If you asked me ten years ago where I would be now, the answer wouldn't have included being a full-time and self-employed business owner of a digital marketing agency. Yet here we are. Life is funny that way, isn't it?

I was on track to be a music educator for life, as a middle school band teacher. But as you might imagine, the education system has become a beast of its own, taking down a lot of passionate (& good!) teachers in its path.

With bachelors and masters degrees in music education and pedagogy from two very respectful higher education institutions, I was essentially married to a career of teaching music, and it was something I was truly excited about. And it was a path I was on since I was in 5th grade! (seriously).

In my classroom, my students found themselves, thrived and found confidence. They learned a new skill they once never possessed, and made bonds with their peers on a whole new level. It allowed me to connect humans, and connected TO humans. Thats what I love.

But just like with anything, I encountered many things just not quite right with the state of education, with factors that made it continually harder to do my job effectively. So despite being obsessed with my work as a middle school band teacher and LOVING my students to the core, I knew I had to walk away.

But walking away from a career I was currently STILL paying for with student loans seemed daunting and quite frankly, dumb. And along with the extra security a teaching job brought such as health insurance, retirement, and regular paychecks, it seemed even crazier to walk away.

But let's use the word "security" loosely here, shall we? With COVID in full swing and performing arts budgets on the chopping blocks, I was definitely questioning my sense of "security.

So instead, I chose to invest in myself; both financially and with my time. I developed new skills. I honed my tech-savviness, and leaned into my intuition that I just had to get OUT.

In 2020, I taught my final year (remotely mind you...picture remote band class...) for the 2020-2021 school year, while simultaneously growing my company, originally, Fortissimo Ad Strategy.

Side bar here...any musicians out there? Then you can then make the connection between my company name and my past life as a music educator! And for those who may not know, a teachable moment: "fortissimo" is a music term to indicate to play very loudly, or with a lot of strength. So here, we apply the same principle of that term to our digital strategy. "Forte" means strong/loud, and "fortissimo" is the next level beyond that, indicating even more!