THIS IS US!
I'm Jezzica Taylor (the blonde on the right), and my awesome mom, Tiffani Smith, is the mastermind behind the creation of Keyed to Succeed. She's also the amazing pianist who passed on her love for music to me.
My husband, Jordan, is the business management expert in the family and assists me in running Keyed to Succeed. The three of us are the faces behind this little operation.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
As I mentioned before, my mom is the one who came up with this idea for pin-back button incentives. She's taught piano for over 25 years, and recently teamed up with Nicklas Carmody to open up a studio in Gilbert, Arizona. As the two of them were in the process of opening The Key Box Studio in the summer of 2017, my mom was also tasked to make pin-back buttons for girls camp. The pins had been a girls camp tradition ever since I attended girls camp, and were pretty effective with all of us teenage girls. The thought occurred to my mom, "These would be an awesome incentive for the piano students at my studio!", and immediately started brainstorming ideas for all kinds of button possibilities.
Fast forward to a couple months later, I had helped my mom design and create a handful of buttons for the kids in her studio, and it was quite the hit! She happened to post a picture of the buttons in a Facebook group of other piano teachers for the sole purpose of sharing her fun idea, and the response she got was entirely unexpected. Comments were coming in by the handfuls! Teachers were asking where they could order these from, saying they NEEDED these ASAP! We realized that so many other teachers were searching for effective incentive programs. Our buttons were a great one, and we wanted to share it! Obviously my mom's time was primarily devoted to her brand new studio, so she passed this button making business idea on to me and Jordan so that we could pass these amazing incentives on to you, our fellow teachers!
Tiffani and Nick have implemented these button incentives at the Key Box Studio with their 150+ students, I've started using them with my students, and a handful of other teachers have ordered from us as well! So far, we've seen nothing but amazing results. My mom says that every time her students show up for their lesson, the first thing they ask (eagerly, I might add) is, "Do I get a button today?!" We want each of your students to be just as excited, motivated, and focused when it comes to learning. We want to help you find the key to your, and your students', success!
MEET OUR AMAZING ILLUSTRATOR!
Ann Jex is a freelance illustrator based in the Washington D.C. area. Ever since she was young, she has enjoyed bringing smiles through her cheery illustrations. A former educator, she has used her illustrations to teach concepts visually for many years. This led to her interest in educational and children’s book illustration and licensing.
To see more of what she is working on, check out her Instagram feed @studiojex or visit her website at www.annjex.com!
You may also contact her at studiojex@gmail.com