Help Miss Mandi's School Expand

Hi! I’m Mandi Galer, better known as Miss Mandi among the children and families in the Port Credit community!
It’s always been my dream to run a music school with amazing educators to reach the younger generation of children, students and budding musicians! Back in 2006, I began that journey, opening my little school, Sing Music Studio, in the Port Credit community. What began with a handful of private students and running Kindermusik classes and preschool music classes in various rental spaces, child care centres and schools blossomed into an amazing one woman music school when I found the perfect little rental house in Port Credit a few years later! But after 5 years of renting the house (loving the house) and teaching Kindermusk and lessons out of the house, the owners decided to sell, leaving my world topsy turvy and in need of finding both a new home and a new location for business. That was late 2014.


My partner and I cleaned out every last cent we had (and then some) and managed to buy our first modest home! Exciting, but, unfortunately not in Port Credit and not with enough space to run both lessons and classes. So I found some space in Port Credit where I could go back to renting space for classes and a few lessons. This was a huge adjustment with scheduling, travel and set-up/tear down time, keeping clients happy and, the biggest one, financially. I was managing for a while and then, in the late summer of 2015 (and just after my partner and I had the talk about trying to have our own baby), I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Needless to say, business (and life in general) took a turn for the worse. Being a one woman show - I had to cancel and reschedule many classes due to medical appointments. My heart wasn’t in it as I was suffering emotionally, and, I lost clients through this difficult time. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel… my cancer was only stage 1B1 and curable with surgeries. It proved to be only a setback… however an untimely one given my age and the female reproductive system. Since being given the green light, we have been on a different health journey involving fertility and unfortunately constantly missing the boat on government funding and medical insurance due to my age and cancer diagnosis.


In the meantime, I have been just making ends meet. Working hard to pay off additional debt from health issues. Adjusting to the higher costs of home ownership and higher business overhead. Running my business out of multiple locations. Trying to find a better way to move forward with my business dreams. And then along came a little angel named Deb, over at Fitness by the Lake. Deb offered me an incredible opportunity to sub-lease the basement and renovate the storage space to create teaching cubicles and the opportunity to bring on teachers to work for me! And just like that, the dream I had envisioned 11 years ago actually started to seem like a reality!!!


Like so many exciting opportunities in life, the timing is not ideal financially as I do not already have the funds to cover all the costs. Nor have I been able to find a grant that would aide my situation. The positives are the sub-lease costs are low, providing a realistic means to grow. I also already have the majority of the equipment needed, (including a piano) for the new space. I even have family members with the ability to do the renovation work for me! However, there are materials costs for the renovation, moving costs, some equipment costs and a few other start-up costs necessary to make this expansion a success.



I believe that I can make Sing Music Studio a success and reach more and more families with high quality music education. It is so important in so many ways. But I need a little financial help from you. Any amount is appreciated and welcomed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Your support and belief in me mean so much. 

Miss Mandi

www.singmusicstudio.com