Gillian Perkins

Author Gillian Perkins is a mom, successful entrepreneur, and dynamic business woman. She is a prolific content creator and private consultant who enjoys helping others develop order and discover balance in life. Gillian is the founder and executive director of Northwest School of Music. She lives in beautiful, green Oregon with her husband and two young children.

You can connect with Gillian online at www.sortedbook.com.

Detailed Bio:

As a child, Gillian Perkins began attending school as most children do. However, upon reaching the second grade, things began to change. Gillian was frustrated by the confines of school and the social pressures she felt subject to.

At age 8, Gillian dropped out of the second grade. Through a series of manipulative complaints, she convinced her parents that school was simply NOT the place for her.

For reasons of their own, her parents complied, allowing her to leave the classroom.

The next two and a half years were a struggle, as Gillian and her mother experienced controversies over curriculum choice, study schedules, and performance qualifiers.

By grade five the situation came to a head, and Gillian’s mother chose, once again, to let Gillian have her own way. Gillian was allowed to choose all her own curriculum, set her own schedules, and choose her own activities (she chose horse back riding, piano, and orchestra).

The balance of Gillian’s “K – 12” education passed relatively uneventfully. Gillian took great pleasure in planning her studies, selecting resources, completing projects, and reading (LOTS of reading).

Throughout her childhood, Gillian launched a number of entrepreneurial ventures, including:

Age 7: “The Animal Club” — in which she persuaded neighborhood children to give up their allowances to call themselves part of a club that “helped animals.”

Ages 9: Dutch Mill flower bulb fundraiser — in which Gillian knocked all the doors in her neighborhood, selling bulbs to fund her piggy bank.

Age 10: The Candy Stand — in which Gillian set up shop in her parents front yard, selling Easter candy to sympathetic neighbors.

At Age fifteen, a friend approached Gillian and asked to for help learning to play the flute (Gillian’s orchestra instrument). After some consternation, Gillian agreed. The flute lessons went surprisingly well, and both student and teacher were quite satisfied with the arrangement.

Not too long after, the friend started spreading the word about her great music teacher. Soon the phone was ringing with new students requesting instruction. Northwest School of Music was born!

After two years, Gillian had about 30 students whom she taught on a weekly basis and had sufficient income to support herself. At age 17, Gillian chose to move out and take on an internship, in addition to her teaching work.

Fifteen months later, at age 18, Gillian’s internship was over and Northwest School of Music had grown to approximately 35 students. Around the same time, Gillian and her high school sweetheart became engaged to be married the following summer.

Based on a high SAT score, Gillian received a full ride, two year scholarship to the local community college, and from age 18-20, Gillian attended college full time while continuing to teach the entire NWSM studio. Over the course of those two years, Gillian earned three associate degrees (Associate of Science, Associate of Arts, & Associate of Business).

In the 2012-2013 school year, Gillian, now married, pursued developing NWSM into a larger organization. She developed greater business structure, a dynamic website, and increased marketing efforts. Enrollment increase to 50 students.

During this time, Gillian also studied makeup artistry and hair design. From 2012 – 2014 Gillian worked as a freelance makeup artist and hair stylist in addition to her other projects

Gillian also studied web design to enable her to create a better user experience for the NWSM customers. She began developing several different websites at this time, though it remained primarily a hobby.

At the start of the 2013-2014 school year, Gillian took the major step of hiring her first employee. By the end of the school year, Northwest School of Music had over 60 students enrolled, and it became evident that soon a larger studio would become necessary.

The larger space was found in June of 2014, and three months later the studio opened for the 2014-2015 school year. In the first year of the new studio, enrollment increased to 70 students and two additional employees were hired.

In July of 2015, Gillian launched a dynamic marketing campaign for NWSM. In less than three months, she succeeded in increasing enrollment to over 150 students, more than doubling the student base. Five additional employees were hired, including an assistant for Gillian.

Currently age 23, Gillian has recently published her first book, “SORTED,” is pursuing developing her websites for increased profits, and looking forward to re-launching her personal blog in the near future. She continues to create content and offer services through www.sortedbook.com, manages a thriving Facebook community (SORTED), and acts as the program director of Northwest School of Music. Gillian lives in the beautiful, green state of Oregon with her husband, Timothy, and two young sons.