Meet Cody Walton | Owner of UPbeat Music Lessons

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

Hi Cody, how do you think about risk?
I feel like most entrepreneurs can classify themselves as risk takers. My first big risk was graduating college, putting my “planned” career path on hold to move to Dallas and be in a band. I knew from working in high schools as an adjunct band teacher that maybe being a band director wasn’t exactly the path for me. I was able to land a private teaching job after i moved to Dallas and still pursue my goal of being a performing musician. I think that risk certainly defined my life and i got to experience touring the country, playing festivals, sleeping in a van(that part may not have been too glamorous) and laying the roots for what would eventually be my business, UPbeat Music Lessons. My other big risk was actually quitting my stable job and going all in. I had worked three jobs just prior to this to become debt free and save up enough money for any unseen emergencies. I was doing everything i could to build clientele around these strenuous hours until i could quit my “side job” and focus on building my business even more. When the time came in 2019 that i felt comfortable that i could live off the income from my business alone, it was still a scary jump into the world. This was a make or break moment and just as everything was looking like the business was clearly prospering, Covid-19 happened and that time of uncertainty was surely stressful. Luckily, i have a great clientele and made some wise marketing moves that i was able to double my business last year and keep my eyes to the future on how to further grow my brand.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m the owner and manager of UPbeat Music Lessons in Allen, Tx. I’ve been playing music for 18 years and teaching for 10. I am a multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano, guitar, ukulele and percussion. My formal training is in music education from UT Texas-Tyler. Once I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree, I taught a couple years in public schools as a drum line instructor before I decided to focus on being a performing musician and teaching private lessons.

It was a long journey from getting my first student back in 2018 to today where i teach full time, six days a week. The hours are long and the future can feel uncertain, but i’m proud to be a small business owner and i love the freedom that comes with it. Hard work and a good work ethic and maybe a little bit of luck go a long way in this world. Every small business owner will make mistakes along the way but the goal is to keep your nose to the grindstone and keep pushing. It’s easy to get stuck in cycles of every two steps forwards, it’s two steps down but there is light at the end of the tunnel if you work hard and get lucky enough to break through.

I strive to make my business one of a kind in a job where there’s hundreds, if not thousands of other teachers in DFW. I go into this in way more detail on my website, www.upbeatmusiclessons.com, but learning an instrument is supposed to be fun. It seems like a no brainer but I’ve been around many teachers that don’t put that time and effort into making sure the student is in the best position for success. I spend countless hours a week outside of teaching providing custom arrangements of songs for my students as well as writing up exercises or posting sheets on my YouTube channel so students can hear what the arrangements sound like. This isn’t a common practice in my field and i think it should be. If the instructor isn’t making that extra effort, it’s hard for the student to put in the time and work to be a successful musician.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Depending on the time of the year, a Mavericks game would definitely be high on this list. The city of Dallas was lucky to have Dirk for 21 years and then a few years later get Luka Magic. I’m a huge sports fan so some kind of sporting event would definitely be in the plan. Dallas has a lot of great spots but I’m pretty fond of Old East Dallas. I lived there for many years and a night or two of going to dive bars like The Goat to catch whatever rocking blues band in town or down to Deep Ellum to visit any of the older establishments like Twilite Lounge would be a must. My go to food in the area is usually Monkey King Noodle Company or Angry Dog. You can’t go wrong with either of those two options. My other favorite way to experience Dallas is biking around the city. I like hitting up my old biking trails to either White Rock Lake, Downtown or out to Oak Cliff near Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Plenty of activity to get into in all those areas.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As the saying goes, “it takes a village.” There are many people along my path that deserve recognition in my journey but i’d like to focus on three people.

First, my grandma. She raised me single-handedly my whole life(including 6 kids of her own and 4 other grandkids) and without her support, I don’t know where I would have ended up. She’s taught me so much and let me explore any interests I was in when I was younger and I can’t help but think that this solid foundation, in what could have easily been a highly dysfunctional situation, has been the cornerstone to my success.

Second, probably my greatest musical influence. My high school band director Tim Schodowski. I would never have developed a love for music if it wasn’t for this man. He was an excellent teacher, musician and role model for a young kid growing up out in East Texas. His guidance let me grow into the musician i am today and i was lucky to be able to call on him after high school with questions or advice. I remember asking him if he’d be interested in recording trumpet on my band’s last album and he was all in. He showed me what it takes to be a great teacher and i still carry those principles with me today.

Third, my girlfriend. Without her support during the time my business was just a nugget of an idea to quitting my job to pursue this, i don’t think i’d be answering these questions today as a business owner. There’s a lot of uncertainty entrepreneurs have when trying to make that leap and everyone needs a partner in life who’s just as invested in their goals and dreams as they are.

Website: www.upbeatmusiclessons.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upbeatmusiclessons/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjpByG9ufdSvkC7vRTbht-g