Start Where You Are: My Journey from Tiny Office to Thriving Studio

Sinead Nicgabhann
Jun 1
2 min read

When I started teaching singing, I didn’t have a studio. I didn’t even have a space downstairs. I had a tiny upstairs office in our house—wedged between bedrooms, with a slanted ceiling and no soundproofing.

But I had just walked out of my job. And this had to work. That first year, I had five students a week. Within two years, I was teaching thirty students a week—all from that one little room.

The Studio Came After the Students

Now, five years later, I have a purpose-built garden studio. But it didn’t start that way. The growth came from showing up, serving well, and reinvesting when I could. If I’d waited for everything to be perfect, I’d still be waiting.

The Myth of the “Perfect Setup”

“I don’t have the space.” “I don’t have soundproofing.” “What if someone needs the bathroom?” In five years of teaching, three students have ever asked to use the loo. Three. Students don’t care about your fixtures. They care about how you make them feel—safe, seen, and supported. You can do that in any room with a door.

What You Actually Need to Start

● A calm, clean-ish room

● A door that shuts

● A consistent weekly timetable

● The willingness to show up and care

● That’s it.

Build From Where You Are

That upstairs room wasn’t fancy. But it was where students found their voices—and I found mine. You don’t need a logo, a website, or a studio to get started. You need one student. Then another. And another.