Category: Other Successful Berklee Alumni

Mike Skauge

Listen to the interview (approx. 1 hr. 15. min, thought the last 15 are us talking about this project as opposed to his career) or download it.

Graduated in 2010 with a major in Music Business.  Principal instrument:  piano.

 

Position:  Retail Store Manager.  Mike manages Filson’s one store in New York.  Filson makes “soft-luxury” outdoor wear and accessories.  The one salaried employee in the store, mike supervises employees, organizes events, attempts to grow the New York market, and interfaces with the corporate headquarters.

 

Overview:  Shortly after his arrival at Berklee in 2007, Mike realized he needed a side job.  He enjoyed the outdoors, so applied for and got a retail job at Hilton’s Tent City.  He worked there for the rest of his time at Berklee, gradually (and informally) taking on more of a managerial role.  Graduating during the terrible economy of 2010, he was unable to find a job in the music industry, so kept working at the store for another year.  However, it being a small, family-owned business his opportunity for advancement was very limited.

In 2011 a former coworker referred him to a job as a retail store manager with a European outdoor wear company which was expanding.  With excellent experience, Mike got the job.  However ultimately he felt that things were disorganized and he was underpaid, so he started putting out feelers for new opportunities.  He was familiar with the Filson brand and saw that they had recently opened up a store in a city other than their factory, so he cold-emailed their HR department saying, “If you ever want to open up a store in New York, I’m your guy!”  Several months later, in early 2014, they responded that indeed that was the plan, and several interviews later he got his current job.

 

You can see Mike’s Linkedin Profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  ” I’ve always focused on making sure I believe in the products of the companies I work for. Filson started as an outfitter for the Klondike Gold Rush; we’ve been making products in our Seattle factory every since! Most brands don’t have that rich history. Helping people and being about to share that story is a real privilege. It’s great not working at a place where we don’t have to invent a story to sell a lousy product.”

“One thing I take the lead on is that we put on some sort of in-store event roughly once per week, to get new traffic. We’re looking for partners whose communities align well with out brand, whether food or drink or working artisans. One example of what we do is we had a guy come in and carve a mallet out of wood. We get up a table for him to work and live streamed it.”

“Musicians have to be cognizant of how to use their time–all the time to practice, juggling gigs, dealing with people. That has a very direct correlation with what I do. ”

“I may be the manager, but I’m not above doing any sort of job, whether it’s selling product, washing windows or sweeping the floor.  In general, if you want a career working for a retail-oriented business, it’s best to start off working on the retail floor. It’s a great experience everyone should have–you get a good perspective when it comes to deal with people–meeting and engaging with new people every day.”

“At that first retail job I wasn’t motivated all that much by the pay, but wanted to get the most out of it because good experiences would make me a lot of money down the road.”

Read More

Jack Reedy

Listen to the interview (approx. 48 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2011 with a major in Music Business.  Principal instrument:  bass guitar.

 

Position:  Production Line Supervisor at Anheuser-Busch (Becks).  As a management trainee, Jack is rotating through different positions in the large brewery.  In his current role, Jack primarily supervises almost 40 people on the bottling line, but he also does quality checks, analyzes processes and does projects designed to increase efficiency.

 

Overview:  After graduation, Jack moved home to Chicago.  Unable to find a local job in music publishing, Jack got a commission-only job selling insurance.  He hoped it would lead to a job in finance, but the pay was low and it was clear that this was a dead end.  After a couple of years he got a somewhat better but still not-great job as a customer service rep. at a corporate benefits firm.  Meanwhile, Jack became romantically involved with a German woman and when she moved back to Bremen, Germany he decided some months later to follow her there.

Arriving in Germany in 2014, Jack wanted to get a Masters in Business, though his classes needed to be in English.  The closest thing he could find was Jacobs University’s Masters in International Logistics, Management and Engineering (The program has changed slightly since his time.). Tuition was very low, so he went there.  Breweries were major local employers, so Jack focused his academic work on breweries.  He got an internship program halfway through his masters program, and having done well at that had his current job lined up when he graduated in 2016.

 

You can see Jack’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes: “I enjoyed beer in college, then I met my German girlfriend I got back into drinking beer. I tried many craft beers, talked and learned about beer, and so forth. Then I moved to Germany, the Mecca of beer!”

