Jade Strings: A Woman & Her Viola
At the age of seven, Jade had no desire to be a musician. Her mother initially pushed her into something that she thought would help with a young girl’s hyperactivity, but would later find out that she put her daughter on the path of a life-long passion. According to Jade, nothing has really changed with the hyperactivity. Her mother’s philosophy was for Jade to stick to something and she wasn’t allowed to quit until she mastered it. For Jade and her sister, the quitting never came.
At first, Jade didn’t enjoy playing instruments. It wasn’t until high school that something clicked. “It was like a mental switch went off and I began to compete,” said Jade.
When Jade was 17 she started gigging for orchestras. First impressions of the young musician were that she was a lot older than she actually was — and this was based on her performing abilities. As the saying goes, she was wise beyond her years, in this case with music.
Although she can play the violin, cello, harp, and guitar, the viola is the instrument that she is most passionate about. She first learned how to play the violin but found that she started to love the viola’s lower tonal notes, as well as the abundance of opportunities that came with fewer viola musicians.
“I just liked being that middle voice in the orchestra, and I progressed more in viola than the other instruments,” said Jade.
When Jade first came to FGCU, she was a music major. Her second semester she was a marketing major. But in November of 2017, she had an idea.
“I had this drive not to be doing something that everyone else was doing,” said Jade. “Because I was doing what everyone else was doing and I wasn’t fulfilled by it.”
Jade thought about what she was good at — music — and decided to find a lack in the market.
“I didn’t really mean to be disruptive,” said Jade. “The wedding and event market has had the same people for years and years and no one had decided to interrupt it.”
She then met Dr. Sandra Kauanui, the Director of the Emergent Technologies Institute, and was convinced to switch to an entrepreneurship major her sophomore year to educate herself about running a business. Dr. Kauanui’s first impression of Jade was that she was inquisitive and trying to find her way.
“She’s very determined and does not give up,” said Kauanui. “She took a lot of feedback from us and came in for help — that’s what I call grit.”
In February of 2018, Jade Strings officially launched. A group of female FGCU string musicians that not only perform at weddings and events but also make sure to create a musical theme that aligns with the event.
“I think she got really excited when she realized that she could take something that she loved and actually be able to generate income from it,” said Kauanui.
Since launching almost two years ago, Jade Strings has booked over 400 events and has grossed around $140,000 so far this year.
“When something goes right in my life I like to really blow it up,” said Jade.
Of course, with a successful business comes a lot of work. Jade says one thing that she has realized is that outsourcing is an important part of running a business — outsourcing for things that she struggles with will only make her a better business owner.
“I have to free up my time or I will not be able to grow,” said Jade. “Also, so I can graduate from college!”
According to Jade, the hardest part is managing the girls’ schedules and finding out who is a good fit for each other. One thing she says she could be better at is emotions.
“I’m the type of person that is like ‘oh, we could be better’ or ‘you could be better’ and I need to be a little better at being nicer,” said Jade. “Because I have made people cry — but it’s only because I want them to be the best version of themselves.”
Sarah Ball, a member of Jade Strings and friend of the entrepreneur, says Jade has always been driven to make things happen.
“We perform together frequently so keeping a line between business and friendship can get tricky but we make it happen,” said Ball.
One struggle that Jade has encountered since starting Jade Strings is trusting people.
“I feel like now a lot of people want to be my friend,” said Jade. “But I've always been the same person that I was three years ago to who I am now — I feel like people are constantly wanting something from me even if I don't know them.”
Overall, Jade’s musical journey has brought her many amazing opportunities. Outside of Jade Strings, Jade has performed with The Who, Game of Thrones, Amy Grant, Frankie Vallie and more. She has also been a member of the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Florida Gulf Coast University chamber groups and orchestra, and is a two-time winner at the Runway Program.
Jade says her long-term goal is to help others.
“The one thing that I drive the most energy from with Jade Strings is finding musicians and being able to employ them,” said Jade. “There are so many musicians who go to school for music but don’t end up working in music because they’re really bad at business — and I know that because I know all of them — and I like the fact that I know business and I know music, and I can pair people who want music and people who are musicians and be that middle man for them. That’s what makes me happy.”
Jade says she can see her future-self being a business consultant who helps female business owners grow their business significantly.
“Women, in general, overthink everything when it comes to business,” said Jade. “It’s a proven fact that they are bad at pricing things because they emotionally price. I didn’t raise my prices for such a long time, and we kept getting booked and booked and people were like ‘you need to raise your prices,’ and I was like ‘no, no one is going to want to pay that.’”
With what she has accomplished so far, it doesn’t seem like an unattainable goal.
