We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shoko Wolfson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shoko, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes, I do take vacations.

First off, let me introduce myself. I am a wife, mother of two young daughters and founder of a yoga and piano studio. I teach piano and yoga, and perform classical piano as a pianist and accompanist.

I was born and grew up in Japan, which is where I met my husband who is from Denver. So when my younger daughter turned 1 month, we moved to the United States.

Until I married my husband, working and taking vacations were my favorite things to do. My routine was to work for 30 days straight, then I would give myself a solo vacation to a foreign country for a week. I read a lot of business books, self help, and novels to try to become a better and more interesting person.

I enjoyed being a classical piano accompanist, piano teacher, yoga instructor, as well as managing and training yoga teachers, managing and opening new studios, coaching fashion models, and consulting for a few companies.

I loved work, I loved creating new things, and I loved keeping myself busy.
The vacations kept my intuition sharp, creating new ideas. After each vacation, I always felt refreshed and like I learned a lot. I went to Europe, Hawaii, and especially South Asia a lot. Every time I went places, I took yoga classes, cooking classes, nutrition classes, and attended classical concerts.

As an extension of these vacations, I taught in Seoul, Bali and Hong Kong. I didn’t want my vacation just to be relaxing or fun.
I wanted some kind of educational trip to improve my skills or better serve my clients by what I could offer them.
It definitely worked well for me. I always got a good response from students or clients after come back from vacations.

After I became a mom of two, things are a little different than that period. I’m currently working a job that pays me less and doesn’t require as much time as when I was single. Even though I don’t have the career that I used to, I still have passion for my job.

Soon I am going to take longest vacation I’ve ever taken in my business life.
I’m going to take a 4 month vacation next year. I am taking my daughters to Japan to give them some cultural experiences.
Before they start school, my husband and I wanted them to enjoy their other homeland as long as we can offer them.
My parents are getting older and older, so it will be great for them to spend time with each other. It will be great for their language abilities, too.

However I have to cancel my lessons for 4 months. I felt so sorry for my students, especially since they are young and I didn’t want disturb the routines they already have. This time, I don’t worry so much about losing my students, but my students losing their musical paths. I announced this to the parents and told them that they are welcome to find other teachers, or can come back to me after I return, as well as take part in an online guide program. I offer my students the ability to take a video of their performances once a week and send it to me. Then I will make comments and give them advice and their homework for the next week. The online guide program for 4 months will be tuition free because I’ve never done it and it’s new for me.

It will be challenging, and I don’t know what will happen, but I want to do my best.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I do have my own piano and yoga studio.
And I perform as a pianist and accompanist. Since I am currently raising two young daughters, I feel like I am much better at teaching kids now. I feel more commitment with them than before and I also have a more balanced understanding of parents’ and students’ issues or feelings.
I feel like teachers really need to communicate with young kids as well as their parents.

One of my students has ADHA. When he came to me, he was not able to sit for more than 5 seconds on the piano bench.
His mother and father are very loving people and supportive of him. They knew he loved music and they saw that he had a good ear and rhythm. I was amazed by him and how he likes music. I was also amazed by his parents’ deep love for him. I really wanted to grow and learn with him through music together!

We started by playing games and doing music activities, like singing and dancing. Little by little, he was able to sit in front of the piano for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and now he is taking piano lessons for 30 minutes. He performed piano, singing with dancing during our last recital at my house. He made everyone smile and brought us all joy. I am very proud of him, and I respect his parents so much.

When I was little, I didn’t have fun or good memories taking piano Iessons. I didn’t communicate or talk so much with my past piano teachers. This is because I was a very shy girl but also because my teachers didn’t seem interested in communicating with me. I think communication with students and parents are very important for enjoying the music and our time together.

I had another not so good experience related to music in my childhood. My mother put a lot money into my piano lessons. She found the best teacher in my hometown and paid a very expensive tuition. I think she thought that it was the best way and would be enough for her daughter. She dropped me off at my piano teacher’s home and picked me up when I finished. I was not sharp girl, and I always forgot what the teacher was telling me by the time I got home. I didn’t have the idea to take notes either.

If my mother was a little more involved and came to every lesson with me and had better communication between us, would I have been a little bit better? Or would the tuition she paid have been a little more worth it?

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Education for a New World by Maria Montessori

My husband and I read many books by Maria Montessori when our first daughter was born. Her literature encouraged and taught us a lot. It especially made a big impact on my piano teaching style and philosophy.

I love that she said, “We have a problem – adults are at the center of civilization. If the authorities shift their gaze to children, to children’s souls, we can create a peaceful world. Education is a weapon of peace.”

Making nuclear weapons or guns never improves the world. To improve any child’s environment by giving them love is what it takes to make world better. That I strongly believe.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I think I am not the right person to answer this question because I don’t like using social media at all. I deleted all of my social media accounts when the pandemic started. My first daughter was 6 months at that time, so my husband suggested us to quit social media to focus our lives on the present. I’m very thankful about what he suggested me, and I feel so happy without social media even though I lost contact with many acquaintances.

To me, there is no need to live a life dominated by smartphones or worry about what other people see of my life.
I do have a very small business, I don’t just want anyone as a customer, but I want organic encounters with people who find the things I offer pleasant.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pianoyogi.com

Image Credits

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