Meet Le’Andra Williams of Journey Music Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Le’Andra Williams.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. I’ve worked as a musician since I was nine years old. Though I’ve had experience in entrepreneurship musically, I quickly found an intense love for teaching. When I started my music school officially in June 2018, it was just me and 20 students. I had an intense passion for not only teaching music but the people whom I was teaching to. Our reputation started to grow to the point where I had over 50-60 students six months later, and it was one of the most overwhelming things ever. It was at that point I made the decision to hire teachers to help me in my mission of making music a. fun and enjoyable journey for anyone – which birthed the name of the school, Journey Music Academy.

I started my school while I was at a crossroads – the jobs that I served in either soured or became toxic for my well-being. Also, I had just graduated from North Carolina Central University with my Jazz Studies degree and had just gotten married two months before. One of the biggest lessons I had learned during that time is “You can never expect for other people to make decisions based off of your best interest. You, at the end of the day, are responsible for you – no matter how much you choose to live for others.” And soon after coming to that realization, that’s when I made the decision to take the plunge and open my own school.

Simultaneously, in December of last year, I also launched my coaching consultancy, QueenoftheKeys Media and Consulting, and spend a lot of time coaching clients on how to lead better lives and businesses, especially as COVID-opens up a myriad of solutions and opportunities in the changing climate of a marketplace.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! There has been an insane amount of obstacles along the way, from having to pivot through an entire pandemic to fighting voices of doubt and resignation, the struggle never ends.

While walking this road of entrepreneurship, I have had to overcome self-doubt, as well as understanding the opportunities of growing and scaling your businesses, as well as understanding the importance of balance.

For example, while growing my business, I received an opportunity that I was recommended for by a good friend that would simultaneously increase my visibility and popularity as an individual and also give me a well-paying salary. Ultimately, I chose to decline it. I believe that “betting on yourself” is the best decision and investment I could make, especially with an entrepreneurial spirit, but I would be lying if I told you that it would come without temptations. If I had accepted that position, it would have taken all the time away from growing my business into what it is now and what it’s continuing to grow to be. As a person of faith and a believer, I believe that the best bet that you can make is on you and everything that God has made you to be. Don’t sell yourself short because of tempting opportunities – you will end up cutting yourself off from the greatness you have yet to fulfill.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Journey Music Academy is a music school that thrives from making music a fun and enjoyable journey for anyone – whether you’re 5 or 50. We are known most for our fun, student-centered approach to music lessons that are both engaging and intentional. We offer in-home, in-studio, and online lessons in piano, ukulele, guitar, voice, drums, and more! As the owner of this school, I am most proud of our demographics. We serve all different types of people from many different walks of life. As a background, our youngest student is four years old, and our oldest is 72! I love the diversity of our school and how everyone is on a different but specific musical journey, and how our amazing staff and I get to join the village of these amazing families to guide them musically. We serve students from all over the world and employ a variety of different methods to ensure and assess student progress. We have teachers who are active performers and are also well-versed in a variety of different genres and methods.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Very good question! This is where I put my consulting cap on.

In terms of education, I think due to COVID-19, we have seen an irreversible acknowledgment of the value of online learning. While it is true that some students cannot thrive solely in an online learning environment, there seems to be a newfound appreciation for community and connectivity from online learning. I foresee that the reservations from online education will be “debunked” and that we will see a new catering to on-demand, autonomous learning, which can vary from live, real-time classes online to self-paced courses and even apps that enable students to learn in a judge-free, comfortable environment. While this is the case, I also feel that there is a new appreciation for the physical, human presences of educators, and for those individuals who do not thrive for the online experience, I think we’ll start to see teachers of all industries offer online and in-person accommodations (maybe even at different price points!) for their learners. All in all, I believe that, once again, there have been a new appreciation and acknowledgment for both online and in-person learning – it just depends on what side you will be on.

As technology also continues to advance, we may see some strides in AI and VR stemming into education, as well.

Pricing:

• 30 minute lessons – $530/semester
• 30 minute lessons (monthly) $140/mo.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected] [email protected]
• Website: http://www.journeymusicacademync.com/ http://www.queenofthekeys.co
• Instagram: @journeymusicacademync, @queenofthekeys
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/journeymusicacademy/
• Twitter: @QueenoftheKeys
• Other: https://anchor.fm/theqotkpod