Gas! Gas! Gas!: Kathie Cavanaugh
The mompreneur of two is uniting music lovers with her new company, Heart & Soul.
Kathie Cavanaugh already has her own successful site design and marketing business with Hello September Designs. This February, the go-getter and mother of two launched another venture to celebrate her love of music (she’s been playing the viola for over 20 years!).
Here, Kathie shares her mission of uniting music lovers and musicians throughout her city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, through her new company, Heart & Soul.
I'm so proud of you for starting yet another business. Since 2016, you’ve been self-employed, designing websites and doing marketing for different clients with Hello September Designs. Walk us through that journey up until now with launching Heart & Soul.
It's something that crept up on me. I was living in D.C. and doing what everyone in the D.C. area generally does, which is work as a contractor supporting a variety of government clients. But, it wasn't really sparking or making me feel emotionally fulfilled. I kept toggling between a few different spaces: “Let's try this, let's try that.”
My dad was a real estate broker part-time when I was growing up and that's kind of how I started in websites. The real estate company I was working for gave me my own website to advertise for myself, but I thought it sucked. I was like, “Oh, we could do better than this.” So, I just started tinkering. I had a quasi-computer science background: I had taken some computer science classes and I already knew a little bit of HTML. As I was building that site, I found I was more interested in doing that than anything else.
I eventually pivoted away from contracting and the smattering of things I was doing for the government and worked at a marketing agency. I got burned out real fast—the “agency life” was definitely a thing. I was exposed to a lot of fantastic women, though, who made me feel more empowered. So, when I decided agency life wasn’t for me, I felt like I could continue on with what I’d learned from a strategy marketing standpoint. I started getting website clients who wanted me to make basic changes, like a color here or assembling a site. Up until about a year ago, I was focusing on five active clients, updating their sites and running maintenance. I'm a mom, and, at that point, I would say I was a part-time stay-at-home mom.
At the beginning of this year, I thought, “Okay, great, my youngest daughter is starting preschool. My oldest son is about to get into kindergarten, it's a great time for me to really ramp up my client list and grow that roster.” Then, all of a sudden, I wasn’t feeling as fulfilled by what was happening, so I took a break. I wanted to see if something organically presented itself to me that made me feel as energized as when I first started doing websites.
I've played the viola and have participated in orchestras for the last 20-plus years. I've recently gotten back into the music community in a much more active way, playing more in hospitals and trying to create a trio.
That reminder of how much music has always been such a big part of my life inspired me to find a way to bring that joy to other people, especially in this community of Winston-Salem. We're the city of arts and innovation, so for such a small town, we have a really huge music community.
“That reminder of how much music has always been such a big part of my life inspired me to find a way to bring that joy to other people, especially in this community of Winston-Salem.”
I thought, “Wow, the things I’ve felt have made a difference in my life have been therapy, literature, and music. I want to do something with those three things and offer them up as lifelines because that's what they've been to me.” Initially, it seemed so overwhelming until a friend was like, “Maybe just start with the music thing.” I was like, “Good idea.”
So, I focused on that and it felt more manageable. That's when I had the idea of creating an organization to bring people closer to music with Heart & Soul. I'm slowly developing sub-projects from that to build it up.
It seems like the true spirit of Heart & Soul is to champion musicians and artists in your area and call to light everything that has to do with music. It's such a fabulous and positive idea.
Thank you so much. It can be so hard building a business when it's just you—just the accountability alone, you know? It feels like just execute, execute, execute. But, with Heart & Soul, even the days when I feel a little bit bogged down by the rest of my life and just momming, my passion for music keeps me going.
It’s not even just playing music. It’s like, what are we talking about today? Oh, Childish Gambino has a new album. He's touring. Could this be his last? I don't know. Just listening to music and getting so lost in it and inspired by it and hearing a song lyric and being like, “Oh my God, someone else feels that way. That's fantastic, I'm not alone.” That is what music does. On days when life is a little bit tougher, I rely on my interest in music and my passion—it helps provide momentum.
For Heart & Soul, I'm slowly building a music directory, which is one of the more tangible products. I constantly have friends who are like, “Hey, do you have a piano teacher? My kid needs to start lessons.” Or, “I want to hire a band or DJ for this event or fundraiser. Who are those people?” Having one place where all of those organizations and people are represented is going to be super helpful.
My second sub-project actually came from talking with a friend. We were rehashing the Sam Smith “Tiny Desk” performance (which, if you haven’t seen or listened to it, please do yourself a favor! It's super fantastic and soulful; you just gotta go listen to it). She said to me, “You know, you could do something like that for listening to artists.”
