Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Stewart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
After 10 years of teaching fulltime in the Texas public school systems, I made the risky decision to go part time to focus on my business, The Sienna String Quartet.
Sienna String Quartet is in it’s 6th year of business. It started out with four friends playing classical music together and slowly started to become a group of musicians performing events like weddings, cocktail hours and corporate events. As we grew, the amount of musicians we needed grew and the style we played changed. We mostly perform popular music now but with a fun string twist!
As I have grown the business, it has consumed more and more of my time, which I LOVE! But working two full time jobs has taken a hard toll on me physical and mental well-being. Earlier this year, I made the scary and risky decision to go part time at teaching and give up my steady income to focus on growing my business.
I am both thrilled and nervous to take this step but cannot wait to see what I can build with more time for my business.
Samantha , 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?
Sienna String Quartet is a professional string quartet based in Austin, TX. Our ensemble is available to play weddings, cocktail hours, proposals, funerals, celebrations of life & other special events. We have a wide array of music to choose from including traditional as well as classical and popular music. We offer string ensembles ranging from string quartet to soloists.
I started playing viola in 5th grade at my local elementary school. I actually hated playing the instrument in middle school and was instead interested in any and all athletics! It wasn’t until high school when my new orchestra teacher inspired me and invited me to be the Electric Rock Orchestra. It completely changed the way I thought about music and was hooked!
I am most proud of how organized and poised I am in running my business. I am on top of all communications, have many preferred vendors and planners I work with. I try to be a fair and kind boss and give my players extra opportunities and incentives to work hard.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
For me, building my reputation has been a slow burn. I started my business from nothing, knowing nothing about how to run things, communicate etc. It has taken me a long time to show other venders that I am trustworthy, organized and a great communicator. It has taken time to build up review from happy clients. It has taken time, energy and money to get great videos and photos to post on our social media to show clients our services.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I have seen a huge rise in clients over the years as we have grown our quality reviews, word of mouth from happy clients and vendors and a polished website and social media page.
Contact Info:
- Website: siennastringquartet.com
- Instagram: siennastringquartet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiennaQuartet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SamanthaStewartsiennastringquartet
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sienna-string-quartet-austin-2
Image Credits
Sarah Bassi Mesh Bahkta