Category: Other Successful Berklee Alumni

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.”

 

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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.”

 

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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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Ama Atobrah

Listen to the interview (approximately 53 min), or download it.

Graduated in 2010 with a major in Electronic Production & Design (EPD).  Principal Instrument:  Voice

Position:  Front Desk Coordinator at Appian Corporation.  Ama answers the phones, greets people as they enter, helps mail packages, helps at trade shows, and keeps the company kitchen well-stocked.

Overview:  Ama spent her first two years after graduating in a band and gigging.  Eventually the band broke up and she felt the need to make more money.  She started as a waitress in various places, but found that she preferred to be the hostess who greets people as they enter.  Some months later, a friend who works as a hair stylist at a PR Partners Hair Salon in Oakton, VA suggested that Ama would be a good fit for the receptionist, as there was a job opening.  The money and hours were better, so Ama took the job.  After a while, Ama resumed her job search for something better, primarily by using Indeed.  Many, many applications and interviews, and nearly a year later (during which time she went back to restaurant hostessing), Ama got the job at Appian Corportation.

You can see her LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “I feel like the office wife. I  try to know everybody. I feel like everyone’s best friend.  If they need to book a conference room or ship something, I help them.  If they want to vent, I keep secrets.”

“I do well by being myself and being really excited about what Appian is about and wanting to learn more.”

 

“Base your next career move off of something you did well.  Ask yourself, ‘What’s close to something that I do?’  Are you a charismatic performer?  Businesspeople are just a different kind of audience.”

 

 

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Jack Goodall

Listen to the interview (Approximately 1 hour) or download it.

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

Position:  Marketing Manager at Starr Hill Brewery, a craft brewery located in Virginia.  Jack has sole responsibility for events, branding, website, promotional videos, packaging, and the like.

Overview:  A fan of craft beer since his days working at the Sunset Bar in Alston while at Berklee, Jack went straight from Berklee into Suffolk University to get his MBA through the accelerated MBA program Suffolk has with Berklee.  After graduating in 2010, Jack moved to Chicago to be with his now-wife, who was in medical school.  Jack got a marketing job at Wavemachine Labs, a tiny music software company, but after a year decided to leave and broaden his job search because of low pay and limited opportunity for advancement.  He got a marketing job with the Chicago YMCA, working for several years and being promoted to marketing manager.  In 2014, his then-fiancee finished medical school and got a job in Virginia, so he again moved.  He found a communications job at the University of Virginia, but found it had too few opportunities to be creative or innovative, so started looking for a new job (while working).  While planning a fun visit to the Starr Hill brewery, his wife noticed that they were looking for a marketing director!  Jack applied and got the job.

You can see Jack’s LinkedIn profile here.

Choice Quotes:   “One thing I learned is to be a lot more upfront with what I wanted with a position rather than just taking what I could get.  It’s great (to have a job) immediately, but down the road wha does that mean? (You’re going to be unhappy and a bad fit for your position.)  People are often afraid to ask those questions, not wanting to seem too abrasive, but there are ways to do it…  Speaking as someone who has hired people, it’s in the company’s best interest for a prospective employee to be up for what’s coming if they take the job.”

“You have to find what YOU do really well.  You need to be able to verbalize what you have to offer to a company.  For me it was project management experience and a hodgepodge of marketing roles.”

“The brewery had strategic partnerships with many bands and events, and it gets us tickets.  Since moving to Charlottesville I haven’t had to pay to see live music.”

 

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Jesse Reese

Listen to the interview (in two parts.  Total 55 minutes) or download part 1 and download part 2.

Graduated in 2008 with a major in Music Business.  Principal instrument:  guitar.

Position:  Senior Software Engineer at TVGla.  Jesse is a “full stack” developer, handling both “front end” (what the customer sees) and “back end” (the engine underneath) web programming.

Overview:  After graduation, Jesse did an unpaid internship with a label in Nashville where he tweaked and built websites.  He started picking up freelance jobs building websites, for fairly little money but he learned a lot.  He decided that he wanted to pursue a career in programmers.  Starting at the bottom (“Geek Squad”) computer repair, Jesse read many books to teach himself how to program.  Finally in 2012 he moved to L.A. for more opportunities and over the course of one year and a few jobs his annual salary went from the low 30s to the mid 90s!  Jesse career has continued to progress, with him not staying at any one place very long.  “With software engineering, 2 years is pretty much the max you’re in one place.  After that, stuff is built and you’re just spinning your wheels–there’s nothing else to learn.  If you don’t learn new stuff constantly, you get left behind.”

You can see Jesse’s LinkedIn Profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “It blew my mind how much software engineers are needed, and how easy it is to get a job, once you hit a certain level of experience.  There are a lot of opportunities, and recruiters contact you.  It’s like they’re a car salesperson and you’re the car.”

“Don’t get complacent–stay hungry and keep pushing!…I became senior-level through knowledge, not years.”

“Whatever it is you want to do–set your ego aside and go learn it and do it!  I decided that I’d do nothing that didn’t get me toward my ultimate career goal (being a software engineer)–I didn’t go work retail or whatever. ”

 

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Anna Eliopoulos

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

Graduated in 2008 with a double major in Music Production and Engineering (MP&E) and Performance.  Principal Instrument:  voice.

Positions:  “Audio News Gatherer” (basically a combination editor, scriptwriter, and in-house journalist)  at Fox News Radio.  Also, Anna works part time at Greek public radio station Cosmos, both an engineer and with her own biweekly hour-long program doing mostly lifestyle interviews and some music.

Overview:  Anna graduated from Berklee wanting to work in a music studio.  She had toured studios several months before graduating, and this led to a job offer (effectively a paid internship) shortly after graduation.  For almost 5 years Anna worked in studios, as the assistant to an engineer, and as the office/business manager.  Meanwhile, in 2010 she auditioned for a Greek-American reality show.  She didn’t get the part, but someone else there overheard her describe her background and offered her a part-time job on the spot as an engineer for Cosmos radio.  Soon she had her own radio program as well, though it’s a small station and would be a part-time job.  By 2013, Anna felt bored and wasn’t learning anything in her studio (office) work, and decided that she wanted a career in radio.  A friend who also works part-time at Cosmos has a day job at Fox News (TV), and asked on Anna’s behalf about openings in their radio dept, and recommended Anna for the job, which–combined with her experience at Cosmos–got her an interview and, ultimately, the position.

You can see Anna’s LinkedIn Profile here.

Choice Quotes:  “Radio is very much immediate and takes its direction from the audience.  You have the ability to connect at a moment’s notice.   People call into your station, ask questions, give their opinion on the music etc.   People still want to feel they’re part of a larger conversation.”

“The Berklee grads I’ve seen who have been successful–in and out of music–didn’t ignore opportunities that might not have been in their life’s plan, but were just as interesting.”

“Just getting into and making it through Berklee shows you’re really focused about something.  Berklee is very intense, and to make it through you have to be ‘on top of her game.’  That same focus and energy needed for Berklee is crucial for so many aspects of life.”

 

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