Stephanie Syphus shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Stephanie , a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
Most people think we’re just a little home music school. The truth is we’ve built a movement. Starting out of my living room, with space for only two private lessons at a time, Brazos Creative has now grown to over 80 students, five incredible instructors, and international recognition as the only home-based program in our category.
We start with any tune students love and build from there. That’s how they buy in, that’s how they grow, and that’s how we cultivate confident, skilled musicians who perform in recitals, show up at community events, and even write their own songs.
The biggest misunderstanding about 30-minute music lessons is that you have to pick between fun and results. At Brazos Creative, joy is the strategy, and relationships are the method. That’s why the Brazos community is bursting at the seams and ready to take the next leap into our first commercial space in the next 3–6 months.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Stephanie Syphus, founder of Brazos Creative, a mom-and-pop shop based out of our little home in Coppell, TX. I founded the company on January 1, 2024, and soon after, my husband Parker was laid off from his corporate job. Instead of seeing it as a setback, we decided to rock on and take a chance on music. Taking a chance on ourselves was a huge risk, but it’s paid off by healing and inspiring us. Now we get to share the power of music and creativity with our students, their families, and our community.
What makes Brazos Creative special is that we’re not just teaching music, we’re building a community. Students learn piano, guitar, ukulele, violin, and voice, but more importantly, they gain life skills like confidence, creativity, and resilience. Even our Life Skills Through Board Games program gives kids a chance to practice leadership and teamwork in a fun, unique way.
Today, with over 80 weekly students, five amazing instructors, and international recognition for our program, we’re bursting at the seams and preparing to move into our first commercial space. More than anything, we feel grateful and privileged to serve our students and their families. This dream has grown into a movement rooted in Coppell and built on community.
With that dream comes the exciting opportunity to reach more people! As such, we will be moving into a commercial space within the next 3-6 months to accommodate the demand for our services. We are even running a fundraiser to help us make this upcoming space the best possible space for our community to continue to gather.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The relationship that has most shaped how I see myself is the one I share with my dear husband Parker of over 12 years. From the moment we met in our collegiate touring choir, he’s been the steady rhythm to my melody. Parker is honest, kind, grounded, loyal, hardworking, and everything I always dreamed of. Getting to build a legacy with my best friend feels like the chorus I never want to end.
Before Parker, music was how I survived. Growing up in a twisted and abusive home, I tried to take my own life at just 11 years old. That night, after a spiritual experience, I felt an urgent calling from God to capture my struggles in lyrics. As a child and teenager, I leaned on songwriting like a lifeline. At 16, I had the opportunity to record that music, and when I listen to that album today, it feels like letters from a younger me to the woman I would become.
Also at 16, I also began teaching 30-minute music lessons, and now I’ve been teaching for over half my life. I drove around to those lessons and created this company in my mind, a safe space where people would gather to learn music and creativity. The curriculum I’ve developed was born out of deep darkness but shines as a source of light. What once kept me afloat has become the way I thrive. And with Parker beside me, music has become the encore that brings joy, healing, and growth to our marriage and our family.
Now, through Brazos Creative, our love story of triumph and resilience has expanded into something much bigger than us. Every student who steps through our door, every family we serve, and every note of community we build in Coppell reminds me that music is more than scales and songs: it’s connection, leadership, and courage. The greatest privilege of all is getting to play that song side by side with Parker and to pass the power of music on to others.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
First of all, thank goodness for EMDR trauma therapy. Being molested, physically and verbally abused, and manipulated as a child will affect me for the rest of my life. But I’ve learned how important it is to be open about your truths.
For me, that openness is rooted in my faith in my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, and for anyone, in the grounding power of faith in something higher. Being brave and using your voice is lifesaving. I’ve had so many people reach out to say they are grateful I share my story, because theirs is so similar. And I owe it to little Stephanie — the child who recorded her songs and used her voice to cry for help through music.
Sometimes I feel the rage of generations running through my veins, like a song I never wanted to inherit. That is why when I pray, meditate, or do breathwork, it is not just about calming myself; it is about making sure that cycle ends with me. Every word I speak and every action I take is a chance to shatter that rhythm and write something lovely and beautiful for my family and my community.
Suffering taught me things success never could. It gave me empathy: the kind that lets me sit in someone else’s pain without flinching, because I know what it feels like. It gave me resilience: the ability to keep moving forward and find light even in the darkest places. That resilience is also what makes me a strong entrepreneur. I know how to do what needs to be done, even when the circumstances are hard, even when it feels impossible. And it gave me purpose: proof that what I went through wasn’t wasted, my pain became the soil where strength and compassion could grow.
Success is beautiful, but it doesn’t fuel you or transform you at your core. Suffering did. My circumstances almost took my life more than once, through suicide attempts or the chaos of my upbringing, but suffering also forced me to find my voice through music, rewrite kindness and love into my DNA, and discover that healing is real. Because of suffering, I don’t just celebrate the wins, I use them as proof for my students, my family, and myself that even broken beginnings can become something beautiful. Life is what you make it, and I choose to work hard building genuine relationships everywhere I go, because I truly care about people, and I truly care about my community.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
The ideas I rely on most that aren’t my own come from God. When I was 11 years old and tried to take my life, I had a spiritual experience that transcended reality and proved to me that God is real. Since then, He has pushed me far outside my comfort zone again and again. My gut, what I believe is the Spirit, is never wrong. It rarely gives me what I want, but whenever I follow it, even when it’s hard, I am always filled with peace. I am so grateful for my faith.
I honestly don’t think I have very good ideas on my own. Every time I’ve strayed from the vision God has given me, things go awry. So I listen, I trust, and I try to stay faithful to His direction.
I also feel indebted to the little version of myself who started all of this. She was the one who wrote songs to survive and began teaching music lessons at just 16. I try to honor her healing: by going to therapy, by doing the hard work, and by creating the life she wished she could have had. That means being the mother she never had, the friends she never had, and the community she never had. It also means showing up for kids and teens as a mentor and a safe space in this ever-digital and isolating world, reminding them that they are not alone.
I am deeply grateful for who and what I have now, and even for the trials I’ve gone through, because in spite of it all…or maybe because of it all: I am who I am today. Between God’s guidance and little Stephanie’s courage, I have all the ideas I need.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
This is a hard question for me because I can be hard on myself. But when I move past the fear and self-doubt, I see the evidence that I’ve shown up with my heart on my sleeve.
Through hard work, integrity, and honesty, I’ve influenced others — especially kids and teens — to take chances, chase their dreams, embrace creativity as a lifelong skill, and choose to do good in the world.
If everything else were stripped away, what would remain are the lives I’ve touched, the quiet moments of courage sparked, and the good that came from simply being myself and choosing to use my voice. And I know from everything I’ve been through that this kind of care can be lifesaving. Just knowing that someone out there truly cares about you, deeply enough to be forever changed, can make all the difference. I’ve had mentors who left that kind of mark on me, and I hope I can leave a similar mark on others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V1gAPlHgLoL-VRThpUbiWkjtYw1ZOUvzVfVmAP1psts/edit?usp=sharing
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/brazoscreative
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/brazoscreative
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgoFCckNxsh0ev1pHnZS5jQ
Image Credits
Stephanie Syphus at Brazos Creative
