Following her own beat
Mom starts music school for tots
Stacey D’Onofrio has always had a passion for music, particularly musical theater. As a child and young adult, she participated in many local productions and went on to pursue a degree in music theater and speech.
“I’ve been singing before I could talk,” she joked. Once she had children of her own, it came as no surprise that one of the first activities she engaged in with her daughters was a mommy-andme music education program. D’Onofrio then discovered a new passion: To open her own music education school for babies/toddlers and their parents/caregivers.
Now, a licensed teacher of the Music Together curriculum, D’Onofrio opened ABC Music Factory in Peabody. Though her business is just over a year old and small — she is the owner and single employee teaching classes two days a week — her hope is to continue to grow, adding teachers and more options for classes.
“I started taking my own daughter, Alex, when she was just 7 months old,” D’Onofrio said. “She talked early and was very much into music. I attribute her vocabulary and early talking to the Music Together curriculum.” Although ABC Music Factory isn’t D’Onofrio’s only job — she waitresses and works for a party company — she said running her own business is time-consuming and urges those who wish to do the same to develop a strong support system.
For D’Onofrio, that was her husband, Dave. “I have the most amazing husband in the world,” she said. “He helps me with everything and I really feel as if I couldn’t do this without him.” Behind the scenes, D’Onofrio said, comes the administrative tasks, such as paperwork to record the company’s expenses, social media postings to drum up business, and, of course, lesson planning.
“You need someone who, even if they are not able to help you run the business, can be your cheerleader,” she said, because starting a new business from the ground up is hard. “I’ve had to grow thicker skin.”
One of the biggest learning experiences from this past year, she said, is accepting that when people sign up for a class but are unable to sign up for a second session, it’s not personal. “I could sit and ruminate on what I could have done differently or what should have been better, but what I have learned is that oftentimes it just might not fit in with someone’s current schedule or it just isn’t in their budget for that season.”
Still, that doesn’t prevent D’Onofrio from working her hardest to provide high-quality programming. What keeps her going during the challenging times is running a business she believes in. “To run a business you need to be slightly OCD, which I am, and a little bit crazy,” she said. “But most importantly, you need to have the passion to keep you going.”
D’Onofrio believes in the Music Together model, which she explains as a “subtle intense music class.” The babies and toddlers are exposed to music from multiple genres and cultures and are subtly introduced to different rhythms and to major and minor keys.
Not only did D’Onofrio find the educational benefits of the music program rewarding for her daughter, but she also found the social support of the other mothers in the group extremely helpful after having her daughter.
That reason was just another factor that motivated her to create her own children’s music program.” When you first become a mom, it can feel isolating,” she said. “Music Together was a community of adults who supported each other during a major life transition.”