It’s 30 years and counting for Kelligrews music school

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

According to the Harvard Business Review, 20 per cent of business start-ups fail in their first year. By year five, some 70 per cent have buckled under. Success often rests on the tenacity and skills of the founder combined with a good idea for a service or business niche – along with 101 other factors.

Now celebrating her 30th year in business, Kerri Kao of Musically Inclined in Kelligrews, seems to have struck on the right formula.

The lifelong CBS resident has been giving music lessons since she was 16 years old. She holds four degrees from Memorial University, two of them in music. In fact, she had initially planned on teaching music in the public school system.

However, from giving music lessons part-time while attending university, Kao came to realize that her true passion came from teaching privately and decided to try making a career out of it. She was working part-time at a music school and thought she might be able to operate something similar. She opened Musically Inclined in 1995. After they became a couple, husband Andy Kao, a fellow music school graduate, joined Keri as a co-owner in 2001. The two have been running the school together ever since. They have four children, ranging in age from 18 to 27, who have become a big part of the family business. In September, three of the children will be working at Musically Inclined.

The business offers private and group music lessons to everyone from toddlers to seniors, in everything from guitar and fiddle to piano, voice, choir, musical theatre, even a rock band program. There are 16 teachers employed at the school with almost 300 students registered. 

Musically Inclined also has a small retail store. It mainly sells music books and smaller musical necessities, such as guitar strings. 

“We want to carry the things that the students would need and to save the students and the parents a trip having to drive into St. John’s,” said Kao. 

The store is open to the public and not just the pupils.

In June, the family and their students and staff celebrated the business’s 30th anniversary with a special concert. It highlighted performances by many long-term students as well as a number of the school’s groups, including its choirs and rock bands. Over 50 students have been with Musically Inclined for a decade or longer, which Kao said is a source of pride for the school. Some students start attending the school at age three or four and remain with Musically Inclined until they graduate high school. 

“That high return rate is something we’re proud of,” she said.

Kao agreed it is a lot of work to run your own business. “It takes a lot of dedication, commitment,” she said. “You need to have passion for what you’re doing, which I do. There’s ups and downs along the way. Some years are better than others — your registration might go up or down, sales might go up or down. But we’ve always felt very welcome in the community. I feel like we’ve become a big part of the community, and we’re very happy and proud to be operating in the Town of Conception Bay South.”