After building a successful music school, St. John’s-based Lisa Gillam is taking the advice of her advisory board and developing her online digital music store for the global market.

Gillam’s Munchkin Music Factory has already been successful in St. John’s, where it was established in 2010, after an earlier launch year in Fredericton.

Gillam and her team of certified music teachers work from curricula and music Gillam creates. She sells some of her music on her online store MusicEdZone. She will soon put all her curricula and the accompanying music and games onto her site to grow into the global market.

Gillam expanded her company to include the publishing and distribution of her songs at the suggestion of her advisory board.

“Forming a board of advisers was one of the best decisions I made for myself,” she said. “They’ve propelled me forward. Within 10 minutes of the first meeting, one of them said the real potential was in the intellectual property of the hundreds of songs I’ve written.”

When the site is developed, teachers will be able to obtain cloud-based subscriptions and download curricula along with student assessment tools and other material.

Gillam recently took part in the first program for startups held in Newfoundland by the Atlantic Canada accelerator, Propel ICT.

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The Propel session proved to be a “game-changer” for her.

“It helped me extend my support systems across Atlantic Canada and beyond,” she said.

”The coaches and mentors helped me devise a solid strategy for the next stage in developing a cloud-based publishing company.”

Gillam was chosen to represent Newfoundland at Propel’s pitch day in Moncton, where she famously sang her pitch.

"My Propel advisors and I were struggling to find the best pitch format for me. I just wasn't getting all that information into three minutes.

“Finally, one of them suggested I put it in a song to help focus my message. The song was so effective that I decided to present it on demo day.”

Gillam bases her curricula on her experiences growing up in Stephenville on Newfoundland’s west coast, where her family provided formal music lessons but also encouraged her to pick out tunes by ear.

It’s an approach that blends the use of technology with the skills and atmosphere of a traditional Atlantic Canadian kitchen party.

“The students use the computer to write a song, then they print it off and play it at the piano,” she said.

“Our students perform together. One might be on the ukulele, another on the piano, and another singing. Then they switch roles.

“Our education is well-rounded and includes the cultural parts. In Atlantic Canada, that means being able to sit down and play anything by ear.”

Developing as an entrepreneur represents an exciting opportunity for Gillam who has taught music since 1994, after gaining degrees in music and musical education from Newfoundland’s Memorial University.

She became an entrepreneur when a friend in Fredericton asked her to teach music to her child.

Gillam agreed and began looking for songs to teach youngsters. Finding a dearth of new material, she began writing songs herself.

“Composition is a talent I didn’t know I had as I’d always played music written by others,” she said.

Now, she finds she can write songs quickly and easily.

She is currently looking at raising $500,000 in a first round of financing from both private investment and public funding.

“I need funds to build my team to take the publishing company from the level of a successful local business to a global company. Our initial target market is North America,” she said.

Being an entrepreneur suits Gillam.

“It’s very challenging to go through some of the things everyone goes through, like making payroll. But it’s all part of the dream—going through the difficult bits for the potential of a big payoff.”

Disclaimer: Propel ICT is a client of Entrevestor