Month: December 2024

Successful Berklee Alumni #258: Darien Morris

Kevin
Darien Morris
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2015 with a major in Music Business. Principal Instrument: Bass Trombone

Position: Corporate Agent at Allstate Insurance Company. Darien works remotely, selling auto insurance and home insurance to consumers, speaking with folks who have been pre-screened for interest plus some referrals. Unlike most agents, he works directly for Allstate, receiving a combination of base pay and commission.

Overview: After graduation, Darnien moved home to Philadelphia. Financial pressure led him to work in an Amazon warehouse after graduation, putting in lots of overtime and making decent money. Then he got a terrible infection from stepping on a nail and almost lost his leg or died! By late 2017, after a painful 8-month recovery Darien was ready to work again–now armed with a lot of self-confidence from that successful recovery! He got a job doing door to door sales, for a company that was a subcontractor for many other companies with different products. It was good for a while, but by late 2019 the pay was dropping while the hours got longer so he left and moved to Ohio. He started working for Amazon again, this time delivering packages, but was frustrated by the mediocre pay and the seeming inability to earn more by working harder, so he applied to other jobs. An ex-girlfriend told Darien how she worked for AT&T and made fantastic money, so he applied and was hired. It turns out she was lying about her pay–oops.

Nevertheless, Darien did great at AT&T. He was there for 4 years, was promoted multiple times to a sale manager position which paid six figures but was extremely stressful and long hours, and Darien felt that he was a better salesperson than manager. So when Allstate reached out to him about a sales position–less stress and more time with his family–he said yes.
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You can see Darien’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: I’ve done sales for 15 years. That long, it’s like playing a brass instrument. You put a sheet of music in front of them, they just play. You just know how to position your lips without thinking about it. Same thing in consumer sales. I just know how things go. I know if someone’s going to say yes, no, try to bs me.”

“When I sold cell phone plans, people didn’t care who their carrier was. It was hard for me to care. But with insurance, I’m educating the consumer on what they’re paying for. The folks who choose to sign up with me, I get all 5-star reviews. Afterward, nobody’s upset. They understand what it is and appreciate my help. Some will tell me they’ll even pay more to stay with me becuase I’m helping them. Every week I read those reviews–it’s a proud moment.”

“These days I work 20 – 30 hours/week. So long as I make my quota, my boss doesn’t care when I’m working. My wife was a stay-at-home mom for five years, and this job is letting her get back into the workforce while I do more at home.”

“If you’re looking to work in sales, try to get into something that you want to sell. Cell phones, I didn’t care. Auto and home insurance, I’m into that. Life insurance–the money can be good, but I have to get all into people’s busines and that wasn’t my thing–I could do it, but I’d hate my day. Also, your manager makes all the difference in the world. If you get a good manager, follow their instructions and you’ll be fine. If you get a bad manager, find someone else.”
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #247: Brendan Machowski

Kevin
Brendan Machowski
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2015 with a major in Professional Music. Principal Instrument: guitar.

Position: Marketing Manager at Plastic Assembly Systems, a small industrial company that builds equipment which molds together large pieces of plastic. As the only marketing person at the company, Brendan is responsible for updating the website with photos and videos of thier equipment, the social media marketing, using google analytics, emailing customers, and handling incoming calls.

Overview: Brendan’s father has worked at Plastic Assembly systems for a long time, which led to Brendan working in their machine shop as a teenager. After graduation, Brendan wanted to work in music, but wasn’t sure what he wanted his exact career to look like, as the standard ones didn’t really appeal to him. He moved home and worked again at Plastic Assembly Systems, doing shipping and a bit of video. But Brandon was looking for other opportunties and via a job board he found employment at a local branch of a music school, Bach to Rock. He started as a part-time instructor, but after a bit this job became a full-time combination of teaching, marketing, and management. At this point he resigned from Plastic Assembly Systems.

