Successful Berklee Alumni #255: Dan Feinstein

Dan Feinstein
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2015 with a major in Electronic Production & Design. Principal instrument: guitar.

Position: Contract Web and Software Developer. Dan takes on short-to-medium-term jobs to help companies build apps, revamp their websites, etc. While independent, he does partner with a professional recruiter who sends work his way. He’d be happy to have a full-time position somewhere, but contracting pays the bills.

Overview: Dan graduated without any real idea of what he wanted to do or work experience, and moved back home to San Diego. A relative had a company in Northern California which manufactured cinema equipment, and he got a job there to do a combination of administrative work and quality assurance. During his four years there, Dan learned the basics of web development in order to maintain his own company’s website.

When the pandemic hit Dan got laid off and he moved back to San Diego, though the only work he could find was in restaurants. Wanting something better, Dan doubled down on learning teach stuff, watching many instructional videos about coding. His now-fiancee worked for his first client and got him that first gig in 2022, and he had worked steadily from there.
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You can see Dan’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I use an app called Harvest. You turn it on and it tracks hours (It’ll even notice when you’re not working, like during lunch.), then after the day you say what you did. Then at the end of the month it creates an invoice. It’s a challenge when you’re working freelance and they want to know what you actually did, but they see this detailed invoice and they’re satisfied.”

“One of my more recent project, this company was using paper forms. The parts management person couldn’t read people’s handwriting. I build them a form management software system. All they’d hvae to do is pull it up on their phone and knnow exactly what had to be done. It was really satisfying to see that something I created made everyone’s job easier. I’d worked wtih the manager, then when it was done everyone was really happy!”

“At Berklee the professors expect a lot out of you. While at Berklee I did coding classes with Professor Richard Boulanger. I was terrified of it first, then found I didn’t suck at it. That helped me get me ready for what I’m doing now.”

“I still produce dance tracks just for fun. Even if I know I’m not going to publish it, just making music’s a good outlet. Professionally, I still use sound design with web development, software development, and game development. I can make my own sound and create exactly what I want rather than go to a library.”

Students, do an internship if at all possible! Get professional experience. It’ll put you on a pedestal above others. If you can swing it, an unpaid internship in a field you want to work in beats being paid to work at Dunkin Donuts or wherever. Also, network! network! network! Even if you feel awkward, do it. Go to parties. Talk to people. You have nothing to lose. (But stay sober while you’re doing it.)
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #254: Itai Yasur

Itai Yasur
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Graduated from Berklee Online in 2022 with a major in Interdisciplinary Arts.

Position: Retention Marketing Manager at The Lotter, a small multinational tech firm that lets people gamble (lottery tickets, casino games, etc.) via their smartphones. He works on both the strategic and the operational side of campaigns to encourage inactive customers to become more active. He designs and does quality assurance on marketing campaigns, but also is in constant communication with other people at his company to make sure everything is working as planned.

Overview: In 2013 Itai went to “brick-and-mortar” Berklee straight out of high school, mainly becase everyone told him he was really good at playing trumpet so that’s what he should do. But while at Berklee he realized he was less passionate about music than his classmates. He moved to Israel to be with his family and did some music, focusing more on production. Then the pandemic hit and his freelance work dried up. Figuring his proficiency in English would be a benefit, he applied to a range of relevant jobs, and was hired by his current company as a content writer.

This was a good entry-level job, but Itai sensed that his career would benefit from him completing his degree, so in 2021 he enrolled at Berklee Online, doing a heavy 4-course load per term so that he finished his degree in late 2022. (“I was pretty driven.”) Shortly before completing his degree Itai applied internally to a position in customer retention and got the position. A few months after completing his degree Itai was promoted to his current position. The job being remote, Itai moved back to the United States.
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You can see Itai’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “Advertising is corporate and capitalist, but it’s always been creative. We put old ads in museums today! I find that fascinating and weird. It’s not artistically motivated, but there’s something inherently creative in what’s driving everyone. You give someone 6 works and they REALLY try to come up with the best combination of words. Like within music, I like working with strict rules and limited spaces. Being forced to produce on a daily basis is also an interesting thing. I came from a background where a song every few months would be pretty good. Now I see something I wrote on a radio ad. It’s not as exciting or artistically fulfilling as when I was writing musicals, but it shows I’m doing something of value that exists out in the world.”