I was like, “Yeah, I could.” I just love the idea of having a space where stripped-down performances exist, so I started generating lists of musicians in the area. We have a brewery circuit (like most towns do nowadays) with people who are constantly out and about performing. I'm part of the Triad Area Medical Orchestra, which is actually nationwide. (If you go to any area with a huge medical community or medical school, they will likely have an orchestra.) Here in Winston-Salem, my proximity to the music community helps me connect with classical musicians and instrumentalists too. So, I contacted a local bookstore and at 9:30 on Saturday mornings, I record solo sessions there. It’s literally me, my iPhone, a tripod, and the musician. I think that the artists appreciate having a space where they can try out and play original music. It's also just a different vibe when they're used to playing at a loud and crowded bar or brewery.
These are called Soul Sessions. It’s like “Tiny Desk” for the Winston-Salem area! It’s been super exciting and interesting hearing the musical journeys each of these artists is on.
My third project that I'm currently building is a music summer camp. I'm in the process of developing content and working with music teachers to help me with that, in addition to getting the venue and working with the local music or arts council to talk about fundraising.
Of course, I have like 10,000 more ideas that I'll hopefully get a chance to develop over time, but that's where I’m at and I’m just trying to make sure I provide enough attention to each of these projects.
The directory sounds amazing, as does Soul Sessions… and a summer camp! You're getting the kids involved too. It seems very 360 and you've clearly thought about it a lot. In terms of how you're getting the word out, how can people find Heart & Soul and get involved?
Instagram right now is my primary focus for social media. We have a website, heartandsoulws.com, and there's a YouTube channel for when I have these Soul Sessions—there’s a lot of learning about the artists themselves through our conversations.
“I feel like I'm really building a community, especially through Soul Sessions with these musicians who are equally passionate about how life-changing, cathartic, and healing music can be.”
I feel like I'm really building a community, especially through Soul Sessions with these musicians who are equally passionate about how life-changing, cathartic, and healing music can be. I'm hopeful that, at some point, I can have a couple of events and fundraisers lined up where I can showcase their talents and get the word out more about the organization to grow these projects.
Events would be fun and make so much sense. Wow, I'm so proud of you! To think that you've only started this in February of this year…
Yeah, it's kind of crazy. My goal for Soul Sessions is to get through a year of sessions. I showcase an artist once a month, and I told myself, “Hey, maybe at the end of the year, I'll start going on podcasts.” You know, get it out there.
Do you have any mentors or people in your life who you're looking up to in this journey or taking any lessons from?
I would say my husband, which sounds a little lame, but he's my constant cheerleader. And not just in business, in everything. It's funny, I was having conversations with the Arts Council about how much money I'm seeking to raise for these projects. I mentioned some amount and they were like, “Okay, well, maybe think a little bit bigger than that.” And that's what my husband is constantly telling me. He’s like, “Don't get too bogged down in what you think you can get done. Think about what your ultimate dream is for this organization. The sky is the limit.”
He's the person who's constantly getting me to think big and has always thought web design was going to be a tool that I use along the way. He's like, “You're a strategist and you're going to find that something bigger is waiting for you.” He's just constantly been that person for me.
I also have a friend, a business contact, who I've worked with over the years with web design. I met her online—she was being interviewed and I thought, wow, what a badass. I just messaged her and said, “Hey, I just think you're really cool.” We started this virtual relationship and eventually started working together. When she went on maternity leave, I would help with her clients; When I went on maternity leave, she helped with mine. I constantly think, “What would Joan do in this situation?” She's been so fantastic at being humble and she’s inspirational as far as managing clients and being a successful business owner.
What advice do you have for someone who would like to follow a similar path, whether it’s starting their own business or taking a passion like music and transforming it into something bigger than themselves?
Oh gosh. Just do it. Just start. There have been too many times over the years when I've had different ideas and, because I'm a marketing person, I’ve thought, “Well, we need a beautiful website and a fantastic brand. We need to make sure that all of these details come together in a way that makes sense and resonates with the client or user.” My husband has always said, “Just do the thing, go find a client, and learn from executing on that one thing.”
Over time, he's learned from me that there's also a benefit to having a cohesive brand—even from the standpoint of legitimizing the road toward your ultimate goal. Like, no, this isn't just a fun idea or something I scribbled in my free time. This is my business.
“There's a benefit to having a cohesive brand—even from the standpoint of legitimizing the road toward your ultimate goal. Like, no, this isn't just a fun idea or something I scribbled in my free time. This is my business.”
Balancing those things is important: Action with physical or tangible things that help you legitimize it. Even if it's just a message to yourself that, no matter where you are on this journey, whether you need a logo or website or business card, do that, but also make sure you're balancing it with getting out there. Go find the one person that you need to reach.
For me, that was getting on Instagram and finding the one musician who was like,”Yeah, I'll wake up at 9:30 in the morning and come record something for you for no money whatsoever.” Okay, cool. And then I'll just find another one, and another one, and keep it rolling. I think that's what really helps propel an idea forward.
Great interview, go Kathie!
“Just do it. Just start.” Such simple advice creates such a massive wave of impact! Kudos to Kathie for getting so involved with kids. Bravo! Loved this interview👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