I recently sat down with John Kozicki and Mandy York, hosts of the Rock School Proprietor podcast, and I walked away thinking about my own music school differently. John runs a brick and mortar rock school in Detroit. Mandy is a Music Together licensee who works with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. On paper they could not be more different. John is punk rock through and through, never went to school for music. Mandy is classically trained, an opera singer who studied music formally. Yet these two became close friends and business partners on a podcast, learning from each other in ways that changed how they both teach.
If you own a music school, there is a lot here for you.
Two Different Worlds, One Common Goal
John and Mandy met when they were both starting out, sharing space in the same building. He used it in the afternoons for rock school, she used it in the mornings for her classes. What started as a scheduling arrangement turned into a real friendship, and eventually a podcast built around the idea that you can learn a lot from people who approach music education completely differently than you do.
John put it simply. Their differences are “really what keeps things interesting,” and even coming from opposite backgrounds, they keep finding common ground on teaching and running a business. That is the whole point. You do not have to agree with someone’s method to learn something valuable from it.
Parents Are Students Too
One of the biggest things John said he learned from Mandy is that parents are part of the lesson, not just the people paying for it. He told me, “We’ve got two clients. We’ve got the parent who you’ve got to please, and you’ve got the child.” Most of us focus all our energy on winning the parent over at the point of sale, then stop educating them once the ink is dry.
Mandy does the opposite. She is constantly explaining to families why what she does matters, not just what she does. And that ongoing education changes the conversation. Instead of parents wondering why they are still paying for lessons when their kid will not practice, they understand the real value is lifelong enrichment, not weekly report cards.
Rethinking the “Right” Way to Start
Mandy told me something that stuck with me. As a classically trained musician, she assumed kids needed a traditional lesson experience first before anything else made sense. Her own daughter ended up in John’s rock school program at five years old, and that challenged everything she thought she knew. Her words: “Through this process, my mind has been changed. There’s not one way to do it.”
John took it a step further, wondering if we have the order backwards entirely. What if the traditional approach comes second, after a kid falls in love with playing?
That lines up with something I have believed for years. Most of the music people love listening to was made by groups, not solo artists reading off a page. So why do we default to starting kids alone with a method book? Group experience first, technical refinement later, tends to build a much stronger relationship with music.
A Few Things Worth Sitting With
- Parents are students too. Keep educating them after the sale, not just before it.
- Group and ensemble experiences can come before formal technique, not after.
- Fun is not fluff. Mandy called it “play-based” and “freely chosen,” and that framing matters.
- Franchise competitors moving into your area is not a reason to freeze. It is a reason to get clear on your own mission.
- Letting go of the martyr mindset around pricing is not selfish. It funds better programs for the kids you serve.
Do Not Freeze Up When the Franchises Move In
John made a point I think every independent studio owner needs to hear. When a big franchise like School of Rock or Bach to Rock opens nearby, a lot of owners panic. He said plainly, “You can do this. You can put dynamic group programs together in your school and go toe to toe with these large franchises. It’s not that hard. It’s just different.” That is not empty encouragement. It is a reminder that your mission and your relationships with families are things a franchise cannot copy.
Letting Go of the Tortured Artist
The moment that stopped me in my tracks came when John and Mandy talked about a previous guest, Amy Nunes, who challenged the guilt so many of us carry as studio owners. Mandy quoted her directly:
We need to “let go of our tortured artist persona.”
I felt that one personally. I spent years believing that running a profitable school somehow made me less of an artist. But building a business is its own creative act. John said it best:
“My entire life is one giant art project.”
If you are still holding onto guilt about charging what your work is worth, let it go. The families in your community want your school to succeed, because when you succeed, you can serve their kids better.
That is the real takeaway from this one. Seek out people who see the work differently than you do. Keep educating your parents long after they sign up. And stop apologizing for building something that lasts.
