Five teaching artists, 250 students, and no front desk. How does Caitlin Duckworth do it?
Caitlin, contemporary singing specialist and founder of Houston Voice Studio, walks Nikki through the systems and automations that let her and her manager run a multi-teacher studio as a team of two, and why ethical employment sits at the centre of it all.
Timestamps
2:33 From classical training to contemporary singing
13:52 Opening Houston Voice Studio
23:38 Hiring her first admin
27:19 One application form that runs onboarding
32:41 The reschedule form, coupon codes, and Slack alerts
39:02 Why her teachers are W2 employees, not contractors
42:29 Benefits, birthdays off, and paying through a power outage
51:37 Google Voice and keeping personal numbers private
54:11 Paid time for email, no work outside paid hours
56:10 Paid prep time, absences, and the full tool stack
1:09:12 Slack for teachers and Zapier as the glue
1:14:27 First steps: built-in integrations and Gmail filters
About Caitlin Duckworth
Founder, Houston Voice Studio | Contemporary Singing Specialist
Caitlin Duckworth is a Contemporary Commercial Music specialist and founder of Houston Voice Studio, a Houston-based training program for pop and musical theater singers. Teaching is her first love, but much of her current focus is building an ethical employment model for teaching artists, systems that let her team focus on their singers, and wider access to the arts in her community.
houstonvoicestudio.com
Full show notes, reflective questions, and transcript: [episode 220 page link]
The FULL VOICE Podcast is for voice teachers who want practical ideas for their teaching and their studio business.
Visit our website: www.fullvoicemusic.com/podcast/220
