Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Berry.
Hi Julie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been a music educator and private studio owner for over 30 years. I lived/taught music in Minnesota for most of my life until I relocated to St. Louis in late 2016.
I was reunited with my best friend and secret crush from my highschool days in 2016. Back in 1991 we met by chance in a room of 3000 people in Minnesota, at a convention. he drove up from St. Louis. We were pen pals for years and then lost touch. He found me on Face book in 2016 and the rest is history!
When I moved to St. Louis my teaching business exploded! I soon discovered that west county was a fantastic place to plant my roots! I never needed a business card because all the parents told their friends and soon I needed to expand. Up until that point I was traveling to families homes.
As we all know, everything is a 20 mn drive around here! I could not service all of the people on my growing waiting list so we found a building 6 months before the pandemic hit. Once the pandemic hit, I went online and taught virtually for 15 months and my business grew even larger.
It has been a tremendous blessing meeting so many wonderful families and students during the the last 9 years.
All throughout this time, and all throughout my entire teaching career, I have been passionate about getting young people involved with reaching our community and in outreach. I offer many opportunities for my families to make a difference in our community and help those in need.
Over the years my students, families, and I have helped many in our community with Food donations, warm-winter wear donations, toy donations, and also sharing music with senior assisted living and memory care communities.
My studio is about so much more than music, it is about making the world around us a better place.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I am filled with gratitude for the great success of my business over the years. I will tell you that it definitely has not been an easy road.
nearly 5 years ago my husbands health began declining and it effected many areas of our life. All of the energy I was pouring into my thriving business and my 104 private students per week came crashing to a stand-still(temporarily) as I needed to pivot in order to care for his needs. I cut back drastically in my teaching hours in order to be his caregiver and accommodate our lives for many doctors appointments.
Things became very severe for him in late fall/ early winter of 2024 and he nearly passed away. We discovered that he had end-stage/ (stage 5)kidney failure. We learned that his only option was starting dialysis 3 times a week and indefinitely for the remainder of his life OR get on the kidney transplant list to receive a new kidney from a donor. The wait, on average is 5-10 years for a deceased donor OR, if he found a living kidney donor, it would be very quick! I Immediately knew that I wanted to be his living donor and give him my kidney. I learned that it was not quite that simple. We both went through extensive evaluations at our transplant center of choice (MAYO CLINIC, MINNESOTA) last fall 2024. He was accepted onto the transplant list. I went through many tests, exams, and a surgery to try and increase my odds of being accepted as a living donor. If I was not a direct match for Luke, I would Dontae to someone else on the National Kidney Registry and then he would get a different living donor match quickly. I prayed every day that I would be his perfect kidney match. There was nothing else I wanted. After 17 months of endless doctors visits, surgeries, hospital stays, I was able to give my Husband my kidney and we both had back-to back surgeries on June, 25, 2025. I was a 1 in 100,000 perfect match for him! I was over the moon! Our first month after surgery was rough, both recovering from major surgery at the same time, and we both ended up in the hospital several more time while in Minnesota recovering but it was worth it. He is an entirely different person! He now has a chance at living a long and healthy life! I am also doing great and fully recovered!
I will tell you that while we were dealing with his hospitalization soon after finding out about his kidney failure, My Music studio (in my old location) was infested with brown recluse spiders and I lost my two new keyboards and my new acoustic piano I had purchased. I called a junk company to come and take my furniture and other things away as well, because they were crawling out of everything.
It was a heart-breaking disaster that could not have happened at a worse time. It was devastating to my business and our much needed finances for all of our medical expenses. That said, the families who stayed with me while I taught online (Until we opened our new building in Wildwood last January), rallied around us with prayers and encouragement through the most difficult season of our lives. Our faith community also surrounded us with love, encouragement and financial blessings along the way which have helped us restore some of my equipment and instruments.
We could have never made it through the last 20 months of our lives without the love, encouragement, prayers, and support of so many amazing people . I am so thankful!
I am blessed to say that the studio is nearly full with students again and we are ready to kick-off our annual charity drive for the upcoming food drive, warm-winter wear, and toys for those in need within our community.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In addition to teaching Voice, Piano, Composition, Theory I am an active musician.
I have been a song-writer and composer since my childhood. It has been a tremendous joy of mine to share my music in performances over the years as well as recording projects in studio. I have a concert coming up on October 19th and working on my next project in the studio which will be released in early 2026.
I also am part of a Christmas production that tours Orlando, St. Louis, Michigan, and Ohio. The show is in it’s 29th season and the St. Louis show still has tickets! (Christmasis.us for info!). I sing in a vocal ensemble and choral group called the Saint Louis Concert Choir. Singing in choral groups and being a part of my church worship team has also been a part of my life for most of it! Music is my outlet and my way to reach others with encouragement.
I feel extraordinarily blessed to have had the musical training and experience that I have had in my nearly 50 years on this planet! Music has opened doors for me to be able to make a difference in the life’s of others. I get to be a positive influence in the lives of so many young people and help them discover their musical gifts! Music also keep opening doors for me to help others in the area of community service and ministry, which I have been a part of my entire life.
All throughout the year, I take a handful of my students and friends with me to local senior assisted living and memory care communities. We have also shared music with our friends at the Ronald McDonald House, and KEEN St. Louis(a wonderful organization helping kids with special needs). I am always on the look out for more organizations that we can help! Currently my Studio supports Fuel Packs of St. Louis, Circle of Concern in Valley Park, Loaves and Fishes of St. Louis, Operation Christmas Child, and St. Vincent De Paul.
If I could sum it up to one sentence: Being a musician has helped me live my life to serve and help others.
What does success mean to you?
Success, to me, can defined by one word: GRATITUDE. I wake up every day with gratitude for at least 10 specific things each day and I strive to to cultivate an attitude of gratitude in my students lives. Gratitude helps us through the valleys and the mountains of our lives. It changes our perspective of situations and helps our mental health!
Gratitude is such a big deal to me because without it, I would never be this happy, I would have never seen such success, and I would have never made it through the darkest and most difficult seasons of my life.
I am so thankful for the students and families that have been in my life and I believe that each day is such a precious gift from God. I want to go to bed each night knowing that I gave it all away. That I made people feel valued and appreciated.
Success, in terms of me operating an outstanding music studio, means that my students receive excellent music education to the highest standard and most importantly, they fall in love with music for the rest of their lives!
One day when I retire, I hope to hear back from some of my students who grew into adults and hear them say “I love music and now I play and sing with my own kids!” That’s my dream, to help individuals become musicians for life!
Gratitude and music make the heart happy!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://berrymusicstl.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulieBerryMusicStudio/
