Why I hated working at Allegro but love it again
American Ideal vocal camp 2008
I was talking to a close friend of mine the other day who asked me, “Marc, what exactly do you do at Allegro?” I had to think about that for a second because, to be honest, when you work for yourself you never stop working. There are tons of things that have to get done and you never have the same day twice. I started, “Well…I update the website, handle outside and inside marketing, project growth strategies, develop a vision and mission, help write grants, attend board meetings…uh…a bunch of things.” But now that I think back to that conversation I realize that I forgot the most important thing, the reason that gets me out of bed each morning. I work at Allegro because I love seeing people use their God-given talents. I love our American Ideal summer vocal camp where kids and teens can get in front of people for the very first time and sing…and hear cheers and applause for the very first time. I think every person deserves to be cheered. Everyone deserves some applause in their life. I love being able to make that happen.
Just the other day Cyndi and I were trying to figure out whether to pay the electrical bill for the school or the rent or buy supplies for summer camp or the million other things that are demanding payment. And with the slump in the economy many Allegro families are having a tough time paying for their lessons so money is tight. It was depressing, stressful, and discouraging; and we both finally admitted…”we hate Allegro.” It had become such a source of stress because we were only focused on how to keep the doors open. But as we talked we started to remember why we started Allegro in the first place…because every person deserves a chance to be cheered. So that night we decided to offer a free summer camp for families effected by the economy, reduce the rates in all our classes, launch outreach into our community with free programs at the Fauquier Boys and Girls Club and Youth For Tomorrow. It’s kind of the opposite of what makes the most business sense but once we made that decision we’ve started to love working at Allegro again. Because especially in this tough economy we believe now more than ever…everyone deserves to be cheered.
