About Me

I help musicians live financially empowered and creatively fulfilled. As a pianist, educator, entrepreneur, and business coach for musicians, I’ve helped hundreds of musicians create new income by aligning their artistic, personal, and professional strengths into a unified sense of identity. I’m the Founder and CEO of The Musician’s Profit Umbrella® online business mentorship program through which I help musicians build online music businesses, so that they can create financial prosperity without sacrificing their artistic dreams or family life. I live in Denton, Texas, where I worked as founder and director of the University of North Texas Music Business and Entrepreneurship Program. The rest of the time, I’m a wife and mother of two.

To skip to my professional bio click here.

To read my life list from 40 years click here.

I was born in Evanston, Illinois to Bolivian parents. I’ve had an international upbringing living in different places in the world including Argentina, Mozambique, Bolivia, Cuba, and in different areas of the United States. Most of my fondest childhood memories involved playing the piano. Nobody in my family was a musician, yet since an early age I showed great interest and passion for playing the piano, and for music in general. After my parents divorced and my family settled in Bolivia, the piano became something more than a fun activity, it became a refuge and a source of emotional release.
Fabiana & William. On the day we first met, August 1996.
During my teenage years I visited Cuba and loved the musical education system. I realized then that I wanted to become a professional musician and continue my musical studies in Cuba. This was one of the best decisions I ever made. Some of the most important things in my life came as a result of my relationship with the piano. Among them, meeting my husband, William Villaverde, also a pianist. My husband and I came to the US together from Cuba in 2001, after earning two full piano scholarships. Together we pursued 10 years of higher education culminating in our doctoral degrees in piano performance – all under full scholarships. As I was approaching the end of my graduate studies, I began learning about music entrepreneurship and the business side of music. As a result, my notion of what it meant to be a successful musician began to expand and evolve. I realized the many potential avenues musicians can pursue to create highly rewarding careers in music.
Towards the end of our doctorates, my husband and I launched a music academy in Miami, FL we named Superior Academy of Music. At that point, the world of music business and entrepreneurship changed for me. It went from being merely a field of study into becoming a way of life. Our Academy was featured twice on national television and our students were able to earn scholarships at Universities, win national and international music competitions, and even play at Carnegie Hall.
My student and I featured in the local newspaper coverage. August, 2013.
I learned valuable lessons in starting and running a business, but my performing side as a concert pianist became secondary. I wanted to keep the intense pace with which I had been playing the piano all my life, yet running a business took an incredible amount of focus, energy, and patience. After three years in business, I became a mom. For each new personal and professional milestone, I felt grateful, but the longing for piano performing continued being something unresolved in my life. I felt my dream of finding the ideal work-life-artistic fulfillment-balance slowly slipping away. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t find a way to create the space in my life for developing artistic projects in a way that would make sense both artistically as well as financially. Five years after launching Superior Academy of Music, I was ready to move onto a new chapter of my life and wanted to explore new challenges. This is when I learned about an opportunity at the University of North Texas (UNT) to lead a major initiative designed to equip young musicians with key music business and entrepreneurship skills to support 21st century artistic careers. After applying, I was offered the position and fortunately, we had several months to restructure our business in Miami so that it would continue working without us there. It was a true adventure strategizing for that to work – fortunately, it did. Incredibly, the restructuring we did helped the business in a great way, leading to increased impact and income. This also gave me a new perspective on how musicians can build businesses based on systems and strategies that could allow them to potentially delegate their business and scale in ways that wouldn’t depend on them all the time. As I began the next chapter of my life teaching music business at UNT, I realized that learning music entrepreneurship is not so much about receiving information, instead, it is about transforming yourself with that information. The best way for musicians to learn about entrepreneurship is by doing. I created several curricular and non-curricular initiatives that in addition to outlining the how-to’s, also put students into direct action, helping them experience entrepreneurship and become transformed in the process. I worked with hundreds of musicians and helped them raise money and launch music businesses. I also connected students with industry professionals from all over the country, helping them build their network and find employment opportunities. The conversations I led in my classroom were eye opening and inspiring, not just for the students, but also for me. I traveled throughout the country to present at conferences, and connected with incredible colleagues who shared my mission of helping musicians design their lives in a purposeful way. I was able to share my work and engage in powerful and meaningful discussions that expanded my perspective about the scope of the music industry.

From all the things I learned to pass on, one of the most valuable things was the entrepreneurial mindset. I truly enjoyed helping musicians embrace an entrepreneurial attitude towards life, a perspective of empowerment, possibility, and determination. 

During this time, something profound and unexpected happened. 

By connecting with so many students, guest speakers, and colleagues, these experiences brought my own perspectives and mindset to a whole new level. I realized that no matter how busy I was, the time had finally come for me to take action on my desire to start actively performing again. I felt ready to create the space for this to happen not only for my own artistic and emotional outlet, but also as a way to enhance my business development process.

I wanted to feel fulfilled as a human being and knew that pursuing this artistic side of my life would help me improve all areas of my life – including my parenting! I wanted to set an example for my kids and be able to honestly tell them one day that they can pursue anything they want in life. 

