A new cohort of our Business Building 101 course is starting this week! If you’re launching a studio, rebuilding after a move, or just want to build a more intentional, financially sustainable business, this course is designed to help you do exactly that—with clarity, structure, and support.

And today’s guest is a perfect example of what can happen when you combine a fresh start with the right tools.

Mimi Zhang is the 2024 grand prize winner of our Studio Launch Grant competition. As part of her prize package, Mimi received a $1,000 startup grant, gift cards to Alamo Music and Alfred Publishing, and enrollment in the Music Studio Startup Business Building 101 course, and more—all of which she put to great use as she launched her studio in a brand-new city.

When Mimi won the grant competition, she had just finished grad school, moved across the country, and was starting from scratch. In less than a year, she grew her studio from just three in-person students to nearly 40, added group classes, implemented strong business systems, and started building the studio she really wanted.

In our conversation, Mimi shares the strategies that helped her grow quickly and sustainably, the mindset shifts that made a big difference early on, and how she’s continuing to evolve her studio now that the foundation is in place.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode167.

Music Studio Business Building 101: Summer 2025 cohort starting this week!

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today's episode is part two of a super interesting two-part conversation with Sam Reti, a music teacher and a visionary behind the popular online music lesson platform Muzie.Live. If you haven't listened to the first part, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to that one too. In this episode, Sam shares how a college class at Berkeley, countless Uber and Lyft rides and a whole lot of Chipotle burritos helped launch his first business. And why learning when to quit was just as important as knowing when to keep going.

We talk about how the first app idea morphed into a second, and then a third, which is the music we know today. We talk about the decision to bootstrap instead of raising investor money, how Sam adapted when his original business idea didn't pan out, and what he's learned about growing a customer base organically in the music education world.

Sam gives an honest behind the scenes look at startup life complete with all the messy, unglamorous realities you don't usually hear about. Here's my conversation with Sam.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode166.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Today's episode is part one of a super interesting two-part conversation with Sam Reti, a music teacher and the visionary behind the popular online music lesson platform Muzie.Live. In this episode, Sam shares how a college class at Berkeley, countless Uber and Lyft rides, and a whole lot of Chipotle burritos helped launch his first business. And why learning when to quit was just as important as knowing when to keep going.

We talk about how his first app idea morphed into a second and then a third, which is the Muzie we know today. We talk about the decision to bootstrap instead of raising investor money. How Sam adapted when his original business idea didn't pan out, and what he's learned about growing a customer base organically in the music education world.

Sam gives an honest behind the scenes look at startup life complete with all the messy unglamorous realities you don't usually hear about.

Here's my conversation with Sam.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode165.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

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 financial picture, but what exactly should I be reviewing?”

And they’re totally right, I haven’t been very specific here. So today I’m going to do that.

I’m going to show you how to find some key numbers on your tax return that can give you powerful insights into your business and personal finances.

A full transcript along, with printable + digital resources to supplement this episode, can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode164.

💻📈Tax Insights Workshop: Making Sense of Your Tax Return

Thur. April 24 at 10am Central

👉Register Here

If you’ve ever thought about expanding from being a solo, independent teacher to hiring teachers and assumed your first step would be to rent a commercial space, think again.

Today’s guest shares how the studio she started with a few students in her living room eventually grew to serve 200 students and took over her family’s entire home.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode163.

Tax Insights Workshop

Thur. April 24 @ 10am Central

Sign up for that workshop at https://www.musicstudiostartup.com/taxinsights/.

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

With the MTNA conference right around the corner, we got Charles Harris, CPA back on the podcast to discuss tax deductions for business travel and attending conferences. We talk about common expenses associated with business travel, which ones are deductible and which ones aren’t.

We answer questions like:

• Are meals 100% deductible when I’m traveling?

• Can I deduct my plane ticket it I pay for it with points?

• If my family is traveling with me, can I deduct their travel expenses?

• If I book a local hotel for a staycation and teach a virtual lesson while I’m there, can I count it as a business trip?

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode162.

FREE Webinar: Self-Employment Tax Crash Course

<>

Tax help for music teachers: MSS Tax + Accounting Services

Join the Hub: MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

Today I’m talking to the Christina Whitlock - an independent piano teacher whose studio has flexed and changed many times throughout her career to adapt to what she wants and needs out of life and business in different seasons.

If you are familiar with Christina and her podcast, Beyond Measure, you know she is a huge encourager for music teachers and you’ll get a huge dose of that in this episode. We also hear about some big changes she’s made in her own studio over the the last several years, how she rolled out the changes, what worked and what didn’t, what she’s learned about evaluating change, and more.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode161.

Music Teacher Tax Prep and Accounting Services

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers

Music Studio Startup Snapshot 009 – Christina Whitlock

We’ve had a lot of tax talk on the podcast lately and I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I get it. I promise we’ll keep it to a minimum today, but I do want to let you know about an upcoming webinar that I will be co-presenting with our CPA, Charles! Join us on Thur, February 6 for our Self-Employment Tax Crash Course. You can register for that at musicstudiostartup.com/tax. That’s it! That’s all I’m going to say about taxes.

Let’s hear a good ol’, inspiring studio success story. I think a lot of listeners are going to relate to today’s guest. Alison had been teaching for a number of years, had a nice-sized studio, and was beginning to feel the drag of teaching into the evening hours. So she decided to do something about it. She set out to shift her schedule to more daytime hours. She successfully made that shift (with some genius networking strategies!) and the result was… not what she expected!

Listen in to hear how Alison made (and continues to make) effective shifts in her studio and what she has learned along the way.

A full transcript and resources from this episode can be found at MusicStudioStartup.com/episode160.

💰Register for the Crash Course in Self-Employment Taxes Feb. 6 at 11am Central

MSS Entrepreneurs Hub + Mastermind

MSS Studio Launch Grant Competition

Music Studio Business Building 101

Business Finance for Music Teachers