IAM472- Founder Helps Singers Improve and Practice Effectively

Andrew Goren is the founder and CEO of Harmony Helper. As a passionate musical theatre actor, Andrew has been on a quest to develop the perfect way to learn and sharpen singing and harmonizing abilities. With over 10 years of singing/performing experience, his unique insights and vision have led to the creation of the amazing and elegant Harmony Helper app. With his leadership, Harmony Helper is helping singers of all kind effectively practice and improve singing performance anywhere, anytime, removing traditional rehearsal barriers so singers can deliver their best performances.

• CEO Hack: Talk shows such as Shark Tank
• CEO Nugget: Persevere through difficult times
• CEO Defined: Leader and team player

Website: http://harmonyhelperapp.com/

Twitter: @harmony_helper
Instagram: @harmonyhelper
Facebook: @HarmonyHelperApp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/harmony-helper/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is IAMCEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, this is Gresh from the IAMCEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today Andrew Goren of Harmony Helper. Andrew, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Andrew Goren 0:38

Thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward to it.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Me too. It should definitely be fun. And the first thing I wanted to do was introduce Andrew so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Andrew is the founder and CEO of Harmony Helper. As a passionate music theater actor, Andrew has been on a quest to develop a perfect way to learn and sharpen his singing and harmonizing abilities.

With over 10 years of singing and performing experience. His unique insights and vision have led to the creation of the amazing and elegant Harmony Helper app. With his leadership, Harmony Helper is helping singers of all kinds effectively practice and improve singing performance anywhere anytime, and removing traditional rehearsal barriers so singers can deliver their best performances. Andrew, are you ready to speak to the IAMCEO community?

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Andrew Goren 1:17

I am

Gresham Harkless 1:18

Awesome. Let's do it. So they kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. What led you to kind of start your business?

Andrew Goren 1:24

Absolutely. So Harmony Helper came out of an event that was extremely embarrassing. And it also came out in personal need. So my background, growing up was in performance musical theater and singing. And when I was 13 years old, I booked my first professional show at the Monetary Theatre in Philly. And it was a super, super exciting opportunity for me. And I walk into the rehearsal room on the first day.

And I find out that I actually was opening the show singing a duet in harmony with someone else, which was super exciting for me, not only was this the first professional show that I've ever done, but I get to, open up the show essentially. And, so that was exciting. And on the first day of rehearsal, we started putting it on its feet. The way it was blocked on stage was I was standing stage right and the person I was singing in harmony with was all the way on stage left, we were so far apart in the rehearsal room, that I could never even hear the other person singing while I was singing. So everything was fine.

But then we got to the final dress rehearsal where we added microphones and speakers that were blaring up at us. When I walked out on stage lights came up, and I opened my mouth. And for the first time, I could hear the other person singing, and everything had fallen apart. It was like I had forgotten how to sing. That was extremely devastating to me and embarrassing. And yeah, and not only because I was 13. But I think for anyone that's like the actor's nightmare.

And so after rehearsal, distraught and upset, I go up to the rehearsal room with the music director, and they're trying to teach me the harmony. And finally, it got to the point where they said, you have trouble harmonizing. And harmonizing is something that you don't really teach. It's either just something you have or you don't have. And that frustrated me and didn't sit well with me. I don't like being told no. So that's where the inspiration and idea for Harmony Helper came about. I thought, I'm gonna create this tool for myself, and plenty of other people out there who who need it as well.

Gresham Harkless 3:25

Well, awesome. Well, I'm obviously I'm sorry to hear that happened. But it definitely sounds like something great came out of it. And I definitely think that is the definition of what a lot of people would term, I guess a stage fright, or would that be considered? Or is it just kind of like, Alright, maybe that's what people think about when they think about what some of the things that can happen with that.

Andrew Goren 3:44

That's why people have stage four. I wasn't nervous. I was fine. And it was like this. It was that experience that people hear about or see that is that cause.

Gresham Harkless 3:54

Yeah, it makes people have that because I'm like, I don't want that to happen. But I appreciate it. I appreciate you again, like in true entrepreneurial form. I think that so many people are frustrated by certain situations. But it's like you scratch your own itch. You figure out what you need. And sometimes it's because of a pain point. Sometimes it's because of something that happened. But rather than sit back on your laurels, you decided to create something around that.

Andrew Goren 4:15

Yes absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 4:17

Awesome. So I wanted to hear a lot more about the app. So if you just take us through exactly what it does, how it works and tell us a little bit more for those that may be the non-singing inclined people, including myself, what exactly is harmonizing and how does it help out with that?

