Transcript: Snapshot 044 – Jaclyn Mrozek
Transcript for Snapshot 044 – Jaclyn Mrozek
Andrea 00:02
Hey, it’s Andrea with Music Studio Startup, the podcast about the business of teaching music. Learn from the startup stories of music teachers who are doing incredible things with their studios. Be inspired by creative musicians who are branching out and thriving as entrepreneurs. Be empowered by the insights of experts who will help you grow your own studio. Let’s get started. Welcome back. We’re running our summer podcast series called Studio Snapshots. Rather than the in-depth process-oriented interviews you’re used to hearing, these rapid-fire interviews give us a glimpse into a guest’s studio at a moment in time. They’re part reflection, part anticipation of the future, and fully a celebration of where these teachers are today. Today, I’m talking to Jaci Mrozek. Here’s Jaci’s Snapshot.
Andrea 00:58
Hi, Jaci. Welcome to the podcast. Today, we are doing a Studio Snapshot, which is a quick kind of rapid-fire interview about where your studio is at this moment in time. So, to kick us off, can you introduce yourself and tell us briefly about your studio?
Jaclyn Mrozek 01:11
Absolutely. Thank you, Andrea. My name is Jaclyn Mrozek. Most people know me by Jaci and I have a studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I do private lessons, partner lessons. I do super small groups for the wee little bitty beginners.
Andrea 01:27
And as we reflect on this last year, what are you celebrating from the last school year?
Jaclyn Mrozek 01:32
What I’m celebrating is that the year worked. It’s not flashy, it wasn’t dramatic or full of new amazing things, but my students grew, they performed, and they were pretty spectacular. They made me proud. I’ve been teaching for almost 29 years now, and I think there’s something to celebrate when you just have a good, steady, successful year.
Andrea 01:54
Yeah, absolutely! And 20 years in and still thriving, you know, mentally and in all those ways. So congratulations. How were you challenged in the last year?
Jaclyn Mrozek 02:04
You know, the challenge for me was more internal. The studio itself was fine. It pretty much ran like a well-oiled machine, so I genuinely had an incredibly smooth year, like I said. But on my own end, I could feel my own energy being lowered. You know, I love teaching, but I also think that independent studio teachers carry a lot. We are the teacher, scheduler, communicator, event planner, we’re like all the things. So, the hard lesson for me was, you know, like, yes, I have this really smooth year, this is great, but why don’t I have all the energy? So I had a lot of reflecting. I think for me, we talk about over-scheduled students all the time, but in a way, I became the over-scheduled teacher, so that’s my biggest challenge to solve right now.
Andrea 02:51
I think a lot of people can relate to that. Did you take any risks or go outside your comfort zone this last year? Ah, yeah.
Jaclyn Mrozek 02:59
Yes, I did. I did with my recital. I know that doing recital themes are a thing. I feel like everybody does it, but me. And so I finally was like, I’m going to do it. I’m going to do a recital theme. I’m not talking like a Halloween or Christmas. Obviously, I made for my spring. So we did a movies and film theme and it was really fun, but it was a challenge, you know, as far as collecting the music for the students. And I found myself going into MuseScore Studio and rearranging some for certain students. And then others wanted to do duets. And how do I make this for my group? So I felt like it was definitely a risk because everybody was so excited and I thought, I don’t want to let them down. But it ended up being fantastic. And I think now I might have to be a themed recital teacher. I don’t know. To be continued.
Andrea 03:48
Was there anything from that experience aside from maybe I’ll be a theme recital teacher that you’re going to take forward like, Oh, I did this thing. It was new. It was uncomfortable, but I can do these things. Were there any more general personal lessons that you took from that?
Jaclyn Mrozek 04:03
Yeah, I think having to give myself permission that I can take pieces and adapt them for my students to make them fit them, if that makes sense. I always would be on a high and be like, well, I can’t find this right level for this student or I can’t do that. But being able to only take excerpts, for example, like Froze, “Let It Go” for this four-year-old. I mean, she was so happy just playing eight measures that I wrote. So just giving myself permission to step outside of the sit down, breathe the notation, memorize all the traditional things. It was a freeing thing because these are things I talk about with teachers all the time, but it’s not necessarily something that I have implemented. So that was a lot of fun. Yeah.
Andrea 04:55
I like that. Thank you. What do summers look like in your studio for you and also your students?
Jaclyn Mrozek 05:00
Oh, summer. Okay. So this is what we do. We’re on a 12 month billing schedule and they know ahead of time that in order to save their spot for the fall, they got to take lessons in the summer and I give them an option. Either they can do a one week camp, which is four days for two hours, or they can take eight lessons and I put my whole schedule up in the calendar so they can schedule themselves whenever. So example, this week I had a girl come three mornings in a row. So every morning at 10 AM, I was like, hey, you’re here again, this is great. So they’ll get their eight lessons in a month or they’ll spread it out weekly. So I let them choose and then with the mix of camps, it all evens out to where I get a pretty chill summer, but it’s also fun because it’s different. Every day is different. I don’t know who I’m going to see. I can’t wear the same outfit every day, kind of a thing. So it keeps things very interesting.
