Tell us a little about yourself and your experience.
Experience is a funny word. For much of my career, both as a musician and working on the business side of the music industry I would often wonder at what point you would wake up and decide “I’ve made it, I’ve figured it out; I’m now experienced”.
I think it’s great to reflect on what’s been achieved, both the good and the bad.
I’ve gone all in on the music industry for my whole adult life and tried my hand at many things. From slumming it out stage managing on festivals, to managing bands & tours and running social media campaigns for both artists and physical festivals too. I’ve worked on crowdfunding campaigns and far too many launches to count. The funny thing is I’ve always had something I’m diving into; the thing that has tied it all together, often without me realizing, was each one was focused around launching something. There’s a lot of magic to be found in planning & executing a launch campaign.
What drove you to choose your career path?
My shyness! Seriously. My mum was worried about me, I was 9 years old and she gave me an ultimatum to get me out of the house – guitar lessons or horse riding lessons. I was already having a hard time at school and thought guitar would be a better talking point at school! So off I went. All of the major turning points in my life have been heavily influenced by music. Whether it was a song that got me through a tough time or that first time I got asked to join a band, music has always been there for me. I find the industry fascinating. I think because there is so much exploration to be found. That’s why I started the Music Launch Hub, I see so many people feel like I used to feel. Maybe a bit lost, isolated and like the big dreams were actually getting further away not closer. I made the hub after realizing we could all do a lot more together. The ethos behind the Summit uses this idea too. At first I didn’t know who would say yes, but the response as you’ve seen has been amazing. It really makes you feel like there is so much we can all achieve by rebuilding our industry together.
How did you go about getting your job? What kind of education and experience did you need?
I’m big on education and in more recent years far more excited about what you can learn by doing. Some of my best lessons actually were before I went to University to study Music Business. Just by getting my hands dirty. I will always remember that day I woke up after my then band’s first proper launch. We did everything ourselves and I remember counting the cash we made on the night and being pleasantly surprised. That was a huge moment. Since then I realized you don’t need any experience to get started, you just have to get started. Pick something and go for it. It’s another reason why the Summit is here. It can be hard to choose what to do next so I’m hoping to show people that they can dive in and it doesn’t have to be as daunting as it might feel at first. I always had a yes attitude and that’s what’s made the difference.
What do you actually spend the majority of your time doing?
Recently, I’ve been on calls with people for more hours than I can begin to mention! Behind the scenes I have private clients whom I coach, obviously there’s been all the interviews for the summit. But a lot of what I do as well is playing what’s most interesting to me at that moment. The Summit hasn’t just happened overnight, I’ve had to teach myself an insane amount of things from websites, to design, copyrighting, digital marketing… There’s a lot of gut instinct, which has gone into figuring out what to do, but essentially in putting this together I’ve played the role of host, producer, content creator. I’ve got some amazing people helping me but a huge amount of time just had to go into figuring out how all the different pieces would work together. I also spend a lot of time writing and reflecting. I think that’s so important for everyone to do.
What misconceptions do people often have about your job?
That it’s glamorous maybe! That’s a tough question because I think a lot of people are confused when I say I’m building an online hub to help musicians have great launches. It’s not really in the mainstream eye; I guess I’m more in the education business than anything but I’m not a teacher. I don’t even really consider myself a coach although that’s what I do. A huge amount of my skills are just around my strengths. If I could call my job on my strengths I’d say I’m a professional problem solver. I think though all of us need to do that more. Artists too.
What are your average work hours?
Oh gosh. Right now I’m hitting some solid 80 hour weeks, no kidding. But I don’t always keep this pace up, it wouldn’t be sustainable. I think it’s important to know where your time is being spent and how. I’ve previously worked this much but not productively. In fact I’ve had weeks where I’ve achieved more in 1 4-hour block than in an entire 40 or 50-hour week before that. So I’m not saying this to encourage that sort of thing or show you need to put that level of hours in to ‘make it’. But the effort does need to be there especially in a launch. I recently committed to a 12-week plan and I knew it’d mean more hours, but I plan on getting to a more sustainable 30 – 40 hours once the Summit has finished.
