My name is Jerome Kuntz and I operate a single employee business that I call Jerome Kuntz Piano Service. This has been in existence since 1980.

[Decision To Enter This Particular Occupation:]

As a blind adult, (I've been blind throughout my life) I went through four or five different jobs only to be automated out of existence (and that sort of thing). I thought that I should probably go back to something that perhaps was more traditionally accepted as an employment opportunity for a blind person. So I picked on piano tuning. It was related to other things I enjoyed such as music and mechanics and there was a course available that provided really good training. It was two years long and I was getting up into the mid-.part of my life and I thought that if I 'm going to continue working at all, I'd better get something I could exert more control over.

I think I have a confidence in myself. I will take on something, I won't shut it down. If somebody asks me to do something and I think that there's a remote chance that I'm going to be able to do that, I'll take it on. I think that was the first impetus for me to do this. I do get along with people quite easily. I don't have too much trouble that way.

[Attitude & Positive Behaviour:]

Self-discipline is probably number one. You have to have your own motivation. You have to want to do something. A positive attitude is, I would think, of paramount importance in an arrangement like this. You have to take the bull by the horns and go do it and convince another person that it is no trouble for you to go and do that. A positive attitude is certainly a paramount importance to this.

[Education & Training:]

Training, of course, is very important. That teaches you to do the job. That gives you the confidence level you need. Training, training, training. I took a two-year training course in this business. The first year consisted of tuning, tuning, more tuning, even more tuning, and a whole lot more tuning. And if you wanted a little variety, tune some more. During the second year (as well as the first) there were some mechanical skills taught. I took my course at a place in Vancouver, Washington that specialized in teaching the blind and there was a lot of hands on work. So we did any repair jobs on old pianos or we on models that were created for us - that sort of thing. So, that took a lot of the second year's time and part of the first years course as well. But the whole business of repetition and hands-on training was the important part of that course.

[Skills Needed:]

This type of business is a service industry and people skills are certainly important. In the first place, you're doing work in the person's home, so you have to make the person feel comfortable in your presence. So, therefore, people skills are really quite important. There’s nothing like experience to add to this whole thing. Training, confidence and experience, of course, will bring its own reward.

[Typical Work Day:]

Well, a very busy day probably gets me to three places. I'll start a piano at 9:00 o'clock in the morning and if I'm lucky I'm finished before noon. I'll take a quick break for lunch, go to another place and start one as close to 1:00 o'clock as I can get. I’ll finish that maybe by 3:00, 3:30 or so, and then I'd try to make it pretty close to be able to start another one at 4:00 o'clock and by suppertime go home.

[Most Challenging Aspect:]

I think building a person’s confidence in what I do is something I found to be somewhat more challenging that I really wanted it to be. Sometimes I would go in and the person will… First of all they got me by the yellow pages from the telephone. That doesn't explain that I'm without sight. I get there and they see somebody that needs a little assistance to find where the piano is. The next question that arises is "All right, what else is he going to need assistance with". Usually I don't need any further assistance, but some people are a little skeptical. I will be going on into the thing, into the work I'm doing and after about half to three quarters of an hour later, you realize the lady is still trying to make up her mind as to whether she should have hired me in the first place. She'll say something like, "When you people lose your sight, the other senses sort of take over, don't they? Your hearing improves, your sense of touch improves." My stock answer to that is, "Pardon." Then the question will be repeated again and I'll say, "Pardon" even louder, and usually that breaks the ice.

[Most Satisfying Aspect:]

I still think the most satisfying part is meeting genuinely nice people. One of those things that satisfies you is going away feeling that "Well I've made a difference to this fine person's life".

[Advice For Someone Entering This Field Of Work:]

Well, I would say get good honest training and then, you know, use your own people skills. Honesty in that vein, I think, is very important. You have to be genuinely honest and that will come (with experience that will come) on its own.