Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Allen
Hi Samantha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved music. My love for music started when I was very young. My dad and I used to sing 80’s karaoke together in our home, and wherever we traveled. I did musical theatre and choir in high school, and continued that into college. I grew up in Casper, Wyoming – a small town compared to Utah cities, but one of the largest towns in Wyoming. In Wyoming, I had a lot of opportunities to perform, as the community greatly supported the arts. One of my inspirations for starting Upbeat Performing Arts was my first boss ever: Miss Amy Munsel. She opened a music studio in Casper called Vibes Fine and Performing Arts and it was unlike anything our town had ever seen. We hadn’t seen a one-stop music education shop before. She hired me right out of high school to teach piano, voice, ukulele, and guitar. I was honored to work there, and ended up staying for three years, during my first few years of college. I loved my time there and learned from her expertise and the musicians around me.
Fast forward several years.
I was finishing my Vocal Pedagogy degree at Weber State University, and the love of my time at Vibes still stuck with me. At the time of my graduation, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I needed health care and a stable job, as I was nearing 26. I was offered a job in the medical field as a neuromonitoring technician, and I took it. This job has been wonderful to me and provided a lot of opportunities and stability in my life, but I was deeply missing music in my life. Still reminiscing over my time at Vibes and noticing a need in our community for more opportunities for musicians, especially young musicians, I decided I wanted to open my own studio. Gratefully, my medical job provided enough flexibility and financial support to open Upbeat Performing Arts.
I’m proud to run a studio that encourages children and adults to express themselves through music. I’m also glad to bring more music education experiences to children under 6 years old with Kindermusik; it’s a world renowned program and scientifically proven to support their development.
I’m also grateful to be able to provide jobs for musicians, as I know what it is like to yearn to work in music, but be pulled away from it.
Our studio is still small, but growing. We hope to move into a larger space within this next year.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say there have been two main road bumps along the way with opening Upbeat Performing arts.
First is: exposure. It’s so difficult to start from scratch and not have anyone know we even exist. Getting the word out about the studio has been difficult. We’ve run Facebook ads, handed out flyers to schools, preschools, and to people at public events, but even then, we’re not reaching as many people as we’d like. Once people know we exist, I know we’ll get more interest, but it’s hard starting from scratch.
Second is: financing. I started this business not wanting to take out a loan and knowing full well that it would take a lot of my personal funds to get it up and running. I applied for several grants, but sadly haven’t had any awarded yet. Weber State University offers a small business grant that we qualified for, but they were set back several months with their funds, so we just have to wait. All in all, I’ve had to finance everything myself. The instruments, equipment, teaching supplies, Kindermusik certifications, and more have all come out of my pocket. It’s been tight, but I’ve managed. I have a great vision of what our studio will be someday and I know it will all be worth it in the end.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Upbeat Performing Arts is a one-stop-shop for all music academics. First, I will discuss what we currently offer, and then I will go into my future plans with Upbeat. We offer Kindermusik, group musical theatre workshops, drums alive, and private lessons for multiple instruments including: guitar, cello, flute, piano, voice and more. Currently our voice program is thriving with many teens and kids enrolled today. Kindermusik is a world renowned children’s music educational program that is backed by science. I discovered our community’s need for it, when I saw that the closest studio to Ogden offering Kindermusik was in Bountiful. I wanted to bring this music opportunity closer to home, and make it more affordable for our community. Compared to that studio, our prices are nearly half of what theirs are. Upbeat is very competitive when it comes to affordability of classes and lessons.
What I’m most proud of about our studio is that we are going to grow with the community. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to start Upbeat, was to create classes and opportunities that the community actually wants. With time, Upbeat Performing Arts will be the spot for young and old musicians alike to come learn and collaborate together. As need and desire grows, we will create classes to fulfill that need. If there are a few kids that want an accordion class, we’ll make it happen. We’ll make anything happen that has at least three people interested. A few of the programs I’m planning on starting, that aren’t currently offered, are: teen rock bands, drum line, songwriting, song recording and teen open mic nights.
Interested in something we don’t have? Let us know and we’ll create a program just for you!
What matters most to you?
What matters the most to me is that the children and adults that attend Upbeat Performing Arts find and keep their love for music. It breaks my heart when people stop pursuing their instruments because they hate practicing, or aren’t working on music they’re passionate about. Our studio goal is to encourage people to continue pursuing music throughout their life and to bring the community together with music.
Pricing:
- Kindermusik Levels 1-3, $65 per month
- Kindermusik Level 4 $68 per month
- Musical Theatre Workshop $200 for semester
- Drums Alive $200 for semester
- Private lessons subject to teacher chosen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Upbeatpa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upbeatpa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560594009254
