Category: Other Successful Berklee Alumni

Clay Southworth

Listen to the interview (approx. 49 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2008 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Bass Guitar

Positions:  #1: Real Estate Agent at Willow Bend Real Estate, representing a vacation home community on Cape Cod (Massachusetts).
#2:  Entrepreneur/owner of Southworth Home Management.  Clay watches and maintains empty homes during the off season, and oversees renovations.
“On Cape Cod, the real estate business is busiest during the summer, and the property management is busiest during the winter, so between the two it’s a full time year-round thing.”

 

Overview:  Partway through Berklee, Clay decided that a music career wasn’t for him.  After graduating and spending most of a year in Australia, Clay returned to the United States.  A family connection (Clay’s father is a real estate developer.) got him a job selling real estate in New Hampshire, but the market was terrible and business was slow.  Clay moved to Bermuda, where he is originally from, and another connection got him a job in operations at a hotel there.  Clay worked hard for 3 years, spending little and saving a lot.  He wanted to get back to Cape Cod and into the second-home real estate business, so when a job opened up at Willow Bend Country Club, he took it–even though it was just working in the warehouse.  He started setting up his business.   8 months later an agent in their real estate agent went on pregnancy leave and he was the natural choice to fill in, and growing business allowed him to keep his job.

You can see his LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “Whether you’re selling a home or your management company, you have to know your product from every angle.  The more you can prove you know what you’re talking about, the more people will pay you for your services.”

“I enjoy doing something that fits my aptitudes.  I like talking to people, socializing, being on my feet & on the move, dealing with new things.  The money is pretty good too.”

“Berklee helped teach me to be creative, which helped me shape-shift my way through the business world.  Pam Kerensky’s web design class was really helpful., as was the Business Startups class.”

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.
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Doug Guttenberg

 

Listen to the interview (approx. 39 minutes) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2009 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Bass Guitar.

Position:  Production Manager at TheLab., a multifaceted advertising agency which does advertising campaigns, images, and websites for clients.  Doug manages 9 people who handle the website production end of the business.

Overview:  Graduating in the middle of the awful 2009 recession, Doug had no job opportunities, but he was in the mailing list of Birthright Israel, where he found out about a very affordable 10-month Masters degree program administered by NYU but set in Tel Aviv, Israel.  10 months of studying, and successful gigging, in Tel Aviv, Doug got his degree.  He and his girlfriend (now wife) moved back to New York in 2010 and looked for jobs.  He didn’t have much luck sending out resumes, but a good high school friend worked for TAG Worldwide, another advertising agency, and personally introduced him to the president of the company, which led to a job doing photo production for advertising.  In 2014, after 3.5 years, TAG was acquired by another company and Doug felt undervalued, so he pursued new opportunties.  The president of TheLab had contacted him on LinkedIn, and Doug wrote him back, which led rapidly to an interview and a job in the web production department.  Hard work led to his promotion to manager, Doug’s current job, after two years.

You can see Doug’s LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “As a manager, I have the ability to see what everyone’s doing, but I try not to micromanage, as I’ve been on the other side of that.  I mostly deal with issues, problems, and questions that come up.  I also help with internal strategy and with getting new clients.”

“When looking for a job, talk to the people you know.  It really is about who you know what gets your foot in the door.  An organization puts up a posting and gets SO many hits.  Use your connections the best you can! If you really like how a job works, follow up with it–it’s easy just to get lost in the shuffle. Once your foot is in the door, you’ve got to work hard and do the absolute best you can.”

‘ The first thing I learned was print production.  There was a ton of terminology and various codes I had to master!  I asked a lot of questions and learned everything about that.  Learning is a lot of what gets me up in the morning–it’s awesome!  These days I’m learning more about web programming, and about being a manager.”

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.

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Jonas Bergmann-Bjornsson

Listen to the interview (Approx. 36 min.) or download it.

Graduated in 2013 with a major in Film Scoring.  (Jonas also was President of Berklee’s Music Business Club.)  Principal Instrument:  Guitar

Position:  Executive Director of Gudrun Corp, the American branch of the Iceland-based Gudrun Publishing Group.  A family business with roughly twenty non-family employees, Gudrun produces books, websites, apps related to Vikings, as well as resources for tourists in Iceland.

