We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Lipson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.

Rachel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

In my early days of Blue Balloon, one of my young students asked me who my Blue Balloon teacher was when I was a kid. I had to break the news to her that Blue Balloon wasn’t around then and I did not, in fact, have a Blue Balloon teacher as a child ;)

When you picture your own childhood piano lessons (if you had them) what do you think of? Do you imagine a teacher with a ruler keeping the beat and reminding you to sit up straight and play the same scales on repeat or do you picture a teacher who makes your experience of playing an instrument fun and dynamic all while motivating you to grow as a player? As a child, my music teachers were the former. It was all serious and strict and I was given the impression that I’d have to be the equivalent of first chair in the symphony orchestra before I’d be able to even consider composing anything.

As I grew up and moved away from home, I had friends teach me chords on the guitar and it unlocked a creative outlet in music that I didn’t know I was missing. The first day I wrote a song with the handful of chords I’d just learned and then didn’t stop. By the time I was 25 I had written hundreds of songs.

When I taught my first guitar lesson, I knew I wanted to teach music in a more progressive way. I also knew that at the heart of my love of music is my love of songwriting. I began to hone my ability to tie it all together and teach kids how to play instruments through writing their own songs.

Fast forward nearly 15 years, and Blue Balloon has nearly 100 teachers teaching kids the art of songwriting.

Rachel, 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?

Blue Balloon Songwriting for Small People was founded on the principle that anyone can write a song. Founded in 2010, we are the premier music school for kids in NYC, The Hamptons, Nashville, Miami and beyond! Beyond the typical approach to music lessons, students of all ages (starting at around three years old) learn how to plan an instrument through writing their own songs.

Blue Balloon specializes in private and small group in-home music lessons. Classes culminate in an end of the year showcase at City Winery in NYC and the Bluebird Café in Nashville, giving kids a chance to perform live and plugged in for a supportive and engaged audience.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

It was June of 2010 and I was a twenty something preschool teacher without a trust fund or savings who had a great idea to start a business, I took a real chance when I left my job and took the plunge into entrepreneurship but knew I couldn’t do it alone. It was the early days of crowd funding and I started a Kickstarter and asked people I knew to contribute. Within a few weeks, I not only had a (small!) nest egg to cover a couple months of health insurance but I also had a long list of supporters who I knew were backing my business. Over time, the support proved to be more crucial than the few thousand dollars I raised.

To this day, I have bootstrapped my business and re-invested as much as possible into the growth of the company. I still remember the names of almost everyone who donated to that early campaign and gave me the boost of support I needed to go off on my own.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

We built our clientele primarily through word of mouth. Now, nearly 15 years in, we have a loyal community of families who refer one another. I love seeing the families support each other at our annual showcase, those who are old friends or meeting for the first time. Over the years, as the founder, I’ve become friends with many of our clients and have had the tremendous opportunity to watch their children grow up. While there are many strategies for growing your clientele, you cannot put a price tag on a loyal following and folks who appreciate what you do and tell their friends and family! Relationships are always more important than anything else and I am so proud of the creative, supportive community we’ve built.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blueballoonschool.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blueballoonschool
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rlipson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlipson/

Image Credits
Isabelle Selby, Bjorn Bolinder, James Paul Mitchell, Delphine Warin