Leaving Spotlight Music

After 16 years, it feels very strange leaving Spotlight Music. I have so many great memories and met a lot of amazing people there! Some students had taken lessons for over 11 years. I would have never guessed that Covid-19 would change so many things.

I think events steer us in the direction we are supposed to take and this is one of those. Despite being a little nervous to leave the familiarity and comfort of Spotlight, I am very excited at the same time.

Covid-19

In April of 2020, the county required all non-essential retail locations to shut down. Of course, I would argue that a music store is essential. But Spotlight Music ended up shutting down for the mandatory time due to Covid-19. Almost all of my students went online, but what an impact that had on traffic in the retail market. Even after re-opening, things were very slow. These were some scary times and I wondered if it was going to be possible to continue teaching full time. Fortunately, Rob and Jen decided to take the business to Windsor and continued having the instructors out there.

Business Soared

Once Spotlight moved to Windsor, we still had about 4 or 5 teachers on the roster. Sales took off online and they ended up converting part of their home into a business. I taught at the new location for just shy of 2 years and loved the studio they had. The new studio was almost 4 times the size of the one I was used to. In addition, there was a huge desk for printers and monitors as well as all the other gadgets for teaching.

If I were to take a guess, people who were quarantined decided to pursue new hobbies…and guitar must have been at the top of the list. The store was shipping more product than I can ever remember. This was nice, because despite being closed in Fort Collins, people were still calling to get lessons.

I ended up having more students after Covid-19 than ever before and my roster at the studio in Greeley started to completely fill up.

Northern Colorado Guitar

I was fortunate to have gained a lot of students in Greeley over the past several years and ended up needing more availability. I decided it was time to focus on my business here in Greeley. It was a hard decision but made a lot of sense. I will now be able to add students during the times that I was traveling to and from Windsor. And with school starting, some of the day students will have afternoon and evening spaces to move to.

Final Thought on Leaving Spotlight Music

I will always have great memories of the store and will definitely miss working with everyone at Spotlight. It is so hard to leave after all those years…It feels like an era has ended. I learned so much from the other instructors and will always appreciate what Rob and Jen have done for me. Especially sharing their BBQ ribs!!

If you are interested in taking guitar, ukulele, or bass lessons, or have any questions, please contact me.