If a music entrepreneur’s belief in one’s unique gift, passion for making a difference through music and the willingness to take charge and learn from challenges in order to create success:
What is your unique gift? – Do you believe in it enough to invest everything you have in it?
Originally I stated that my unique gift is a combination of all of the skills I’ve acquired as a musician and a producer such as playing the french horn, a strong concept of music theory and strong relative pitch, and learning to play the guitar by ear at a young age. This is all true, but I have realized that it’s an accumulation of these talents along with the experiences that I’ve been fortunate and privileged enough to have that have shaped me into the person I am today. One gift that I neglected in the first assignment was the passion I have for my talents. I know a lot of people that are much more talented than I am, but lack motivation and enthusiasm. I’m not sure if it’s due to my retail experience or the amount of time I spent in church, but I know when to put on a smile and work through conflict to reach a common goal. This search for accomplishment and the satisfaction of those around me has driven me to want to get the most out of the experiences I have.
I would still invest everything I have in my gift because I know how passionate I feel towards creating music and the skills I’ve acquired so far add up to set me apart from other producers.
What difference are you trying to make in the world? – How passionate are you about doing this?
There is a feeling I get when I help others achieve their goals and it drives me to want to help as much as I can. I love helping people discover their sound to share with the world. I used to feel bad about myself when I’m not being creative, but I’ve come to learn throughout this semester that it’s okay to not create all of the time. Sometimes I’ll need seasons of growth in other areas of myself, and now that I’ve spent less time writing and creating and more time refining what I’ve worked on, I’m eager to get back into the creating process and I’ll have a fresh perspective with all that I’ve learned. When I’m busy being productive and doing a lot of great things I feel amazing. I’m starting to learn the importance of taking care of myself, and when I’m on top of things I feel more empowered and inspired to make an impact on myself and the people around me.
How do you define success for yourself? – What challenges do you face in order to create success?
While financial stability is something that’s important to me, I don’t think that success is synonymous to income or net worth. Those things do have a lot in common, but the way I’m starting to recognize my success is more defined by the impact I have on others, whether it’s through my actions or the music I create, more so than the dollar amount I get from the things I do. I often face many challenges when striving for success on any level. Many challenges I have are interpersonal and I often let my thoughts get in the way of my actions. Other challenges are with getting other people on board with the ideas I have, and I would benefit from being more confident in my ideas and standing up for myself when it comes to presenting the ideas that could lead to my success.
What is career vision and a mission?
Career vision is having a strong idea of how much time and money a career will have for an individual, backed up with research of real life examples and advice from real people who are currently in the profession making a living. Career mission is the goals an individual will set to reach the ideal place in that career.
Can you innovate and creates value and successfully communicate that value to intended audiences?
I feel like I am good at having an idea of what the intended audience is looking for, and I can use my skills to achieve something either what the audience wants or at least something that the audience can grasp onto, even if it’s just one part of one song. Clearly the objective is to communicate an idea and the value of that idea throughout the duration of the set, but I would be content if everyone left my show with at least one moment of feeling a shared interest. I think my creativity and innovation in music helps me get to that goal of presenting the audience what they want to hear, whether it’s with electronic composition or producing.
Do you have a positive attitude?
I believe that my positive attitude often gets in the way of my creative process. I’ve been raised to be a people pleaser and to be respectful of the people above me, but sometimes that stops me from forming my own opinion of artistic creation or communicating my artistic opinion to others to achieve a common goal. I think a positive attitude is vital in the creative process because it can be contagious and inspire a group of people, but I also think it is important to know how to communicate an idea without being afraid of hurting people’s feelings. Often I find myself caring too much of what other people will think of me and that holds me back from expressing myself artistically to the fullest extent. This is something that I’ve recognized my struggle with but still haven’t quite found the answer to. The easy answer is to stop thinking about everyone else and just do what I do, but that is easier said than done. However I’m finding ways to still let my positive attitude lead my decision making and compliment my creative process.
Have you set your goals? What is your road map to success? Can you set inspiring and realistic goals?
I love setting short term goals for myself, but I tend to forget about the long term goals I set or have trouble holding myself accountable to them. I think I could take more time in setting long term goals and finding someone or some way to help keep me accountable to them. Previously I wrote that one of my goals was to become a better networker and communicator. I think I’ve improved my communication skills throughout the semester as I’ve learned that it’s not always best to say everything that I think of and it is very important to consider the chain of command when communicating with colleagues and those above me. I believe that I can set inspiring and realistic goals.
Do you have and/or acquire the necessary expertise to actualize your vision?
I believe that I am well equipped with the steps to obtaining the necessary expertise to actualize my vision. I’ve been given opportunities and resources that will help me actualize my vision if I put in the time and effort to network and research.
What are your priorities? Can you set priorities?
Some of my priorities include respecting the art and the artist in whatever medium that may be, organization, and communication. I think I am good at setting priorities but making them applicable in every aspect of my life is something that I could improve on. I am better at focusing on my priorities now than I was in the beginning of the semester, but there is still room for improvement. I think I can improve on holding myself accountable to my own personal goals and prioritize what will be the best for me to obtain those goals, while still focusing on what’s best for me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Often times I set my priorities and goals aside to help other people, but that’s not always the best thing to do.