“I once  saw graffiti at Berklee that read “Keep your chin up.’ and it’s so true!  There will be tough times where you’re not sure where you’re going, but just keep going and believe that at some point things will get better they will be. Keep applying for better things–you might face rejection or go down false paths, but eventually it’ll work out.”

“I’m happy that I studied logistics. Logistics is more than just transportation–supply chains are extremely important and applicable to many different businesses.”

“At Berklee, I liked playing jazz, and the general atmosphere of Berklee taught me to improvise well. Taking those improvisational  skills into life has helped me think on my feet and adapt to change.”

 

Read More

John Branch IV

Listen to the interview (approx. 46 min.) or download it.

 

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

 

Positions: Main Job:  Customer Operations Team Lead at SquareSpace., company with over 500 employees (roughly half in customer support!) which serves as a do-it-yourself website and blogging platform.  Having worked his way up from Customer Support Representative, John now supervises a team of ten, making sure his team members are performing well as helping them advance their own careers.

Side Job:  Wedding Photograher at John Branch Photography, his own business in which he performs all roles:  marketing, planning, photography, photo editing, etc.  John did six weddings in 2016 and expects to do ten in 2017.  Each wedding is a good 40-50 hours of work on his end.

 

Overview:  Team lead:  John started at Berklee in 2003, but ran out of money partway through and spent a couple of years at home in North Carolina before returning as a part-time student and completing his degree.  During that interim time, John got a job at the Apple store, first in sales and later doing one-on-one trainings with customers, which he enjoyed.  He continued to work  for Apple while at Berklee as well as afterward in NYC where for four years he also worked in a studio as “the coffee boy.”  Frustrated with what felt like dead-end jobs, he left both.  Then a former coworker from the Apple Store in New York reached out to him, saying they were working at Squarespace and he should work there too.  On their recommendation and some interviews he got the job.  After a year or so he was promoted to shift lead–a combination of customer support and supervisory role, and after another year, in mid-2015, Squarespace created these Team Lead positions and he was promoted into it.

Photography:  In 2013 his first child was born and, with his wife staying at home taking care of the baby, he felt the need to supplement their income.  He enjoyed photography, and his wife encouraged him to start his own business.  Business has been gradually increasing as experience gives him both more word-or-mouth recommendations and a larger portfolio.

 

You can see his LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “I’ve always been into customer service. I like helping people and teaching people. During my hiatus from Berklee, just for fun, I’d make YouTube tutorials on Ableton Live. Now I’m directly coaching my advisers. ‘I’ve been in your role. I can give you ideas on how to better do it.'”

“Don’t just find what you love, but find the ABOUT what you love. For example, I like the creative process and bringing it to fruition. That’s my ABOUT. I can do that in music, but also in other fields. So I don’t feel bad about not doing music.”

“Squarespace is really big on one-on-ones between managers and team members. I meet with each person on my team at least every other week, and a majority of my time is spent in those meetings or prepping for them. . There’s also manager meetings regarding overall how customer operations is going, anything that should change, new directives, etc. What time is left we fill with our own projects.”

“Wedding photography is mainly customer service & people skills, and the photography part is what you do the least of. During the wedding day you try to capture as much as possible while adhering to the timeline. You’re also right there with the couple, so if things go badly you get to keep people calm and happy.”

“I get paid around $2,500 to do a wedding, but a typical wedding is 8 hours that I’m there, plus a hour or more travel time each way, 5 hours communication about details and up 30 hours for photo editing. So that one wedding becomes almost 50 hours of work.”

 

 

See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Luis Augusto

Listen to the interview (approx. 26 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2014 with a major in Music Production and Engineering (MP&E).  Principle instrument:  bass guitar.

 

Position:  Front-End Web Developer at HDMZ, an online marketing/communications agency the builds websites and does online marketing for health and biotech firms.  August’s job is to build the websites for clients, working on an 8-person technical team.

 

Overview:  Shortly after starting Berklee Luis got heavily involved with the BIRN.  His second year, the BIRN’s web person had graduated, so Luis offered to be their web developer as a work-study position, which he did for two years.  His time was split between building/upgrading the website and learning online how to do so.  During his final year Luis was station manager, so didn’t so much with the web.

When Luis graduated, he moved to San Francisco and wanted to work in sound in the video game industry.  For the next two years, he got a number of temporary contract jobs doing that, initially via networking at a video game developers conference.  However, he grew weary of the highly-variable income and uncertainties associated with contracting, and wanted to steadier job, with being in music no longer a priority.  A friend referred him to a recruiter, who helped him find and land his current job.

