Every studio has its own culture.

What’s yours?

Whether you’re at the start of your career or are a seasoned voice instructor, establishing your studio culture is crucial. Setting standards of how you care for your students and yourself, expectations of behavior (theirs and yours), and hard lines and how to enforce them are all challenging yet necessary parts of running a successful studio. 

As you’re likely well aware, the demands of a voice teacher are greater all the time. Not only are we expected to be excellent musicians, we are also expected to be superb communicators. We know that knowledge alone is not enough to make an educator; the ability to break down complex and oftentimes abstract concepts, and communicate them in a way that makes sense to whomever is in front of you in that moment is what makes a great teacher. We have to know theory, history, performance skills, and current music industry standards and expectations. We’re expected to be able to accompany our students, or otherwise run a studio financially successful enough to support hiring a collaborative pianist. If teaching at a university or other institution, we must understand the complex system of hierarchy and politics within our school, what rules to follow and to whom we should turn when we need support. Running an independent studio means also being an entrepreneur: business acumen, organizational skills, financial literacy and even contract design are all skills needed to run a successful private studio. 

And these are just the basics.

So what is Studio Culture, and why does it matter?

Studio culture is, essentially, everything you bring into your space, consciously or unconsciously. Your beliefs, values, moods, principles, energy, attitude, and ways of communicating all contribute to the culture of your space. Regardless whether you work out of office in a university, your home studio in your living room, or a standalone commercial studio - YOU are the culture you create for your students.

Through our work together, we’ll establish:

  1. How it makes up the unseen foundation of your work, and how it shows up in tangible ways

  2. How to discern what your personal values are, and how to consciously implement them on a daily basis

  3. How to establish and nurture your own list of professional referrals for when you are out of your depth

  4. How to take inventory of your own areas for growth, and where to turn for help

…and much more.

While I have always had students with a variety of needs, over the last several years of teaching I’ve found myself challenged to meet increasingly complex concerns. The isolation, fear and anxiety of a global pandemic has had a huge impact on general mental health. Social unrest and political upheaval have taken their toll. And increased research and awareness around mental health has made it so that we’re expected to know how to cope with a panoply of issues: ADHD, autism, and other sensory issues, anxiety disorders such as OCD, Panic Disorder, PTSD, and Social Anxiety Disorder are all commonly seen in my studio. 

I have a degree in psychology, but I am not a therapist. Like all voice teachers, I’m not licensed, nor do I receive supervision. Any guidance I receive, I must seek for myself among the amazing group of therapists, educators, healers and medical professionals that I have curated and tended to over the years. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to cope with these increasing demands, much less provide my students with the care, resources, and boundaries that they need. And I have to work overtime to make sure that I am always working within the scope of my own expertise, and not beyond, for their sake and mine. 

With all of this being said, who even has time for Studio Culture? With all our existing responsibilities, how on earth can we make space for anything else? 


I would argue that you already have a Studio Culture. You just might not know it.

Let’s work together.

If you’re looking to create a more intentional, courageous space for yourself and your students, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s put our heads together and see how we can make that vision a reality.