malleable enough to accommodate a variety of teaching styles and situations. I’m an artist and a woman in STEM. I do not want to waste time with systems that don’t work. I can’t afford that. When I figured out that my method worked, and could be replicated, then I knew I had something.

HOWEVER:

It took listening to my dream by myself for a long time to get here.

And now I am here, helping concert pianists and rock stars and gospel mentors and pop mavens become effective educators. And they’re reaping the financial, expansion, and world view rewards.

There is a reason I shared this:

When I urge you to Go For It, I am saying so from experience, from knowing the pain of being miserable not doing the thing…and then the experience of the joy of repeated failure in pursuit of the dream, and ending up happy.

You see, it’s in the Going For It that I experience bliss. It’s not in the acquiring. (I am acquiring—let’s not be nuts—but the joy in the acquiring lasts for, like, ten seconds. The feeling of getting those new headphones or car or that pants suit is such a brief feeling.

However, the joy in going for it is ongoing because of the person you have to become in order to even go for it in the first place.)

When the question of “Well, who are you to [conduct an orchestra][lead a management team][adopt a child by yourself]” comes up, check in with yourself:

Who are you to do such a thing?

The qualified, empathic, scientifically-minded/artistic-leaning whatever whatever that you are.

That’s who you are.

Enjoy this moment. Do that thing.

We tell this to our students, especially the ones who are struggling—enjoy this malaise, this melancholy, this “This music sucks so can we learn something else?” nebulous life that we all can sink into.

Why do we teach them such things?

Because, as an adult, you well know that in ten years when these kid students become adults, or in five years when the adult learner is playing in a band, they’ll remember these supposedly miserable moments fondly.

You know this.

You’ve experienced this.

So don’t wait. Please. Please don’t wait.

If you can’t fully dive into the Dream, then stick your toe into the Dream:

• Go look at beginner music books.
• Listen to a podcast about the funny things about nursing.
• Go to the library and pick up a book or three on the author who writes the way you want to write.
• Go online and watch a video on first steps on becoming a pastry chef.
• Ask your cousin about their trip to London.

Who are you?

The person who deserves happiness, that’s who.

We really do teach this.