Musically Minded Academy is a Rockridge Music Hub in Oakland California offering music education programs, a professional performance venue and a rental facility

I remember standing across the street from a building on Broadway in 2009 thinking, “that would be the perfect place to have a music school!” I had that feeling that I get sometimes when my gut is pulling me toward something which my conscious mind does not fully comprehend. The feeling was, “I can do this” and “this is perfect!” At that time, the building was occupied by another tenant who had been there for over 20 years.

The following week, when I walked by again, there was a “For Lease” sign in the window. I remember looking at it and thinking, “you’ve got to be kidding!” My mind went into self-doubt-overdrive with all of the reasons why pursuing this would be crazy. The economy was low and I had no funding.

My dream and my vision compelled me to ignore those thoughts and call the number on the sign. I met with the owners hoping to lease a small portion of the 6000 sq ft building. They asked me what I wanted to use it for and they kept saying, “don’t you need the WHOLE building?”

I told them about my dream for a music school that was also a performance space and a community hub and they fell in love with the idea. They supported me with reduced rent and a contribution to get the soundproofing and earthquake retrofitting in progress. In October of 2010, we moved into one wing of the building while the renovations were still in progress on the other sections.

My students and teachers were delighted. We grew into the space and have now been here for over 5 years! Since then, many people have taken my dream on as their own and this place had become an important community hub. Musically Minded Academy is my dream and the culmination my life’s work. An Oakland music hub and a haven for musicians and music lovers!

I am asking for this loan today because I believe that this venue is important and we need his loan not only to survive, but to thrive.

Musically Minded Academy is a Rockridge Music Hub in Oakland California. We are a non-profit, 501(c)3 music education organization. Our main focus is on the music education programs that we offer. We are also a professional performance venue and a rental facility.

It started as my story.

A story about a dream that I wanted to achieve.

Then, my story became our story…and what a beautiful vision it is.

It is the vision of a neighborhood “hub”. Where musicians are born out of normal folk. A haven for musicians and music lovers alike.

When you walk in the door of this place, you can feel it. It is a place where friendships form and where families gather. It is a place to learn and to indulge in the wonders of sound. It is a place where students find their own voice through the language of music and where life long musicians gather to share their craft.

This place has roots with students than have been here for over a decade. This place has new life with teachers whom have just joined and students whom are newbie’s to the art of making music.

This place is musically minded and this vision is Musically Minded Academy!

We now serve over 600 people annually. We partner with many organizations including KCSM, Music Together, Kitka, and many others.

This loan will help us to refinance our debt so that we have more money to spend on program development. This will have a great impact on the business as it will decrease our monthly costs as well as our total debt. This will put us in a better position to receive grants and other funding. This will also help me personally as I have backed these loans with my personal finances. This will help me to become more financially secure.