 

You can seen Luis’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “Web development is a very flexible field. I could move anywhere and still do it. It’s also a very easy field to find a job in.”

“When a client signs up with us, we have a designer, a front end developer, and a back end developer work together to build their site.  I’m the front-end developer.”

 

You definitely have to have the dedication and motivation to learn web development successfully. It can be a rough start at the beginning, much like learning to play the violin. You may not understand why you’re doing certain things, but later on it’ll make sense.  A good way to learn this stuff is to sue online resources.   Code Academy is good; Lynda and Udacity are great too.”

 

Luis as a Berklee student, at the console.  “I like web development. I enjoy building stuff, That’s why I got into sound design at Berklee–getting into the nitty-gritty, and seeing something I envisioned come into existence.”

Luis remains involved in music production though doing sound for Clockwork 5 Productions, a film and video company he and several friends started together.

 

 

Luis playing with a band.  While music remains part of his life, he cautions, “If you enjoy doing something else besides music, don’t lock yourself into doing music just because you have a music degree. It could turn out a lot better if you go with something else you enjoy rather than struggle while looking for that perfect music job.”

 

 

 

 

Luis’s parting thoughts:  “Good luck to the new grads out there–I hope everything works out for you!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

 

 

Braydon Nelson

Listen to the interview (approx. 55 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2007 with a major in Professional Music.  Principal Instrument:  guitar.

 

Position:  Director of User Experience (“UX”) at StackCommerce. a company that partners with major websites to provide them with online stores and things to sell.  Braydon designs the pages, features, and enhancements that make these stores simple and enjoyable to use, which the development team then builds.

Overview:  For a number of years after graduation, Braydon did music professionally.  First making an album and touring with a Dutch band, then with a band in San Fransicso with had been signed to a major label.  However, being with a signed band felt creatively stifling and by 2012 he was ready to do something new.  Braydon and his brother designed an IPhone App which, while not a commercial success, was great experience–Braydon credits it with getting him that first 7-month contract job.  When his band broke up in the summer of 2012, Braydon moved to L.A., planning to get into composing as a profession, but also planning to do some sort of design as a “day job.”  Quickly he found himself really enjoying the freelance design gigs and within a couple of months had decided to pursue a career in design.

Lacking in connections, relevant experience, and a specialized degree, Branton spent over six very stressful months and over a hundred applications pursuing that first design job.  However, during that time he focused intensely on building his portfolio, doing challenging project after project in many area across design to raise his skills and show what he could do, and the bigger his portfolio the more interest employers showed.  Finally he got a 7-month contract job.  As that was ending, a much easier job search (4 applications, 4 interviews, 2 job offers) he took a much better paying job at a company, which he stayed at for a year and a half until it was clear that company was failing financially. He applied for other jobs, getting his current one at StackCommerce.

 

You can see Braydon’s LinkedIn profile here.   Braydon encourages folks interested in the design field to reach out to him.  ” I have a folder with great sites/tutorials and when someone asks for advice I send them that folder.  Reach out and I’ll send it to you.”

 

Choice Quotes:  “I taught myself product design using google, youtube, and other free resources that exist.   When I started getting interested in user-centered design, I researched everything I could, figuring out best practices. When I got my first job I peppered the engineers with questions, and eventually got to know what I was doing.”

“I come up with the features, and my team of developers builds them. It’s very different from music, but it involves a lot of similar improvisational skills.'”

“I never thought I’d be here. I feel really grateful and blessed that I’ve been able to find two passions and do both of them for a living. A lot of folks don’t find any passions. I spend a lot of time trying to help other folks find their passion–talking about what they’re interested in.

“At Berklee, surrounded by so many brilliant musicians and given such great challenges, I had to figure out how to make things happen and rise to the level of what was expected of me, to learn as much as I could as fast as I could.  I’ve learned to apply that pretty much everywhere else in my life.”

“In tech, just get your foot in the door! If you’re in the industry at all, it just helps so much when you want to do the job you really want.”

 

 

See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

Brian Orlando

Listen to the interview (approx 1 hr, 5 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2009 with majors in Music Business and Performance.  Principal instrument:  guitar.

