We were lucky to catch up with Arianna Hume & Cassidy Gephart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arianna Hume & Cassidy Gephart, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

We both agree that choosing an untraditional path, like starting a business together, is one of the biggest risks of them all! When we chose to create Liberty Music Academy together back in 2019 , we both had to had to make some sacrifices to transition from working more “normal” (and secure) jobs to starting from scratch and building a business from the ground up, knowing that there’s always the chance of it never taking off. And look how it turned out! We couldn’t be happier to now have a thriving, diverse, and constantly growing community of music educators, students, and supportive parents that all call LMA home.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Both of us graduated from Belmont University where we met while pursuing a degree in commercial music. We now split our time between running LMA & pursuing our individual music careers in Nashville. For Cassidy, that means writing and recording her original music, while Arianna is more in the “work for hire” world providing vocals for film, songwriters, and live events.

We came together because we both had a common vision of being able to provide a different type of music learning experience to our students. Our school addresses a need that we see in Nashville for a more comprehensive lesson experience, where we cater each lesson & group experience to the individual student rather than trying to fit everyone into the same box.

We’re so proud of the growth we’ve experienced, especially considering the young age of our business! The most important thing to know about LMA is that you are important to us. We want to provide students and families with all the skills and tools we use each day as professional musicians, and the musical education each of our students receive is tailored to their specific interests and what will most help them succeed in the real world.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I (Cassidy) saw a quote the other day that went something like this, “I quit my 9-5 working for my boss and now I work 24-7 for myself!” I resonate with that sentiment so much and I think it’s challenging to express to people who have only known a traditional career path WHY it is that I’ve chosen the path of self-employment and entrepreneurship. It’s true that oftentimes it feels like there is no such thing as a day off, and that there is always more work to do, but it is 100% worth it when the smallest idea turns into a vision, and then the vision turns into reality. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Arianna here! This is such a good question! Something I wish I’d know about earlier in my journey as a full-time singer & business owner is the importance of finding your music community. Pursuing a music career can sometimes feel like a solo venture, where it’s you against the rest of the world, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Something we try to instill in our students early on is a deep appreciation for their musical peers, through monthly group classes & lots of student collaborations. We want them to gain an early understanding of musical styles and instruments that are different from their own, and how awesome it can be to put musicians in a room together and see what they can create together. Because that’s the real fun in music – at LMA we’re raising a new generation of open-minded creatives rather than musicians focused only on a solo artist path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.libertymusicacademytn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertymusicacademytn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibertyMusicAcademyTN
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6QAJbSWQLsD5-6IBEgXMUQ

Image Credits
Kayla Eileen, Media Annelise and Sarah Photography