Episode 56 - Mike Pesce & Aaron Wygonik | School of Rock
In this episode, Brian has a beer with the franchisees of Delaware's School of Rock, Mike Pesce and Aaron Wygonik. The School of Rock Method™ has taught hundreds of thousands of students around the world to play music since 1998.
Mike and Aaron walk us through their initial struggles, opening up just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, how they eventually were able to secure financial government assistance, why they decided to buy-in to The School of Rock (SOR) franchise, and the reasons why they didn’t throw in the towel.
Key takeaways:
SOR puts on shows to teach music, they don’t teach music to put on a show
It’s a rewarding experience to expose young kids to classic rock
The old saying is true - don’t burn bridges - you never know when you’ll need to rely on your connections again (or head back to a job you resigned from in order to start a franchise)
If you only have 10 minutes:
2:18 - Learn about SOR
5:30 - Mike and Aaron’s background; how they met and how long ago they decided to become business partners (spoiler: it goes all the way back to their college days)
15:45 - Deciding to start a franchise and how they determined which one
21:40 - The rewarding experience of exposing kids to music
31:30 - Pandemic effects on their brand new business
40:00 - Launching in a virtual environment
43:00 - Rapid fire question round (don’t miss everyone’s pick of the “worst Christmas song of all time”)
Gentlemen, thanks for joining us, it was a great show! Cheers! 🍻
HAPPY ½ HOUR DRINKS:
Neon Rainbows - Brewery Ommegang: Brian gave it a 4.5 out of 5
Learn more about The School of Rock
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