We were lucky to catch up with Gaurav Bali recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gaurav, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

In 2005, I was advertising my guitar lessons online and received a message from a woman named Mrs. Hill who was trying to find a guitar teacher for her daughter. I asked her some standard questions, she asked some standard questions and we set up a time for a first lesson at their house.

As I was getting closer to the address she gave me I started to notice that all of a sudden it felt like I was driving into Beverly Hills – huge beautiful homes that would definitely qualify as “mansions”…I thought it was interesting but didn’t think much more of it…

When I rang the doorbell of this enormous house a lady answered the door and introduced herself as Mrs. Hill. She greeted me and said that her daughter would be down shortly. A younger lady game down with a guitar and introduced herself as “Ms. Hill”. As soon as I showed her some new chords she started playing them and singing along – just improvising – and she sounded INCREDIBLE…All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks and I blurted out, “ Are you Lauren Hill??”…She was Lauren Hill from the Fugees and she’d asked her mother to find her a guitar teacher!

We continued for a few months before she got busy with making a new album and she even asked me to come to the studio to possibly play on it…Unfortunately, for some reason they stopped communicating with me and nothing came of it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business is called All In Music. I’m a professional guitarist and guitar teacher that has been teaching for 30 years (since I was 18). I was in a professional rock band from New York City for about 15 years that had a couple of major label record deals and did extensive touring. After I left that project I moved to Nashville for 7 years where I played with a couple of country artists and a great pop band.

I recently moved back to New York and I’m concentrating on teaching full time. I currently teach 27 students online and I’m hoping to eventually open a music school which teachers that cover other instruments also such as bass guitar, drums, keyboards etc. The goal is for my school to do online lessons, in person classes at the students home and even have an actual physical location where students can go for their lessons!

I’ve always loved teaching and had a passion for it. There’s no better feeling than when a student finally nails a song, scale or whatever they’ve been working on because of my help. I think I’m in a unique position for a couple of reasons. One is that I’m a writer, performer and recording artist that teaches, so I bring practical experience from all those areas to my students…Also, my age; I’m “old enough” to have decades of experience to offer, but still “young enough” to relate to my students because they’re anywhere in age from 8 years old to over 60 years old. I’ve developed a basic method and plan for my lessons through the years that is extremely effective , but of course, I ultimately cater to the individual goals and strengths of each student.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think that right from the moment we do our first session, my clients know that I’m extremely patient, but also very passionate about their success – whatever that means. It could be a beginner that’s just learning their first chords all the way to a student who’s been playing for a few years already but has been frustrated by their progress. My students know that I always try my best go beyond the “call of duty” to make sure that we’re consistently progressing towards their long and short term goals.

One of the best feelings I can have is when a client refers me because they believe that I’ve helped them and can do the same for their friends or family…Oh, and I’m always on time and reliable!

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

A few years ago I bought five really cool beginner guitars and offered them as a holiday gift for the next five students that enrolled with me for lesson packages. Three of those guitars are still being used for our lessons to this day and are holding strong.

There’s nothing better than giving someone their first guitar and I may do this promotion again in the future!!

Contact Info:

• Website: Allinmusiclessons.com
• Instagram: Allinmusiclessons