Andrew Goren 4:31

Yeah, so what harmonizing is, is when multiple people are singing at once and not the same thing. Hence, it's either, you're singing let's pretend you're singing Happy Birthday, and I'm singing the melody of Happy Birthday that everyone knows. Still, then if someone was harmonizing with me, they're also singing Happy Birthday. Still, on different pitches that creates that's a harmony that creates that buzz feeling to your music when you hear a choir sing in a sense, and that is something that is extremely difficult for even professionals.

Even professionals struggle with this. Because, if you have trouble harmonizing, it's not a good representation of talent in a sense. There are plenty of amazing singers out there who are good at harmonizing. But just for so long, we're constantly taught to listen and match pitch. But now we're essentially going against what we're hearing, you need to stay true to your own part. What Harmony Helper does, is combat that by giving singers a 24/7 digital rehearsal room in their back pocket, you can take any piece of sheet music, snap a photo of it, and upload it into the app.

And we actually take that analog piece of sheet music. We read it, we look at the notes, we read it, and we then ask the user a few questions about what they typically sing. So we can predict the vocal part that they sing and the harmony that they sing, we open it up in an easy-to-read digital rehearsal room area where you don't need to be an expert in reading sheet music, we play it for you, you have full control over what you're hearing while you're practicing.

And then get real-time feedback so that you can improve. So we really offer flexible controls and resources that allow anyone from a beginner who just wants to learn a piece of sheet music all the way to a professional to really walk into their next performance, audition, or even family karaoke night feeling confident and ready to sing.

Gresham Harkless 6:26

There you go. And I definitely appreciate that. And I've been in and heard some people sing karaoke. So I definitely will mention that app because it's now in perfect harmony. So definitely, they can definitely be using that have.

Andrew Goren 6:37

Thank you

Gresham Harkless 6:38

I appreciate you for creating that. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you personally or for your app, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Andrew Goren 6:48

Yeah, so all of the current solutions out there to learning harmony, or even learning music, in general, taking it a step further, are extremely low-tech or restrictive. In the past, people would use voice memos, a music director would plunk out their vocal part on the piano voice memos can only take you so far, or other tools out there, you're bound to a specific song library or, it doesn't have real-time feedback, what harmony helper does is, we mimic the rehearsal experience, we take all of these tools and bundle them up.

We are the first and only tool that allows you to take your specific song, your specific arrangement, and learn it. And, to really create a comprehensive experience for them. Because really, in the singing industry, there is there's not a lot that is in the control of the performer. And our goal is to put the control back into the performers' hands. So providing this resource that allows a beginner all the way to a professional to have a leg up, really sets us apart. And so they can truly mimic the rehearsal experience.

Gresham Harkless 8:01

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And, going back to your saying, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, I guess from what you were saying, with your experience, if you would have had this app, you would have been able to kind of figure it out the harmony, practice it and have that repetition so that by the time the actual rehearsal came, it would have been on that you guys would have been on the same, page, so to speak.

Andrew Goren 8:19

Yeah, what I would have done was I would have taken the sheet music, I would have taken a photo of it selected my vocal part. And I would have first muted the harmony actually to just focus on my part first, get familiar with that. And then added it in the other part as I got more confident and comfortable, really mimicking what it's going to be like on the stage, getting real-time feedback, testing myself, and quizzing myself, repetition is key there as well. So that by the time I'm walking into rehearsal, I'm feeling confident, and I'm not feeling like I'm bringing the team down and it would have solved the problem for me.

Gresham Harkless 8:54

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And, it's great that you came up with this, and I can't believe, there hasn't been somebody that has done that, especially from a technological standpoint, just because you need to have I think in all aspects of life, whether it's your career, and you're practicing and playing basketball, or you're singing or you're playing pinball, or whatever it is, you need to have that repetition, to make sure that you are good at what you do. And to have that opportunity to do that. And with all this technology we have is definitely a great way.

Andrew Goren 9:20

Absolutely. I entirely agree with that.

Gresham Harkless 9:23

Awesome So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Andrew Goren 9:34

Yeah, so one of my favorite business resources, is shows like Shark Tank, or The Profit, and other shows on CNBC Shark Tank, which as you may know, is a show where entrepreneurs go on and pitch their ideas to investors or sharks in hopes of gaining a partner as well as investment and now in its 11 season. And I've been watching it since the beginning.

And I've been able to watch the companies that go on the show, as well as the sharks, and glean a lot of information from them, learn from their failures, and also learn from their successes. And it's very interesting to see just how many different entrepreneurs are out there, and the different ways and strategies they go about things.

Gresham Harkless 10:23

I appreciate those two hacks. And now when it asks you for what I call a CEO, nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business?

