I’ve been teaching in my current studio space for over 10 years. In that time, my studio has grown a lot. We’ve made renovations, improved out instruments, created new offerings… and rearranged furniture more times than I’d care to admit. (Grand pianos are so much fun to move, right?)

It’s amazing how much can change in 10 years. 

Ten years ago, my studio was primarily young piano students and a few high school singers. Now I find myself leaning more towards voice instruction for teens / adults, and piano for late beginners (10 or so) and teens who want to compose.

You could say that’s just my studio “growing up,” but now that we’re grown up… I’ve been thinking about making a pivot to focus on these two audiences.

That means letting go of some things that would no longer be useful. Last week I was looking around my studio and  I realized that some of the things in my studio weren’t aligning with my vision.

And then it struck me: it’s time to practice what you preach, Sara.

It’s time to rebrand.

Rebranding mid-pandemic might seem like an odd choice, but seeing as I have to rearrange furniture / instruments to prepare for the possibility of returning to socially distanced in-person lessons somewhere in the future, I figured… why the heck not? 

In this broadcast I decided to  “learn out loud” about how I’ve identified the shifts that have occurred naturally,  and what I’m going to do about them in the future. You’ll find further thoughts below in the show notes. 

I hope you’ll find this info inspiring as you consider the shifts that YOUR studio will be making this year…

Show Notes from the Broadcast:

As I consider this rebrand, I started with a few basic questions to ask myself. These are some of the foundations I use in the Branding Bootcamp course, and with all of my 1:1 clients. It’s helpful to revisit these ideas often as our businesses grow.

1. Who do you serve? Currently I’m serving a wide array of clients, but they have through lines that tie them together. I serve vocalists and pianists who are primarily self-motivated, who come seeking lessons knowing that music is on-going journey, and who value individualized support from someone who cares. I could go into a ton more detail, but that’s what my ideal client avatar sheets are for…
   
2. What do you serve them? My piano lessons focus on building theory foundations so that students can easily identify chord structures and intervals. This allows them to play a variety of music — but we primarily focus on whatever genre brings them joy and gets them to the keyboard most often. My vocal lessons focus on building healthy technical skills so that they can work on individual vocal goals. Most of my students are musical theatre nerds, like me — or they have other performance avenues that they want to pursue.
   
3. How are those two things reflected in your studio?  This is what made me realize I needed a rebrand. The physical space in my studio has a lot of decoration that speaks to younger piano students, and as I’m no longer pursuing that demographic, it’s time for me to let my studio grow up a bit. I’m also examining how this is reflected in my web presence… so I expect some shifts in social medias and in  my website to occur.

I’ll be documenting the changes we make this summer… here’s a quick (and messy) video of what the studio currently looks like. It’s a tad disorganized since I’ve already started sorting through materials that I’ll be retiring. More to follow!

Are you going through a rebrand? 

I’d love to learn about what you’re doing in your studio! Let me know in the comments — we can cheer each other on as we figure out the hard things.

Catch more business, mindset, and awesometicity tips here on the coaching page every Wednesday at 12pm ET.

Stay savvy, and stay you!