Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Marti.
Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out as a K-12 Vocal Music Director teaching in a the rural town of Sleepy Eye, MN. I have a B.S. in K-12 Vocal Music Education and a MAED in Curriculum & Instruction. After getting married and moving to St. Peter, MN, I subbed while finishing my masters before accepting another K-12 Vocal Music position at JWP in Janesville, MN. Through a series of events that happened at JWP, I was on the fence about continuing in teaching (especially since I was pregnant with our first born at the time). I happened to meet a woman (a friend of a friend) at a baby shower and we started talking about my job. I mentioned that I was debating whether to step away from teaching but was torn because I love working with students. She immediately brought up her music studio, The Yellow Door and stated that she wanted to retire and wanted someone to buy the business from her. After a lot of prayer and realizing that God was closing a few doors and opening a very big one, my husband and I took the leap and purchased The Yellow Door Music Studio in 2019. I kept everything the same in structure and the previous owner, Gayle, became my mentor for the next year as I learned the ins and out of owning my own studio. Fast forward to 2025, we survived the pandemic shut down (I never closed but brought all lessons online), I have since relocated the studio from Eagle Lake, MN to Sleepy Eye, MN, and I have expanded the types of lessons I offer to include private guitar/voice/piano, group piano lessons, and a prek toddler class. Our local library receives a grant to allow me to come in once a month for a Musical Story Hour from October – March every year. I am the music director for the Sleepy Eye High School Theater program as well as the Sleepy Eye Community Theater and I am able to utilize my studio space each year for rehearsal space. My studio is almost at 50 students which is fantastic as I am the only teacher within the studio. I plan to widen my studio to include a children’s community choir starting Summer 2026 which is very exciting! I’ve also gained enough traction within the community that my husband and I are now in the process of opening another business right next door to the studio – an indoor play area.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a learning experience. Covid and the pandemic taught me how to completely go virtual with all my lessons – within 48 hours I had my entire studio move to Zoom lessons. As a stay at home mom who owns her own business, child care has also always been a juggling act. However, because my studio is very family friendly so my children do come along for lessons up until a certain age. For the most part, my business has been enthusiastically accepted into the community.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I teach music lessons for students after school. My class offerings include private voice/piano/guitar, group piano lessons, and PreK toddler classes. I plan to create a children’s community choir in the coming summer (2026) as well. What sets me apart from other music teachers in the area is that I have a business on Main St. – I do not teach out of my home. This allows parents to drop students off and have students walk from school rather than drive out to my home. I also provide all materials for students. The cost of books is covered in their lesson fee but because the closest music store is an hour away, I take it upon myself to go get all necessary books for each student. I’m also known for my group lessons – these are 60 minute lessons with up to 5 students in each class. Each student is at their own keyboard with headphones and I work 1:1 with each student as I circulate around the room. This allows students to work at their own pace, ask questions and work on more supplement material to really fine tune their music education. Parents love this set up because I often have families with multiple children taking lessons -rather than sending one student in at a time for 30 minutes, I can take whole families and give quality instruction to all of them in 1 hour.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk is all about knowing what could go wrong and having a plan in place. The biggest risk I’ve taken is moving an established business to a new location and starting a new client list from scratch. I knew that the risk would be not getting enough students to cover expenses and rent. However, I made a plan for marketing and did a lot of social media and foot traffic ads. Risk does pay off – now I have a standing waitlist and rarely do I need to advertise lesson openings.
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