Unfortunately, by 2020 Brendan was feeling burned out on this job. The hours and commute were long, the job was stressful, and the pay didn’t justify it. He looked for other positons but wasn’t having any luck. Then his old boss at Plastic Assembly Systems reached out: their marketing person had left and they were changing the position and thought he’d be a great fit. Brendan returned there and took on his current role, combining what he’d learned at Back to Rock with what he needed to figure out on the job.
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You can see Brendan’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “My boss says, ‘Do you know why I don’t bother you a lot? Becuase I know you’re doing your job and yo’ure good at what you do and I see the results.’ So–they’re very flexible and have been accommodating for when I want to go on tour. I’m very lucky!”

“It’s still a creative job. From the photoshop stuff and making videos. I can figure out what to do between projects–I can attack what inspires me and seems exciting (and what needs to be done). I also really like giving identity to something that’s not mine. Me growing up, not having much money, all the technical skills I got has a kid needing to do all the pubicity myself has been valuable for my career. This at least checks off the boxes for me to be happy about a job: freedom, creativity, and putting my stamp on something.”

“The quantity and quality of the work I had to do at Berklee made me almost overestimate what would be asked of me as a working adult. I look back on how much work I had to do at Berklee and how I always had to figure out how to get it all done–and how I always got through it. Berklee forced me to take things seriously and showed me what I was capable of.”

“Music is in my DNA, then it became a job. It’s easy to become jaded, but remember why you applied to Berklee–you have to reverse-engineer that. Why did you do that? Today I’m loving music more than ever and feel very true to myself. Music still your voice and nobody can take it from you. Stay in touch, even if it’s not your main job. You’re special, and don’t need to live up to someone else’s expectation.

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #246: Sam Slater

Kevin
Sam Slater
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2018 with a major in Professional Music. Principal instrument: guitar.

Position: Rotational Training Associate (Project Manager) at Renewable Energy Systems, a large, Dutch-based company that designs, builds, and engineers utility-scale solar, wind, and battery projects. As a recently-hired MBA grad, Sam is rotated through a number of teams during his first two years before ultimately choosing what to focus on, which is likely to be project management, though at the moment he’s doing financial modeling.

Overview: As he wrapped up Berklee, Sam wasn’t sure which direction his career should go. He wasn’t feeling the level of dedication to music that those who succeed in music usually have. He worked in restaurants and did other odd jobs while researching careers. Sam ultimately decided that he wanted to work in renewable energy. A lot of reasearch later convinced him that he best way into that sector was through earning an MBA. He applied to various MBA programs in 2021, and was accepted into Boston College’s MBA Program, which he started in the fall of 2021. He did an internship with a local company that evaluated energy efficiency programs, which wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do, but it was close. Sam continued work work there part-time during his second year of his MBA, and very briefly afterward.

As grad school was wrapping up in the spring of 2023, Sam used LinkedIn to apply for hundreds of renewable energy positions across the country, ready to move to wherever he could find a good job. One of those applications led to his current position.
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You can see Sam’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes:

“I enjoy working with numbers and analysis. Building out renewable energy can help address climate change. I’m an environmentalist and conservationist at heart. It’s good to feel like what I do has a positive impact at the end of the day.”

“Many folks who get MBAs have humanities degrees. Being a musician teaches you discipline. And that it takes time to learn something and sometimes learning is supposed to feel uncomfortable. Knowing how it required spending long hours in the practice room prepared me to spend a lot of time learning this new stuff.”

“Don’t let impostor syndrome prevent you from pursuing your goals. Related to this, when I’d talk to folks at grad school and would describe my goals, I was met with skepticism and was often asked, ‘How do you expect to deliver on these goals?’ That was a valuable part of the experience–it caused me to think more critically about what I was doing and wanted to do. Let pushback/skepticism be something you can learn from.”

“If you want a career as a project manager, don’t be afraid to ask questions that make it seem like you don’t know what you’re talking about or are wrong. Those uncomfortable situations are where you learn and gather the most information. That’s where I found the motivation to learn what I needed to learn to get to where I am.”

“Going to Berklee was such a privilege. Even though it was hard to find a job after, I’m glad I went and it’s my goal to continue to grow muscially.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.