Get the support you need as a musician and teacher with a strategy-focused virtual work retreat.
Join me for a small-group, 2-hour virtual work retreat and get a 20-min. strategy session with me on a topic of your choice, an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and build community + built-in time to work independently on your goals (with co-working accountability and support).
$47 USD
Just because you work for yourself,
doesn’t mean you have to work by yourself.
The freelance life has its perks,
but it can also be pretty lonely.
There’s a lot to learn, navigate, and figure out on your own: from taxes to pricing structures, digital products to bookkeeping, marketing to brand and web design. And there’s no one to tell you what to do next and what you need to know, which can be freeing and completely overwhelming at the same time.
The problem is:
Stuck in a rut
It’s easy to fall into the habit of doing what you see other people doing, teaching the way you were taught, or doing things the same way you’ve always done them.
Not enough time
Learning new things? Developing new skills? Solving problems? All of it takes time. And as a busy working musician, that’s the one thing you don’t have.
not knowing where to start
Your to-do list is never-ending but when it comes to the big picture—the music career and business you want to build—you don’t know where to start.
Here’s the thing:
You’re a musician—an artist and a creative. But you’re also a business owner—a strategist and an analyst.
And that’s a powerful combination.
But it means you need to be intentional about being both—stepping into one role and out of another for a time. You need time and space to work in your business (doing what you do best) and on your business (so you can ensure you’re building something sustainable).
Want to know my secret for balancing my music + teaching work with the business side?
A work retreat.
This is a dedicated time to step back and look at your business as a whole, evaluate how things are going and what you want to do differently, and make thoughtful, informed decisions.
Now, for the first time, I’m walking you through my process, step by step.
Get the support, business strategy, and accountability you need as an independent teacher, music freelancer, or small business owner so you can manage the business side with confidence.
“I found it immensely helpful—you gave me some valuable marketing ideas for advertising. I am so grateful to you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.”
“That was really, really helpful today. I needed some clarity and it was just good to have that accountability to crank out some things.”
Here’s what to expect:
✏️ Individual Strategy Sessions
Each attendee will get their own 20-min. strategy session as part of this work retreat (a perk of keeping it small!). This is a time to dig deep into one specific area of your career, business, or studio.
You can talk through something you’re working on or a new project you want to start, ask questions, and get feedback, ideas, and suggestions from me and other like-minded musicians.
🕦 Time for Independent Work
Strategy sessions usually leave you with lots of new ideas to research, study, and think through, so this is a practical time to start taking action. This also keeps you from feeling overwhelmed by a lengthy to-do list.
As such, we’ll save a little time during our work retreat for structured independent work so you can start putting your ideas down on paper and make tangible progress on your goals.
📊 Analysis, Insights & Reflection
You’ll get the tools and resources you need to reflect on the past year, study data and insights, and analyze your current projects and income streams.
This will help you figure out what you want to focus on during the work retreat and what you want to prioritize in the coming months.
👏 Built-In Support & Accountability
Life is busy and it can be challenging to find time to step back and evaluate the big picture of your career and business. Plus, where to start?!
Instead, let’s work on this together. If you block off 2 hours on your calendar and commit to showing up and doing the work, I’ll take care of the rest!
Hi, I’m Ashley Danyew.
Musician, educator, researcher, and entrepreneur
I share creative and pedagogically sound teaching ideas + tools and business strategies to support self-employed musicians, freelancers, and studio teachers so you can build and manage a music career that’s as diverse and unique as you are—one that’s financially secure, artistically fulfilling, and made to last.
My husband, Steve and I are both self-employed musicians; we’ve been doing annual work retreats since 2017. This is a great time to get perspective, dream big, and make intentional decisions in our businesses.
Now, I want to invite you into the process.
With a Ph.D. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and 15+ years of experience as a self-employed musician and entrepreneur, I’ll help you rediscover the creative side of music teaching and learning and learn the business skills and strategies you need to build and manage your music career.
What other musicians are saying:
“Ashley is so generous with sharing her wealth of knowledge and expertise. It’s a great help and encouragement to people who feel stuck or struggling or insecure about what they’re doing in their work or career. The retreat is a great vehicle, a safe non-judgmental space where participants can work through a stumbling block and forge ahead.”
