Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Potts.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Felix and Fingers started out as a Jazz Duo playing background music at a restaurant in Lake Geneva starting in 2011. When the company began, dueling pianos wasn’t even on the radar! The venue owner, however, had a plan a year or so later to turn a neighboring venue into a dueling pianos bar, so we worked up a show. The gig didn’t work out in the end, but our new dueling pianos show started to get booked elsewhere.
As our reputation grew, we had the opportunity to start adding players to the team. We now have 8 dedicated members in Chicago, a dozen other 3rd party guest performers, along with virtual storefronts in New Orleans and Orlando (where we’ve continued to build the brand).
We’ve always been committed to delivering amazing experiences, dueling pianos shows are about making memories! We’ve been fortunate enough to deliver this concept to the private markets via weddings, corporate events and fundraisers, and as our company grows, we’re looking forward to expanding into 10 cities over the next 5 years!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
To be honest, I don’t think about the quality of the “road” so much as just continuing to keep on it. There will always be challenges, growing a business is never easy, but I live for those challenges. If you’re actively pushing yourself to learn and grow, you find yourself living outside your comfort zone. The biggest struggle is going to be the one you have with yourself, and at the end of the day, that’s the only real variable you can control.
Reframe the struggles as opportunities for growth and it really takes the negativity out of the equation. 🙂
Please tell us about Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos.
Felix and Fingers is a Dueling Pianos company that specializes in performing for weddings, corporate events, fundraisers, and any other higher end private or public show. Our all request based show is designed to engage the audience with comedy and music. Put simply, our job is to bring the party. And the interactive nature of the show means that no two shows are ever the same (we literally don’t even know what our first song will be on any given night).
I’m most proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished. Between having the most reviews of any dueling show in the country to the way we systematically approach every detail of event planning, we pride ourselves on being able to connect with any audience, anywhere, anytime.
We’re set apart by our team. Dueling pianos is a genre, just like “rock and roll” is a genre. We’ve spent a lot of time developing our concept and training our team to be the best at what we do. There are hundreds of dueling pianists out there, and many of which are great in their own right, we’ve just happened to find an approach that really steps up the experience for this style of entertainment.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Gotten help! As entrepreneurs, we tend to pride ourselves on being able to wear all the hats. This is both our greatest strength and weakness. When I started, I truly thought that I knew what I was doing and didn’t need help, I was too stubborn to even pick up a book.
Thankfully, my partner (the original Felix) broke me of that mindset. I’m still trying to master the art of asking for help while checking my ego at the door, but if I had to start over, I’d hope that I could get out of my own way and leverage the experience of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.felixandfingers.com
- Phone: 815 245 3623
- Email: info@felixandfingers.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuelingPiano/
- Other: https://vimeo.com/album/5004615
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
