Business Consultant
Meet Katie
From professional violist to entrepreneur
After graduating from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance with a BM and MM in Viola Performance, I exemplified the freelance musician lifestyle. My goal was that of so many of my fellow Wolverines: to win an audition with a major orchestra. Be set for life.
What I didn't realize as I played my way into concert halls up and down the East Coast, won jobs with regional orchestras but never the "big one," moved to a small, southern town, taught private lessons, won another audition for principal viola at 33 weeks pregnant and taught adjunct at a local university was that my business acumen was growing every day. When I began the award-winning Bloom Trio and Event Musicians business, I made every mistake a new business owner could. I hadn't put names to the skills I needed to develop.
From burnout to a
new passion
I remember the day I knew something had to change in my performance career: a mediocre concert, bitterness every time I picked up my instrument, and too many weekends away from my family for insufficient pay.
I leaned on other skills and thought of all the mistakes I'd made when growing my business. I realized I could help others not make those same mistakes. I did this first as Assistant Director of the Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship at James Madison University and then later as Director of Programs for the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports business owners across the Shenandoah Valley.
I have worked with founders of every type: high-growth tech, side hustles, breweries, boutiques, ag tech, elder care products, flower farms, and non-profits. Stepping away from full-time performing allowed me to fall back in love with the viola again and to work as a professional musician on my own terms.
With Modulating Arts, I bring the best from the two worlds I love - the arts and entrepreneurship - into one while continuing to help others.