“Even at 18 and taking music tech, there’s a large component of what’s cool about Berklee is the contemporary focus and a technical focus (even though we grew up with easy-to-use devices). Many jobs today are SO technical, you’re constantly dealing with software that changes all the time. Our tech management suite can change every year! There’s constantly stuff to learn. Similarly, music software is SO difficult to use and learn! Just getting software programs to work together is a huge challenge. It’s helpful in getting a minset in understanding the intersection between modern creativity and these convoluted technical workflows. It’s beneficial to be the person in the room who can make software do something new.”

I have a keyboard next to my desk. I work remote so there’s always the opportunity to take 5 minutes and play something whenever I’m in the mood. I write and play music for my own enjoyment now–doing music is now a fun hobby. I used to hate performing–it made me so anxious and nervous.”

“What surprises me every day is how many jobs there are that you don’t know about until you meet someone doing it. We tend to focus of well-knows jobs while in school. There are a lot places you can get your foot in the door, then once your’e there look at what everyone is doing and figure out what would be a good fit. Expecially in tech companies where people are doing such different things. Find some previously-unknown niche that’ll make it easier to develop your career. I’m doing something I didnt’ know existed until 3 years ago! (Obviously I knew marketing existed, but there are so many sub-sections of it.) Be flexible. Learn overall abilities and apply them to many different things. It helps to have a wide variety of skills. You can even go to the jobs page of a company you like, scroll through 100 job descriptions, then learn some of the skills that are called for.”
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #253: Valeria Nikolaki

Valeria Nikolaki
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2021 with a major in Music Therapy. Principal instrument: voice.

Position: ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in the Framingham MA Public Schools. Valeria works with four different kindergarten classrooms, helping their regular teacher, then in the afternoon she works with small groups of children for whom English is particularly new. This is a standard, unionized teaching position.

Overview: With the pandemic ongoing, Valeria did a remote practicum. She found it hard to monestize her music and was losing the love. Valeria moved back to Greece, but found that music therapy is pretty nonexistent in Greece. So she applied to teachers aide jobs and got one teaching English to small children. She really enjoyed that work, but wanted to return to the United States, so she applied to get her Masters in Education, specializing in ESL instruction, from Boston University. Valeria started that very intense program June 2022 and finished a year later, doing student teaching at the same time as she took classes.

Valeria was hired in Somerville, MA to teach ESL to learning-disabled students. She loved the job, but her visa would only let her work in the United States for a year unless her employer sponsored her, and Somerville didn’t sponsor people. Some colleagues mentioned that Framingham will sponsors teachers, so after an academic year in Somerville one of them introduced Valeria to a department chair in Framingham and Valeria was hired into her current job.
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You can see Valeria’s LinkedIn profile here.

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Choice Quotes: “I love working with this age group (kindergarteners). They’re little and already know so much but they get so excited to experience new things. It’s great to see them happy and really engage and make new connections themselves. I really enjoy working with them and find it really fun.”

“Berklee’s Music Therapy program did a great job exposing us to many populations and giving us a taste so we could figure out who we enjoy working with. I figured out that I love working with kids, knowing how to talk to kids, how to engage kids to create trust. My music therapy background also got me that job in Somerville, where it really helped as I worked with developmentally disabled children.”

“Even when I was studying at Berklee I had second thoughts about music and thought about going into education. I stuck it through at Berklee but ultimately ended up where I sensed I would. Trust what you like to do and go for it. That’s it.”

