We were lucky to catch up with ERIC BOURASSA recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, ERIC thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I was a public school elementary music teacher by day, guitar and piano instructor out of my house by night. I was burning the candle at both ends and needed to pick one path. The self-employed path (teaching out of my house by night) had the most potential for growth, but being an elementary school teacher was the safe choice.
Older, wiser people told me leaving my full time job was a bad idea.

I took the risk and quit my full time job at the elementary school where I was making more money in hopes that teaching privately out of my house would continue to grow. By the end of that first summer when my elementary school paycheck stopped coming, I was making more teaching privately than I had at the school and working less hours.

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 am proud of the awesome team I get to work with every day at Fort Worth Music Academy. The scariest day of being self-employed was when I hired my first employee. Today I am so happy that students get to learn from and work with some of the most talented musicians and teachers that I know.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My music school has had its share of ups and downs- from several team members to just 2 and back again. From profitable to “OH MY GOSH IS THERE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY RENT” and back again several times. Transitioning to online lessons during the shutdowns and transitioning back again to in-person lessons. There is always something unexpected, so resiliency is a requirement but also not even a choice- you have no option except to be resilient!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn a really terrible concept that was taught to me by my first business mentor- “find a way to extract as much money from people as possible.” That teaches you to look at people as nothing more than cash machines, pawns for building your empire. After parting ways with this mentor, another music school owner helped me shift my thinking by saying, “If someone calls looking for violin lessons and you don’t have them, recommend another place that does have them and provide the phone number. Do everything you can to help that person even if it doesn’t benefit you directly.”
This rewired my brain to think about how to serve people first instead of always trying to take. And I’ve been much happier ever since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fortworthmusicacademy.com/
• Instagram: @fortworthmusicacademy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fortworthmusicacademy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FortWorthMusicAcademy

Image Credits
Renee Tacheny