 

Position:  Senior Account Executive (sales) at Proofpoint, a large firm specializing in computer security.  Brian is on the “inside-sales” team, selling Proofpoints security packages to large, businesses in the northeast.  He focuses on sales to companies where there’s not yet a business relationship, doing a modest number of six-figure deals each year.

 

Overview:  While still a Berklee student, Brian used a family connection to get several part-time, commission-only sales jobs as way to make money.  Graduating during the economic depression on 2009, and not wanting to make a living as a performer, Brian spent 6 months looking for a jobs in the music business or other business, without luck.  Finally, he reached back out to these companies he had worked for while in college, one of which offered him a full-time sales job selling quality-control equipment to telecom companies.

Brian worked there for four and a half years, working his way up to more senior positions with better territories, etc.  But he wanted to work in software, so started looking for new opportunities.  He reached out to a friend who worked at Proofpoint, who then recommended him for a sales job there, where once again Brian has done well for himself, working his way up the ladder into better territories and accounts.

 

You can see Brian’s LinkedIn profile here.  Brian encourages Berklee students & alumni interested in a sales career to reach out to him.  “We need to help one another, and reach out to each other. We’re in this together.”

 

Choice Quotes:  “One cool thing about sales it it’s really an opportunity to interact & learn about organizations and solve problems–assuming you believe in the product.  If you don’t believe in the product, don’t sell it.”

“Sales is a meritocracy.   If you hustle or slack off, you’ll be compensated that way in the long run.  Also, sales is financially rewarding–base salaries aren’t great, but with the commissions you earn you have the potential to do very well for yourself in enterprise sales, and potentially earn money comparable to a doctor or a lawyer.”

“A good organization will empower a sales person with resources. You’ll be on a team and get support from people who will teach you technology, techniques, etc.”

“Berklee taught me that performing 90% of a song isn’t good enough, and folks will remember the other 10%. I take that same thought process into my business. I learned to be thorough, prepare well, and give it my all.”

“A lot of folks in sales started out as a BDR (Business Development Representative).  There’s a lot of turnover, so it’s pretty easy to find a job. Within a year you’ll be promoted into sales or will be burned out. It’s extremely tough work and kind of a rite of passage. But you’ll get through and you’ll see it’s a real profession. I take a lot of pride in it.”

 

 

See the full index of successful Berklee alumni.

John Sauer

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

 

Graduated in 2007 with a degree in Jazz Composition.  Principal instrument:  trumpet.

 

Position:  Software Administrator (official title:  Director of Advancement Services) at MassART (Massachusetts College of Art and Design)  John is the one “techie” working for their office of Institutional Advancement department, which raises money, puts on events, and keeps in touch with alumni.  His roles involve helping people there do what they need to do with the databases and developing new functionality.

 

Overview:  While still in high school, John was programming his graphing calculator to solve equations.  He considered going to school for computer science, but elected to attend Berklee as he figured tech skills would be easier to pick up later.  While at Berklee, he taught himself more technology on his own time, and was a student employee at Berklee’s learning center, where he developed greatly improved software for internal use.  After graduated, he was hired as a very-part-time contractor to build software for Berklee’s Office of institutional development.  Meanwhile, he searched for a full-time job, initially in either music or high-tech, but broadening the search as the weeks rolled by.

By August he got a job with a small company that made medical software, but he didn’t like the job very much, as the pay was mediocre, the commute was long, and he was very unfamiliar with medical terminology.  However, in the spring of 2008 the person who had hired him for that project created a full-time position and urged John to apply for it, which he did and go the job.  John stayed at Berklee for almost 6 years, getting promoted to asst. director of tech in that office.  In early 2014 one of his bosses went to work for MassART and realized that they needed more tech expertise, so she reached out to him to come to MassART.  It involved a raise and a promotion, so he took the job.

You can see John’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:   “In my experience a degree in a field isn’t as many points on a resume as you mght thing. At least in tech, it’s more about what you can do. What got me hired was a doing a ‘passion project,’ which I strongly recommend. You pick up skills that you got to make it happen, show you’re into it (unlike a required school project), and have something to show off.”

 

“A good indicator of what someone is passionate about is what they do in their free time. As a Berklee student my free time was spent playing video games, learning about tech/programming, and composing/jamming.”