“If you want to teach ESL in the public schools, tt’s important to remember that it’s going to be lot of work and it will be hard. Many teachers work a lot outside of their contract hours. It’s important to set boundaries. We want the best for our students, but it’s a job and we need time for ourselves. Being with students is the easiest part of what your job will be.”


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Successful Berklee Alumni #252: Rodrigo Gramitto

Rodrigo Gramitto
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2017 with majors in Performance and Music Production & Engineering. Principal instrument: guitar.

Position: Software Developer at Falvi Insurance Group, a 200-person insurance company, close to 20% of whom work in I.T.. They’re based in Rhode Island, though Rodrigo lives in Miami and works remotely. He’s on a team that builds software tools used both internally and by their affiliates. For example, the software allows small insurance policies to be generated automatically. About 3/4 of his job involves writing code, the rest of the time spent in meetings, communication, testing, documentation, and so forth.

Overview: Shortly after graduation, Rodrigo got a postion as an assistant engineer at The Hit Factory, a famous studio in Miami. But the hours were long and the pay was extremely low. He got a substitute gig with a semi-famous musician, which opened the door to many other performance opportunities that paid far better than the engineering work (which mostly used him as a runner), so he left the studio after four months and signed on with multiple bands. Being from Venezuela, he mostly toured with bands from Mexico and toured Latin America professionally through early 2023, apart from 2020 where he mostly taught lessons. The money was decent, but he was traveling all the time and seldom saw his now-wife, who lived in Miami.

By early 2023, although he was offered the best paying tour of his career, Rodrigo wanted different lifestyle with less time away from home. He investigated other music careers he could do besides touring, but found them lacking. Then Rodrigo spoke with a cousin who worked at Google and advised he go to a coding boot camp, which he did in the spring of 2023. He worked for a friend’s startup first as an intern then as a contractor while looking for full-time positions, but it was very difficult in 2023 with layoffs happening at many of the largest tech firms. Over a thousand applications later, by November Rodrigo pivoted his job search strategy to connecting with professionals first. This quickly bore fruit and he got his current job.

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You can see Rodrigo’s LinkedIn profile here.

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Choice Quotes: “Believe it or not, I’ve met a lot of musicians who are software engineers. I’ve spoken with some. There are a lot of similarities in the mental space you have to be in to be good at it and write stuff that works. I’ve always been analytical about my process in music. That analytical/methodical mindset translated into my work. You have to think of what you’re goign to to do before you start doing it. Know what you’re doing and prepare first, then assemble it.”

“If you go through a basic tech course and you don’t enjoy it a lot, don’t do it. You have to become as obsessed with tech as with music to succeed.”

“When people go to Berklee they learn how difficult it is to become really really good at something. That’s something you don’t learn elsewhere. Berklee is a magnet for folks who are the best at their craft. That motivated me to try harder and think deeper about why I was doing things. In the corporate world it’s hard to find that beautiful spark that people at Berklee have.”

“Music is still a major part of my life. I’m still professional and get paid to do it. I just do it in a lesser capacity. I still play about 20 shows/year with a peson I used to play with. I’m able to take my work with me–code during the day then go to sound check at 5 and play a show.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Successful Berklee Alumni #251: Andrew Levine

Andrew Levine
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated in 2022 with a major in Music Therapy. Principal Instrument: cello.

Position: Clinical Research Coordinator at the Neuroscience Institute Childrens Hospital Colorado, a large hospital that does research as well as treatment. Andrew supports the neurology research portfolio, coordinates project in devpeds (devleopmental pediatrics), rehab, and migraine research. He sees research participants who are also at the hospital and is their go-to person if something goes wrong or they have questions. Andrew supports telehealth studies as well, and he coordinates in partnership wtih other childrens hospitals.

