{"id":181,"date":"2015-09-27T18:09:08","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T22:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/?p=181"},"modified":"2017-04-25T17:24:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T21:24:04","slug":"successful-berklee-grad-3-michael-wright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/2015\/09\/27\/successful-berklee-grad-3-michael-wright\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful Berklee Alumni #3: Michael Wright"},"content":{"rendered":"

Third\u00a0in a biweekly series of interviews with Berklee graduates who have successful careers not<\/span> involving music.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michael Wright<\/h2>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Listen to the interview (approx. 56 min.) or\u00a0download it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Graduated in 2008<\/strong> with a major in Music Business<\/strong> (Management track). \u00a0Principal instrument: drums.<\/p>\n

Position<\/span>:\u00a0Salesperson<\/strong>,\u00a0working for Micro Focus<\/a>, (a.k.a. Borland Software) a large multinational corporation that provides many computer software products used by businesses.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/span>: \u00a0Michael has had a varied career, working as an audio\/visual “technical supervisor” (a.k.a. “the sound guy”) at a Marriott hotel, being a counselor at both camps and a college, touring with the Christian rock band while handling their merch. \u00a0After marrying a woman from Northern Ireland and moving there, he founded his own music school, Stateside Drum Studios<\/a>, where he still works on weekends. \u00a0 Michael applied to his current position via an agency and went to a high-pressure 3-day “camp,” where he was among the 6 out of 45 “campers” who was offered a job. \u00a0Another three months of (paid) intensive training and his software sales career with Microfocus started.<\/p>\n

You can view his LinkedIn profile here<\/a>. \u00a0Michael asks that if anyone wants to connect with him that they mention me and Berklee in the “connect” message, as he doesn’t like to just connect with random people. \u00a0(In general, introducing yourself to someone who doesn’t know you is good form.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Choice quotes<\/span>: \u00a0“As a musician at Berklee, you’re surrounded by and have to work with a very diverse group of people. \u00a0You listen to and approach things differently, such as when you’re in an ensemble and are hearing the other musicians and are able to pick up whether we’re going to repeat a section or whether we’re going to drop the dynamics. \u00a0You take that same sort of understanding and ‘unspoken language’ into the business world.”<\/p>\n

“I found I can be just as much myself in the corporate world as I was in the music world, and still be able to have the fun I had in the music world, and just blend the two together.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

See the\u00a0full index of Successful Berklee Grads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>Michael at one of the drum kits at his music school. \u00a0The kick drum bears the name of the Christian rock band he toured with for almost a year. \u00a0Here’s a video of them playing live<\/a>!<\/p>\n

The school is successful, but banks in Northern Ireland the banks wouldn’t give him a mortgage to buy a home while he was self-employed, so he sought a corporate job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Michael<\/a><\/h5>\n

Michael with his mother, both looking very happy, at Berklee graduation. \u00a0May, 2008.<\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have been interviewing Berklee graduates who have successful careers NOT\u00a0<\/strong>involving music. \u00a0Interviews are\u00a0posted biweekly.<\/em><\/h5>\n
People interviewed are all Berklee graduates who enjoy their field, expect to be in it for at least a few more years, and earn at least $45,000\/year.<\/em><\/h5>\n
Conversations typically last 45 minutes, with a lot of plus-or-minus.\u00a0 They start with the graduates detailing what they do, then we follow their trajectory of their career\u2014specifically, how they got both their current job and the jobs leading up to that.\u00a0 Finally, we discuss their thoughts on their Berklee education vis a vis their career.<\/em><\/h5>\n
Hopefully these interviews will be a source of inspiration for Berklee students and graduates who are still finding their way.<\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third\u00a0in a biweekly series of interviews with Berklee graduates who have successful careers not involving music. Michael Wright   Listen to the interview (approx. 56 min.) or\u00a0download it.   Graduated in 2008 with a major in Music Business (Management track). \u00a0Principal instrument: drums. Position:\u00a0Salesperson,\u00a0working for Micro Focus, (a.k.a. Borland Software) a large multinational corporation that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-successful-berklee-grads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1767,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockschwenkcollective.com\/cool_by_osmosis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}