FAQs
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Anything you'd like! If you're a teacher, you might consider:
Studio Offerings: private lessons, group classes, monthly studio classes, piano camps, performance opportunities, theory classes, composition contests, etc. How can you serve your students and families better?
Pricing: do you need to raise your rates? Change your pricing model?
Systems: lesson planning, assignment sheets, studio communication, recital planning, group class curriculum, etc.
Repertoire: does the repertoire you’re assigning offer stylistic diversity? What about gender, ethnicity, and culture? Is there a balance between fast, technical pieces and slow, lyrical pieces? Do you teach pieces by rote? Do you use lead sheets and chord charts?
Musicianship: how are you fostering the development of comprehensive musicianship in your studio? What resources or activities do you want to build in to help your students develop aural skills, technique, creativity, theory, rhythm, sight-reading?
Website/Marketing: what’s working? What needs to be updated? How are you engaging prospective students?
Schedule: do you want to teach more evening lessons? More daytime lessons? Do you want to teach on the weekends ever? Is there anything you want to adjust?
If you're a freelancer or small business owner, you might consider:
Software: Is it time to upgrade or change platforms? When is it time to start paying vs. stay on the free plan?
Project Planning: What's something you want to plan or organize in the coming year? What's involved?
Marketing: What's working and what's not? Do you want to grow your email list, post more consistently, reach new customers organically?
Digital Products: This is a great way to build passive income streams in your business because it doesn't require a continual time investment and it's easily scalable. What can you create and offer in your business?
Brand & Website: What needs to be updated? Is it time for a rebrand? What's the goal for each page on your website and how is that working?
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The biggest takeaways are clarity, intention, and strategy. I can point back to specific work retreats as key turning points in my business. Including:
moving my website from WordPress to Squarespace
moving my email list to Flodesk
moving my courses and digital products to Podia
adding group classes—performance classes and musicianship classes—to my studio
making adjustments and pivoting in my portfolio career
It helps to have someone you can talk to who can be a sounding board for you and help you talk through pros/cons. Sometimes, you just need to take a step back and give yourself time and space to think something through, research your options, and make an informed decision.
I hope the same will be true for you!
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Yes, assuming all the tech works as it should, the work retreat will be recorded. I'll send you the replay afterward so you can review it on your own time, as needed.
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Yes, you can absolutely do a solo work retreat. Set aside a day or two on your calendar for some reflection, strategizing, and deep work.
That being said, the benefit of doing a collaborative work retreat is that you get someone else's eyes and ears on your work. You can brainstorm out loud, in real time. You can ask questions and get feedback. You can talk through places where you're getting stuck and get someone else's outside perspective on the problem.
This is so valuable and helpful, especially if you're the only working in your business.
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Yes! I hope to offer a few of these virtual work retreats per year.
I am purposefully capping the registration to keep it small and focused, so if registration is full or the day/time of this work retreat doesn't work for you, add your name to the waitlist to be notified about the next one.
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Feel free to reach out to me directly at ashley@ashleydanyew.com or @ashleydanyew on Instagram. I'm happy to answer your questions!
Did you know?
When we work in sync with other people, we’re usually more productive.
(source: Feel Good Productivity, Ali Abdaal)
Because as it turns out, the secret to getting more done isn’t putting in more hours, it’s finding a way to have *fun* doing it.
Ready to start?
Let’s get to work (and have some fun doing it).
I know what it’s like to work alone—to feel overwhelmed by all the spinning plates in your music career and all the unanswered questions and things to figure out. I know what it feels like to be uncertain about what steps to take next.
That’s why it’s so important to set aside time to work on your business (with friends!). Community, support, and accountability all rolled into one.
Join me for a small-group, 2-hour, LIVE virtual work retreat and get a 20-min. strategy session with me + support from other musicians, an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences, and built-in time to work independently on your goals.
Space is limited!
$47
Not able to commit right now, but interested in joining a future virtual work retreat?
*Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you and helps to support my business.
