Today we’d like to introduce you to Karyn Scott.
Hi Karyn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I studied law after attending UT Austin and later became an Assistant District Attorney in Austin. After rotating to a juvenile court assignment, I noticed how many children in foster care were falling through the cracks and ending up in jail due to a lack of community resources. I began to help local musicians around Austin and eventually became a music manager, signing one client to a major recording contract.
During my time working with bands, I noticed the impact music mentoring had with children and began to form the beginnings of an organization that would fill the gap for children in need. I started Kids in a New Groove (KING) in 2006, which is now part of Partnerships for Children, an amazing non-profit organization that helps kids in foster care succeed. As KING took off, I became interested in mission-driven business models. I started Care2Rock.com as a social enterprise, recruiting teachers to teach music to paying customers on an online platform designed just for learning music from all over the country. Since teachers also agree to volunteer for children in need, the company’s growth is currently self-funded and sustainable. The goal is to make learning music online fun while benefitting kids in foster care across the country.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It is very tough to run a tech-enabled mission-driven business without access to capital, and investors have not been traditionally interested in these business models. Even when I “won” funding on a show called Elevator Pitch, it wasn’t a real offer and after shaking hands and getting a promise of receiving a check, I never heard from the show again. People are eager to say they support these types of business models, but other than smaller players who give 10-25K to mission-driven businesses, it can be very tough to get an actual investment in your company. This becomes a problem because we are usually competing with others running similar businesses who have millions in capital from investors. We aren’t on a level playing field, and I was somewhat naive about that when launching Care2Rock. You have to make things work on a tight budget, even more so than in the non-profit world.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am proud of managing to launch a tech platform for learning online built with very few resources. I am also proud of the teachers who work for Care2Rock and who also volunteer for youth in foster care. I am most proud, however, of surviving this long! We went from offering 1-on-1 online music lessons to launching online workshops for guitar, singing, and ukulele, in addition to working with companies to find creative online outlets for their employees. We also work with schools and have developed relationships with charter schools that were looking for a solution like ours.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Not giving up and working with a bigger goal in mind. At the end of the day, all the money in the world isn’t going to make the problems we are facing in society go away. It takes people with ideas who have other goals in mind to move the needle.
Instruments also available exclusively for the holidays at https://giveguitars.com/
Pricing:
- Lesson packages start at $59 a month
Contact Info:
- Email: karyn@care2rock.com
- Website: https://care2rock.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/care2rock/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/care2rock
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/care2rock
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDYfcsZtfqWdPXfdnw5IpQQ
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWb6Plpnto8