Gresham Harkless 10:32

Oh

Andrew Goren 10:33

Yeah, a piece of advice that I had offered to other entrepreneurs, as well as my younger business self, is to persevere through difficult times, especially at startup. As an entrepreneur, you're going to be told no a lot, there are going to be people who don't necessarily believe in you or what you're doing or not necessarily understand what you're doing. And it is important to not fully turn a blind eye to those, you need to at least hear them, then you choose what you do with it.

Don't allow them to discourage you and toss out your idea right away. You need to continue to push through try different strategies and learn from those experiences. Something that I found as well is that most often success can be found right when you're on the corner of giving up. So right where everyone else has given up. If you go that extra mile, you're going to be right there to find that success and do something that's never been done before.

Gresham Harkless 11:33

Absolutely, yeah, perseverance is definitely key. And I don't know if you've ever seen that visual, but this is what it reminded me of when you were talking where the person is kind of drilling for gold. And there's one person that kind of gives up, I think it's even a story where the person kind of gives up and they sell like the tools or whatever they're using to the entrepreneur, the entrepreneur drills one time, one day, one second later, and then they hit the gold. And a lot of times, it's just a reminder that, if you just keep going, then you'll hit that goal and you get exactly where you want.

Andrew Goren 11:59

You need to you need to believe. It's perseverance and believing in what you're doing and feeling struggling, especially with that visual, you need to have the belief that I know that I know there's something here and just going that extra mile and going for it and taking that risk where no one else has taken that risk before.

Gresham Harkless 12:16

Exactly just like you said, using the different perspectives and insight that people have as kind of like a tool, or a filter, maybe even might be a better phrase. So yes, you can measure it and see if it works with the alignment that you have for your company or organization. If it doesn't, you can, move it over. If it does, you can hold on to it and continue to look through that. But you have the choice yourself as far as what to look through and not.

Andrew Goren 12:39

Absolutely That's it. That's exactly right.

Gresham Harkless 12:41

Awesome. Well, I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, Andrew, and this is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So Andrew, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Andrew Goren 12:52

To me being a CEO, means not only being a leader but also being a team player. There's, a very common perception of CEOs that they have a very high level 10,000 foot view of their business, and I don't think you can truly be successful that way, you need to be down there in the trenches with your team on the same level of them. Learning, the nitty gritty, as well as empowering and motivating your team.

We have a very large team of over 40 people at Harmony Helper from developers to algorithms engineers to music theory, directors, and Broadway Tony nominees. And it's really important that that we all collaborate together because they all bring their own unique perspective, and, and tools to the company, I have the vision, but I don't do it all by myself, I value my team. And also I found that the collaboration is that sometimes the best ideas can come from the places you'd least expect.

Gresham Harkless 14:00

That's very true. And that's, a case in point why you have to always make sure that you have your eyes and your ears open because you never know when those opportunities will come in. And that's also why you want to have a team with people with diverse perspectives and experiences. Because a lot of times those will help you look at things in a lot of different ways and speak into like what you said about the 10,000-foot view.

I think a lot of times some of the unsuccessful companies or the companies that have been super successful and maybe lost touch with exactly how the industry was moving or what clients were searching for looking for. I think sometimes that is part of it, because you have such a high-level view that you're not actually getting off the ivory tower, so to speak, and actually seeing exactly what's working, and what's not.

Andrew Goren 14:39

I absolutely agree.

Gresham Harkless 14:41

Awesome. Well, Andrew, thank you so much for your time. And thank you so much for all the awesome things you're building. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course how best they can get a hold of you and download the app and find out about all the awesome things you guys are working on.

Andrew Goren 14:56

Yeah, I would love to share one more short piece of additional advice that I carry with me every day. And it's something that I actually learned from my grandfather is to do what you say and say what you do. Be transparent with yourself, be transparent with your team, and be transparent with your customers I feel like that's the only way to do business.

The only way to build a strong bond and community between yourself, your team, and the customers is to keep your team morale high and customer satisfaction high, because, at the end of the day, your team and your customers slash community are the lifeblood of your business. So I really wanted to share that last bit of additional nugget with everyone.

Gresham Harkless 15:37

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that. I think alignment is definitely the key. And if especially in this day and age, if you're not being in alignment, a lot of times you will get found out just because there's so much accessibility and availability to us, with all this technology. So it's important to kind of do that with your clients, your team, and everybody delivering,

Andrew Goren 15:53

Be transparent and deliver on your promises. Exactly, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 15:56

And people that want to download the app, what's the best way for them to do that?

Andrew Goren 16:00

Yeah, Harmony Helper is available on the Apple App Store, as well as the Google Play Store on Android. And our website is harmonyhelper.com.

Gresham Harkless 16:08

Awesome, we will have those links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. And of course, download the app and harmonize as best as possible, especially for those karaoke nights. Thank you. Thank you so much again, Andrew, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, And leave us a five-star rating. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the IAMCEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Thank you for listening.

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