Overview:  Jonas grew up with the business being part of his family life.  He start to work there when he was 11.  For a year before he came to Berklee, Jonas worked in London as a salesperson for the business.  After Berklee Jonas moved to New York and hoped to make a career composing, but it was taking too long to get established and after six months he was out of money, so he moved back to Iceland and joined back up with the family business, helping with marketing, then with product development.  Jonas moved back to the United States in 2015 in order to be with his now-wife, working remotely and setting up the American branch of Gudrun.

You can see Jonas’s LinkedIn Profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I really enjoy the entrepreneurial aspects of my job.  A lot of effort goes into figuring out what else can we do.  I’m developing apps.  We’ll be coming up with websites.  I come up with new ideas; we do feasibility studies.  If it looks good we put it into production.  It’s very exciting to see an idea developed into a product.”

“The family business a lot more flexible than a standard job.  I don’t have to work exactly 9-5, but I’m thinking about it on weekends, evenings, etc.  I’m a co-owner, so I know that I’m going to do well if the company does well.”

“Don’t get hung up too much about the idea of what you wanted to be.  Do a lot of stuff–throw 10 things on the wall and one will stick.  That said, be very careful of ‘intern mills’ — internships which don’t pay anything.  Those can be a trap if you’re not careful.”

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.

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Jared Winegrad

Listen to the interview (approx. 52 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2013 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Voice

Principal at Cultivation Capital‘s (Financial Technology)  Fintech Growth Fund.  Working with three “Partners” on a $50,000,000+ fund Jared’s responsibilities include vetting new investment opportunities, supporting companies which they have invested in, and raising investment money.

 

Overview:  After graduation, Jared got an internship with now-defunct Flo Capital in Nashville, a venture/seed capital investment firm which had helped Kenny Chesney launch a brand of rum.  Jared was asked to do financial modeling.  “I was spending 50 hrs/week on my internship, and another 40/week trying to learn how to do what I was supposed to do.”  Three months later, he corrected the founder of his company about a financial issue, saving his own company big money, and soon thereafter was offered a job as a financial analyst at 60K/year.

Jared stayed there for 2.5 years, and sensed that Flo Capital was “circling the drain” so he started reaching out for other opportunities.  A good friend and former co-worker recommended him to one of the founders of the Fintech Growth Fund, which had not yet launched and they met.  Then in October 2015 Jared got laid off (along with half the company).  He reached out again to his contact and searched aggressively for new work, but he got the job.

You can view Jared’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “It’s great to wake up every morning and think ‘What am I going to see today?’  How can I help this company out?  Every day is different.  There’s always something new.  There’s always a fire to put out, but if you’re surrounded by good people it’s not a stressful thing–it’s an exciting thing!”

“NEVER tell someone you can’t do something in an interview.  Believe in yourself and your ability to be better and learn to do something someone asks you to do.”

“The thing about venture capital investing is we do well if and only if they do well. A good investor brings insight, experience, and connections.  Not just a check.”

“Normally people working at fund principals have ten years of experience and an MBA.  What got me the job at the Fintech Growth Fund—-was that I had seen a company fail.  People who have only seen success don’t know how to spot a red flag.  I know to be paranoid enough to poke holes in some entrepreneurs optimism.”

“Doing music non-professionally is the best thing that happened to my music.  Wnen you take the pressure off and don’t worry about the effect on your career, it’s a more enjoyable experience.  I write & perform better.”

 

See the full Index of Successful Berklee Grads.

Jonathan Lotson

Listen to the interview (approx. 44 minutes) or download it.

 

*UPDATE* March 2018:  Jonathan has branched out into consulting for religious organizations, and has a professional website.

 

Graduated in 2012 with a major in Professional Music.  Principal Instrument:  Piano.

Positions:  Youth Minister, and Organist, at New Life Tabernacle Church of God & Christ (Atlanta, GA).  Also, administrative assistant at the Salvation Army’s Evangeline Booth College’s School for Leadership Development.

Overview:  Growing up, Jonathan was heavily involved in church activities, but he stepped away from that for a while to pursue music.  But while at Berklee he got involved with a local (Boston) church and connected with the pastor.  By his last year at Berklee, he found that “music wasn’t as much fun as it used to be.”  Jonathan did some soul-searching (so to speak) and decided that he wanted to be a minister.  He decided that the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta would be a good fit, applied while still at Berklee, was accepted, and started there the following fall, earning his Masters in Divinity after 3 years of hard work.  Before he even got to Atlanta he connected with the minister at New Life Tabernacle Church and was hired as organist, his job expanding to Youth Minister once he got his M.Div.

