Handling the Hard Parts of Owning a Business

Don’t get me wrong for even one second.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do. In fact, I wrote a whole post about it recently on our Leaders Blog.    I sincerely believe I have the best/coolest/most rewarding job on the face of the planet.  And really, who could argue with this cuteness?  But that’s where the conversation usually ends with most people who also think they have the “best/coolest/most rewarding job”.  Most business owners I know won’t openly divulge the icky, not-so-fun parts of what they do, which is terribly unfair.  Business ownership is often put on a tall, shiny pedestal without so much as a mention of how that pedestal was built, how it stays standing and polished, and what it takes to stay there living the perceived awesome entrepreneurial life. Want the honest to goodness truth??  It takes a lot of hard work and grit. We are talking serious determination. Long hours. Unpaid work. Tons of trial AND error. Revisions like you wouldn’t believe. And so on and so on… There are things I have dealt with as a business owner that I never Read More

2016: Simplify, Streamline, Self-Care (part 3)

STOP!!!!  Stop what you are doing right now! Take a deep breath.  How did that feel?  Pretty great, right? Take another one. A slow, deep breath.  Remind yourself to simply breathe and take a second to step away from everything. Close your eyes and take another deep breath.  You’ve got this.  When I feel myself starting to tense up and my shoulders slowly creeping toward my ears, I remind myself to stop, take a moment. Breathe. Remember, to breathe. Previously, I’ve talked A LOT about self care in a series called “Love Yourself”.  However, it’s soooo important that I’m going to rehash it now. Take at least a little time out of every single day to…you guessed it… Do something (literally ANYTHING) for yourself. We get so consumed in the tasks we “have” to do every day that we simply forget to take care of ourselves.  We forget that in order to care for our families, help other people, or be successful at work, that we first have to take care of our selves.  We have to make sure our proverbially batteries Read More

LOVE Yourself Financially & Value Your Services

Working in a client-centered field, my primary concern is generally the well being and satisfaction of the individuals I work with.  I want to make sure that their needs are met, that they are happy with the services they receive, and that they will continue to return in the future.    I try to be reasonable, fair, and understanding in all of our dealings, taking into account the human side of my work.  At the end of the day though, I have to remember that I am running a business and that I have to take care of myself and my needs.  I have to take care of myself financially so that I can continue to keep my doors open and provide the same level of services my clients are used to receiving. I have to remind myself: This is not only my passion, but my profession, my company, my livelihood. When figuring out how much I’m going to charge my clients, how much I want to pay my employees, how much I’m willing to pay in rent, I have Read More

Celebrating 2 Years in Buisness

It’s hard to believe that we are celebrating 2 years in business today!  My how time flies and things change.  For a recap of year 1 you can check out this post! Year 2 has seen a few changes as well! In the past year I have: Doubled my hours at the hospital Started an email newsletter Updated my business fb page Put out tons of tweets Took on several new clients Blogged every week Put out several new resources Recorded new music Had my first little learners music class Started planning my 2nd little learners music class  Had a booth at a local health fair Join the Illinois Association of Music Therapy Executive Board Put together a series on being a traveling MT  Was interviewed by MusicTherapyEd.com Presented to 2 hospice agencies AND SO MUCH MORE!! I am thrilled going into this 3rd year!  There are so many awesome projects in the works!  There are going to be a couple changes happening, but I promise they will all be AMAZING!!! Stay tuned for all the latest happenings and subscribe Read More

The Traveling Music Therapist – Apps I LOVE part 2

When I posted about the apps I love to use on the road, there are a few of my absolute favorite that I forgot!  Here are a few bonus apps to round out the bunch I listed yesterday!   Enjoy! 1. On Song – A wonderful app for downloading, organizing, and creating lyric and chords sheets that you can always have on hand digitally. 2.  Music Notes – I have an account with musicnotes.com where I download the majority of music for my students.  What’s nice about the app is that once you purchase the song, you also have a digital copy available that can be transposed into most any key!  You can also add any of the notes you need, highlight specific words, notes, or parts, and easily flip between pages. 3.  Wordpress – Because my website it done through wordpress, I love having the app handy.  This way I can write blog posts from Starbucks, my car, or hotel room (at conferences or on vacation) without having to lug my computer along!   I can also make several Read More