Erica Calvert/Airshine Music
Category : Success Stories
Erica Calvert owns Airshine Music, a business that provides private music lessons for children and adults in San Diego County. For as long as she can remember, Erica has always had a passion for teaching. As a kid, she would always play the teacher “role” and later, while in college, she began to provide private piano lessons with a mobile teaching service. After graduating from college, she took a position as a fundraiser with a local jazz radio station where she began to learn about the business side of music. Inspired by her new knowledge of business and her continued passion for teaching, Erica decided to give entrepreneurship a try when she came across the YEP program. After completing the online business training, Erica submitted a business plan to the YEP Business Plan Competition to test the feasibility of her idea and get feedback from the professional business advisors that review the plans for the competition.
To Erica’s surprise, she was selected as one of the winners of the competition and was awarded a prize package of resources and services to help her move her business idea forward. After a couple of sessions with a Center for International Trade Development (CITD) business advisor, she officially launched her business which she describes as a service that, “helps San Diegans avoid musical boredom and burnout by creating a place for students and teachers to create dynamic relationships that foster meaningful musical education and lifelong learning.”
When asked how YEP helped her with her business, Erica said, “YEP helped put my business on the map. The follow-up from the CITD counselors is one of the forces that keep me moving forward.”