Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Simmons.
Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my professional career as most music teachers do, in a school, and teaching private lessons on the side. The Charter school that I worked closed after my 3rd year of working with them. But I had 22 private lessons at the time. (Which I would come to realize is a TON of lessons to be doing a week along side a full time teaching gig.) I made the harrowing decision to focus my career on teaching private lessons, which I had a passion for. 22 became 32, became 42, and by 2023, when my predecessor approached me about taking over the music studio that I was working at, I was teaching over 50 lessons a week. Although I was apprehensive at first to take this step in my career, I decided to bet on myself, accept the offer, and I have been running Melody Makers Music Academy for just over 2 years now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s had its up’s and down’s for sure. The biggest struggle has mostly been the learning curves that took me from a small studio of about 14, traveling to peoples houses, no website, no social media, no systems, to running a studio with 12 teachers, 80+ families and 100+ weekly lessons. I feel like everything I had to learn (Either by through study, or trial and error) has been a stepping stone toward a smoother road.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a teacher and entrepreneur. I got my degree in music education with a concentration in voice from Rowan University. Currently I teach 50+ students a week. About 90% of those are Piano students, with the remaining 10% being between voice and Guitar. At this point, I consider myself most a piano player. It is the instrument that I feel most fluent with, that I can talk through, and that makes me the happiest. I’m most proud of how far I’ve come in the last eight years. From someone who was very unhappy, very unconfident, considering giving up, starting a new career, or worse, To a person who refuses to let adversity shape my outcome. Every single time I felt like I had fallen I used as an opportunity to learn and grow. I became resilient and that resilience is making me see that nothing is impossible. I set my ego aside, learn from my mistakes, forgive myself, and try to meet every confrontation as an opportunity to practice empathy. It allows me to see the future with more optimism and clarity.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I might be the luckiest person that I’ve ever met. I was lucky to be born into a family with hard-working parents. My Dad became a successful entrepreneur in the early 2000s. They put me through college, and allowed me to live at home after deciding to take on entrepreneurship. In 2013 I had an interview at Music! Lessons and More in Morristown with my predecessor Fran Secrest. It was the same day as a friend of mine from Rowan. All things considered he should’ve gotten the job ha ha. But I was lucky enough to get that opportunity and over that next decade Fran and I developed a strong working relationship, and a friendship that would eventually lead to her offering to sell me her business as she was getting ready to retire. At every turn in my life I’ve had amazing people in my corner. No matter what I do as a business owner, and as a person, will I never take for granted how lucky I’ve been.
Pricing:
- 30 minute Private lessons- $36
- 45 minute Private lessons- $51
- 60 minute Private lessons- $65
- Trial lesson offer- $21 (for a 30 minute trial)
- Sibling Discount- $5 discount off of the 2nd student registered in your family
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melodymakersonline.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melody_makers_online/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelodyMakersOnline
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MelodyMakersOnline
