Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brianne Rucker . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brianne , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I would say the first defining moment in my life was being introduced to music at the age of 6. I grew up in a small town in Ohio and naturally going to Church was an almost everyday occurrence. Music ran in my blood. My father was a bassist and trumpeter, my oldest brother played saxophone, middle brother played drums/piano, and the next one also played bass. Of course I wanted to be like my older brothers so I begged and begged to play an instrument. My mother asked her friend who was a sax player to come and teach me the basics and unbeknownst to everyone, I had an ear for music. Without training, (I was 6) I was able to hear a song, melody, and play it back. Because of this moment, my life took a path I never imagined

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am from Warren, Ohio which is about 45 min away from Cleveland. I grew up in the church so music was also an influence in my childhood growing up. Like most band kids, I was in middle school band, jazz band, all state, etc all the way through high school. I received a full time music scholarship from Tennessee State University, a historically black university in Nashville Tennessee, where I studied music education. My shift focused from education to music therapy when I interned at the Nashville Symphony in the education department. I began providing music lessons to youth diagnosed with William’s syndrome and then uhh that experience. I knew I wanted to get a masters in Music Therapy.

Fast forward once graduating with my BS in Music Education, I moved to Tallahassee Fl to attend Florida State University to receive my masters in Music Therapy.

I formed a business Rucker Sounds Studio, which is a company that provides music lessons and therapeutic services to students. Our mission is to engage, expose, and educate our community through music in hopes to create an environment where they can express themselves through a positive outlet and provide their quality of life

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I could go back I would have double majored in Music Education and Psychology. Understanding behavior and cognitive behavioral therapy and music were my passions hence why I went into Music Therapy but I believe having a more in dept understanding of psychology would have been tremendously beneficial. I believe everything happens for a reason and God has a way of circling back which is why I’m grateful I have the chance to go back to school for another masters in clinical social work. This will allow me a more fundamental perspective of therapy and how to fuse my knowledge of music therapy and psychotherapy

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I am social person and not afraid to meet new people so I would say through daily contact I’ve had great success with growing clientele. I work with kids 3-17 so most times, their parents are the ones booking services so it’s been helpful connecting with parents and showing them the benefits of music services.

Facebook groups, church, word of mouth, other social media platforms have all been great when it came to recruitment.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Rucker.sounds