Whitworth Alumna Follows Calling to Make Children's Music
By Stephanie Grace

Susan (Hagen, '66) Nipp left Whitworth with a music degree and a desire for an adventure. Her classmates all seemed to be "becoming a preacher or a teacher" and Nipp knew she didn't want to do either, at least not right away.

So, she moved to Monte Carlo and worked a stint as a flight attendant. And then she gave into true passion: She became an elementary school teacher in Lake Oswego, Ore.

That's when Nipp met Pam Beall, a woman whose shared enthusiasm for motherhood and music sparked a passion for silly songs and fingerplays.

Today, Nipp still is a music teacher, but she's turned that vocation into an international music company, selling over 50 million products and 60 titles around the world. She and Beal founded Wee Sing in 1972, and began selling songbooks, CDs, and videos filled with both traditional and original tunes to help develop learning and musical skills in young children.

Nipp sees her call as helping children develop through the power of music. "Music is a part of my soul and I wanted a career in something I loved," she said.

She and Beall wanted to teach their small children traditional songs and music but found many of the songs were being lost. They located some of the songs, created songbooks, and eventually decided to sell them.

"We just thought maybe other parents out there would be interested in them," said Nipp. She was right – their first book, Wee Sing Songs and Fingerplays, sold over 20 thousand copies in the first two years.

The new business, Wee Publishing, became Nipp's adventure. She and Beall packaged the songbooks and opened accounts for their infant company – work they did from their living rooms after their children went to bed.

In the early days of Wee Sing, Nipp used her own children to sing on the audiocassette tapes. Her son Devin really wanted to do good job while recording Wee Sing America. He needed to say "inalienable rights," and she was concerned he was too young to pronounce the phrase. But Devin came through – and got it right on the first try. The reason? He wanted to go across the street and play in the park.

Nipp's children are adults now - and Wee Sing has also grown. But the numbers aren't what drive Nipp – the feedback she receives from parents serve as the true testimonial of her work.

"It hits home to me what we are doing with Wee Sing when I receive an e-mail from a parent who is so pleased that her autistic child is attentive and excited about music because of Wee Sing. It's really what keeps us going." Nipp said.

Nipp is committed to keeping Wee Sing a wholesome and educational outlet for children – a standard she has set as a teacher and a mother. Her values are also the result of her sense of calling to get children involved in music – and it's something she always considers before embarking on something new with Wee Sing.

"It always has to come back to this question: 'What's good for children?'" said Nipp. "If we have to change who we are, we don't do it – whatever it is. We can't sell our soul."

So now, as Nipp considers expanding Wee Sing into the television market, she comes back to what she feels is her calling. "It is really about having the grace and wisdom to decide which doors to open and which doors to leave shut. It is about deciding if it's my will or God's will."

Today Nipp still does her fair share of traveling – she goes around the country promoting Wee Sing and healthy early childhood development. In one city, she came upon an entire window display devoted to Wee Sing – and was struck by a feeling of awe.

"To me, we're just us. I don't think about how huge it's become."