Having worked with children almost exclusively throughout my career so far, I am in total awe of music therapists who have experience with clients in many different settings. Stephanie Bolton fits that description, as she shares in the latest episode of the podcast.
Not only has Stephanie worked in a variety of settings, but she is also a business owner running a private practice. She has the best of both worlds, doing the work she loves while still spending plenty of quality time with her daughter during the week.
Stephanie talks about her career path working with a vast array of client populations, the challenges of having a home office, and how entering into private practice has allowed her to enjoy valuable time with her family in Episode 19 of the Guitars & Granola Bars podcast.
Be sure to check out the show notes page for more information about Stephanie, along with links to the resources she mentions in the episode.
This episode is sponsored by Music Teacher’s Helper, the best way to manage your private music lesson studio and/or music therapy practice. I’ve used Music Teacher’s Helper every single day since 2011, and it is one of the best tools I have to keep my private practice running smoothly.
Sign up here for a 30-day no risk trial. If you choose to sign up after the trial using my link, you’ll save 20% off your first month!
Click here to subscribe on iTunes, or search “Guitars & Granola Bars” in the podcast app on your Apple device. Click here to listen and subscribe on Stitcher, or download and search the app on your mobile device.
Back in December, my family moved from one side of the neighborhood to the other with an 18-month-old in tow and another baby on the way. Here I was thinking that was a difficult transition…and then I interviewed music therapist Allison Hingley.
She moved across the country with a two-week-old newborn, and that was just one of MANY big life changes Allison went through in a relatively short amount of time. She certainly inspired me to believe that anything is possible when it comes to raising a family and pursuing a fulfilling carer.
Allison talks about raising a toddler and newborn while completing a master’s program, her family’s various moves around the country, and her decision to start a private practice after staying home with her young daughters in Episode 18 of the Guitars & Granola Bars podcast.
Be sure to check out the show notes page for more information about Allison, along with links to the resources she mentions in the episode.
This episode is sponsored by Music Teacher’s Helper, the best way to manage your private music lesson studio and/or music therapy practice. I’ve used Music Teacher’s Helper every single day since 2011, and it is one of the best tools I have to keep my private practice running smoothly.
Sign up here for a 30-day no risk trial. If you choose to sign up after the trial using my link, you’ll save 20% off your first month!
Click here to subscribe on iTunes, or search “Guitars & Granola Bars” in the podcast app on your Apple device. Click here to listen and subscribe on Stitcher, or download and search the app on your mobile device.
We captured this moment in one of our early childhood classes earlier this month, and it is basically the perfect photo for this blog post. An adorable child decked out in her summer shades, clacking away on castanets — yep, pretty much sums it up!
I’ve mentioned here before that my early childhood music program really took off last summer, which was my impetus for creating the online course Create, Market, Make Music!It covers all the bases I ran while designing and implementing my own program, from the very beginning planning stages to communicating with families after the class is over.
Summer is just around the corner, so now is a great time to get to work creating an early childhood program. The course is concise and action-based, so you can start putting what you learned into practice right away. (It also comes with 3 CMTE credits!)
If you sign up before the end of May, I’ll send you a complimentary copy of my brand-new songbook collection, Ring, Sing, Strum & Drum! Most of the songs in it were written with my early childhood kiddos in mind, so hopefully they will come in handy as you start creating your own classes.
When I originally laid out my school year schedule way back in August, I wasn’t pregnant and therefore planned to end the spring session at the very end of May as usual. Now here we are, in the final days of May — less than a week away from my due date. And I’m still working.
My son’s due date was in mid-June two years ago, and the timing was PERFECT since I was able to finish my spring session and then have a week off before he was born 6 days early. Little did I know just how valuable that week off was!
Although I’m still feeling great, it’s getting increasingly harder to motivate myself and work up the energy for a full afternoon/evening of students. But the alternative is staying home, twiddling my fingers and wondering when baby girl will arrive.
I’ll have plenty of time to stay home this summer during my maternity leave, though it won’t be quite the total vacation from work I took after Parker was born. Being a brand new mom, I’m so glad I decided to completely take off the summer with him and unplug from my online work, as well. It was definitely a big adjustment once I did return to work in September, but I don’t regret it.
The second time around, maternity leave will look a little different. While I won’t be seeing students and clients as usual, I will be returning to lead a couple of classes in July. And I have plenty of administrative work to do for both my private practice and online business.
Luckily neither are a one-woman show these days: I have an amazing business partner, Katey Kamerad, at Music Therapy Connections, and a fabulous project manager, Julie Palmieri, for my online work. Their help and support will be essential as I adjust to life as a mom of 2.
I think it will take some time and experimentation before I find my rhythm with a newborn and the work on my plate, and I know it won’t be smooth sailing (is anything about motherhood ever smooth sailing, especially in the newborn days?).
But I’m looking forward to all of it nevertheless, whether my maternity leave starts today or next week. At this point I’ll be completely honest…the sooner the better!
As I mentioned last week, I’m currently participating in the #MusicTherapyBlogger Challenge hosted by Julie Palmieri at Serenade Designs. This week’s prompt was to share a quote that we love and/or makes us think, and then write a blog post reflecting upon that quote.
I’ve come across many inspirational, motivating, and thought-provoking quotes in the past, and while the one I shared above may not be the most prolific, it is definitely the most applicable to my life right now.
I kind of have a lot going on at the moment, which is not news if you’ve been reading my blog lately. My private practice is about to undergo some major (and super exciting) changes, I have lots of projects happening through my online business, and well, there’s the fact that my baby could be born any day now.
But despite all of that, I have to keep singing. All day, every day. With my clients, with my toddler (his current favorite is “Humpty Dumpty” and I’ve never been so ready to move on to a new song in my life), by myself in my car to keep my brain from imploding with all the thoughts constantly running through it.
I have this quote framed and sitting on my piano as a daily reminder. It’s been there for a few years now; the straightforwardness and simplicity of it sets me back on track when I start to feel my stress level rising.
Here’s to a calm day full of singing, sunshine, and whatever else life decides to bring my way. (I wouldn’t be too upset if that included a baby girl…!)
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two little ones.
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