Michael Flanagan’s parents were educators—music teachers, to be precise—and while that fact shaped his early life, he never imagined he would become one himself. “It wasn’t that I disliked the idea—I just never imagined going the same route,” he says. Whether it was destiny, genetics, or his love for music and the arts, Flanagan found himself majoring in music education at Northern Illinois University, and taught choir and musical theater for several years in a public high school.