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Meet Lindsay Owen of Melodies and Me in Buckeye

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Owen.

Lindsay, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in South Florida where I lived until I was 23. I am the youngest in my family with an older brother and sister. My parents raised us on good music, movies, sports, family and love!

I was always singing along to the radio, making up my own songs, or wandering off when I heard music anywhere we were. Eventually, my mom was told by many people when I was in second grade, that I had a great singing voice and stage presence. She agreed and put me in private lessons and performing art schools throughout my childhood. I sang at every event and opportunity I had growing up and I still do to this day. In high school, I was the lead singer in a pop punk band, named Ireland. I swear if we had social media back then, we would have been huge!

I have always had a great passion for entertaining and performing and knew I wanted to do something with music when I grew up and had my own family.

Music brings people together and creates lasting memories. We lost my mom last July and I am forever grateful for the gift and love of music she gave to me.

After meeting my husband in college where I earned my Bachelors’s in Creative Writing, we moved to Los Angeles to work in entertainment.

I definitely enjoyed being in such a fun city! I auditioned for singing gigs often and performed the National Anthem at Dodger games and even a NASCAR race. I joined bands, wrote for a trade magazine and worked at CBS broadcasting television while also obtaining my Masters of Business administration before I got pregnant with my first son.

It lined up that I was able to stay home with him but as he neared his first birthday, I felt something was missing from our lives. I was wondering how I could incorporate my love for music and singing, my business knowledge and experience, and having a young child into something that all made sense for me. I began to research ideas on how to do this and I came across Kids’ MusicRound, based out of New Jersey. It is a kid’s music program designed to teach children basic music skills. I fell in love with what they were doing and thought maybe I should bring it to the west coast!

Teaching music to little ones was exactly what I knew I was meant to be doing. I trained and became a certified KMR music instructor and within six months I opened up Melodies and Me, interactive family music classes for young children.

Within a couple of years of starting, I became a thriving music center with over a hundred registered families in nine classes a week at two different locations. I was also doing parties on the weekends and I met tons of wonderful families and even some of my very good friends through it all.

We moved out of Los Angeles in 2016 to Arizona and after settling in here, I opened up Melodies and Me again! I teach three classes a week right now while I am home with my two youngest children and I am planning to possibly expand to a second location in the new year.

I have now been teaching for seven years and have three children of my own. I still love it just as much as I did when I started, even more so now since I have learned so much and can share it with all of my kids!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When I first began teaching music classes, it was definitely a learning experience! I had to be very comfortable with myself so I could make the children and parents as comfortable as possible.

I found I did the best when I would lesson plan ahead and practice my songs, dances, and rhythms to be sure I was the best teacher I could be for the little ones. Parents would tell me it was the highlight of their week and I wanted to make it a great experience for them each class.

I learned early on that word of mouth as well as in person introductions go further than online advertising for my local classes. You really do have to market yourself to parents when you see an opportunity as well as treat your customers wonderfully so they’ll tell others about you. It can be hard to step out of that comfort zone and always have to be “on” but it’s a big part of building and growing more customers.

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
I am the owner, director, and music teacher at Melodies and Me! I teach mommy and me/family music classes to little one’s ages zero to five. I teach the Kids’ MusicRound curriculum which is designed to teach children how to sing in tune and keep an accurate beat all through play.

We meet once a week for forty-five minutes, to do rhymes, chants, fingerplays, sing along, dances, and play all kinds of small instruments made for little hands! Each family takes home a CD and songbook to continue the fun at home so it is a whole family music experience.

Parents love these classes because it is one on one bonding time with their children and also it is really fun! You get to be silly with each other and create lasting memories while making music. The children pick up musical skills without even knowing it as well as other social, emotional, and language skills. The classes are mixed-age so little ones can learn from older kids yet there is no pressure to be at any level. Everyone can go at their own pace in a comfortable environment.

It is also a great place for new moms to make some friends and meet people, as being a new mom or stay at home parent can sometimes feel isolating. I have personally met and made many friends of my own through these classes!

I think what sets me apart from other music classes is my energy and passion for it. I truly love doing it! Also, is there anything cuter than a smiling, giggling, dancing little baby or toddler? Not really! So it’s hard not to love and I think that shows through in my teaching.

I like to keep things light hearted and fun so I try to make a few jokes for the parents. I think they can appreciate that since as a mom, I can relate to a toddler having a rough day or a tired mama not wanting to get up and dance if she didn’t get any sleep the night before.

I’m proud of my growth as a company and that I can help to make a difference in the lives of young children. Whether families are using these classes for the quality time together or the beginning steps to a lifetime of music, I’m just happy to be part of that.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I would have to say I have had a mix of both. I was lucky to have found the amazing places to teach out of. In California, I found a beautiful church that I rented from and they certainly loved hearing the children’s singing voices fill the halls while we were there. In AZ I teach out of a wonderful dance studio on the main street in the awesome community I live in. It’s in a beautiful location and the owners are a delight to work with. I feel very lucky to have the space to teach my classes.

I would say bad luck would be my first studio I rented from had to shut down a month into my first session but maybe it really was the good luck that led me to the church I taught at for years!

Pricing:

  • An 8 week session of classes is $135 and it includes a CD and login to download the songbook and mp3s
  • Our next session begins in January and there will be a free preview in December!

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