We recently connected with Andrew Malozemoff and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

6 years ago I started a fledgling audio services business as a freelancer. At that point I had worked as a lawyer for 5 years. Once upon a time I loved music. I loved it so much that I studied it in college. Soon after graduating, without any obvious work prospects and with some pressure to make something of myself I somewhat begrudgingly pursued a law degree. After 5 years of practicing law I realized time was quickly passing me by and I had never actually pursued my dream of making a career in music. So I quit my job and went freelance. I was married with one child so it was a bit of a risk, to put it lightly, but within 2 years I had a number of clients and some plans on expanding the business. The second child, however, ended up having special needs and medical expenses forced me to return to my previous work in law to avoid paying for health insurance. I have kept up the music business on the side, and continue to serve clients and run a small record label, something that I would never have been able to do was it not for the concentrated effort up-front.

Looking back, I would definitely wish to have started the business sooner. The life pressure of starting a business can be really intense, and a lot of that pressure would have been avoided if I had just gone for it early on, before I even considered another career. At that point I would have fulfilled the need to pursue the dream, and if I was going to transition to something else I would have had a much clearer head as to where my skills and interests lie such that the transition would have been much smoother and more measured.

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 freelance in audio services under the brand name Lucky Cat Music and Sound, and run a small record label, Lucky Cat Music, which has been a platform for me to release my own music as well as get others’ music onto major streaming platforms. I have done work in sound design, audio editing, audio cleaning, audio post-production, sound mixing and mastering for music and video, sound recording, music production, vocal production, music composition, music performance, and more. I’ve been doing this on and off personally for over 20 years, professionally for 6 years, and currently run the business and a studio out of my home in the NY metro area. I have worked with clients around the globe on projects small and large, from simply tuning a vocal performance, through producing full musical albums, to sound-designing a full-length musical audio-drama.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have two children. The second was diagnosed with epilepsy at 2 years old, and has mild autism. As a result of his medical issues (hospitalizations, medical visits, etc.) I’ve had to curtail my freelance business in order to maintain work that provides decent health insurance, because maintaining my own medical expenses is just crazy.

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

The most effective strategy for me has simply been trying to be a reasonable and trustworthy person who tries to do the best work possible. I believe that this has enabled me to form pretty strong relationships with some of my clients that have always led to good reviews online, and have sometimes led to referrals. Most recently I have started to do more sound for video due to a referral from a client who does work in the movie industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: luckycatmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lckyct/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjXs2bIAkj0UnnxHUKjOQZQ
• Other: https://luckycatmusic.bandcamp.com/