Music Is Fun Until You Forget To Invoice with Mari Hashimoto

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:36hey there welcome to this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs i am your host bill gilliland i am the principal at action coach business growth partners and also one of the founders of the ashville business summit and i am here today a lot of times we we i don't know everybody seems to be a friend at some point but at but a lot of times we're interviewing businesses and people that I don't know that well, but actually I've got a friend on the line here today and that's, and that's Mari, Mari Hashimoto of Mari Hashimoto. She is a violinist and amazing. She puts together all kinds of cool stuff and helps other musicians get gigs.

1:18It's a pretty cool thing, but I'm gonna let her tell it. So Mari, tell us about you, tell us about your business and how you're serving our communities. Thanks, Bill. So like he said, I'm a musician. I play the violin and viola. I've been playing for over 25 years. I actually stopped counting at 25. I always perform, but I didn't go full-time musician until about three years ago, two or three years ago. And I started playing for weddings, private events, private house concerts, nursing homes, corporate events, and just lots of other special events like conferences, galas, just anything you can think about, including benefit concerts.

2:07Love that. I love that. Quick question. What's the difference between a violin and a viola? Oh. Well, so, I usually get the, what's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? I can tell you later. I know the answer to that one. I know the answer to that. Okay. Well, so a violin and a viola. So a violin has four strings and a viola also has four strings. However, the violin goes a little bit higher than the viola. The violin has something called G-D-A-E strings. And then the viola has one that's a little bit lower. It's C-G-D-A. So it's just a tiny bit lower. It's almost like a baby cello. Yeah, I got it.

2:49Got it. I understand. I understand. It's good. It's a good one. So let's talk about business. So you've been in business for a few years. What would you do differently if you had to start over? Um, if I started over, honestly, I would focus earlier on creating boundaries and probably systems. When I first started, it was a lot of survival mode. And so it, even though I was organizing events to the best I could and performing for them, and they'd sound great, but it was really what was happening in the back, like the planning, organizing, and also I would say yes to everything, to every single client I had.

3:40And so I was in total survival mode. And I think that led to a lot of stress, a lot of times not paying myself enough and eventually to burnout. So I think since then I've gotten so much better. I've been able to say no to certain gigs or understand what the fair pricing would be from the amount of work I do and how much work I could actually take on because I've realized if I was stressed out and burnt out, you know, I couldn't help any of my clients at all. So that, and that also really, I mean, honestly, understanding your limits too helped me keep my passion of music alive because there was a point where I kind of questioned if I wanted to keep doing this and if music was still giving me joy.

4:38So I would definitely say from the start, like boundaries and systems. I love that because you wouldn't want music to not give you joy. You know, a lot of people do get into a career or something and something they really liked because it was a, maybe a little hobby or a little more than a hobby, but yeah. And then they don't like it anymore. That's a bad, that's a bad deal. So what are some of the other learnings you've had as an owner um honestly i'd say communicating better and networking and building relationships um as you know i'm a introvert i'm actually an introvert even though i sound very animated right now but um and being a musician i think it's comfortable for me to go in the practice room or you know in the workshop or studio and just hide, you know, and practice.

5:35And I think as a business owner, I've had to learn how to communicate better with others, being able to network. And honestly, like, I feel like my growth came from building relationships with other people and just understanding the community I'm serving because when you connect with others you understand what they're looking for you actually gain a better understanding of what you're offering too love that yeah i love that yeah i mean the the introvert extrovert thing is about energy it just you just got to know that it's going to take you more energy and maybe more recovery time if you're going to get out there in the world and and do the thing but i you know i think we all have that a little bit we're all just like, hey, man, I could just go into my office or go into the, like you say, the practice room or something or, yeah, you know, take a walk, something where I don't have to talk to anybody.

6:37Oh, definitely. Yeah, it's good. So what do you think some of the common misconceptions are about running a business? um i think a lot of people think that if you have a great idea and you can just rush into and start a business i've honestly i've learned uh i mean i feel like i knew it was going to be hard but i didn't realize how hard it was going to be and i've had other people tell me oh yeah just like show up and play music. That's all you need to do. But there's so much more that goes into it. And I think people don't realize how difficult it is because you have to be committed. You have to have your own you have to be good at your own time management.

7:27There's nobody telling you what to do. You got to kind of figure it out as you go. And so I think that's that's something that I've discovered as I, you know, gone on because I have to tell myself what to do next. Yeah. Yeah. You can show up and play music, but you still have to get paid. So somebody's got to get an invoice or got to, you know, there's got to be, yeah, there's a lot of things you got to pick up and then there's taxes and everything else that it goes with. That's right. So yeah. Yeah. So what do you attribute your growth to? um honestly i feel like relationships just creating relationships with other people from networking like i said earlier um i i want to make sure that you know no matter how big or small the performance is then that it feels special for the client and i think this genuine care has led to a lot of referrals and repeat bookings.

8:36And I think just connecting with the people, the community, that definitely has helped me grow. I would also say, like, I mean, I guess on the back end things on the business side, improving my systems, just updating my repertoire, collaborating with other professionals, other musicians, and just connecting with other, you know, even if they're not in the music field, just connecting with other business owners, too. Love that. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I can't know enough good people, right? So how do you balance your personal life with your business life? Oh, gosh. It's a work in progress, I will say.

