Interview with Subkit: Quality Focused Music Lessons - Mississauga School of Music

We wanted to send a bit Thank You to Subkit for featuring us on their Go Solo page this week. Thank you for giving us a platform to share our story and history - what a wonderful and meaningful way to ring in our music school's upcoming 35th Anniversary. To read full interview, please visit: https://gosolo.subkit.com/mississauga-school-of-music/

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in music education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jenny Goh, Founder of Mississauga School of Music, located in Mississauga, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are Mississauga’s oldest family-run music school, having served Mississauga for almost 35 years now. We offer one-on-one music lessons taught by highly-qualified, experienced music teachers. The majority of our teachers hold BA, MA, or Ph.D. Degrees in Music, have been teaching at Mississauga School of Music for 25 to over 34 years, and are RCM affiliated teachers.

We believe in providing a solid foundation for music students, with emphasis on the little details like proper form, presence, and musicality. With our structured approach to learning a musical instrument (piano, guitar, violin, cello, flute, voice, theory), we have successfully coached music students from 4.5/5yrs of age to the ARCT level, as seen in our outstanding RCM Exam results year after year, and through our music competition winners.

Tell us about yourself

Mississauga School of Music was founded in 1988. I always dreamt of opening a music school offering a high standard of music instruction, similar to my training at the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As mentioned, all our teachers are highly experienced and qualified. This dream has been realized by the countless music festival wins brought home by our students from competitions like Kiwanis Music Festival, Peel Music Festival, or international competitions like Odin International Music Competition, etc.

Our students have performed at the Living Arts Centre, FirstOntario Arts Centre, Rose Theatre, and even Carnegie Hall. We also hold the highest RCM Exam Scores in Ontario and Canada - our students have won Regional and National Gold Medals for the highest RCM Scores. Seeing the success of our students and teachers keeps me going strong, even after almost 35 years.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Seeing our students grow from their first steps to reach their musical goals leaves us glowing like proud parents. We have students who enrol because they love music and are interested in a more recreational approach, we have students progress to become amateur musicians (a number have joined local orchestras like Mississauga Symphony Youth Orchestra), and we have students blossom into professional musicians. As we have been around for almost 35 years, we are now meeting our alumni again as they bring their children for music lessons. It pushes us to keep moving forward. Music is a gift for life, and we are so proud of our students and are happy to help them on their musical journey.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Dealing with the unknowns is probably the biggest challenge and in our case, adapting to moving our music lessons online periodically during the last two years. We are very proud of the resilience and adaptability of our students, parents, and teachers throughout this pandemic. We had to transition quickly to online learning, and our students and teachers have done so beautifully. Our success can be seen in our Online RCM Examination Results brought home by our students. Our students still scored in the top percent of Ontario. Many students scored in the high 80s or 90s in their RCM Examinations. As students and teachers now move back to the studio, we can’t wait to see and hear our students make beautiful music once again.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

It's important to believe in yourself and keep moving forward during challenging times. Don't dwell on what you cannot do, but focus on what you can do.