What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?
Building a support network. The best thing I ever did was hiring my first business coach. But I didn’t just hire her to learn what to do I also wanted to learn how to coach others. I think the best way to learn is to learn & action at the same time, so I got huge amounts done in that first year while also getting the added benefit of learning a new core skill. I’m getting better at asking for help too, or just look for outer advice. Bouncing ideas is so underrated for its importance.
What do you do differently from your coworkers or peers in the same profession?
I think all of us have a different way of going about things. My big lesson here is that it’s not about standing out from others, it’s about bringing people together. I think everyone on the Summit shares that ethos. Everyone in the Facebook group is seeing that as well. We’re not separate, not just in this industry, but also globally. The more we work together the better our lives and our world becomes. There are people out there who are all in it for themselves though and I think those ones will have an increasingly harder time of winning down the track.
Do you have any advice for people who need to enlist your services?
Be open to collaboration and look to the long-term picture. I don’t know that anybody needs just my services; I think there are so many great ways for people to improve their skills in the industry. I've learnt something from every single one of the speakers at this Summit. I think people can win more by knowing where they can improve the most and look to find others to help them in that area. I’d say that focusing in on a smaller goal while looking at the bigger picture of what they want to achieve and mapping out that pathway is the first thing. If that’s tricky then I’ve got a lot, along with the speakers at the summit, to offer. But this movement is about helping people to get out there and give something a crack. And be open to trying something new.
What's the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?
Like any startup, it’s starting up! And the same goes for music, doesn’t it? The hardest part for most bands is that first 5 – 10 years. There are so many different pieces to put together and that’s one thing that makes this quite a tricky industry to make a career in. Not because people don’t have what it takes but because they’re often spending too much time doing things that don’t help them. For me I’d love to very soon have a bit more of a team on board, that’ll be the next step to growing things. I think juggling many hats is important at the start for the experience, but it should only ever be a short-term thing. I’d like to play to my strengths more and that’s really in writing, and speaking, and facilitating great connections, and work.
What's the most enjoyable part of the job?
When somebody tells you they’ve changed their whole world. And I don’t say that lightly, it’s happened multiple times on different levels. I don’t think I’m the most important person for people to be around, but I have now experienced what I experienced towards my first coach. Enormous gratitude for shaping the way I go about my career and life. There is nothing more intoxicating than seeing somebody gets results because of a simple idea you’ve helped them stumble across.
What kind of money can one expect to make at your job?
Gosh that’s a hard question. I mean I’m working as a solo entrepreneur so it’s not that different to a band. You can work 80-hour weeks and make no money, but there are people in this space in other industries making millions annually. Online education is a billion dollar industry now so there is a lot of scope to do well. But like anything that matters, there’s a slog at the beginning and a lot of times when you’ll lose faith. If anybody is looking at what’s possible then it should be about what legacy is possible to leave, not how many dollars can be made. Don’t get me wrong; sustaining your business or your music is so important. But it should never be focus number one or you really should find a different industry.
How do you move up in your field?
Working with people. I can’t say how amazing (and terrifying) putting this Summit together has been. But if you really want to move up, do something that brings people together, not just because it'd be cool or useful to you, because you’re offering them something of greater value. This Summit was an idea I loved because I knew everybody would win. The speakers win, the attendees win and I have the privilege of being surrounded by so many amazing people. I’d say stop trying to throw out a bunch of baits into the ocean and hope you catch a shark. Make something amazing for other people and watch them come to you instead.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?
Be open to trying new things and be ready to give. The more you give the better things get. I think knowing who you’re there to serve is very important and falling in love with that community too. Like I said before, great things are made where people put other people first. This is only going to get more important as technology continues to disrupt our world. Think about who you exist to help the most, look for some challenges they face and start solving them without asking for anything in return.