What opportunities are you looking for? What opportunities are you creating or intend to create?
In my original post, I said I’m looking for more networking opportunities within the music scene I affiliate myself in, as well as opportunities in areas I’m not as comfortable in. I’d like to start to get a better idea of how I’d like to promote myself and be more intentional with my conversations with people I’m networking with. This will lead to better opportunities in my future.
I am still looking for the same opportunities, and at every event I attend or organize I’ve seen opportunities come into my hands. I’m excited for the summer where I’ll have more time to focus on being ready to network at every event I attend. I have started working with my friends to book shows and this is creating opportunities for artists to have a platform which is important to me, but it also leads to a healthy environment of networking and sharing ideas at these events for artists as well as everybody else that attends.
How comfortable are you with uncertainty? What risks are you willing to take?
I am not so much afraid of taking risks, but I am more afraid of how those risks will affect my future if I make a big mistake. I believe I am a humble and quick learner, but it is easy to assume I know how to do something even if I don’t really know everything about it. I am still uncomfortable with uncertainty. I like organization and planning and I can get stressed out easily when there’s a lack of. However I can say that I’m not afraid to risk it for the tay-biscuit.
When facing challenges, do you persevere or do you walk away?
I enjoy facing challenges that I think I can handle. More often than not I persevere, but that sometimes leads to me doing an incomplete job and not working to my fullest potential. I was raised up hearing “don’t do something if you can’t do it 100%.” While there is merit in that statement, I think there is also an importance to my personal productivity that is a fine line between doing what I can do and moving on and just giving up because it seems like I won’t be able to. If anything, I am one to overcommit to things and worry about figuring it out in the future.
What experience have you learned the most from?
High pressure situations are the best teacher for me. Although they can bring along a lot of anxiety, I like the challenges that a high pressure situation can have and I like the rewarding feeling of overcoming those pressuring situations. An example of this is the Electroacoustic Barn Dance and the role I’ve played in the past. A lot of times there is no time to think about options, you have to just do what you know is right and be confident in your choices. This still applies today and will constantly be a factor in the way I grow. I also learn a lot from experiences where things don’t work out. I’ve been a part of far too many gigs where there was a lack of communication or too many assumptions, and I have learned quickly from that.
What actions are you taking to realize your vision? Are you consistently taking action?
Communicating with other people that share a similar vision is one way I take action to realize my vision. However it is not a consistent process and I can work on branching out more and doing more networking. I am often more comfortable to stay in my own corner and talk to the people I already know at events, but I think a vital part to my growth and development in the next few years will be pushing myself to be okay with being uncomfortable and take the necessary steps to actualize my vision.
How well do you put things in context? Are you able to easily respond to changes in your environment? What’s your best example?
I am relatively easy going, so I do adapt to change fairly well. As an RA, we have to be able to be attentive and respond quickly to an ever changing environment. In the gig world, I’ve adapted to a lot of last minute changes and to me that’s just a part of it. As a producer, it is very important to adapt to change and be flexible to make the artist happy and reach a common goal. However one thing I can improve on is once I have a goal and process in mind, being more confident in that goal and not being afraid to make compromises to benefit the end product.
What is your plan to continually grow and evolve? How have you grown or evolved in there past year or three?
My plan to continually grow is to never stop learning. The more I learn about myself, the more confident I will be in who I am and the easier it will be for me to communicate well and work with others. I never want to stop learning about the things I’m passionate about. I think after I graduate there will be times when I focus on one thing at a time, but for right now I’m very eager to learn a little bit of everything and I think that’s what makes me who I am today.
How easy is it for you to reach out to others to ask for support and to offer help?
I still have a very hard time asking for help. I feel like a burden and I feel like I’m letting myself down and the people around me down when I need to ask for help. This often leads to a lack of delegating tasks and it holds me back from experiencing my fullest potential. This happened all semester with Mark. There were times that I was hesitant to “bother” you and reach out for advise or to communicate a plan or idea I had, but I want to get over that. It’s so wonderful to still be able to get your insight and advice on things in person and I want to do a better job at not being so afraid of disappointing you or getting shown what I’ve done wrong and how I can improve.
How are you inspiring others to join and/or support your mission in order to create a financially sustainable enterprise that allows you to live your gift and contribute something valuable to society? – If you aren’t currently, how do you intend to?
I intend to inspire others to support what I’m passionate about after I have a better understanding of myself and what I want to do with my skills. Right now I’m sort of all over the place and it holds me back from excelling at one specific thing. I need to do more research on what it means to be financially sustainable with the skills I currently hold, and I hope to be inspired to do more of that throughout this course. I love teaching people about things I’m passionate about and watching them get it gives me life. I think this will lead me to fulfill a masters degree one day so I can create a financially stable future for myself while still continuing to do what I love to do.
