Program Details
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My Story:
Why I Created Bell Music Business Hub
I saw brilliant teachers burning out on the business side—taxes, pricing, policies, admin. I built Bell Music Business Hub so Canadian musicians could run studios that work in harmony with real life.
My name is Leith Bell. I started piano lessons when I was 8 years old. I progressed very quickly as I loved learning and expressing myself through music. On some level, I always knew educating musicians would be part of my life. At a young age I was helping my little sister at the piano so we could play duets together. By the age of 15 I had started teaching piano lessons from my home. In high school I was the choir’s librarian and jumped at every opportunity to collaborate with the band teacher. I started voice lessons when I was 17 and developed a deep love of art song and opera. When I was completing my Bachelor of Arts (Music) Degree I worked as the classical music specialist at the HMV Superstore in West Edmonton Mall. Even as I entered my career with Canada Revenue Agency, I continued work as a vocal coach, singing in choirs and teaching piano on a limited basis.
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I was very concerned with appearing to be successful. I had a career with the federal government, I got married and bought my first house. But over my 5 years with the CRA I felt progressively unbalanced until my world came crumbling down around me. My marriage ended, I was living with my parents and I was profoundly depressed. I was trying to move on with my life but one morning when I was getting ready for work, I had a massive panic attack.
I made an emergency appointment with a therapist that I saw only the one time. I don’t remember his name, but he taught me about something revolutionary: Congruence. From a psychological perspective, someone who lives in congruency acts in direct accordance with their dreams, desires, beliefs, values, mission and goals. Being congruent means to be true to yourself. At that time, my life was not congruent with my values. It was time for me to seek balance and harmony.
"I was sacrificing time with my own son for someone else's children!"
I returned to my passion, music and teaching. I took a course on being an entrepreneur and I applied my knowledge from the CRA to creating a music studio. Unlike when I was 15, I now needed an income to pay for rent and groceries. My biggest challenges had to do with everything that wasn’t music. I saw the need to look beyond professional development and focus instead on business development.
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I discovered the hard way that accountants don’t know everything about businesses and taxation. Through discipline and sheer necessity, I learned about branding, marketing, and social media, and website development. I was able to develop systems for tracking my schedule, students, payments, expenses, email templates, etc.
When I had my baby boy in 2015, I soon realized I was sacrificing time with my own son for someone else's children. This led me to develop a program for mentoring young teachers. I have assisted more than 15 pianists become successful educators. As I took on more teachers I came to see the power of delegation and expanding my team. My business continued to thrive during the pandemic when many other businesses suffered.
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I received Steinway’s Top Teacher Award in 2019 and 2021. I am a member of both the Alberta Piano Teachers Association (APTA) and the Alberta Registered Music Teacher's Association (ARMTA). Through hard work and a lot of trial and error, I have gotten to a place of deep satisfaction with my home, my marriage, my child, my money, and certainly with my business. This has led to a certain restlessness; a desire to help others.
So in September of 2022, with the effects of Covid behind us all, I founded Bell Music Business Hub. It took me more than 30 years to truly be successful and I don't feel like other musician-entrepreneurs should have to struggle the way I did.