We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karen Sandoval. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karen below.

Karen , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Libre is an Spanish inmersion class where we explore Latin culture though art,music and dance ,happiness is our distinctive label during our class Whether you don’t know a word in Spanish or are a native Spanish speaker, these fun classes is for everyone.

We believe that we make a cultural contribution to the city helping the people from different cultural backgrounds get in touch with our Latino culture, we currently offer our classes in different schools throughout the city also we have our own cultural center in north west hill in Austin, Tx.

We believe everyone born like an natural musician for that reason we provided class starting infants to 13 years old.

Karen , 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?

This project was born during COVID TIME

I am a singer and music producer from Colombia, together with my husband we have been in the music business for 20 years, touring different music festivals inside and outside the United States, On 2020 when we were on vacation in Colombia we got stuck there with any chance to get back to our home in Austin Texas 1 year due to the closure of airports due to covid 19,the COVID regulations were very strict in Colombia with a government shot down people were not able to go outside and keep living a regular live and it was like that for almost a year .My little daughter Penelope and my oldest Nicolas you were 1 and 10 years old at that time started suffering from anxiety due to the confinement, it was at that particular moment that musica libre was born .For the love of my children and to help them with their mental health I began to work on a program that integrated music, breathing exercise, sports and art to help mental health condition.

We believe that we are all born musicians and artists naturally, from babies to 7 years old everyone responds subsequently to dancing, singing, painting, listening or reading books, but as we grow our imagination is lost due to the action of consuming and not creating ,For this reason, it is important to encourage our children to stay in touch with the arts.
Our classes allow exposure to Spanish as a second language and to the folklore of our Latin American culture. It doesn’t matter if you don’t speak Spanish. They are so fun that you will learn a lot,

Some of our lessons are
mommy and me music (infants-2 years old) mommy and me art (2-4years old).
music and movement (2-4 years old). instrument class ukulele 2-5 years old.
Guitra, Piano, percussion, Zumba dance class, art class and family workshop 5 years old and up.

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

Getting started for me was not easy, when we left the United States in 2020 and were stuck in Colombia due to the closure of airports, we were only able to return until July 2021. We never expected to make a stop along the way and have to start over twice in this country. The first time was when we moved to live here in 2017 when my husband was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame as the first South American to be in this hall of fame. My husband had to perform his concerts and artistic activities and We wanted to be together as a family with my son, it was not easy, I did not know how to speak English, nor could I drive, but we knew that there was a cultural contribution to make and that is what we did. The second time was bad after the pandemic (2020) when we were unable to return to the country, we had been unable to work for 1 year and a half so we went bankrupt, without a car, without money but with the blessing of God and the support of family and friends who gave us their hand to start over so I took my guitar, my voice and my joy, I offered my music program Cielito Lindo Preschool and they opened their doors to me, I gave the first free music class and I gave them my heart and they They gave their smiles, we currently offer our classes in different schools in Austin bringing our music, joy and Spanish to each classroom, during the month of May we will be opening our first physical location in North West Hill Asutin, the academy is called Libre Arte and Music and we integrate art and music together with our Spanish language

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

The pandemic time was a chaotic moment for everyone, especially in the year 2020, my husband and I are musicians and parents, if you couldn’t play music you couldn’t provide for your children, I personally changed the applause and the platforms for the smiles and the hugs from mychildren, I found in this industry not only how to deliver joy and love but also a way to support my family, every time I enter a classroom I see that the collateral effects of the pandemic are in them, well no. It is natural to see people walk without a mouth on the street and talk to you without seeing your lips, maintaining social distance was like saying being close to people could cause harm, for that reason in my classes there is never a lack of a hug and a big smile .

Contact Info:

• Website: https://en.musicalibreaustin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicalibre.austin?igsh=MTRqbWY0ZWg1ZHh6bg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvKrNK22sAT0Sa_Wm9PtxA
• Other: TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@musicalibrekaren?_t=8lWxqfztlzb&_r=1

Image Credits
Musica libre Austin parents community, Dreamers church ,Magellan ,Ypw, cielito lindo .