During that first year in Atlanta Jonathan worked mostly at a bank, but his heart wasn’t in it, so he used Indeed to find the administrative job at the Evangeline Booth College.

While working two jobs, Jonathan is taking classes online at Regent University to get his Doctorate in Strategic Leadership, which he expects to complete in 2019.

 

You can see Jonathan’s LinkedIn Profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I feel called to the ministry, and I love that component in both of my jobs.  I also like  meeting new people as well as travel, and both of my jobs feature both of these.”

“What would you be if you could drop everything and just be it?  What are you naturally GOOD at?  In our world today there’s nothing that you can’t make a living off.  Jump out on faith and allow what you’re naturally good at to make you a living.”

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.

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Jeremy Moccia

Listen to the interview (approx. 56 minutes) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2012 with a double-major in Music Business and Songwriting.  Principal Instrument:  Piano

Position:  Salesperson at Criteo.  Officially titled “Account Executive,” Jeremy sells web advertising software to businesses.  His job involves searching out new sales leads as well as making deals.

Overview.  At the end of his Berklee career, to do the required internship Music Business, Jeremy used a personal connection to get a paid internship doing social media at M. Steinert & Sons, which is located in Boston and sells pianos.  The internship turned into a job selling pianos to schools in New England, which he did until late 2015.  Feeling his career was stagnating, Jeremy quit in order to look for something new.  He aggressively applied to a large range of jobs and reached out to his large network of family and friends.  Soon, a friend who recently had started at Criteo passed his resume along.  A very challenging interview process later, Jeremy got his current job!

You can see Jeremy’s LinkedIn Profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I like that, to a large extent, I’m in control of my success–if I put in the effort then I get the reward.  When I’m in the office, I give it 100% all day.  If you slack off in sales, you’re not going to sell anything”

“If you put the effort in, the results will follow.  That’s the sales mantra, but it applies to life in general. When I was unemployed, by 9am I’d be at my computer looking and applying for jobs and would do that all day, Monday-Friday.  I also gave my resume a thorough overhaul which was hugely important and helped get me my current job.”

“I started as a Songwriting major, but double-majored in Music Business because as my father said, it can never hurt to have a business background.”

 

See the full index of successful Berklee grads interviews.

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Tyler Witkin

Listen to the interview (approx. 44 min) or download it.

 

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

Position:  Marketing Strategic Planner at The Community, a 100+ person multi-cultural advertising agency based in Miami.

Overview:  Tyler had trouble finding work after graduation, so she moved home to Miami.  She asked to volunteer at the local United Way as a way to keep busy, but she hit it off with the person there and was offered a job marketing and promoting a new educational program!  During her 3 years there Tyler rose to communications manager.  To advance her career, she got a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University in Chicago.  She figured out that she liked marketing strategy, Her internship at DraftFCB while in grad because a job after she prevailed in an extremely competitive hiring process.  She stayed two years, then followed her boss to another agency.  Tyler then moved back to Miami to be closer to her family and fiance.  She initially started a consulting agency focused on non-profits, but found it tough to make money, so she looked for other work.  Finding out that a former coworker from DraftFCB worked with The Community, she got him to introduce her and was offered a job shortly thereafter.

You can see Tyler’s LinkedIn page here.

Choice Quotes:  “I’ve always enjoyed writing.  Had I not gone to Berklee I’d have majored in psychology.  My job is a combination of psych, writing, and a sort of puzzle of how to creatively express all the pieces required.  I found a role that let me use what I’m good at and enjoy doing.”

“A lot of marketing strategy is story telling.”

“Many careers involve giving a lot of presentations.  It’s really similar to the music performances and labs which we all do at Berklee.”

 

See the full index of successful Berklee grads interviews.

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Sarah Demarco

Listen to the interview (approx. 45 minutes) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2009 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Upright Bass

Position:  Entrepreneur – Founder and CEO of her own company LDR Brands, which makes fashionable high-tech accessories for women.

UPDATE 2018:  In early 2017 Sarah went back into the music industry, as the director of marketing at Capitol Records.

