The Mentorship Year

Ever wished you had learned more (or anything) about business?

Music school and teacher training programs are wonderful for helping musicians and teachers grow in their knowledge, but notoriously lacking in the business and entrepreneurship department.

The Mentorship Year is a 12-month, online, bespoke program for teaching artists. It runs from June 2023 to May 2024.

Over the course of our year together, you will grow in your knowledge of entrepreneurship, teaching and performing as you build a profitable and creative life that balances your priorities.

I’m a violinist, teacher, innovator and coach with a passion for helping teaching artists become comfortable and confident in their business skills while growing all the best parts of their creative practice.

When I started my career 20 years ago, I felt completely lost in the business of being a professional musician and quickly realized how much I hadn’t been taught in music school. A mentor from the business sector got me started on the route to entrepreneurship, and I haven’t looked back.

Now a little more than 2 decades into my journey of entrepreneurship as an artist-teacher (and backed by a doctorate in music, and studies in both Managerial Finance at the London School of Economics, and Educational Leadership and School Management at Harvard), I balance 3 thriving businesses with my other great love: motherhood.

Over the years, I've heard from colleagues of every age, stage and career profile about their struggles in navigating the business of being creative: everything from mindsets to marketing and getting set up in a new city, to pivoting, balancing playing and performing, finances, worrying about being able to retire one day, using automation, making sure you have time for your family and more.

Of course it does! These skills and tools weren't taught to us in school, and if you’re like most freelancing artist-teachers, accessing reliable experts in business, finance, marketing and entrepreneurship feels out of reach and intimidating at best.

It’s time to change the story. Join me for a life-changing year where I’ll not only show you the systems, strategies and skills that allow me to comfortably support my family (and have landed me in major media outlets from The Strad to BBC and the Hong Kong Economic Times), but walk you through your own transformation, little step by little step.

I can’t wait to meet you and see the wonderful things you’ll achieve!

Where will this year lead YOU?

Book a call now!

Are you a good fit?

The Mentorship Year is for you if you're a teaching artist (of any instrument) and...

Feel lost about running a teaching studio, and wish someone had taught you more about “business” during your formal education or teacher training.
Want to grow your studio, playing career and other creative pursuits in a healthy, profitable and sustainable way.
Crave balance and alignment in your creative and personal life.
Find finances intimidating and stressful. Or just take the ostrich approach and ignore them all together with your head in the sand.
Wish you had more time for other artistic pursuits and passion projects in addition to your teaching practice.
Aspire to be a confident and respected leader in your local arts community and beyond.

Welcome to the year that will change your life and business.

How does it work?

A combination of 1:1 and group coaching.

Mentees engage in a hybrid format that combines one-on-one mentoring with group education in the elements of entrepreneurship pertinent to teaching artists. The result is a powerful combination of knowledge, strategy and accountability that will revolutionize your creative practice now and for the years to come.

What does it include?

30 One-on-one coaching sessions

Strategically timed to guide you in your planning, keep you accountable as you implement, and support you as you assess, realign and grow (a $4500 value right there!)
42 weeks of entrepreneurship training

Delivered in streaming lessons and exercises, supported by peer chat in our private forum, and available on demand for the months after they are taught.
42 weeks of live Q&A sessions

Ask your questions about the week's theme, be inspired by your peers, and stay accountable in your development. Can't make it? Submit your questions in advance and watch the replay when you're ready.

1:1 Coaching

Strategy, support, accountability and expertise.

In our 1:1 sessions, we’ll start with where you are (100% judgement free), figure out where you’d like to be and make a blueprint to help get you to your goal. In our time together, we’ll navigate at least 2* cycles of assessment, implementation and realignment.

*Why 2 cycles? Learning how to effectively assess what worked, what didn’t, and the strategic steps you’ll take in the next cycle is something that few entrepreneurship education programs offer, but is an absolutely crucial part of growing as a business. It's much easier to fall when you know how to get up again (and know someone is there to give you a hand!)

Let's have a conversation.

Book my zoom discovery session!

Group Sessions

In our weekly group learning, we’ll cover the elements of entrepreneurship commonly overlooked in formal and studio teacher training:

MINDSET: Effective strategies to deal with the self-limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, critical inner monologue and fear of others' judgement that have been holding you back.
BRANDING: How people see you, your expertise and your business, and making sure they're aligned with your values.
MARKETING: Getting your name and skills out there to the right audience in ways that won’t break the bank.
MONEY: Making, saving and spending it, as well as ways to forecast and achieve healthy growth (Scared of spreadsheets? Don’t know what an RRSP or 401K is? No problem! We’ll start from scratch in a zero-judgment zone.)
COMPETITION: Who they are and how to learn from them instead of being intimidated by them.
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: How to write clearly, concisely and in a way that communicates your personal brand and values.
AUTOMATION: Leveraging technology in multiple ways to free up more time for the projects and people you love. Not a computer person? No problem.
CONNECTING: Networking, sponsorship, partners, outreach and how to put your best foot forward as you communicate and pitch the awesome things you do.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: Getting and keeping the sorts of students, performance opportunities and projects that inspire you.
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Feel confident writing the next chapters of your life by design, year after year, even after your Mentorship Year is finished.

What will you achieve this year?

Don't wait...places are limited.

Save my place!

Meet your mentor

Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Brown

Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Brown is an award winning concert violinist, pedagogue, entrepreneur and EdTech pioneer. Hailed as "visionary" and "empowering," she is a career concertmaster, frequent soloist, founder of the AVIVA Virtual Young Artist Program (the first web-based pre-college music program in the world, est. 2012) and the driving force behind the innovative 3D printed violin designs that made international news in early 2023. Mary-Beth, as she's fondly known by her students and mentees, is known for her warm smile and knack for making complex concepts approachable and easy to understand. Her own experience over 2 decades of entrepreneurship combined with her doctorate in music and graduate studies in both managerial finance (London School of Economics) and educational leadership (Harvard) have helped dozens of creative entrepreneurs launch their journeys to careers that are balanced, fulfilling and profitable. Her work has been featured in major news outlets worldwide, from the The Strad and NPR's Science Friday to the Hong Kong Economic Times, BBC and the Correiro Brasiliero. She lives in Montreal where she enjoys balancing her work as a concert violinist and creative entrepreneur with the joys of motherhood.

maryelizabethbrown