We were lucky to catch up with Steve Laureti recently and have shared our conversation below.

Steve, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I’ve been fortunate to earn a full-time living from my creative work as a professional corporate event pianist and entertainer, but it was definitely not an overnight success. Like most creative careers, the journey was gradual and built through consistency, relationships, and learning how to treat music as both an art and a business.

I started performing publicly at a young age, playing in local venues and sitting in with bands, which helped me develop not just musically, but as a performer who could read a room and connect with an audience. Over time, I found my niche in upscale events, particularly corporate events, country clubs, and interactive piano and dueling piano-style shows. That focus helped me differentiate myself in a crowded entertainment market.

One of the biggest milestones was realizing that talent alone isn’t enough – you have to build a brand. That led to the creation of my professional platform, NYPianist.com, where I showcase my work, share performance videos, testimonials, and provide resources for corporate planners and private clients looking to elevate their events with live piano entertainment. Treating my website as a hub for my brand helped legitimize what I do and made it much easier for high-end clients to find and trust me.

It also wasn’t like this from day one financially. In the early years, I balanced performing with other work while reinvesting in better marketing, professional videos, networking with event planners, and building long-term relationships with venues and corporate clients.

Over time, those efforts compounded, leading to more referrals, repeat bookings, and higher-profile events.

Looking back, I could have sped up the process by embracing the business side of creativity earlier – things like social media, branding, and building an online presence intentionally.

If you’re a creative professional today, your digital footprint matters. Being discoverable online and clearly communicating your value, especially in niches like corporate events or luxury entertainment, can dramatically shorten the path to making your creative work your full-time career.

Steve, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Steve Laureti, a corporate event pianist, professionally known as “The New York Pianist,” and I’ve built my career around creating elevated, interactive live music experiences for corporate events, country clubs, private celebrations, and upscale social gatherings nationwide.

I’m a self and classically trained pianist/singer who transitioned into the world of live event entertainment, blending musicianship with crowd engagement, improvisation, and high-energy performance.

I started playing piano at a young age, but early on I realized that what excited me most wasn’t just playing music, it was creating memorable moments. I began performing in restaurants, bars, and local venues, sitting in with bands and learning how to read a room. Those experiences taught me how to adapt my style to different audiences, which eventually became the foundation of my brand.

Over time, I found my niche in corporate and luxury events, where clients weren’t just looking for background music, they wanted an experience that energized their guests and created a memorable atmosphere.

Today, through my brand and platform NYPianist.com, I provide professional live piano entertainment for corporate events, corporate retreats, country club events, weddings, private parties, and interactive piano sing-along shows, including dueling piano-style performances. I consider myself a high-end partner and work closely with event planners, corporate teams, and venue managers to customize each performance to match the tone of the event, whether that’s elegant cocktail piano, upbeat dinner entertainment, or a high-energy interactive show to close out the night.

The main problem I solve for clients is uncertainty. Many planners worry about whether live entertainment will resonate with their specific audience. My job is to remove that risk by designing performances that feel intentional, polished, and engaging. I’m not just providing music, I’m helping create flow for an event, filling awkward gaps in energy, encouraging participation when appropriate, and enhancing the overall guest experience. That ability to read the room and adjust in real time is what consistently leads to repeat bookings and referrals.

What sets me apart is that I operate at the intersection of musician and event professional. I understand timing, pacing, audience psychology, and how live entertainment fits into the bigger picture of a corporate or private event. My performances aren’t “one-size-fits-all.” They’re curated experiences shaped by the room, the people, and the goals of the host.

I’m most proud of building a sustainable creative business rooted in professionalism, consistency, and trust. Being invited back year after year by corporate clients (IBM, The Masters, The US Open), venues throughout the United States, and planners is incredibly meaningful to me because it reflects long-term relationships, not just one-off performances. I’m also proud of maintaining a high standard for live piano entertainment, showing that a pianist can be both musically refined and genuinely engaging in modern event environments.

The main thing I want potential clients and followers to know is that working with me is meant to feel easy and reliable. I care deeply about making events successful AND sounding good musically. Whether someone is planning a high-end corporate event, a country club function, or a private celebration, my goal is to elevate the experience and leave people saying, “That was the highlight of the night.”

You can learn more about my work, event services, and performance style at NYPianist.com, where I share videos, testimonials, and resources for planners and hosts looking to create unforgettable live music experiences.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me is seeing how live music can completely transform the energy in a room. There’s something powerful about watching a group of people, especially at corporate events or formal gatherings, start out reserved and then gradually open up, connect, and genuinely enjoy the moment because of the atmosphere you help create.

As a pianist and live entertainer, I’m not just playing songs, I’m helping shape experiences. I want the guests to be a part of the show. Whether it’s a corporate retreat, a country club dinner, or an interactive piano sing-along at the end of a long conference day, those moments where people relax, laugh, and engage with one another are incredibly fulfilling. Music becomes the bridge that brings people together, and being the person who facilitates that connection is what keeps the work meaningful for me year after year.

Another rewarding aspect is the trust clients place in me. When an event planner or corporate team brings me in, they’re trusting that I’ll help elevate an important moment for their organization or their guests. Delivering on that trust, and often exceeding expectations, is deeply satisfying. It reinforces that what I do isn’t just entertainment; it’s a service that supports the success of an event.

Ultimately, what I love most is that this work lives at the intersection of creativity and business. Building a brand like The New York Pianist and growing platforms like NYPianist.com has allowed me to take something I love, playing piano, and use it to create meaningful, shared experiences for people in real life. That never gets old.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One thing I think non-creatives often struggle to understand is that what looks like “just showing up and playing” is actually the result of years of invisible work. From the outside, performing at a corporate event or country club might look effortless or even glamorous, but behind every polished performance is a lot of preparation, discipline, and decision-making that most people never see.

There’s the creative side – practice, repertoire building, learning how to read a room, but there’s also the business side that many non-creatives don’t realize exists. Things like branding, client communication, contracts, logistics, travel, marketing, maintaining an online presence, and building long-term relationships with planners and venues are all part of the job. When you’re running a creative business, you’re not just an artist, you’re also the marketer, the operations manager, and the customer experience team.

Another piece that’s hard to see from the outside is the emotional investment. When your work is creative, it’s personal. You’re putting something you care about into the world and tying your livelihood to how people respond to it. That takes resilience. Not every gig leads to a breakthrough, not every marketing effort pays off immediately, and not every opportunity is a win, but you keep showing up anyway because you believe in the long-term vision.

I think if more people understood that creative careers are built through consistency and professionalism, not just talent, they’d have a deeper appreciation for what goes into making creative work sustainable. Building a brand like The New York Pianist and growing a platform like NYPianist.com has been about treating creativity with the same seriousness and structure as any other business while still protecting the joy and passion that made me start in the first place.

If someone reading this is considering a creative path, my biggest insight would be: it’s not about waiting to be “discovered.” It’s about building something intentionally, one relationship and one performance at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.NYPianist.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewyorkpianist
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/stevelaureti