Be in the Band Alumni Story: Emma Wolno

Emma joined Be in the Band at the Glebe Neighborhood Activities Group when she was around 15 years old. She had been taking lessons at the old Ottawa Folklore Centre and heard about Be in the Band through one of the teachers, Todd Snelgrove, who also happened to be one of the early coaches for Be in the Band. Emma had a band with her sister and friend and they applied as a group.

“I think that one of the great things that Be in the Band did for me was introduce me to other girls my age, who were also interested in music. We had an already established group, a family band if you want to call it that, and we ended up getting partnered up with another girl my age. We were all kind of shy and found that playing with a group helped our confidence a lot. In the high school years directly following Be in the Band, we actually continued to play around the Ottawa area as the band ‘Birds on Wire’. The experiences that came from playing music with the band are some of my most fondest memories of that age.”

As part of the Be in the Band experience, after 10 weeks of rehearsals with the band coach, a community performance plays an important role in celebrating the hard work of the youth. “I remember playing at the community centre because it felt like it was a big deal, partially because it was on a bigger stage than we had ever been on before, and also because there was this idea that people from Bluesfest were going to be there and maybe get us playing at the festival. I don’t remember being nervous until we were just about to go on and then it hit”.

Part of the requirement to get invited to perform at the festival is to get through two songs fairly well. “When we got off the stage and they announced that the bands had all been invited to play at Bluesfest, we all felt super amazing. It really seemed like an accomplishment”.

Emma’s journey in music taught her a fair bit about storytelling, and writing in general, which she now cultivates as part of her business model. “I learned that it was okay to show up with the basic shape of an idea which you can then develop as a group. The initial idea is the kernel and it’s important to get it down, no matter how strange it might look. As it translates to entrepreneurship, get your first shi**y draft down and then get to editing and developing. This is how it’s done! The band work, and our coach Todd in particular, helped me to trust my own voice more, and to not be afraid of writing down that first draft, even if it’s not perfect.”

Currently 27, Emma has her own business, ‘Content By Em’, coaching and writing for entrepreneurs, helping them initiate content for the online portions of their businesses. “It comes down again to storytelling. Business owners have a story that they need to tell but they also have a business to run! They don’t always have the time or inspiration to keep up with providing content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs, etc… I help them manage it all from content creation to publishing, podcasts and video work”.

You can find out more about Emma’s work here: http://emmawolno.com/