Tracy: I signed the lease. I was just in the open studio, no furniture, no nothing. I was just laying on the floor just happy.
Tracy: They hacked the bank account and took all of the money that I had out of the account.
David: We’re like going around littering on people’s cars. We had some pretty upset people.
Tracy: I am not a DJ. However, I DJ the parties—
David: I was the big doubter. I said, “Oh, that’ll never work for me. Impossible. No one’s going to pay for Carnegie.”
Tracy: I kid you not. I sold out in seven minutes. Seven minutes.
David: From hiring teachers or managing teachers… I have horror stories.
Tracy: Okay. Turns out they were having an affair at my studio before the kids arrived.
David: Knocked on his door, knocked down his front door, and arrested everyone in the house. And I’m like, “What’s going on?”
[Music]
Interview
00:01:17 — David: Tracy Morris. Good to see you, my friend. Thanks for being here.
00:01:24 — Tracy: Hey, my pleasure. Happy to be here.
00:01:30 — David: Doing well. You are the founder and owner of Morris Music Academy. You started it in 2011 — award-winning school. You guys got Best Music School in Jacksonville in 2020, which is awesome.
You’ve taken your students to Carnegie Hall, which is really cool. And like the rest of the world, you transitioned from in-person lessons to online lessons during COVID-19. You stayed alive and pushed through it.
You’re also a community leader — director of educational programming at the Beach’s Fine Arts Series. You’re very active in your community.
00:02:04 — Tracy: Yeah, I stay busy, man. Between running a studio… and I love to teach, so I still have my own students. And my community outreach.
00:02:23 — David: You started in 2011. Were you a musician? Did you start off teaching yourself? How did it get started?
Starting the Academy (2011)
00:02:29 — Tracy: I’ve been a musician forever. I’m still an active performing artist, but I had to get the day gig. For a time I was a public school teacher — elementary school, K through five — at Jacksonville Beach Elementary for about 10 years.
And I got tired of it. One day during lunch, I’m driving around and I’m like, “Man, something’s got to change.” I happened to make a right turn and passed a series of buildings that were for lease.
00:03:06 — Tracy: I reached out to the landlord, had a conversation, and the rest is history.
00:03:13 — David: Had you ever been a business owner before?
00:03:19 — Tracy: No — never had a bricks-and-mortar anything except for my home. I did web development for a minute… web hosting with a business partner. But a real physical business? No.
00:03:51 — Tracy: I had no money — teacher salary, struggling. So the landlord put me on what he called his crawl, walk, run program.
First three months: I paid 25% of the lease rate.
Next three: 50%.
Next quarter: 75%.
By the end of the first year: 100%.
That helped me get started.
Getting Students Quickly
00:05:14 — David: Did you have any students when you opened?
00:05:21 — Tracy: I pre-registered a ton. Once we came to an agreement, I immediately went back to my elementary school and hit up the parents of my students:
“Hey, I’m not open yet, but I’m opening soon.”
When the doors opened, it wasn’t a ton — maybe 30 students — but enough to pay bills.
00:06:17 — David: That’s wild. You had a space, and then it’s like “I gotta fill it.”
00:06:40 — Tracy: That’s what separates entrepreneurs. We don’t always know how we’re going to do it — but we know we have to make it happen.
Hustling: Teaching + Studio + Performing
00:07:27 — Tracy: I was an extreme hustler. I did three things at the same time.
Teaching 7:50 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. at the elementary school.
Then I’d hustle to the studio so I could open by 3:30 and teach lessons.
And at night, I’m performing.
00:08:44 — Tracy: I went to school for performance — jazz studies. I’ll always be a musician. I fell into music education and realized I was pretty good at it too.
Setting Up the Studio on a Shoestring Budget
00:09:35 — Tracy: One of my coworkers’ husbands was a painter. He came out and helped paint rooms.
00:09:54 — Tracy: I found a dental office closing — liquidating office furniture like a yard sale. For $500 I outfitted my office: chairs, desk, everything.
00:10:17 — Tracy: I had one acoustic piano from a local piano store, then electronic keyboards in the other rooms because they were the most cost-effective. Got a couple plants, a fish tank… some things.
00:10:45 — Tracy: Most of my clientele are band instrument students. I covered saxophone, flute, clarinet, and piano. Brought in a buddy to teach guitar and a young lady teaching violin. It was just three of us in the beginning.
Work Ethic + Drive
00:11:21 — David: Where did that drive come from?
00:11:26 — Tracy: My parents were “can’t fail” people. Burn-the-boat mentality. My dad always had several jobs. Hard work wasn’t foreign to me.
00:12:25 — David: It’s rare to see that drive in young people now.
00:12:30 — Tracy: It is. Hiring staff… it’s a problem. Front desk staffers, even teachers sometimes — lack of drive.
Early Challenges + Bank Account Hack
00:14:45 — Tracy: First week open, one of my bank accounts was hacked.
00:14:55 — Tracy: I signed the lease. I was just in the open studio, no furniture, no nothing. I was laying on the floor just happy.
00:15:15 — Tracy: I hopped on “free beaches Wi-Fi,” logged into my bank account… then went to get gas — declined. It was a fake Wi-Fi setup. They hacked the bank account and took all the money out.
00:16:09 — Tracy: PayPal immediately took action — within 24 hours I had the money back. But that initial shock was super stressful.
Marketing in the Beginning
00:17:04 — Tracy: It stayed pretty small at first. I was focused on having a great product for students, not growing. It grew to maybe 50 students.
00:17:33 — Tracy: I knew nothing about marketing. In the beginning, it was basic stuff — passing out flyers.
