Today we’d like to introduce you to Deidre Ellis.
Hi Deidre, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The Studio Karaoke started as an idea back in 2024. Some background – I moved to DC over 20 years ago to attend Howard University and ended up spending most of my adult life between there, Maryland, and Southern California. I returned to Memphis during COVID, and was pretty surprised that the concept of karaoke boxes hadn’t made it here yet considering how much of a music and entertainment city we are. There were a few other things that I had gotten used to in other cities and considered bringing back to Memphis, but I felt like the karaoke box had the widest appeal and made the most since timing-wise. After being impacted by the layoffs happening in the tech industry a few years ago, I decided to go all in and take the risk on full-time entrepreneurship. While I knew I had the business experience, working in various industries including marketing, project management, tech, HR, and education and even starting a part-time business before, my hospitality experience was limited to just a summer working at a hotel during college. Instead of applying to jobs in my field after being laid off, I decided to apply for a job at Houston’s to learn from the best when it came to the hospitality and restaurant operations. I worked there part-time for about 6 months while visiting karaoke boxes around the country, pitching the business plan, and searching for the perfect location in the city.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the biggest struggles were finding the location and securing the funding. From the time we saw the first potential location to the time we actually signed the lease was a full year. The place we ended up getting wasn’t even listed – we were looking at a different space in the shopping center and the landlords were interested enough to work with us and offered a space that wasn’t even on the market yet – their own office. And I’m grateful none of those other places worked out. We ended up in the literal geographic center of the city which was important for us when it comes to being accessible to all Memphians. In a space with great parking, great landlords, great bones, and great small-business neighbors.
The other big struggle was funding. It’s almost impossible to get bank loans for new small businesses in the food and beverage industry. I was fortunate to have some family members invest in me, saved all of my severance package, and cashed in on some investments and my retirement, and lived off credit cards to make this a reality. Even after all of that, I was fortunate to find a partner in Pathway Lending a local CDFI and secured a small business loan to support our working capital after using all of my funds for the renovations. Everything ended up exactly as it should though.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a karaoke box or private-suite karaoke venue. Each of our five private suites are equipped with top-quality karaoke technology and party lighting, plus a curated menu of food and beverages that can be ordered from the suite. Guests can reserve suites by the hour for groups of up to 75. And we’re all agers – so we can host school field trips, retirement parties, and everything in between. Our mission is to bring more joy to Memphis, creating a space where everyone can sing, laugh, and make lasting memories together.
Many karaoke boxes are simply that, a box with a screen where you can pull up youtube or something like that. We were very intentional about creating a space by Memphians for Memphians. Each suite is thoughtfully designed and inspired by Memphis music. We also make it a point to offer great hospitality and excellent service. It’s one of the things that comes up most in our reviews.
We get people who have never done karaoke before. Mostly because they would never do it on a public stage in front of strangers or they’ve never really frequented bars. It makes me so happy to see people come and try something new for the first time and love it. People who come in saying “i’m only here to support my friend, I don’t really do karaoke.” and end up hogging the mic before the night is over and talking about how much fun they had. It makes my day to walk into a suite and hear belly laughter and off-key notes and just so much joy. For people to choose us day in and day out for their celebrations or just because. I’ll never get over it.
We are proud to be a woman-owned, Black-owned, Memphian-owned, family-run business!
How do you think about happiness?
In general, freedom makes me happy. Time-freedom. The freedom to be able to spend the morning at field day at my kids’ school. The freedom to be able to go to the beach on a random Monday. Granted, when starting a new business I don’t actually have a lot of time-freedom, but that’s the ultimate goal.
With The Studio specifically, it makes me happy to see people coming out of their suites with the biggest smiles and raving over their experience. It makes me happy to be able to turn someone’s day around. It makes me happy to see a dream fulfilled. It makes me happy to make a positive contribution to the most beautiful land in the world.
Pricing:
- Small Suite – up to 7 guests – $50/hr
- Medium Suite – up to 12 guests – $90/hr
- Large Suite – up to 18 guests – $140/hr
- Full Venue – up to 75 guests – $450/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thestudiokaraoke.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestudiokaraoke
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Studio-Karaoke-Memphis-61571672972190/
