Meet Jeff Homer | Founder, Ensemble Music Schools

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff Homer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Entrepreneurship was initially attractive to me because of the freedom it promised – freedom to work on something that I could make my own, under my own supervision, and to “bet on myself.” Quickly, I learned that this was actually a team sport and that I would need to grow as a leader and as a manager to be successful, but it’s been an incredibly rewarding journey. In particular, I’ve loved how starting a business afforded me the opportunity to get out from behind my computer screen and have a tangible impact on real people in my community,

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Ensemble Music Schools is a partnership of local, neighborhood music schools. We work with owners of outstanding music schools to ensure that these communities can outlive their direct involvement and allow them to move on to a well-deserved retirement or other life priority. What is unique about us in this context is that we work very hard to maintain the individual culture and identity of each of the schools we take on, which allows founders to feel confident that their vision will be sustained into the future. This is of course more challenging than if we simply re-branded them and ran them in a homogeneous way, but we feel that it’s important to the student experience to maintain that authentic and local culture that has made the school successful for many years prior to our involvement.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love living in Colorado for its access to the great outdoors – let’s get breakfast at The Universal in the Denver Highlands, go hiking in the James Peak Wilderness and come back for a backyard barbecue (provisions provided by Oliver’s Meat Market, of course).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As with all great journeys, the story of Ensemble Music Schools began with a single step – or in this case, a single school, which was Dana V Music in Louisville, CO. At the time that I was getting to know them, there were three incredible women who were instrumental in making that community what it was: Dana Vachharajani, founder and namesake, Katie McClave, longtime co-owner, and Chelsea Kyle, the school’s General Manager. They showed remarkable patience and generosity and worked to teach me the ins and outs of this business of bringing talented teachers and students together in a warm and nurturing environment, which we call a music school.

Website: ensembleschools.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-homer-co/