Meet Briana Lyn Studios | Voice Coach & Music Instruction

We had the good fortune of connecting with Briana Lyn Studios and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Briana Lyn Studios, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was at a crossroads in my life. I had been working for a Yamaha Music School as well as teaching Kindergarten and Choir at another school. I learned so many valuable teaching skills through these schools that I incorporate in my own teaching philosophy today. During my last year of teaching Kindergarten, I realized how much I didn’t want to do any of these jobs anymore. It was through a parent-teacher conference I had with a kindergarten student’s mom, that led me to consider starting my own music teaching studio. I wanted to be able to call my own shots, “paint the walls the color I wanted them” so to speak, and have more freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Briana Lyn Studios is a multi-city, multi-teacher music teaching studio. Our first location was started in Minneapolis Minnesota with just myself as an instructor. After a few years, I was teaching on average 60 music students a week, traveling to their homes. It got to be too much for me to do on my own, so that’s when I decided to build a team of teachers around me with similar teaching philosophies. Currently we have 6 teachers in Minneapolis that teach both online and in person to students across the country. They not only are skilled in their areas of expertise, but they are very personable and know HOW to teach to see growth and results.

2.5 years ago I relocated to Los Angeles to start a second music studio location. The LA market is very different from the Minneapolis market. As a voice coach in LA, I work with a lot of on camera actors that need coaching for auditions or roles they are playing on tv shows and film, voice actors who want better control of their voices and others that want it on their resume as a skill set. I also coach singer-songwriters, and help them discover their signature sound as well as give them the technical skills to sing any style with confidence and consistency. As a keyboard instructor, I give musicians the skills and knowledge of how music works so they can play and write songs on the piano.

I am most proud of the growth we’ve had as a music studio these past 2.5 years during the pandemic and beyond. My teachers in Minneapolis were very resilient and professional during that difficult time. I’m also really proud of myself for shifting to online voice and keyboard lessons a year before COVID even hit. I knew having online lesson options would allow me to reach more people and that proved to be true during the Pandemic.

The biggest challenges I’ve faced has been stepping out to make changes as a business. Human nature doesn’t like change and when you’re making those changes with clients, you have to be confident and do your best to guide them through it all. Leaving Minneapolis and starting a second location was definitely an up-hill climb that took A LOT of perseverance, strength and developing a new mindset.

Briana Lyn Studios is a professional music teaching studio, where musicians and singers get a personal blueprint for success and growth, from caring teachers that are highly skilled in their area of expertise.

As a vocal coach, I want to give singers the keys to unlock their voices so they can sing any style and find their voice from within. As a keyboard instructor I want to help musicians understand how music works so they can play and write their own music.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hmmm..there are so many good spots here in LA to discover and check out. On the weekend, I’d take them to the Farmer’s Markets around town because I’m all about supporting local small businesses and farmers. Alfred Coffee in Studio City is my favorite coffee shop so we’d grab an Iced Vanilla Latte or Iced Matcha there. We’d have lunch at Aroma Coffee and Tea in Studio City on their patio and in the evening, I’d take them to Laurel Tavern in Studio City for their fries, burger, drinks and salads! I’d also want to take them to Riviera 31 in Beverly Hills for their Jazz eclectic night hosted by Ryan Cross on Monday nights . We’d go to Carbon beach in Malibu during the day and go shopping at the Grove. We’d go hiking at Fryman Canyon in Studio City and maybe Runyon Canyon if we wanted to. I’d take them to Hotel Cafe to hear other singer songwriters perform. LA is filled with interesting people so I’m sure we’d interact with a lot of people during our many stops.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh man! There have been SO many people that have guided my journey as a business owner and have given me ideas along the way. My friend John, who I met during our Yamaha Music training days here in California, has really helped me a lot. He is a natural-born salesman and has really helped me grow in that part of my career. I also want to give a shoutout to a business mentor I worked with here in LA-Roxie Francis with I Heart My Voice. I worked with her before moving to LA and she really helped to catapult my business to the next level. I am constantly reading books to help me grow as a business person and artist. One of my favorite books for business/entrepreneur life is the book You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero. As a creative person, it helped me to change my mindsets and gave me simple, easy to follow steps to move forward in my career as a creative entrepreneur. I also found the book High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard to be helpful in my growth.

Website: www.brianalynstudios.com

Instagram: @briana_lyn_studios

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianalyn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianalynstudios

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/briana-lyn-studios-los-angeles

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZDxfuSfOwfFevqfLi0S9vg

Other: I also have artist pages for IG-@briana_lyn

Image Credits
Sarah Mack Photography, David Petti Photography