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

Ella, appreciate you joining us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

We started our band by playing small shows at breweries and small restaurants. We originally preformed covers and got some attention through that. Eventually, we got a deal from someone who saw one of our small shows to record at their studio. We wrote our first original at the studio and have been writing new songs ever since then. A big part of growing our fan base is through our social media. We try to post regularly and keep people engaged. We have gotten most of our new opportunities through our instagram.

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

I started playing in my band Doll Riot after I met the lead singer through our guitar teacher. I have been playing guitar for 10 years and have been in a couple other bands. We write songs relating to feminism and other personal struggles. Our shows bring a diverse crowd of people and good energy. I am proud that we wrote an entire album and have it all recorded. I am excited for when we will get to release it for others to hear.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met our lead singer through a mutual guitar teacher who encouraged us to play together. We found our bassist on craigs list and our drummer from another band.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think a big pivot in this band was when we hit a point where we had too many show opportunities and had to decide which ones to play and which to decline. We were playing so many shows it was hard for us to keep up with our personal lives and it was getting stressful for us. I never thought we would get to the point where that would become an issue.

Contact Info:

• Website: dollriotband.com
• Instagram: doll_riot
• Youtube: doll riot
• Other: spotify and other music streaming platforms: doll riot