Imitate, Assimilate and Innovate

I have always been a music geek.

Yes, I love literature and art and cinema and various incarnations of pop culture, as well as anything Brazilian (as that is where I became fluent in Portuguese and, more importantly, as that is where is my wife is from), but music has always been my true passion.

Thus, when I was offered a position with a major music distribution company during my last year of college, I jumped on it. I handed in my final papers, verified that the registrar had my new address (in order to send me my diploma--who had time for the pomp and circumstance of graduation!), and rented a moving van. That was a Friday in Salt Lake City, Utah, and by the end of the following Monday, I had moved into my new apartment in Southern California and already put on events with two different bands at independent music stores.

For the longest time, I had the career of my dreams, working with amazing musicians, attending several concerts every week, going to over-the-top parties and hanging out with musicians and movie stars. It was not simply fun and games, though--I was growing in my career, learning about marketing and sales and technology; not just growing, but excelling, going from an internship in Salt Lake City to the the National Manager of Alternative Music Marketing in New York City in just six years! (four years ahead of my goal!)

Eventually, we merged with another major music company, and as my previous position was eliminated, I was made me the manager of online marketing for Sony BMG. While not really falling in-line with my personal goals, it was a position well-suited to my abilities and talents, and I created ways to make the position more appealing to me personally: I began actively mentoring our field staff regarding technology and online marketing (visit my LinkedIn Profile for recommendations from some of those who I trained), and I launched several new initiatives with great success.

More specifically, I created the Sony BMG Podcast initiative. At least weekly, artists would stop by my office where I would interview them regarding their creative processes and inspiration. I would then edit things down and place these interviews all over the internet under various guises (including the BestBuy.com podcast and FYE.com Podcast). Eventually, I was regularly releasing more than a dozen different podcasts with more than 300,000 regular listeners. I was able to interview legends like Etta James and Aaron Neville; underground sensations like Mew and The Go! Team; urban stars like T-Pain and Three 6 Mafia; and superstars like Clay Aiken, John Mayer, and "Weird" Al Yankovic (see the podcast section below if you want to listen to some of these). It was great, but...

That being said, I've safely landed, and I would not trade it for the world.

Being free of a 9-to-5 has allowed me to get to the things that I always said I would do "if I had the time." I am reading my stack of unread books and listening to my stacks of unlistened-to CDs and vinyl; I am experimenting with new technology and web tools; and I am currently in the process of building a creative writing blog (www.potentialzombies.com), a music blog for Brazilian fans of indie rock (www.InstitutoMineiro.com), and a soon-to-be-launched resource to help independent musicians remain independent (this particular project has also been submitted to the MenWithPens Stickly Business Contest). All of these things (and many others) have been on my to-do list for a very long time, and it feels good to finally be moving forward on so many.

I have also been able to devote more time to my volunteer efforts, helping teenage boys here in Manhattan to not just survive, but flourish (see let's go camping for more details).

Most importantly, though, I am now able to spend more time with my lovely wife and daughter. I have been present for all of the firsts in my daughter's life that I was sure I was going to miss--first words, first steps, first sentences, and dozens of other moments. Nothing makes me happier than my family, and I would gladly be pushed off of dozens of proverbial cliffs if it meant that I could be as present as I have been in my family's life over these last few months.

As mentioned above, I want to be part of something bigger, something collaborative, something that I would do not just to take care of my family's financial needs, but because I want to do it. I've been speaking with several companies, and I know that sooner or later I am going to have to accept someone's offer, but I would love to say to them, "Call me in six months--I will be studying first-hand under Seth Godin, and I will be much more valuable to you then."

But becoming a more-valuable employee is not really my goal in applying to this program--many schools and other businesses can help me with that. Ultimately, I don't want to be the employee, and I don't necessarily want to be the employer, either.

I want to create. I want to disrupt. I want to help people take advantage of all that the world offers them. This is my wish; this is my goal; and I know that Seth can help me develop the tools and talents to accomplish this and so much more.

What really impresses me about Seth Godin, though, and what I really look forward to experiencing first-hand, is the unique perspective and thought processes that he brings to everything that he does--he is able to look at common marketing challenges or new trends or abstract ideas and not just understand what is really happening, but also how to improve on it and take advantage of it as a marketer and entrepreneur, and then put that all into a 20 minute presentation that even the the most close-minded old-school media executive understands.

I want to develop these skills, and I can not think of a more ideal way to do it than through this program, working side-by-side with Seth and others who have similar aspirations and goals.