Meet Emily Lassen

We were lucky to catch up with Emily Lassen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

This year has taught me a lot on the lesson of resilience and coming out of trials all the stronger. After 14 years of marriage my husband, who I share three children with, left me abruptly just, ironically, two days before my baby sister’s wedding day.

Needless to say, It has been a tumultuous time. I’ve been a full-time single homeschooling Mama while trying to juggle a music school and make a living for myself.

It’s been beyond hard, excruciatingly scary and exhausting. BUT – wow did I learn how to get up, dust off and love forward with optimism and faith in better days. I learned that even when you’re down, trodden, forgotten, abandoned… there’s still hope, light, love and joy.

I never thought I’d feel happy again. I thought I’d never be able to support myself and care alone for my kids.

But all those things are coming to fruition slowly but surely and I’ve become such a stronger person for it.

As a musician and business owner of a music school, I have also seen the beautiful parallels of music and lifes tragedies. Music helped me find myself again. My piano became the therapy I needed to express my pain and discover my joy again.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

At Lassen Piano Studio we are proud to be a cornerstone of our community’s music education, inspiring and nurturing budding musicians from all skill levels and ages. Our mission is to bring the art of music-making back into homes and guide students to find meaning, joy, and passion in piano music.

We are passionate about teaching first and foremost. Teaching humans to be better humans through music and exploring their creative outlet.

I am extremely proud of what I built. A positive environment where all are welcome to learn and love music. We have a team now of seven teachers and plan to expand our studio this year to reach out to even more of our community!

We are currently in the midst of fundraising for a new music school build. We’ve done a fall fundraiser, silent auctions and had support from local businesses.

We are currently reaching out to passionate donors who believe in the power of music and its ability to shape the future!

To continue our growth and serve an even larger number of aspiring musicians in our unique community, we are embarking on an exciting project to expand our facilities.

By constructing a new, purpose-built music school, we will be able to triple our current capacity, allowing us to reach more students and teach more efficiently. This is an opportunity to invest in the next generation of musicians and provide them with a space that promotes learning, creativity, and community.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Grit
Don’t give up. I’ve learned that success does not come through natural talent but for never giving up even when we fail. Having the determination to just get up, try again and not be scared of failing. That is the measure of success.

2. Connection
I’ve found my work in music becomes much more profound and life fulfilling when I focus on connecting with people rather than being fixated on perfection. When I can connect with my students and help them to grow to be better humans, the learning happens naturally and so does the music.

3. Why?
What’s your why? I’ve learned that my long lasting success is founded upon my WHY. Why do I do what I do? Why do I love what I do? And to what end?

Having a clearer purpose of my why has helped me see a vision for my music school. One that is far beyond what I’d ever accomplish. Yet I know will have huge impact on my community and my family.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Learning that I CAN do hard things and I’m not alone even if it’s just me as the owner of my business.

I have been humbled by the support, outreach and love I have felt from my community as I’ve gone through this life change of divorce. It’s rattled my soul and I felt so alone.

I am forever grateful towards my career because I realized I had purpose still. I had love still.

Even when all is lost. All that I built over this past decade and a half —- there’s something better in store and far greater than I could ever imagine.

I am literally on the cusp of building a new building for my music school. But I am also building a better me, a better life and a brighter future. My previous dreams have crumbled into rubble but I am building now a better build. With a surer foundation and a healthier me.

I am SO thrilled where this journey takes me. But I know without a doubt it’s only up from here.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

This is a photo of me teaching my son Calvin.

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move