We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Ginsberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The mission of Voyager Music Lessons is to create a community that supports working NYC musicians who in turn share their knowledge and love of music with children.
Jessica, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sure!
I graduated from Berklee College of Music in May of 2008 with a degree in Songwriting. My goal was to move to NYC and become a singer-songwriter.
I always tell people that depending on how one defines success, I was both successful AND unsuccessful: I was successful in that I always had lots of gigs at parties, bars, and restaurants, I played at most of the popular venues for singer/songwriters in Manhattan, and I made a name for myself as a session vocalist. I was unsuccessful because I never earned enough money from that work to survive financially. This is where teaching music came in.
I chose to teach because most music lessons take place on weekdays after school. I hoped that this would free up my mornings (for composing, collaborating, and working in the studio) and my late nights and weekends (for performing and connecting with other musicians). Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
I discovered that being a music teacher wasn’t only about teaching music. There was lots of other work involved like marketing, scheduling, and bookkeeping. Once I had enough students to support myself, I lacked the time or energy for my artistic pursuits. Another challenge I encountered was that I had to learn completely on the job. There was no one to guide me when I first started teaching, and it took me several years to figure it all out.
At Voyager, I work hard to eliminate the obstacles that I faced as a music teacher for the next generation of young musicians trying to make it in NYC. My time goes into all the administrative tasks so that teachers can simply give the lessons, and then go spend the rest of their days focused on their craft.
I try to look at my relationship with each teacher not only as a working relationship but as a mentorship. I wrote a guidebook for them that condenses everything I’ve learned on the job after teaching for 13 years. Being a musician in New York is not easy, and we can all use as much support and community as possible.
Besides advocating for musicians, it’s very important to me that every student learns as much as possible while having as much FUN as possible! I want parents to know that they are spending their money with purpose and that their children are not only learning the tools to become great musicians but that they are developing a love for music and the arts that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
COVID!!! Voyager opened its doors on March 3rd, 2020: a week before NYC went into lockdown. Voyager is an at-home music lesson service, so we couldn’t conduct the business the way I had intended.
There were online lessons here and there, but the first two years were a big struggle. I can’t tell you how many times I thought about quitting. One day, I read a quote that changed everything:
“You either quit or you keep going. Both will Hurt.”
I used those Covid years to learn more about the business and business in general. I decided to keep pushing.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Before opening Voyager, I knew that I wanted to leave teaching. I had taught over 15,000 private lessons and I was ready for something new.
I tried to get a job in children’s media, but because it had been so long since I had graduated from college and I didn’t have direct experience in the field, I was turned down for every job I applied for. I KNEW I had so much to offer, and it was beyond frustrating that no one would give me a chance.
Finally, I said: “Well okay then! You won’t hire me? I’ll start my own business!!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VoyagerMusicLessons.com
- Instagram: @VoyagerMusicLessons
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VoyagerMusicLessons/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFAUjDZGz47Lw_SdPdBBKA