 

Overview:  Sarah worked in the music industry for roughly 6 years after graduation, the last four at Rostrum Records, a small, start-up music label which grew rapidly under her watch as director of operations, later senior director or artist relations & creative services.  She helped one of their artists turn his merch sales from maybe a dozen T-shirts per week to over $1,000,000 per year!  At that point, she figured “If I could make artist merch successful I should be able to make ‘Sarah Merch’ successful too.”  Her regular job had become more routine, so in early 2015 she and a friend, an experienced salesperson, decided to move from LA to New Your and take the plunge after she had put in over a thousand hours working on designs and business strategies…and after she sold most of her possessions to provide startup money.

You can see Sarah’s LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I really love being able to create something every day!  Even if it’s not a bag, it may be content or a marketing idea.”

“Startups never have an easy time; there are challenges every day.  But I like to be in control and know that if I make a mistake I can own it and fix it.”

“I designed everything LDR sells. Being in music taught me that some people know theory really well, while others learn and play by ear and not knowing all the rules doesn’t stop them.  So while I’m not technically trained in fashion, I can still use different media to describe and explain my vision.”

 

See the full index of successful Berklee grads interviews.

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Owen Davies

Listen to the interview (Approx. 1 hr. 13 min) or download it.

Graduated in 2008 with a major in Music Production & Engineering.  Principal Instrument: guitar.

Position:  Mechanical Engineer at Function Engineering, Inc.

Overview:  Owen finished his Berklee education by doing Berklee’s LA Internship program, which he recommends highly.  That led to four years working in various studios, as an assistant engineer, lead engineer, and assistant tech repairing equipment.  Owen liked the tech end, and didn’t like the late-and-erratic hours, so he decided to switch careers.  He got his Masters in Engineering from Boston University, though it’s LEAP program, which is designed for folks with non-engineering undergrad degrees.  Through his coursework, Owen discovered that he really liked product design, and he finished his degree in 2014.  It was a long job search, but ultimately he moved to San Francisco, built a website that showcases his portfolio, and directly reached out to product design companies in that area, which landed him a 3-month paid internship at Function Engineering.  Owen was offered his current job at the end of the internship.

You can see Owen’s LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “”I loved doing MP&E becuase I’m very creative, but also very technical.  Being able to combine the two is my dream job, regardless of what it is.  Today I’m virtually doing the same thing–the technical side of being creative.”

“It was intimidating at first to have my music background when everyone else at Function Engineering went to Stanford or MIT, but then I realized that everyone thinks my background is really cool and they were intimidated by me!”

“”You’re not going to know if you like something until you try it.”  Getting a feel for whether something is good and you could do it for the rest of your life.”

 

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Kayla Lee

Listen to the Interview (approximately 1 hr 10 min) or download it.

Graduated in 2011 with a major in Music Business.  Principal Instrument:  Voice

Position:  Director of Business Development (Marketing) at Coshx Labs.

Overview:  Post-Berklee, Kayla worked first at a music theater box off, then got an unpaid internship at a studio while working part-time at the Apple Store at the “Genius Bar.”  Kayla’s internship turned into work as an assistant engineer, which turned into being the person engineering assistant for singer Claude Kelly.  However, after a couple of years in music “I’m noticing that my favorite part of the job–and what I’m strong at–is relationships–getting to know people and helping people communicate.  Not plugging in microphones and other technical stuff. And I’m thinking what does this mean for me careerwise.”  Some online research and tests later Kayla decided she’d be good in sales.  Many applications and a craigslist ad later, she landed a job wish Glopak, selling glass vials.  She started part-time to make sure it was a good fit, then success + pressure to to pay her student loans made her go full-time.  In under a year, she was promoted twice (!)  to sales manager, then to marketing director for the parent holding-company.  One of the sub-companies was in high tech, which Kayla decided interested her.  She used online resources to find start-ups which could use her services, getting two part-time jobs (top get experience while she was working her old job), then found her current position in late 2015.

You can see Kayla’s LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I’m much more creative than business development peers.  I took a lot of songwriting classes–we were taught how to brainstorm, and to respect our creative thoughts and not to reject ‘crazy, off-the-wall’ ideas out-of-hand. ”  Often my ideas worked.”

“I love what I do, so I’ve probably worked 16-hours days without noticing it.  I’ll just be there thinking of stuff.”

“Network!  Be able to say “Hey, I majored in music, and that’s why this is GREAT for you.”

“Make sure your network is ‘open’ — get to know people in many different fields who know people in many different fields.”

 

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