In an economy that has struck a sour note for many businesses, Kevin and Annette Williams have worked in harmony to keep their piano tuning business alive.
“Three years ago, everything was flying,” said Annette, “but then the recession hit. It’s been pretty rough the last few years.”
Annette has co-owned Williams Piano Service, located in Battle Ground, with her husband for 30 years, since his graduation from Vancouver’s School of Piano Technology for the Blind in 1981. Kevin, who lost his sight at age 13, grew up playing drums and listening to music. So a career centered around music seemed a like natural choice.
After completing the school’s rigorous two-year course, which included 2,800 hours of lectures and one-on-one hands-on instruction, Kevin tuned and repaired pianos for several local piano and music stores in Vancouver and Portland.
“I love the training I got at the shop,” said Kevin. “They covered everything we needed to do.”
After a decade of tuning and repairing pianos, Kevin and Annette felt they had enough clients (and experience) to branch out on their own.
Today, according to Annette, they have clients ranging from Portland to Castle Rock and as far east as Stevenson. And although she said business has been down nearly 50 percent over the last couple of years, they’ve noticed a significant uptick in activity in the last few weeks – a phenomenon that can be confirmed, she said, through conversations with other piano technicians in the area.
In addition to working on pianos in private homes, Annette said they also have contracts with several local churches, school districts and a number of piano teachers in the area. However, she said just getting customers is only half the battle; educating those customers is also part of their job.
“We work hard to educate parents that getting the piano is just the beginning,” said Annette. “It has to be maintained.”
Along with tuning, Annette and Kevin perform small repairs, major piano rebuilds and even piano moving and sales – a diverse set of services that has helped keep their business afloat.
Despite Kevin’s education and extensive experience that enables him to confidently tune and repair pianos, he cannot drive due to his vision impairment. Therefore, there are some tasks, such as keeping the business’ paperwork, which he said are simply easier for a sighted person – enter Annette – to accomplish.
“I’m the muscle and she’s the brains.” said Kevin.
Between the two of them, Kevin and Annette know several other local School of Piano Technology for the Blind graduates that cannot work closely with their spouse. This makes running a business much more difficult for graduates, they said.
“We’re really good friends… I respect her skills,” said Kevin, adding that it really wasn’t about who was in control, or who did what job, but more about doing a good job – together – for the customer.
