I Can Learn and Finish What I Start

In my experience as an Entertainment Business student at Full Sail University, I would say there were times I thought I would crumble under the pressure and times I felt like I was soaring. I asked myself, knowing what I know now, would I do it again, and the answer is absolutely! This experience allowed me to see a better me, a stronger me. This is one of those things I dreaded, because I was not sure of myself, but now that it is done, I feel like I can conquer the world.

I have heard my instructors say more than once that when we graduate we will be one of the elite nine-percent and to be honest, I was not sure whether to get excited or get more terrified. Because surely, if less than ten-percent of Americans get Master’s degree’s then it has to be one of the hardest feats ever. I will not say it was easy, but I will say it is manageable. It is true, you can do anything you put your mind to with a little hard work and dedication.

The cost is high, not just monetary, but time. I had to say no to so many things to focus on this degree. One thing I kept in the back of my head was a saying from finance coach, Dave Ramsey. He said, “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” Of course this is his mantra for the way he saves money, but I found it quite effective as I pursued this degree.

I will not by any means say that I am an entertainment or a business expert now that I am literally less than fifteen days away from completing my degree. However, I will say that I am a finisher and a life-long learner. I have said it before, but now I am confident that I can learn anything and I can finish anything I start. Lookout entertainment world, I have credentials and I am coming to make my mark!

Experience or a Plan

As I come closer to the end of my course work in gaining my Masters Degree, I am researching a few skilled and professional businessmen to see what advice I may glean from their experiences.  For this post, I will focus on two men, Chuck Blakeman and Dr. Steven Gedeon.

I was immediately drawn to an entrepreneur by the name of Chuck Blakeman because of his out-of-the-box views. Blakeman is an international speaker, author, and founder of Crankset Group. He feels that making business plans are not a great use of time management. He believes the time used to form this plan could be used doing business. He also has stated, in reference to Peter Thiel paying for students to leave school and paying companies money to become an apprentice, that education is not the key to success for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit. He believes you learn when you actually build and start your business. 

In my search, I also ran across entrepreneur Dr. StevenGedeon, a writer, speaker, and director of the Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute in Canada. Similar to Blakeman, he feels that business plans are only required for larger businesses. He believes before you begin writing a business plan you need to ask yourself a series of questions such as what is the nature of your business, who will be your clientele, a most importantly is there credibility and a guide to action.

Of course, my favorite plan is Blakeman’s because I naturally want to skip to the end result. History has taught us to learn from the past so I will use wisdom and write out a business plan. I do believe that in every situation, we learn more while in the process because there is nothing like experience. I will also take the lesson from Gedeon and focus on the most important aspects.

Digital Marketing in Entertainment Therapy

This month, I am taking a digital marketing course for my graduate studies. As I began thinking about my future as an entertainment therapist, I wondered how I would utilize digital marketing since this is an unchartered field. There will be many groundbreaking moments as I trail blaze this new field, but I am sure you would agree that there is no need to re-create the wheel. The professional realm of music therapy will be my guide, so I figured I should take a look at a few ways music therapist take advantage of digital marketing.

As I began my search, I found this article and podcast titled, How to be a Positive Presence Online on the Music Therapy Round Table website. This article basically stated information that I already knew. For me, this article just confirmed that my online presence is most important because this will be my initial contact with the public. Before anyone ever walks in my office or speaks to me on the telephone, they will more than likely inquire about my services through my website, social media outlets, or the opinions others have posted online.

I read another article, on the Music Therapy Maven website entitled, 3 Outside-the-Box Ways to Market Music Therapy. To my surprise only one of them was a digital form of marketing. The author, Kimberly Sena Moore, 

suggested a newsletter for people in the community interested in music therapy so that they will be connected to local resources, websites, and CD’s. Reading that, I immediately thought that is something I could easily do to build a relationship with my own community. I also thought, I should find out which established therapist in my area are already sending out newsletters so that we may partner in communicating with our own community.

It is great that I am taking this digital marketing course because this allows me to do great research before I actually create a website or write out a newsletter. I see that digital marketing is extremely important, actually crucial to a successful business. So there will be no re-creating the wheel, just enhancing what has already been done so that it will work specifically for me.

The Making of an Entertainment Therapist

I have always been fascinated with helping others. For years, I considered becoming a license counselor so that I could help others talk through their problems. The more I thought about my ability to sit quietly, ask questions, and just listen, the more I questioned if I could actually be a therapist. I mean me quiet, yeah that is not realistic.

I have been singing for years and music has always been my biggest therapy. How could I merge the two? How could I actually help people with my music? I have decided that entertainment therapy will be my outlet. You may think, I have heard of music therapy but just what is entertainment therapy? This question is exactly what I intend to figure out. I have never heard of anyone doing entertainment therapy. This is a field where I want to be trailblazer. I want to offer therapy through all types of entertainment. Sounds easy, right? I hope so!

Of course, I intend to write songs and manuals that will service other therapist and clients. I do not intend to publish these products in the local stores and selling them out of my office will only affect the community.  This becomes a problem in distribution, so the best solution I have found, as of today, would be The Orchard. I choose The Orchard because I can distribute music and create films. The problem is finding a POD (print-on-demand) site that will allow me to create music, film and literature. So maybe that will be the first order of business, creating a POD that does just that.

This will be an adventurous journey that will take a lot of research and patience. Continue to follow me on this blog as we journey together through the making of an entertainment therapist.

I Believe in Therapy

For some time now, I have had a great fascination with counseling and therapy, but my natural talent is in music and entertainment. For as long as I can remember, I have either been standing in front of a mirror or behind a microphone singing. I have worked both in front and behind the scenes on many entertainment productions.

For years, I thought I would have to take one and leave the other. I could not figure out how I could possibly merge the two, until I had the opportunity to watch a music therapist in action. One encounter and I knew this would be the direction I would head my career.

            With everything, there are unforeseen challenges. Some challenges you bring on yourself and others that come because of situations people in your field have experienced. As I prepare for a future in entertainment therapy, I have to be aware of the controversies that have and are continuing to alter the public’s perspective of this type of treatment.

            A few years ago in Atlanta, GA, the senate voted on whether it would be a requirement for a music therapist to be licensed by the state. Unfortunately, the Senators, at the time of the bill, believed that all music therapists did was turn on the radio for patients. This view diminishes the work of music therapist. People tend believe that if a license is not required then it is not real therapy.

            An occupational therapist in NewYork City is on suspension for a number of allegations including theft of services. Every allegation is vague and nothing is concrete. The most offensive thing about the article is the fact that the writer referred to this therapist as a “school aide.” I do not believe aides are in a lesser class nor do I believe they should be looked down on. In fact, I am currently employed as a school aide, which is why I know that the educational requirements of a school aide pale in comparison to an occupational therapist. While I am highly educated and overqualified for my job, I know that the sweat and tears an occupational therapist endured in order to meet the minimum requirements to treat a patient, are not the same of just any college graduate. Again, here is another example of how other’s perspective diminishes the quality of non-traditional therapists.

            In Madison, WI, a therapist wasfound guilty of planting false memories to allow the patient to believe she hadbeen abused as a child. Of course, the therapist states that this is false and the abuse is real, but for the sake of this argument, I am going to assume that the verdict is correct. We have all heard the saying, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the entire bunch. If this is the truth, then this only plays into what many skeptics already believe. This therapist has caused negativity to modify the image and reputation so many therapists are struggling to defy.

            I truly believe in the power of therapy. Medical doctors and prescription drugs have an important place but are in no way the cure to everything. It will be tough, but I will work very hard to be apart of the change in the way people view music therapy.