Month: March 2017

Will Stettler

Listen to the interview (approx. 1 hr, 20 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2010 with a major in Professional Music.  Principal instrument:  guitar.

 

Position:  Finance and Operations Manager.  Will works part-time at a “permanent contractor” for two different small financial firms in the Boston area:  Mediphase Venture Partners and Kendall Investments. The resident “jack-of-all-trades,” Amone other duties, Will compiles information, prepares financial reports, handles many legal forms, tracks fund performances and cash flow, and estimates the value of new companies.

 

Overview:  Partway though his Berklee experience Will realized that a career in the music industry wasn’t for him, so he shifted the focus of his education toward business classes.  After finishing Berklee, he taught private guitar lessons for money, while interning both a a cultural non-profit and for a family friend who started his own stock market investing firm.  Will liked finance, but didn’t feel that he had the desire or temperament for stock-market investing, so decided to study accounting.  He took the GMATs and got his Masters of Science in Accounting from Boston College, taking a brief time after graduation to become a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), as that would open up more opportunities.

Recruiters from the “big four” accounting firms helped set him up with both an internship while in school and a job afteward at the major accounting firm Deloitte.  It’s a prestigious place to work, and the variety means he learned a ton, but the hours were extreme “During the busy months, you never stop working.”  After a bit under a year, Will left to work for a music start-up firm, but that didn’t work out.  At this point, the investor Will had interned for learned that a neighboring business needed an accountant.referred him to one of his current jobs, and referred Will.  That company then referred him to their client, which also needed someone.

 

 

You can see Will’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes: “I like the people I work with–that makes huge difference!  Finance is an exciting industry and it attracts passionate people because of the opportunity available.”

 

“It’s an interesting industry!  You’re plugged into the startup world, learning how money gets made & spread around–it’s applicable to a whole lot of industries.  I read and write about what makes a company competitive.    I also have an analytical mind and enjoy the number crunching. ”

 

“It’s good to take more risks when you’re young, but make sure it meets your life’s needs and what you want.  Your dreams can mix with what’s pragmatic.  Take the leap, but have a fallback plan.”

 

“Being a Berklee grade made me stand out a lot in a crowd.   It helped me get into grad school, where they want diversity of backgrounds; and helped me get jobs, as it was a very valuable conversation starter.”

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Ben Maitland-Lewis

Listen to the interview (Approx. 1 hr, 21 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2006 with a degree in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Drums.

 

Position:  Co-Founder & CEO of Pretty Instant Photography, a one-stop shop where, with very minimal effort on the customer’s part, a  well-vetted professional photographer will come to an event and photos delivered the next day.  Sometimes–somewhat inaccurately–called “Uber for photographers,” the company handles all the logistics and payments, while the photographers and editors are independent contractors.”  Ben focuses on the “business” end of things–sales and marketing, but also managing employees, budgets, and raising investment money.

 

Overview:  Ben had a decent career drumming and touring for a couple of years before arriving at Berklee.  During his first year at Berklee, he reached out to CEOs and other senior people at various labels, hoping to secure a job.  One woman called him to say, “Thanks but no thanks,” and they hit it off, which led to an interview (when he’d “just happen” to be in LA next week) and a summer internship working for the president!  Immediately afterward he was hired by Sony BMG’s New York office to be their College Marketing Rep (500/week + perks), working his way up to New England Marketing Director, then (after graduation) East Coast Marketing Director after graduation!  He also did some side work, including his own (music) artist management company.

In 2008 the music industry was scaling back, and he was offered either a promotion (requiring a move to NYC) or a severance package. He opted for the latter in order to focus on his own business.  His music business transformed itself several times as he’d pursue new opportunities, becoming more of a video/media company, but years of hard work later it was still a struggle and not doing great.  Then one day they had to arrange photography for an event after the planned photography fell through, and it was so successful that they smelled opportunity.  Pretty Instant Photography came into being in early 2015.  In 2016 they did over a million dollars of business, and are expecting that to more-than-double in 2017.

 

You can see Ben’s LinkedIn Profile here.  Ben encourages folks interesting in his business, or entrepreneurship in general, to reach out to him.

 

Choice Quotes:  “You look at any other photography-hiring marketplace.  Every other platform makes the user search through portfolios, vet the person, deal with the legal stuff, figure out the price.  With us, the client just says time location, a bit about the event.  Done!  The photographer just does the shoot and uploads it immediately afterward–we handle the editing.”

“I’ve dedicated my life to helping artists build sustainable careers which they’re passionate about.  I’m doing the same thing for photographers and in my mind they’re the same people as musicians, just working with a different instrument.”

“Music education as a whole really gives you a solid foundation on how to improvise.  You’ll be constantly faced with situations where you need to think on your feet.”

“I didn’t raise a boatload of money at the start. We waited a bit to figure out the right strategy, find that, and then raised money.  A lot of entrepreneurs get all excited by all the people who have raised money and want to raise money, but companies can do that and close if they don’t know what they’re doing and have too many non-revenue-generating employees.”

“You have to love what you do if you’re starting a company.  It’s a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and personal sacrifice. I work at least 100 hours per week.”

“Follow your gut regarding what you want, but it’s OK to work outside music if you find you like something else….  At the end of the day, if you focus on something that’s fulfilling and adds value to people you’ll be happy.”