“I have been doing answers on Stack Overflow, partly for my own benefit as I’d see questions whose answers I’d want to know, and I enjoy the challenge of figuring things out. It’s great I spend half an hour on a question, post an answer check back in a little bit later and 50 people have upvoted my answer.  To get hired, be able to demonstrate that you have the relevant skills. With tech it’s your own project or website or (like me) a score of 4000 on Stack Overflow.”

 

Read More

Jeff Holden

Listen to the interview (approx. 1 hr, 15 min.) or download it.

 

Graduated in 2009 with a degree in Professional Music.  Principal instrument:  drums.

 

Position:  Sales Representative for Breakthru Beverage Pennsylvania, a major distributor of alcoholic beverages.   Jeff works for the fine wine division, selling to restaurants, bars, and festivals where wine is consumed on-site.  His job involves building and maintaining relationships with the people in these places and getting them to order fine wines from among the 500+ varieties his company distributes.  He earns a base salary + bonus according to whether he meets or exceeds his target sales quota.

Overview:  While at Berklee, Jeff had a work-study job at the admissions office.  After graduating, Jeff moved to Pennsylvania and married his high school sweetheart, who was still in college.  For the next 18 months, he worked full-time at Starbucks while also gigging heavily, earning decent money but putting in truly insane hours.  He also had fun volunteering at a local craft brewery. Jeff reached out to his former boss at Berklee, hoping for a job.  As luck would have it, soon afterward there was a shake-up in Berklee’s Admissions Office and Jeff was hired to design and manage the campus touring experience.

For three years Jeff did that, along the way feeling that his career path was going to be in higher education rather than music.  However, he continued his passion for craft beer at a local brewery.  By 2013, he was ready to move on, and started looking for other jobs.  His wife noticed a job ad for a marketing director at Bauer Wine and Spirits in the Back Bay.  A friend of Jeff’s worked there part time and put in the good word, and Jeff was hired.  For close to three years, Jeff worked there successfully, selling wine to customers as well as developing marketing strategies and campaigns.  Eventually, he and his wife decided to move back to Pennsylvania, and he started looking for work.  A colleague passed his resume along to someone he knew in that area, and Jeff got a call from his current employer, which led to and interview and him being hired into his current job.

 

You can see Jeff’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “My job has two pieces: wine and selling. Wine is the gas the fuels the engine. I’m extremely passionate about anything fermented. I love the experience of different flavors and new things.   I’ve met incredible people who make it or sell it. When it comes to selling, this is my first sales job in this way. It was a risk–I’m not a very aggressive, pushy person. But building a relationship slowly and being genuine and caring about whether my accounts succeed has been very effective and is satisfying. I’ts a real rush to close on an account that you’ve been working on for a month or two.”

“One theme that I’m sure you’ve heard from every salesperson you have spoken with is that all that matters in sales is the relationship and the trust. What it really comes down to is people buy from people they like. I have to be technically proficient, but to make a sale I really need  to make a friend or at least a good business relationship.”

“Maybe 10% of people I meet in the wine industry at all level came to wine through music! The industry isn’t as glamorous as it seems from the outside.  It is hard, hard work, but it is so rewarding if you’re passionate about it! I get to drink things and meet people I never could afford to otherwise.”

“If you’re trying to figure out your career, you need to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks you should be doing and think about what you’re spending your free time doing. If you’re spending it on a non-music hobby, consider exploring that as a career path.”

 

Read More

Matt Boyle

Listen to the interview (approx. 57 min.) or download it.

 

Left Berklee in 2008.  (Completed his liberal arts at Bunker Hill Community College 2011-2014, Finished his very last requirement and officially graduated from Berklee in 2016), with a degree in Professional Music.  Principal Instrument:  bass.

 

Position:  VIP Support Technician at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Matt is on a four-person team that supports technology for the office of the college president and other top-level administrative people.  “Everything is done ‘from stratch,’ by hand, and on-side with everything double-checked.”

 

Overview:  Starting at age 11, Matt would make a bit of money by buying computer parts, assembling computers, selling them, and providing technical support.  Entering Berklee as a diploma student, Matt transitioned into the degree program, but left in 2008 due to financial issues.  Matt searched widely for a job in the Boston area, focusing on both being a butcher and learning guitar repair, but his experience led to him being hired at the then-new Apple store as a “genius” (tech support), where he received good training and certifications for Apple products while making decent money.  He worked there for around two and a half years, but grew weary of the long hours and erratic schedule which prevented him from finishing his education, and was sending out resumes.