9:26A lot's changed when I moved to Greenville, South Carolina this past May. There's a lot of performances I still do in North Carolina. So I actually spend a lot of time in the car and lots of driving. um but I think for next year I've been planning a little bit more intentionally about my schedule and how much you know travel I'm gonna have to do and so I've been trying to figure out I haven't come up with it yet but I'm trying to figure out a ideal schedule for me for next year like what that would look like what days I would want off what days I just you know want to relax do nothing with the violin um yeah but i mean i guess for now right now i think what's helping me the most is honestly my dog uh tells me when i'm like done at the computer i love that the dog comes and gets you yeah oh yeah that's enough maury come yeah come out let's Yep, that's right.

10:37We got to play. Yeah. So BE EPIC, as you know, is an acronym. I'm going to give you the acronym, and then I want to get, like, a real quick fire answer, like words or a sentence. Oh, boy. So the B stands for bring energy. Be positive and optimist. It's infectious, I think, to your friends, team, colleague. and if something happens you know something bad happens just keep going you're you're learning and you're growing things are going to get better i love it how about the e and epic for education um always strive to learn like keep learning there's a your or else you're going to be stuck you know there's there's going to be a day you're just you're not going to know how to move forward And I think knowing just continuously learning, just fostering that love of learning.

11:38Or if you don't love to learn, then maybe a willingness to learn, maybe. Yeah. Well, I love that. If you're stuck, do some education. That's been my experience. You know, take a class, listen to a podcast, something to learn, read a book, whatever it is. P stands for planning. Planning. um for me planning is the backbone of everything I do so if I I mean my performances might look effortless but behind the scenes there's been a lot of practice a lot of organizing figuring out what to play all that um so a lot of my business you just have to plan things out because nothing happens like on the day of it's like all the planning up to that but in other ways I think planning like planning for the future like my goals in the next year you know in the next three months it's something I I frequently find myself doing a lot of planning love it I stands for inspiration um i think finding the reason to your business or goals um like why are you doing this what is this for um i guess it's almost like goals but um i feel like it's it's the backbone of it like if for me i my goal is to play more music but behind the scenes i i want to play more music because i know it helps people connect helps people uh um feel better in certain situations there's so many things that music does for people and so that's that's my inspiration i guess yeah Yeah, so you've got a bigger purpose than just to play music.

13:33Yeah, yeah, I love it. Yeah. And the C stands for commitment. I'd say, like, showing up fully, even things get hard, even if things get hard. Like, today, I wanted to sleep longer. But, you know, I had to get things done. Or I wanted to take a nap. But there's always things, you know, I came up with a goal that I want to achieve. And, you know, I have that inspiration we just talked about, the reason behind it. And so I want to be committed to that goal and keep working towards that. I love that. I love that. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow?

14:24I would say definitely be open or willing to learn new things. Connecting with other people. Honestly, I think a lot of your growth can happen from connecting with other people because you're learning from other people and you're sharing your ideas. and maybe they might bring in an idea that you've never thought about. And also, I'd say other things would be, like coming from, especially from a musician, maybe to other creatives too, and obviously business owners too, but I think understanding your worth, know your value and stay consistent is very important too. um especially for me it's so easy to just say yes to everything but you you want to be sure like don't be scared or afraid to charge fairly for your time and expertise is honestly what i've learned kind of the hard way but i would definitely share that to everybody yeah pay yeah get paid what you're worth yeah yeah it's it's a it's a it's a hard thing so um so what's the next big thing well i so i i wanted to do a rebrand this year didn't really go to plan because my move but i've been ever since then though i've been focused on having a stronger foundation and so i just onboarded an assistant i'm so excited um and he's been helping me with some day-to-day business tasks.

16:16And I recently just connected with a CPA. He's absolutely amazing. And I'm looking for a bookkeeper now, but I'm trying to get everything organized and just make sure everything is good from the bottom level, the foundation. that way you know as i have that better system in place as i grow and get more uh different services to offer and other musicians to onboard then i'll be ready for it yeah well i think that's fantastic i mean what you're doing is offboarding you know outsourcing the things that aren't your genius i mean your genius is the violin and in the viola and playing and getting people together and you know making music i mean that's your genius and so uh yeah i love that i love that so what's the best way for someone to get in touch with you um so i always have my phone on me so definitely uh they can call my business number which is 828-423-0413 um but i also have a website violinmari.com or they can find me on my instagram mari Hashimoto violin love it all right i'm going to set you up for the joke so what's the difference between a violin and a fiddle okay so violin has strings and a fiddle has strings i love it yeah violin has four strings or Strangs.

17:55I love it. Strangs. I love Strangs. I can get it in there. I can get that. I love it. A little twang. It's been good catching up, Maury. Thanks for being on. Appreciate what you're doing in our communities, Greenville, Western North Carolina, both communities. And yeah, we certainly know you're going to continue to be successful and keep being out there and keep making music and being infectious. I love it. Thank you. Thanks for having me today. Hey, and until next time, all the best.

18:53Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly. Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.