We were lucky to catch up with John Francisco recently and have shared our conversation below.

John, appreciate you joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

When I first started MJM it was just me and a bunch of Tupperware containers full of baby music props. I created the business to work 25 hours/week, make a great full time living, and spend the rest of my time being a generative artist. And then I was phenomenally lucky – I was embraced by the people of Philly and the demand became more than I could handle. I had been self-producing concerts since I started the company and through a friend had met and played with a guitarist whose energy I jived with. Simultaneously I was starting to offer adult guitar classes and there was a nanny who didn’t know how to play guitar but had a beautiful voice and a way with littles. I followed my gut and asked them both if they’d like to join the company even though there wasn’t enough work yet for all three of us to have full livings. This was one of the best decisions I have made as a business owner. The people you hire at the beginning of your company, if you do it right, become your family. They care about the business like you do. They’re your rocks, your sounding boards, your accountability. I’ve been very lucky with my staff (I’m particularly happy with our team right now) and so much of that is because of what my first two hires have taught me.

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

My name is John Francisco and I’m the owner of Mister John’s Music – a boutique music school with operations in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and occasionally Brooklyn. We serve all ages and employ empathy, inclusivity, and magic to build community, foster in-person connectivity and spark joy. In our early childhood classes, we use music as a vehicle to address social-emotional goals with lessons in kindness, compassion, self-esteem, respect, diversity, and sharing. Our instructional instrument programs celebrate music as a team sport- encouraging adults and children alike to use music as a language to express themselves and connect with others. More than anything, we build community, giving patrons from all different walks of life a place to belong and feel valued and appreciated.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Well, we’re a service-based company vs. a product-based company – so our teachers are selling themselves as well as their instruction. Hands down the most effective tool for us is authentic connection. Be yourself and foster a culture that appreciates and celebrates every individual for being themselves as well. I see you. I see your sex, your gender, the color of your skin, what you’re wearing, your hair (of lack of hair), your age, your complexion, etc. etc. But mostly I see your personhood and I want to know you as deeply as you’re willing to be known. I promise refrain from assumptions or falling prey to innate biases. I promise to listen and look for connectivity. I promise to be open-eared, open-hearted and open-minded. We’re the same and we’re different simultaneously.

Whether it’s my staff or my clientele, the best thing I can do for my business and my personal integrity is to always try to be kind and considerate to all.

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

We should have collapsed during Covid – we’re a business built upon gathering. And truthfully, most of our competition from that time has closed shop. But when Covid hit I didn’t want to lose what I had worked so hard to build. So I pivoted. And pivoted. And pivoted. Over and over again. I leaned on everyone in sight. The first six months were through the grace of our patrons – people who had paid for two sessions of classes and relinquished their tuition so that we could keep our staff employed and make the highest quality of digital content I could make with minuscule resources. The next six months were my teachers and me recreating everything we do in a socially-distanced outdoor format. My neighbors helped me re-envision and construct an outdoor classroom. There was no way we were going to stop. And now here we are with 4 times the staff and 3 times the revenue pre-Covid. There are moments when I look back and think to myself, “Wait… how did you do that?”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.misterjohnsmusic.com
• Instagram: @misterjohnsmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MisterJohnsMusic
• Youtube: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC2MKMmKiQ3uGj44-ghsu5tw

Image Credits
Hibbard Nash