Andrea 05:56
Uh-huh. And what timeframe do you have those scheduled in? Is it like June through July, they do those eight lessons or camps, or what’s your summer timeframe?
Jaclyn Mrozek 06:04
That’s a great question. I don’t really have it down to a science. I kind of just leave it up to me. I try not to do the camps two weeks in a row because I know that I’ll wear myself out. So I have two offerings. One’s for the younger kids, one’s for the older kids. And so I try to do an AM camp at least twice, one in June, and then the other age group, AM class in July. And then I try to do a PM class. So there’s four camps available total and they’re spread out about every two weeks. And if they don’t fill up, like let’s say that I have students come back and be like, Oh, I really want to do this camp, but I’m not going to be here. And you know, it’s kind of like a majority thing. Then I’ll switch things around. One example is one of the camps did not fill up at all. So I just canceled it. And now I just won’t teach those afternoons. So I’m not sad. It’s gonna be fine.
Andrea 06:53
What are you doing this summer to prep for the next school year?
Jaclyn Mrozek 06:55
For summer, obviously, I’m thinking about the next school year, just like all the other teachers. I work with a lot of teachers, so we talk a lot about policies and building our schedule. I am always reflecting and always thinking, okay, what didn’t work last year? What did work? I think that’s why this past year went so smooth because last year at this time, I was like, what days of the week do I get tired? What patterns do I see in November? Every November, I always get sick. It’s like a thing. Looking for those kind of patterns and planning ahead and really getting in my studio, we do auto pay, so all that stuff. During the summer, I’m just kind of setting all that stuff up. We’re making a few changes with our software that we use in the studio this year. It’s mainly that I am trying to decrease my student load a little bit. I think that might help with my over-scheduled teacher phase that I’m going through right now. That’s hard, but that’s kind of where I’m at right now.
Andrea 07:55
What app or tool has made the biggest impact in your studio or life management this year? Well…
Jaclyn Mrozek 08:01
The tool that probably has made the biggest impact recently for me is the Make Music Studio. We all know it as Fonz, but now it’s Make Music Studio. I’m just going to be transparent and say that I recently switched over because I’m now on the sales team, which is really exciting and very new. Just saying I haven’t even done demos yet over that new. If anybody wants practice, let me know because I need practice. The reason it has been so much fun for my studio since switching is they have these backing tracks, which is super cool. We do a lot of technical skill work during the summer to prep for an evaluation in the fall. I can use these backing tracks to practice pentascales and different forms of reading. We have been having an absolute blast with that. That’s something I’m super excited about. Then, Notion. I have become quite the Notion fanatic. I don’t think I could go without it at this point.
Andrea 08:59
I get that! What is one area of your business where you tend to get carried away or go overboard just because it’s something that you really enjoy or can nerd out about?
Jaclyn Mrozek 09:08
Ah, exciting ideas. I just have all these ideas, Andrea. And I love creating resources. I love making things more clear for my studio families. I love working with other teachers. So I’ll have an idea for my studio and I’ll think, yes, this has to happen. And then suddenly I have a huge giant project for myself and for that. And then on the flip side, at the same time, I have teacher resources and I get ideas there too. And then I’m like, oh, I got to do this. So now then I have five projects going on. And we talked about this before, the tenacity to follow through and finish them, which is not my jam. So the creating part is so much fun for me, but the follow through is hard. So it’s been good practice and it’s been good lessons in making myself slow down and be like, okay, that’s a great idea, but we’re just going to not. So that’s what I’m practicing.
Andrea 10:02
But you have a super fun studio because there’s always a new idea being implemented.
Jaclyn Mrozek 10:06
Too many ideas.
Andrea 10:09
All right, and where can listeners get in touch with you to follow along with your studio?
Jaclyn Mrozek 10:13
Well, my studio itself is Piano Kats, and that’s Cats with a K. So I do have a webpage for that, but it’s mainly for students. But if anybody wanted to get in touch with me, they can reach me at Scrappy Piano Teacher. Anything Scrappy Piano Teacher, I’m there. So Jaclyn, J-A-C-L-Y-N at Scrappy Piano Teacher. Just send me an email or follow me on Instagram.
Andrea 10:35
All right, Jaci. Thanks so much!
Jaclyn Mrozek 10:35
Thanks, Andrea.
Andrea 10:37
Thank you for taking the time to be with us, Jaci. We’ll include a transcript and all the links mentioned in this episode at musicstudiostartup.com/Snapshot044. The Music Studio Startup website is also filled with lots of other resources for music teachers just like you who want to set up their studios for success this summer, including our very popular self-paced Business Building 101 course and our hub and mastermind for studio owners who want to be supported and challenged to grow as entrepreneurs. It’s not too late to join our live cohort of Business Building 101 this summer. Register at musicstudiostartup.com/BusinessBuilding101. That’s all for today. Thanks for listening. I’ll be back next week.