Grassroots Marketing That Worked
00:19:44 — Tracy: I’d go to middle schools and offer to run woodwind sectionals for free.
The exchange: I give flyers to the kids to take home.
00:20:08 — Tracy: I still do that. It’s a no-brainer.
00:22:21 — Tracy: I contacted a PTA and became an in-kind sponsor. I show up to three events a year.
Two of them—I’m not a DJ. However, I DJ the parties.
The exchange: I get a banner in the car pickup area, my logo on the placard parents see daily, and I can distribute flyers anytime.
00:23:43 — David: If you’re not utilizing local public schools, you’re missing a massive opportunity.
“No Bad Ideas” Marketing Mindset
00:24:52 — Tracy: No idea was a bad idea as long as I got my name in front of someone.
Sponsoring marching band trailers, wearing branded shirts everywhere, handing out cards… any number of things.
00:27:21 — Tracy: You don’t do everything at once. Pick a few things that are free or low-cost: clinics, DJing events, referral contests.
Winning “Best Music School” (Jacksonville)
00:30:28 — Tracy: It was a contest by Florida Times Union / Jacksonville.com.
We actually won twice: 2017 and 2020. Three times finalist.
00:31:05 — Tracy: People want to be associated with “the best.” We’d get calls:
“We saw you were best music school—that’s why we’re calling.”
00:33:00 — Tracy: Online reviews matter. If your reputation is trash, forget about it.
Carnegie Hall Recital: How It Worked
00:33:26 — David: Tell me about Carnegie. How did you do that?
00:33:45 — Tracy: First time was December 2017. We had 32 students register. Everyone handled their own transportation and lodging.
00:34:22 — Tracy: We’re doing it again this year: Saturday, December 6th at 1:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall — Weill Recital Hall.
00:35:22 — Tracy: There’s a significant participation cost. You charge a participation fee that covers the hall and marketing and leaves a return.
00:36:11 — Tracy: This year, I charge $650 participation. Some colleagues charge $1,000.
00:37:31 — Tracy: Tickets are $35.
“Sold Out in Seven Minutes”
00:38:50 — Tracy: I was the big doubter. I said, “That’ll never work for me. Impossible.”
00:39:13 — Tracy: I kid you not — I sold out in seven minutes.
00:39:56 — Tracy: I had maybe 150 families at the time. Online registration, calls, and when I arrived at the studio at 9:00 a.m., there was a line outside like Black Friday.
00:41:31 — Tracy: Registration is non-refundable. Nobody dropped out.
Hiring Teachers + Contractor Model
00:46:00 — David: Do you still teach?
00:46:07 — Tracy: I do. Mostly saxophone and clarinet students.
00:47:19 — Tracy: I use independent contractors. That limits how much control I can dictate over how they teach.
00:48:18 — Tracy: I’m one of the holdouts. Still contractors.
00:48:50 — David: How many teachers do you have now?
00:48:54 — Tracy: Thirteen.
Horror Story #1: Affair at the Studio
00:50:09 — Tracy: My most horrific story… my front desk staffer and one of my teachers were having an affair.
00:50:48 — Tracy: His wife came to the studio before anyone arrived and told me:
“My husband has been meeting your front desk staffer here every day before you open.”
00:52:00 — Tracy: Turns out they were having an affair at my studio before the kids arrived.
00:53:14 — David: All parties were there?
00:53:21 — Tracy: All parties were there. Teacher, front desk staffer, and the wife.
00:54:42 — Tracy: That same day, my staffer was gone.
I had to release the teacher contractor too.
Next day I bought cameras — now I have video cameras everywhere.
Horror Story #2: Teacher Teaching While Intoxicated (COVID)
00:58:16 — Tracy: During COVID, one instructor took pills and chased them with wine right before teaching online lessons.
00:59:18 — Tracy: He managed to log into three lessons completely gone—high and drunk, unintelligible.
00:59:48 — Tracy: One parent said he logged in, said “Hey, how are you doing?”
Student said “Fine.”
He said, “Okay, that’s a lesson. Bye.” And hung up.
01:00:48 — Tracy: I cut his Zoom access immediately.
Horror Story #3: FBI Arrest + Background Checks
01:06:14 — Tracy: We background check everyone, but it doesn’t catch everything.
01:06:49 — Tracy: A sub didn’t show up. The next day, his roommate told me the FBI knocked down the door and arrested everyone in the house.
01:08:01 — Tracy: Someone in the home was exchanging child pornography on the dark web. It was the sub that had subbed at my studio.
01:08:32 — Tracy: Thankfully nothing happened at the studio. But even association could destroy your reputation.
01:10:54 — Tracy: The allegation alone is enough to ruin you.
I encourage everyone: buy cameras. Have insurance. Have legal safeguards.
What Tracy Looks for When Hiring Teachers
01:13:35 — Tracy: Personality goes a long way.
If someone is too flat, too quirky, or too serious — not a good fit.
01:14:05 — Tracy: 90% of our clientele are kids. I want someone fun, personable, great communicator.
Musicianship matters, but so does the ability to relate to kids and parents.
01:15:26 — Tracy: I don’t require a degree if they have the experience.
One of my best instructors never finished music school — amazing violinist, perfect personality, waiting list.
01:16:30 — Tracy: I monitor retention. If students stop after a couple months, there’s a problem.
If retention is bad, you won’t work here long.
Closing
01:17:18 — David: Tracy, this has really been fun. You’re an awesome human and I’m glad you’re in this industry making a difference.
01:17:30 — Tracy: Likewise, man. Great to reconnect. Great to see you, buddy.
01:17:36 — David: Hopefully we can do this again soon.
01:17:40 — Tracy: Yep. I hope so.
