Graduated in 2015 with a major in Music Business. Principal instrument: flute.
Position: E-Commerce manager at Rooted, a mens apparel and streetware retailer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Chelsea manages the company website, keeping the links current and fuctional, while also handling all online marketing.
This full-time postion is done on top of Chelsea’s other job–being a full-time mom to a one-year-old child! Chelsea has had to become extremely good at scheduling and working efficiently! (In the interview she discusses both, and how to balance the two, at length)
Overview: Chelsea moved to Nashville after graduation. Determined to pay off six figures of student debt as quickly as possible, she hustled, working multiple side jobs. After about a year she got a remote job working for a social media agency that contracted for Live Nation and she did the publicity for five music venues, though the pay was fairly low. After a few years, she started applying to other jobs, being hired at CAA by someone who was creating an artist development branch of the company. But after a year there the pandemic hit and Chelsea’s boss left the agency. “I learned at lot at CAA but I was miserable working there. An agency can be a toxic environment to work, with expectations of super-long hours and inadequate.”
Chelsea continued to work at CAA for another year, but looked for other opportunities, focusing outside the music industry as she decided the industry wasn’t making her happy. She worked briefly at a jewelry company, then found her current position.
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You can see Chelsea’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “Marketing is a puzzle in your brain where you figure out your audience and what you’re trying to sell. If something isn’t working, why not? Is it your content? Your platform? Your audience? I think that’s fun.”
“My boss doesn’t check on me at all. He’s like, ‘I don’t want to deal with that–you handle it!’ This works really well for me, meaning I have the flexibility I need and it’s about what I get done rather than the hours I spend doing it.”
“If you’re thinking I’d like to be a mom and have a career. 100% make sure you’re prepared before you have a kid. I work from home–that’s an extremely important point! I couldn’t do this in an office. I have a flexible job. Make sure you have a support system in place. Build yourself up for success before you have children.”
“My first job in marketing were for promotions and marketing at the Red Room at Berklee. That was the basis of everything else in my career. I learned so much at that internship. They paid me, too. It as good experience and fun, and looked good on my resume.”
“I had a long grieving period after leaving music. I was bitter and upset with myself. Only in the past year and a half have I come out of that and now am loving music again. I use my music side, being a mom. I sing to my daughter all the time! It calms her down. Last night we had a dance party in the kitchen. It feels good to honor an old part of myself.”
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See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.