Trailer: The Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast

About The Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast
Hosted by Jaci Mrozek
Formerly The Music Teacher Mastermind Podcast

This podcast is for independent piano teachers who love teaching but feel overwhelmed by everything else...scheduling, tuition tracking, parent communication, lesson planning, and running a business.

Whether you teach private piano lessons or group classes, you’ll find practical strategies and real-life solutions to help you run a sustainable music studio without burning out.

Every other Monday, host Jaci Mrozek shares systems, tools, mindset shifts, and conversations with fellow music educators. You’ll learn how to streamline your piano studio, protect your time, and confidently lead your teaching business.

If you’ve ever said, “I wish someone had taught me how to actually run my studio,” this podcast is for you.

Subscribe, leave a review, and let’s get scrappy.

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hey, teachers, you love teaching, right?
I think you do. I think you do.
But let's be honest, it's everything else that's wearing
you down. The emails, the scheduling, the
cancellations. Dare I say that dirty word?
Makeup lessons. Wait, that's 2 words.
That 33 words, 2 words, 3 words.Makeup lessons.

(00:25):
The tuition math, the never ending math of tuition, I see
you guys doing it. All those tuition calculators
that we use, the systems that you meant to set up but maybe
you never did because you just didn't have time.
I get it. I get you that behind the scenes
chaos that can turn something you love, like teaching, into

(00:47):
something that you start dreading.
I know, I know this because I have been there so many times.
My name is Jackie for JacquelineMorozik, and after more than 27
years of teaching a piano, I've had a front row seat to just how
much heart and strategy it takesreally to run a sustainable

(01:08):
studio. I run a studio instance in Ohio
where I teach both private and group lessons.
I have really done a lot of all of it guys.
I have been a single mom, I've been a homeschool mom.
I now I'm married mom. I have driven to students homes.
I have taught at schools, I teach at home, I've taught

(01:31):
online. I have even worked a nine to
five office job while going to school for project management.
Also, let me just say office life not made for type B
creatives like me. Nope Nope Nope.
We need to be our own boss. We need to be boss babes for
sure. A few years ago my husband, who
is a first responder had unpredictable hours.

(01:52):
Wait, did I say a few years ago he still has unpredictable
hours? Anyways, I did realize at that
time that I couldn't keep running my studio the same way
that I happen. The pay wasn't cutting it.
The hours were definitely not working for me.
I was exhausted, but I didn't want to give up teaching.
I didn't really, I know what else I could do because that's

(02:13):
really what I feel like I was created to do on this planet.
So I Googled Peek Bop Boop and Google said, hey, you need to
hire a coach. And I'm like, yeah, I need to
hire a coach because, you know, I was desperate.
Spoiler alert, there's a lot of coaches out there.
It's kind of overwhelming. There's amazing coaches.
I know this because I know a lotof them.

(02:35):
There are not so many amazing coaches out there at all.
There's a bunch in between. How do you know who to choose?
I don't know who to choose. So you know what I did?
I was just like, well, this person who costs a ton of money,
they have a lot of reviews. You know, this person looks
good. So I did it.
I paid lots of money. I overpaid.

(02:57):
Like had to sell a car. Kind of overpaid.
Yeah, that's a whole other conversation.
But I did. And you know what?
It didn't fix anything. I did the work though.
Note to all of you, if you get acoach, you might get a good
coach. Again, there's some good ones
out there. You got to do the work.
I did the work and it was not a winner for me.

(03:19):
However, it did lead me to connect with some amazing
teachers because there was one piece of advice that I got.
Join Instagram. There you go.
I am passing on my knowledge from my coaching experience.
Join Instagram. I joined Instagram and I
connected with other teachers very quickly and they were
pretty opening and welcome. It was kind of different from

(03:42):
other social media experiences that I've had.
After joining Instagram, I was able to join some really great
mastermind groups. I even started facilitating my
own. I became a licensed mastermind
facilitator, hence why I startedthe Music Teacher Mastermind
Podcast. That's really when that thing
started to change for me. I created systems that worked.
I cut my teaching hours, I increased my income, I even got

(04:05):
my evenings back and I started helping other teachers do the
same. So that's what this podcast is
here for. The Scrappy Piano Teacher is a
space for independent music teachers, primarily piano
teachers, who are figuring it out all while they're doing it.
If you've ever juggled group classes, administrative tasks,
parents, communication, lesson planning, dinner, and maybe a

(04:27):
meltdown from one of your own children, yeah, been there on
the same afternoon. Yeah, you're my kind of teacher,
so you won't find Polish perfection over here by any
means. You will actually find honest,
down to earth conversations about teaching and running a
studio, practical systems that hopefully will save your sanity,

(04:49):
interviews with other scrappy and creative type B piano
teachers, and some personal stories.
For me, what worked, what bombed, and what I learned the
hard way. I'll also have some great
resources for you along the way,and some weeks I'll come in with
a full plan and some weeks I might be a little messy and I
might be a little real, but I promise it will always be worth

(05:09):
your time. So if you are tired of trying to
keep up appearances and you justwant to build a studio that
actually works for your life, hit follow, subscribe, whatever
it is that whatever platform you're following right now is
asking you to do. Because I don't want you to miss
anything and I'm happy that you're here.
New episodes will drop every other Monday.

(05:30):
And if you know another teacher who needs this kind of space,
send them to this podcast because I would love to create a
community where we can all be scrappy and down to earth
together. Thanks for being here and I will
see you soon. Bye.