Music has always been a huge part of my life. Having both parents as music teachers I have grown up surrounded by music, and started learning the cello at the age of 4. I studied cello performance at the Royal Academy of Music and have freelanced as a professional cellist ever since! My work has enabled me to perform and tour all over the world with a huge variety of artists, playing and recording not only classical music with orchestra’s including the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra, but also work with pop artists including Boyzone, Ariana Grande and Sam Smith.

When I had my first baby in 2015, I found my freelance lifestyle harder and harder to match with the family lifestyle I wanted- working erratic and irregular hours, evening and weekends, and of course travelling as well, meant finding childcare was extremely difficult and I felt constantly torn between taking on work and staying home with my family. My husband is also a musician so the juggle was amplified! I’d always liked the idea of running music classes for babies and pre schoolers but all the groups I considered didn’t inspire me.

When I moved back to Poole in 2021 and had my third baby, I found myself living locally to my lifelong school friend, Melissa, a primary school teacher and English lead at that time, and we had the idea to set up our own music and storytelling classes, and Musical StoryBox was born!

As a musician myself, I find my work so rewarding. I often play my cello in our classes as live musical performances is a big part of what we want to provide, whether thats one off performances with local musicians and music centres, or singing in classes and showing little ones real orchestral instruments. Music education is not just about learning to play an instrument, it is enveloping young people in all sorts of music, normalising music which may otherwise be seen as exclusive and helping develop an understanding of music and the arts which is so beneficial to have in our lives.

Running your own Musical StoryBox business can give you the freedom to work around your family. I can drop my children off at school and nursery, go and run some StoryBox sessions and be home in time for pick up, meaning I can have precious afternoon and evenings spending time with my children, or often being their personal taxi service!! I can work on the days which work for me and that suit available nursery days, I can add my own creative input to sessions, sometimes playing cello, singing with my ukulele, and talking to families about the music and its meaning.

By running your own Musical StoryBox franchise, you would be joining our passionate and supportive family, helping to spread musical education far and wide. Inspiring little ones through stories and music and really feeling both that you are doing something important, but that you are also really enjoying yourself while doing it! I also am able to carry on freelancing as a cellist, taking on work that I want to do and that fits in with my family without feeling like a slave to it as I have another income. I am able to use my skills that I have developed throughout my music career and utilise them for my business, without giving up on my performing work. I have seen the many benefits our classes provide, and my own children love it too!