Nearly a year after he had applied Matt heard back from the MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, to support their Apple hardware.  He worked there for five years, eventually seeking ways to move up.  MIT was doing a shake-up of its IT staff, and he was offered his current position in late 2015.
You can see Matt’s LinkedIn profile here.

 

Choice Quotes:  “I like that I get downtime plus access to unlimited sources to learn things.  The users I work with are amazing, fantastic people who have incredible stories!  On the technical side, I really enjoy finding a solution to a problem nobody has been able to figure out.  It’s awesome and I get a real charge out of that.”

“If you want to work in tech support, get lots of certifications.  Your certifications are your resume in tech–it doesn’t matter where you went to school, but your certifications show you can do stuff.  The Apple Store is a great place to start; there days I do a lot with lynda.”

“Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and treat the people that way you’d want to be treated, and you’ll be better than 95% of support technicians.  I got my position because I got a reputation at being really good at working with people, even when they were angry or frustrated.”

“Visualizing something before you do it is the biggest thing I learned at Berklee–where I’d trained myself to figure out where your fingers will go before you play it–that’s just like what I do when I repair a computer.   I’ll visualize the problem, consider the possible issues and figure out how to accomplish the fixes while I’m still walking toward the location with the issue.  Often I’ll be in and out in a couple of minutes and people will think I’m a wizard.”

“I still play music with a band, Monkeys of a Bygone Era, though with my newborn kid.  Anyone who really wants to stay in music, find a lucrative side hustle where you can work less than full time.  Learning to code is a great plan–there are so many jobs.  Many pay well (at least for the next 5-10 years) and you can do it from anywhere.”

 

 

See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.

Patrick Brusil

Listen to the interview (approx. 1 hr, 9 min) or download it.

 

Left Berklee in 2007 (Patrick finished his one remaining class and officially graduated in 2012.) with a major in Music Business.  Principal instrument:  cello.

 

Position:  Lead Buyers Agent at Keller Williams Realty, Boston Metro office.  Patrick helps prospective buyers of residential real estate, both home-buyers and investors, find and negotiate purchases of property which meets their needs.  He also helps train and support several less-experienced buyers agents on his team.

 

Overview:  Patrick was in a band at Berklee.  During his last semester (spring 07), several friends said they thought he’d be good at real estate, so he got his real estate license that summer.  For the next 6 months he focused on his band and worked odd jobs while living at home, until his parents insisted he get a “real” job.  He got a job as an agent at Nextgen Realty in Alston, renting out apartments.  While it was a high-turnover job, Patrick did well, ultimately staying over 6  years, the last 2.5 of which he also managed the office.   Meanwhile, as he started doing well with apartment rentals (earning around $45,000 that first year and getting his own apartment), music became less of a priority–he’d miss band practices when he has real estate showings.  Ultimately, Patrick decided to stay in Boston when his band moved to L.A.

After 6 years at NextGen, Patrick wanted to take the next step of working with buyers. He spent a couple of years teaching himself everything he could, “I’d seek out blogs, webinars, etc.  I’d get into work at 6 AM and would spend three hours just reading and learning.  Then in the evening I’d look at the listings to see what sold for what and figure out the Boston market.”   However, he lacked experience and expertise in that area.  A friend convinced him to work at Keller Williams Realty, where starting in the summer of 2014 he received more training and, with the reputation and support of a large agency, successfully launched his career as a buyer’s agent.

 

You can see Patrick’s LinkedIn page here.

 

Choice Quotes:   “There’s no ‘secret sauce’  I just care.  I’m here to help someone and educate them to make the right decision for them. Often that decision isn’t to buy a house right away.  It’s not about the money; it’s about helping people and adding value to their lives.  If I do that, the money will come.   I don’t want to fell bad about what I did for a client.  Plus I want my former clients to be raging fans (of working with me). ”

“In the music world, and just about every industry, you have to be an entrepreneur and a marketer–arguably a marketer first.   So accept that and take on that spirit–brush up on your business skills and how to approach people.”

“Since I started in this business I’ve been very heavy on social media, and everyone knows I’m a real estate agent.  Just about all my business comes from people I know and referrals, though I also go to open houses and meet people.”

I love being my own boss, and having the freedom to work when I want.  It’s gratifying to carve out a career where I feel like I’m making a difference in people’s lives.  Buying a home is a huge deal and often very emotional, and helping folks through that process is really great.

 

Read More