Overview: While at Berklee Andrew did an internship at Boston Childrens Hospital and he studied with Neuroscience professor Dr. Erica Knowles and worked as a research coordinator for one of her projects. Covid hit right as he was looking for internships to complete his Music Therapy degree, and most places were too preoccupied to want interns. Andrew moved home to California and worked retail, saving up money to cover the expenses related to a long, unpaid internship. He finally found and did this internship in the first half of 2022. After that, he applied for music therapy jobs, landing one in Denver, Colorado.

However, both that job and the job afterward were stressful, with low pay, little support, and a high burnout rate. Andrew realized that if he stayed doing this he’d lose the love, so he applied for other positions. One application was to a different position at Childrens Hospital Colorado, but they though his experience made him an excellent fit for his current position, which he was hired into in mid-2023.
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You can see Andrew’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I love working with patients and families. When there’s a study that’s truly benefitting a family. When you can see it and get the feedback, even before the data analysis, we get to actually see the benefits of the research we’re doing. Also, those of us who are drawn to research ask a lot of questions. The more you know, the more questions you have. It’s exciting to never be at the end.”

“I took all of Dr. Erica Knowles’s classes. Biopsych propeled me into where I am. I had this fascination with the neuroscience of music. She helped me explore ways to answer those questions, meet people at other institutions to explore what is possible, in and out of music therapy.”

“It’s hard to break into reserach with no experience. Any way to get experience, even shadowing or data entry can ehlp. Figure out what area of research interests you. What are you curious about? What area will help you explore that? Most reserach is with cells rather than humans.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.


Successful Berklee/BoCo Alumni #250: Christiana Valko (Roberts)

Christiana Valko (Roberts)
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated from BoCo in 2015 with a major in Dance.

Position: Mental Health Conselor at Northeast Psychological Wellness, an all-remote psycological counseling practice with roughly 20 therapists who serve clients in New York. Chistiana works clients ages 7 – 30 with a host of different issues/needs, and is meeting with clients twenty hours/week or slightly more. She currrently has a provisional permit, which will become a full license once she has completed 3,000 clinical hours.

Overview: Christiana always wanted to help people, but didn’t see that as a career. After finishing BoCo she moved to NYC and went all-in on dance. For five years she got a variety of performances. Some paid well, others less so. To make ends meet, Christiana worked some side jobs, including as the front-desk person at a small, exclusive gym, where people would talk to her a lot about their lives. In 2018 she worked for a wellness company that did workout, movement, and wellness brand stuff. That made her start thinking about what she really wanted to do. Stay with this wellness company and grow her career? Customers were using her like a therapist. She was starting to feel physically tired from dancing, and wasn’t enjoying the whole rehearsal process. Then in 2020 Covid shut everything down.

Christiana asked herself, “What do I want to do when the pandemic is over? What meaning should my life have.” She felt hre career had to evolve, started reseraching grad schools, and realized she could complete a degree done in 2 years. Christiana considered dance/moment therapy, but felt regular therapy has more career oportunities. She applied to grad school in early 2021 and started at Pace University’s Masters of Mental Health Counseling that fall. During her last year of grad school, she interned somewhere else, another private practice, during her last year of grad school. Northeast was on the list of places she could apply to, but once she got an offer she took it. A colleague spoke highly of Northeast. Christiana reached out to Northeast, and had an interview which went really well. She got the job May 2023, starting October 2023 after her degree was complete.
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You can see Christiana’s LinkedIn profile here.

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Choice Quotes: “I never anticipated I’d work remotely. Yet nearly all my education was remote. “I love working remotely. I came to find during my internship that for time keeping sake it’s so efficient. It also delivers a very literal boundary, putting an end to a session–it allows you to wrap up the time with a bow. I have a nice work-life balance. I give my call my full time attention, then literally can step away from it.”

“At BoCo I learned how to sit in space and be comfortable in space. I loved improvization, being in the moment. It’s like ballet technique is theory. Tuere are theories. You have to know that to be able to dive in and let it flow. That comes from the improvization I was taught. Empowering us to have a creative voice–each dancer at BoCo was so unique! That individuality let me feel empowered to be in this space. I feel proud of my background.”

