Meet Marsha Smith | Mom and Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marsha Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marsha, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Wanting to do your own thing, whether as an entrepreneur or a creative, is just something that living in LA does to you. After working in corporate banking in Downtown LA for several years, I started getting the “itch” to try something new, but of course I had no idea where to start. I knew I wanted to follow my musical passions, so I thought about what I wish existed related to music. I arrived at this concept for an app that would enable musicians (even casual ones, like myself) to search their local area and meet other musicians. From there they could meet up to jam, collaborate, or just be friends. That was PitStop – an web platform and app I launched in 2016. The platform had some success and taught me a ton about starting a business, but never quite found product-market fit. When COVID happened and live music events ceased, the business stalled. A few months pregnant and a curious mom-to-be, that’s when I pivoted to form a new business: Minibop. Minibop was created to meet the needs of children who were forced online for education and entertainment (we were doing live music classes and lesson through Zoom) and also to fulfill my love for music and create a music-filled world for my child to be born into.

What should our readers know about your business?
Getting Minibop to where it is today has not been easy, and the business today is not what I thought it would be when we started. Today Minibop serves dozens of schools across LA county with in-person educational programs, implementing the music-based curriculum that we created at our studio location in Glassell Park. What started as a mommy-and-me music class has turned into a broader educational program which has taught thousands of students from preschool though 6th grade. The biggest lessons I’ve learned are: if you only think about how big the mountain is, you might never start climbing. You have to just work. Take small steps and everyday new paths and opportunities (and challenges) will emerge. Starting your own business is not easy, and it’s not for everyone. And it’s not what is often portrayed on social media. But it can be incredibly rewarding if you’re prepared to put in the work day after day when so much is uncertain. Another lesson, and a caveat to my last point: figure out if your business is for real as quickly as you can. So many people I know, myself included, and guilty of being “imagination entrepreneurs”. We come up with company names, design logos and websites, and do all this other stuff that ultimately does not equate to the one thing a business needs to be successful: sales. Get your minimum viable product/service out into the world and see if anyone wants it.

That’s what we’re starting to do at a larger scale at Minibop now. We’ve been able to help so many students and their teachers around LA – but doing that around the country is hard. That’s why we just launched a really exciting edtech product called CLIMB Hub, which enables teachers anywhere in the world to access our music-based curriculum plus a suite of other great tools, including an AI-powered custom lesson builder. We want Minibop to be a household name when it comes to education, and we believe music – the universal language – holds the key to creating a more engaging learning experience.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My husband and I are both major foodies, so it would be a food tour! Lemon Poppy or Bubs for brunch, Hot Tongue Pizza for lunch (the best in the city) and then maybe Bacari for dinner. As a parent, I’m real with myself and I know I’m going to be staying on the east side where I live. Sorry to all my midcity and westside folks… but northeast LA is really amazing and has so much to offer. Aside from food, we’d probably go do the obligatory basic hike like Runyon (no shame) and catch some live music somewhere.

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?
Two people! My husband, Ben and my former boss /current coach Patricia Gonzalez.

Website: https://minibopmusic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minibopmusic

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/minibop/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/minibop-music-los-angeles

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFE781NvvrE02rn6uv2o72A