Actor Leslie Pratt

Leslie teaches Music Together family classes in both Middlebury and Litchfield, CT, and serves schools in Torrington, Bristol, and Wolcott, CT. She has BFA in Musical Theater from Emerson College, and also worked as a nanny for 5 years after college.

What made you decide to begin teaching Music Together?

I just felt like the heart of the company resonated with me. It felt so authentic—the company, what Music Together stands for, and what it is—and it’s just absolutely inspiring. So I took the training and was immediately ready to jump on the director path without being an apprentice or teaching for someone else first, because there wasn’t anyone in my immediate area offering Music Together.

It felt like very little risk starting, because I took the training and paid that fee, and then to start teaching I just had to invest in a classes’ worth of materials, and if it didn’t work, I could return the materials.

You didn’t have any kind business background before coming to Music Together?

No, but I’ve always been Type A—and I always knew that the goal would be to be my own boss because I’m not good being an employee. I like being in charge and I knew that possibly having my own business one day or just being in charge of my own work would be ideal. That is what led me to Music Together, and to having, essentially, this full-time job that I’m in charge of. It’s pretty incredible.

What has surprised you the most?

I was most surprised that my center has taken off to the level it has!

What support services from Music Together Worldwide have been the most valuable to you?

Having a mentor to call and talk to about any question any day, any time, is invaluable. And I certainly can’t imagine trying to do this without having my mentor, because she just supports me every step of the way.

And every time I was thinking “this is not going well,” she would say, “OK, how about this?” and redirect me to a new path. My mentor is incredibly encouraging, speaks from her heart, and encourages me to do my work from my heart and be authentic about who I am.

How would you say directing a Music Together center has changed your life?

I never really imagined that I would have owned my own “quite successful” business. So that’s been so much fun—and to be able to interact with my peers all the time and enjoy my friends’ children and be kind of a community leader has been, really, just an amazing experience.