 

 

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.

Glenn Romero

Listen to the interview (approx. 1 hr, 20 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2006 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Voice.

 

Position:  Freelance Video Marketing Entrepreneur.  In early 2016 Glenn launched his company, Snowcap Video Productions.  Glenn works with companies on crafting one or more good (live action) videos to market themselves.  The full process often takes weeks, as they plan out every detail of the shoot.  He then shoots the videos (with hired help if needed), and handles the post-production.  Snowcap has done other sorts of work as well, from assisting for others to wedding and even a time-lapse video of a bridge being constructed!

 

Overview:  Shortly after graduating Berklee, Glenn wanted to make more money.  His now-wife, who worked in radio, referred him to a job selling advertising for a radio station.  “It was a rude awakening:  I was cold-calling companies.  It had nothing to do with music or audio, and it was brutal.”  Working for a year with minimal success and sensing that he’d be let go soon, he confided in a friend, who recommended him for a job selling motorcycles at Boston Harley Davidson.  Glenn was happy to work in a sales job with “warmer leads,” — people entering the place intending to make a purchase.  He worked there for almost 4 years, promoted halfway through to financial manager, helping customers finance their purchases.  But by 2011 the weak economy put sales at a record low, and he looked for better opportunities.

A friend at a company that sold river cruises gave him a referral, and he worked there selling cruises, with “even warmer leads–people calling us intending to go on vacation, and I’d help them figure out what was the best thing for them.”  He again was promoted–to selling group tours–but after a few years it was clear that the industry wasn’t doing well and he was making less money each year.  Moreover, his wife was pregnant, and child care was going to be over $40,000/year!  It made sense for him to work mostly from home, where he could watch his child when possible.  For over half a year, Glenn spoke with large numbers of CEOs and marketing officers about what was and was not a good marketing video, so that when he made the leap to being independent he had great knowledge as well as a large network.

 

You can see Glenn’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “I’ve always had an artistic mind; seeing a project go from beginning to end is really satisfying.  Delivering a video that a client is in love with feeds my soul, and is the same feeling as having just played for a crowd of thousands of cheering people.”

“I prefer not to post my prices online.  Business is 90% relationship-driven.  People want to do business with people they like.  If I can talk to someone, show interest, understand what they’re looking for and explain how we can bring it to life we can make something good happen.  I don’t want them just to look at price.  Especially since I can take their budget into account in terms of how lavish a production we do.”

“Push yourself to do things you feel uncomfortable with doing.  If you’re complacent and comfortable you’ll never grow. ”

 

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Eric Hutchinson

Listen to the interview (approx.. 55 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated on 2006 with a major in Professional Music.  Principal Instrument:  drums.

 

Position:  Regional Executive Director of the Greater Hartford YMCA, which has over 1000 employees, 13 facilities, and an annual budget of over $30,000,000.  Eric’s responsibilities are split between fundraising, being part of the community, budget management, marketing programs, and supporting day-to-day operations of the regional YMCA.

Overview:  After graduation, Eric moved back to Connecticut.  For the first couple of years after Berklee, Eric (barely) made a living playing lots of gigs, teaching drums part-time at a high school, and teaching music to pre-schoolers.  Hoping to make more money, Eric applied to join the U.S. Navy band, and was tentatively accepted, but ultimately that job fell through after a year of living in Virginia and subbing in with it.  In late 2009 he moved back to Connecticut resumed what he was doing, and looked for a day job.  A local YMCA (New Britain-Berlin YMCA)was looking to hire their first “Arts and Humanities director.”  Eric found the job listing on Craigslist, applied, and got it in early 2010.

Eric quickly realized that he needed to raise money to make these new programs he was starting happen, so he completed an online program in non-profit fundraising.  His fundraising efforts were so successful that he was promoted to grants administrator, then overseeing all financial development (The #2 position) on top of the artistic job.  However, this was a local YMCA, and Eric realized that in order to progress in his career he’d have to be part of a larger organization, so in early 2015 he applied for an got a job with the Hartford YMCA as Director of Membership, Sales, and Service.  Working in an extremely poor community was gratifying, but extremely tough.  A year later Eric was ready to move on.  He applied for and got his current job in early 2016.

 

You can see Eric’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:

“I wake up every day excited to get to work!  I get to see firsthand how being kind and giving our talents, time, and treasures really impacts everyday people  People coming into our programs are happy and excited to be there.  We don’t turn anybody away because of financial need, because we think everyone deserves that experience.  As an individual person that’s something I couldn’t provide, but as part of this organization I can do exactly that!”

“We just build a brand new facility in Glastonbury.  My focus was to make not a typical YMCA but the strongest arts YMCA in the state.  There’s still a gym, but our large space is a 100-seat music theater.”

“Berklee taught me that nothing is just handed to us.  To be succesful in music, you have to network, go out there and aggressively market yourself.  That’s really what I do every day.  I make sure there’s nobody who doesn’t know who I am and what the YMCA does so that people think of the Y when they plan to make something happen.”

“If there’s something you’re passionate about, give it your whole self and do whatever it takes to make it happen.  You’re not always going to be doing exactly what you want to do but as long as you can see a good path, take it and do everything you can to get to that next level.”

 

 

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.