As I encouraged students to take action on their dreams and goals, I too decided to take action on the missing things in my life. By teaching others about empowerment, I too became empowered.

This realization led me to create performing opportunities to start playing again. Along with my husband, we created a Latin-American piano program. It felt so empowering to be able to design a creative project using my artistic skills and unique international background, turn that into an artistic project, and book performances around the country. 

This time around, however, returning to this performing life felt quite different now that we were parents. There were many things that I had to juggle and time management became even more crucial. Likewise, travelling to perform now involved many more logistics in finding childcare, etc. I started to wonder how performing musicians, and especially mothers, were able to juggle family and professional responsibilities. 

This led me to start researching the lives of entrepreneurial women concert pianists and composers. I realized that not only their music was incredibly beautiful, but also their stories could be so inspiring, especially to fellow musician mothers. I was amazed at what I learned, and in the process, I discovered a new passion for bringing to life the stories of the many remarkable musician mothers who’ve remained in obscurity for most of history. 

I created a new concept for an artistic program that would showcase the lives of women musicians and would also incorporate multimedia elements. In addition to the performing and spoken remarks, I included film components in collaboration with a filmmaker friend. Through this multimedia lecture-recital, I discovered a new way to connect my performing skills, my entrepreneurial background, and my interest in life as a mother musician.This project blended all my interests and helped me connect with audiences in bringing a message of hope and inspiration.

 While I was in this research process, I had my second son, and was incredibly grateful to be able to experience motherhood all over again. Even though I was in one of the most sleep deprived and exhausted moments in my life, I was determined to continue developing the artistic project I envisioned for so long. I felt a strong determination not to let my personal circumstances deter me from reaching for my professional and artistic goals. 

Once again, I employed the same principles of empowerment and entrepreneurial mindset that I used to coach musicians and applied them to my own life. Even though learning new piano repertoire and performing can be quite challenging with a newborn, the more I learned about what other women before me had to deal with as musician mothers, the more inspired I felt to carry on and continue with my project. I had a program to learn and a message to share. In a way, having little time can be the best thing that can happen to you. It forces you to become much more efficient.

As I reflect on all these experiences, I now realize that some of my greatest growth moments have happened as a consequence of overcoming obstacles while also teaching and helping others. For this reason, in addition to my current work at UNT, in 2020 I launched The Musician’s Profit Umbrella® Business Mentorship Program. 

This was a true entrepreneurial adventure, once again. Little did I know that a global pandemic was going to happen during that same year. Fortunately, I surrounded myself with a great support system including the right mentorship and community. All the challenges I faced only propelled my mission, enabling me to create a six-figure coaching business while working a full-time job, and co-parenting my two little boys. 

I helped my clients grow thriving businesses and experience profound personal transformations. In the same way, my business  allowed me to expand my income, extend my reach, and experience personal growth in ways I never imagined were possible. 

It has been nevertheless a lot of work to build an international coaching business while holding a full-time job and raising two children.

Living a life without burnout is one of my core values – for myself and my clients – so I realized that in order to truly live my life in alignment with those values, I would have to let some things go. 

I had come to a point of truth: even though I would love to keep it all going, keeping my full-time job while building my business and raising a family was not a sustainable path long term.

Thus, in 2021, I released the University program I built over the past five years, in order to focus on my Musician’s Profit Umbrella® coaching business and create a lifestyle and balance that reaps financial prosperity – without sacrificing my artistic dreams or family life.

I believe that by creating our own businesses we can truly design our lives and achieve an empowered lifestyle that allow us to build financial freedom in a way that remains in alignment with our values and beliefs – without burnout and overwhelm.

Growth happens when we overcome obstacles, when we lean into the uncomfortable, embrace vulnerability, and are willing to take calculated risks. I truly believe that we can achieve anything in life. We just need to have the right guidance, support system, and an unwavering belief in ourselves. It’s not only about the amount of work you put in, it’s about the quality of your mindset.  

No matter how full our lives can be in any given moment, in the end it’s about creating the space for what matters, space to think, space to be there for yourself and for your family, and space to be in alignment with your priorities. 

I’ve worked with incredible piano teachers all my life, and also work regularly with business coaches as part of my entrepreneurial journey. These mentors have become great role models and inspiration. Having been on both sides of the equation, I know how powerful of an experience coaching can be for both the mentor and mentee.

I now help musicians all around the world clarify their vision, unify their strengths, and create new income so that they can enjoy a financially-empowered, artistically-fulfilled, purpose-driven, and family-centered life. I share with them the lessons and systems that I’ve developed in my own entrepreneurial journey, as well as through my work as a music entrepreneurship educator and a business coach for musicians. 

Above all, I’m a firm believer in not compromising your artistic  pursuits and lifestyle values in order to make a living. I love showing musicians how it is possible to do both: pursue your passion and create income doing it. As long as you are willing to take the journey, I can help you reach your goals.

Now that you’ve read my story, I’d love to hear about yours. Click below to reach out and share with me your story, your goals, and dreams. I’d be happy to connect with you and help you get to where you want to be. 

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