The Music of You, Eva Cappelletti Chao
Because of my mentors' guidance, I have an LLC in good standing, a business checking account, business online payment systems, a business credit card, QuickBooks online, and a bookkeeper. I’ve had numerous assistants and marketing writers help me. I can now easily create proposals, invoices, and receipts for clients.
As of April 2023 - I have 10 active 1-on-1 clients, and 6 more in the process of starting and have made a profit. I look forward to another summer of festival residencies and travel as a Coach. I will be a guest on the ViolaCentric podcast, was invited to “have a table” at a Women Composers Forum at Strathmore Mansion, and will lead a group of Panamanian Students (through a wonderful local arts organization called Sound Impact) this summer to help them prepare for summer music festivals here in the US. All that while performing violin with internationally renowned violinist Joshua Bell with the world-class Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
I am a professional concert violinist in nearly every way one can engage as a musician (Carnegie Hall, TV, CDs, Concertmaster, Soloist, performing for US Presidents and royalty, orchestral and tango tours around the world, Rock & Roll, Bluegrass, Jazz, and Musical Chaplaincy for Hospice). I'm also a certified life coach, working specifically with classical musicians at every level and every stage of that journey from youth orchestras to college-level students to active to retired professional musicians. Essentially, I "hold space" for musicians so that they can truly do what they have the potential to do in both music and life.
I got my undergraduate double degree in psychology and music. I thought I would be a psychologist for musicians, but then I was offered a full scholarship for violin performance from Carnegie Mellon which doesn't happen every day. And so, I accepted, thinking that, if I wanted to be a psychologist for musicians, I needed to know what that life is like. I have now had this wonderful 30-year career. I have suffered through it and loved it. But, now it's time to pick up where I left off, and instead of being a psychologist as I originally planned, I am a life coach. This difference allows me to work with the artist as a whole, not just the musical part of them; holding space to help them develop their career and life on their own terms.
What makes my services special is that there's not been a thing that a client has brought me that I don't have a reference for from my own experiences as a musician. I truly understand what's happening and can provide the tools for my clients so they can live intentionally. I would say, maybe there are a hundred of us in the world who have the qualifications that I have - both performing and life coaching. And the need is there. In the first two days alone of my residency at the Sewanee Music Festival, 60 musicians asked to work with me.
As Classical Musicians, we live in a relatively rarified bubble. My life, before creating a coaching business, has been basically “analog.” For the last 50 years, my primary interface has been horsehair and wood, using paper pages and highly trained, highly focused physical labor. I had little understanding of how to navigate the complex world of business. I reached out to SCORE in 2020 on the advice of my mother who used SCORE when she began her business in Houston to help me turn my vision for a new business into a reality.
SCORE helped transition my coaching from another one of my freelance gigs to a legitimate and profitable business. Both Steve and David, gently but firmly (with plenty of screen sharing and patience) helped me to learn about and then navigate getting my LLC, my business bank account, and my credit card in the name of my company, and even helped me understand my NAICS industry identification. They both helped me settle comfortably with a session fee that meets the value I offer and led me to understand the importance of having an assistant and bookkeeper.
They also helped me find the balance between continuing my career as a professional Concert Violinist and growing my new career as a professional Coach for those in the Performing Arts. But ultimately, what has really had the deepest effect on me, is their professional and personal care. With them as my “team,” I didn’t feel so alone.
Steve and David, with their expertise and unflagging and sincere interest in helping me, took me from feeling all alone in trying to create a business that meets my deep yearning to surprising myself with what I’ve been able to already do - and realize how successful and impactful this business can be and continue to become! They truly believe in me.
Do not hesitate to reach out to SCORE. This is a group of top leaders and visionaries in their fields who understand and support the journey you are on. Plus, the mentoring is completely FREE.
I have had a wonderful 30-year career as a Classical Musician. Now, I am a life coach to classical musicians at every level and every stage of that journey from youth orchestras to college-level students to active to retired professional musicians.
I help entrepreneurs develop realistic business plans that will form the basis for their success....
