Pandemic 2020: The Riskos Reinvent Their Music Business

OSSINING, NY — Westchester County was the first hot spot in New York's coronavirus pandemic, and Mike and Miriam Risko, owners of Mike Risko Music School, knew they were going to be affected.

They tried to pivot quickly. They shifted their entire business into a virtual model so when the state's shutdown went into effect in the spring of 2020, they were up and running virtually almost immediately, in both the school and store.

Still, closing the school for 90 days during NY on Pause was the most challenging time of their professional careers, they said.

The couple opened Mike Risko Music School in 1997 and the Mike Risko Music Store in 2010. The husband and wife team are also musical performers, and The Mike Risko Band is a staple in the local community.

And since the school first opened, they've rarely taken vacation. So powering down was very difficult.

Like many, they struggled with the isolation.

"We love being around people and not having the social interaction with our customers was hard for us – we missed the day-to-day connection that comes from having people in our store, giving lessons, teaching the kids, and playing in our band," Miriam Risko told Patch.

Being away from the store also pushed them to think outside of the box and create new ways of growing their business.

"We couldn’t just sit there and wait for the world to open up," she said.

The Riskos worked to develop new initiatives and stay relevant. They shared free music lessons online for people to take advantage of while sheltering-in-place, provided singing telegrams around the community and performed music outside local nursing homes.

The biggest step was developing a virtual music lesson program, which was implemented within days so the school could continue providing lessons to customers of all ages, something they realized was desperately needed.

Then they launched an e-commerce site, which essentially gave them another avenue to sell their merchandise and kept them busy.

The Riskos created a curbside program which eventually evolved into offering outdoor music lessons in their outdoor education space, as well as curbside music classes, camps for children and socially distant events like outdoor markets. They even held “rock-the-lot socially distant mini-concerts” (which were mainly live streamed) and drive-in recitals.

All the creative ideas allowed them to retain their staff.

"It was incredibly important to us that we could keep our staff working throughout this crisis, and by launching our virtual music school, which provided the same quality as the in-person lessons, the business didn’t miss a beat by having our physical location temporarily closed," Mike Risko told Patch.

The pandemic forced them to find more ways to ensure music lived on around them.

"Music isn’t limited to the four walls of our building, it’s in your heart, and this pandemic made it even more clear to us that people need music for so many reasons," Miriam said. "It connects us and that’s what we all craved so much over the last nine months."

Once the store opened again, some things changed but much remained the same.

You can still catch an aspiring pianist taking a lesson or an eager customer trying out a new electric guitar. Along with the familiar sights and sounds are the hand sanitizer stations, plastic barriers, temperature checks and social distancing prompts. The Riskos took the extra step of installing Merv-13 filters into their HVAC system and they are constantly cleaning so that everyone feels safe. Everyone who enters the building must fill out a daily health check form.

For 2021, the Riskos are committed to further refining their virtual music program and finding other innovative ways to share music retail and education with their customers, some of whom now even live across the country.

"While we were doing business in this new way, we learned that nothing can stop the music, and we were so blessed to be able to share music with our neighbors and to be supported by them every step of the way," Mike Risko said.