Meet Juliana Hsu

We recently connected with Juliana Hsu and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Juliana, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

A lot of my work ethic, resilience and perseverance comes from watching the hard work of my parents, who are first generation immigrants from Taiwan. They’ve worked endlessly to achieve where they are today in their careers, and have also stayed humble throughout the process. I’ve always put the same type of effort into anything that I am striving to achieve, because I know at the end of the day, you need to keep yourself accountable, and your efforts will be worth it in the end.

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

My journey as a music therapist started at the University of Kansas, where I was fortunate to have some of the brightest and most passionate professors and classmates who inspired me every day. I graduated in 2019 with my Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy, as well as a minor in anthropology. Growing up in the midwest, it was always my dream to move to California. This dream came true when I landed my music therapy internship in San Diego, CA. From there, I quickly fell in love with the culture and beauty of San Diego, and I knew it would be my ultimate goal to live in this city long-term.

After completing my internship, I moved to Sacramento and started my first job as an official board-certified music therapist! 2 weeks after starting my job, COVID shut everything down. Everything I had just learned and trained for for the past 4.5 years was drastically altered, and I had to learn how to conduct up to 8 virtual sessions every day. This lasted for a full year, until I found a contracting job in San Diego, and made the decision to move back.

While still in a tumultuous transitioning period, I had also started going back to school virtually to get my masters in business administration, since it was my dream to someday open my own private practice. About 6 months into working my contracting position, my boss asked if I would be interested in taking over for her, and to start my own practice and transition all of the clients into my own caseload. I had only been working as a professional for about 1.5 years, so I was extremely nervous and afraid to take on a feat this large, but decided to jump at the opportunity! About 3 months after her initial offer, I launched my business as Encompass Music LLC. We just celebrated the 3 year anniversary on October 1, 2024, and my caseload has doubled since first starting.

Encompass Music LLC is something I am immensely proud of and grateful for. The families I get to work with and see every day are what inspires me to continue working hard and provide the best quality services that I am able to offer. The clients that I have are all so incredible, and I learn from them every single day. It brings me so much joy to see their personalities shine through, and I am grateful they allow me to be part of their lives. I primarily work with children and adults with a variety of intellectual and developmental disabilities, and I also provide adapted and traditional lessons on piano, ukulele and guitar. We are hosting our very first holiday recital this coming December, where students that participate in adapted and traditional lessons will get to share their hard work with their loved ones!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Resilience- never giving up and having the end goal in sight. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and lean on others during your times of need, but always keeping in mind how strong and capable you are.
2. Time management- Planning my weeks out in advance helped me be able to get everything accomplished in a timely manner, while still balancing getting my masters, seeing clients, and starting my business. Google calendar is my best friend 🙂
3. Empathy – always being kind to others and yourself. Never forgetting the reason why you wanted to start the business in the first place, and not letting anything else cloud your end goal.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The number one thing I am always trying to avoid is the feeling of burning out. It is extremely difficult for me to say no, and I try my very best to help as many people as I can. In doing so, this means long hours with no breaks. I am still working on achieving a more ideal work-life balance, and learning the limits of my own boundaries and not being afraid of disappointing others by saying no, while protecting my own peace. I am actively working on reorganizing my schedule so I do not work as late, and to make sure I am taking breaks and time for myself during the week.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://encompassmusicllc.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliana-hsu-888644194/