“Working from a place of self-compassion, being on your own side, will let you move in a direction that feels aligned with you. So many times you feel some pressure to work professionally doing what you studied, but it may come from a place of insecurity or obligation that’s not aligned. Rather than feelling shame, have some self-compassion. Take a moment to relaxe and breathe and think about how you want to be in the world. That’ll allow you to connect to your joy, which may be to perform for ever, and may not be. I didn’t think I’d stop, but it evolved that way. Welcome and embrace that change.”

“If you want to go into counseling, know that you have to look in the mirror a lot in this field. Your life, your thoughts about the future. That can be a big experience, and that continues into this job. You are the instrument, much like in music, dance, and theater. You use all of yourself. It’s the most beautiful craft, it’s wonderful to be a person helping another person. Ask what you hope to gain out of this. It can be a great career, but can be an incredible calling and vocation and way to be of service in life.”

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See the full index of successful Berklee/BoCo alumni

Successful Berklee/BoCo alumni #249: Daniel Walton

Daniel Walton
Listen to the interview or download it.

Graduated from BoCo in 2015 with a major in Musical Theater.

Position: Compensation Manager at WE Communications, a multinational Public Relations and Communciations Agency with around 1,500 employees globally. Daniel’s position is a combination of HR, finance, and data analysis. He helps set the person’s total compensation (salary, benefits, bonus structures, etc.) from the HR perspective. “I work with leaders to set the compensation philosophy of the company. I work with external data to set compensation structures. Then I work with talent teams and other business leaders to hire and bring on employees to bring on the structure I establish.”

Overview: David moved to NYC after graduation. For 5 years he did side jobs for money while going to many additions and doing some theater jobs though nothing huge. Then Covid hit and the theaters all closed down. Wanting a steady income and a clear career path, David took some finance courses. In late 2020 a friend and fellow BoCo graduate worked at a tech firm and that connection helped David get an entry level position doing accounts payable.

As the pandemci receded and theaters started opening up, Daniel wanted to resume performing, but also loved his job where he was working remotely and had a lot of flexibility “I saw no conflict pursuing both careers.” He worked at this tech firm for 2 years, got promoted a few times, and by the end was transitioning from finance to HR. He wanted to a more HR-focused job and applied for various positions, getting his current one.
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You can see David’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I went to school for performing, but I’ve always had a science/analytical brain that I want to stretch. Finance, money management, the idea of helping people understand how they get paid, ensuring companies give people a livable wage is really motivating and enjoyable and stretches that part of my brain that performing doesn’t.”

“My BoCo degree makes me overqualified for many positions! The theater world provides you with rejection, then you change and adapt yourself in order to better fit the position. The corporate world is no different. Also, at school we studied human behavior. That translates into the real world and taking on new challenges. It’s invaluable. I wish I’d figured that our sooner.”

“Always be open to the idea of change. Don’t hold yourself to a rigid standard. Life throws different challenges at you. My ability to embrace change has allowed and opened up another world for me.” I’d like to hold myself accountable to that for years to come. Who knows what I’ll be doing in a few years. I want to be the type of person who’s open to that shifting and knowing I’ll be OK.”

“I still have an agency in NYC, and I audition once or twice a month. I’m able to balance auditions for projects I’d genuinely love doing, but I’m no longer in the phase of my life where I wake up at 7 am for an open call. I love theater, it’s what I’m trained in, but I don’t fully align with the lifestyle of just being a performer. IThe performing opportunities I see, I view from the lens of ‘Do I want to do it?’ rather than ‘Is this going to enhance my career / will it give me the needed paycheck.'”


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See the full index of successful Berklee/BoCo alumni

Successful Berklee Alumni #258: Darien Morris

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

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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Successful Berklee Alumni #246: Sam Slater

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.