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Meet Naoko Fukaya of Key Notes School of Music! A Milton Scene interview

Learn about Naoko Fukaya and her expertise in providing music lessons

Check out this interview with Naoko Fukaya, owner of Key Notes School of Music!

What’s the name of your business?

Key Notes School of Music

How did you get started in this business?

I (Naoko) arrived in the United States in 2006 to complete my Masters of Music. Previously when I was back in Japan, I had actually earned a license to teach primary school in case it was something that I wanted to do later. After having the opportunity to teach lessons part-time, I found that I enjoyed it so much that I decided to turn it into into a full-time career. In 2013, I met my husband and settled in the Milton/Quincy area. Together we started Key Notes.

When did you start your business?

In 2015

What are some lessons you’ve learned while in business?

Personalized attention makes all the difference. We initially started trying to visit all our customers before assigning them to one of our instructors, but we now consider that practically mandatory. It greatly helps us understand our students’ interests, goals and priorities and allows us to better prepare and tweak the curriculum to what suits each individual student the best.

Have you always worked in this type of business or have you dabbled in other things? Please describe.

I had a number of various jobs while in college and have played professionally in small settings, accompaniments and similar, but mostly I have focused on education. Teaching is really where my heart is at. My husband, who helps me with Key Notes, works professionally in the software and life science industry.

If you could provide advice to anyone looking to start a business in the area, what would it be?

Milton is adjacent to a very large city, but it feels so much like a small town. Word of mouth is critical to any business, so treat people fairly, go slow, always be humble and courteous and hopefully people will remember you for that. For example, we hate to sometimes turn away students who we can’t match schedules with, but if we “over-promise” things or risk having teachers miss lessons, in the end everyone is worse off. It’s bad for customers and our business, long-term.

Please describe your favorite or ideal customer.

All our teachers love all our students equally at all times, we swear. 🙂 Of course, we’d love that to be true, but I think to be honest, the ideal student is the one that loves what they are learning and is able to self-motivate. It’s always our goal to help inspire that in our students. Rarely does someone first pick up piano and immediately enjoy it because there is a learning curve, as with anything. Perseverance is the key.

What is your #1 tip for other business owners? (For example a favorite app, daily practice, way of interacting with customers, etc.)?

Get on Milton Neighbors and Milton Scene. We’re not getting paid to say that. It’s genuinely impacted our business positively. My husband has lived here since 2007 and I have since 2013, but our children are still so young that our connections to the community were not that strong. The internet and social media have broken down those barriers, to some extent.

What’s your favorite local business to support (besides your own!)?

A disproportionate amount of our profits go to the Fruit Center Marketplace, probably like many of our customers. They are a great local business and responsive to their customers, we feel. We also like Novara and Abby Park very much and our son attends the Sunshine School, which he absolutely adores. My husband frequents the Milton Barber Shop.