My Journey Through the Entertainment Business Masters Degree Program at Full Sail University
My intention of the Mastery journey over the past 12 months was to have the same focus I had in gaining my bachelorâs degree back in 2012. My motivation during that time was my drive for excellence and to be a beacon of light for those who may be struggling in life on what to do where to go and how to succeed. Each time I accomplished a task or a goal in my life it brought me much pride and joy. I knew with each win that I could push myself to go above and beyond to even greater heights. I knew that the knowledge I would gain from pushing myself forward will be utilized to help others gain as well. My intentions from my Mastery Journal was that I desire to build a career in the field of Entertainment as a professional agent as well as being able to open my own performing arts school for kids who are less fortunate or homeless that cannot afford opportunities that others can. During the course of this degree I gained lifetime friendships, a greater networking circle and mentorships that will assist me in obtaining my lifeâs goal. The education I gained from Full Sail will allow me to teach others of the next generation what I have learned and help them to also hone their craft so that they will not only just fit in, but they will dominate and reshape the industry, motivating those who come behind them and so forth. My goal will always be to lead and be a true example of what you can do if you donât give up; remain humble and have integrity. To be a blessing to others opening doors to success and true prosperity is my lifeâs dream.
In the Executive Leadership class I learned that Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world (Greenleaf, 1991). I am more of a supportive leader when it comes to teams that I lead. I value interpersonal relationships above all else. I feel that I am a very calm and even natured leader. I encourage others to feel comfortable around me as I do not believe in micromanaging my employees. I am upfront and honest with those that I lead. I believe in creating a friendly, more family-oriented environment. To me this fosters a greater trust amongst the team.  I like to listen to all ideas and allow my team to express themselves openly. I am a person that values the contributions of others. I am not one to take the spotlight. I am big on allowing my associates to shine. It is a greater reflection of who I am as a Leader. I feel that people respect me more when I allow them to blossom and shine brightly. I wholeheartedly believe that teamwork makes the dream work. I believe in creating an atmosphere of growth and development focusing on the needs of the artist as well as the business.
The reason I feel this style is appropriate for me is because in the Entertainment Industry, itâs more of a cut throat field. Itâs all about who you know and what you can bring to the table. Although artists can be friends with other artists behind the scenes managers and agents are working non-stop and often must be to the point and not so friendly. I am the type of person who wants to bring that family atmosphere back to Entertainment Business. We as artists need to feel as if our voice is heard and they are not just another cash cow for the agency. In this industry you must be personable. Being likeable can go very far. If someone likes you, they can feel that they can trust you and they are more likely to do business with you. I also feel that this style helps me to earn the respect of others around me. I donât want it to be just handed to me because my cousin is a celebrity. I would like for my work to speak for itself.
In the Personal Branding class I learned that âYour personal brand should represent the value you are able to consistently deliver to those whom you are serving.â âThis doesnât mean self-promotion â that you should be creating awareness for your brand by showcasing your achievements and success stories.â I agree that this should be something that shows how good of a mentor or voice that others can depend on. You must maintain the thought that you have a product and a group of individuals or customers that believe in your product. This promotion can either help or hurt your products growth and expansion. You must find value in your brand and expound on it. You must make your brand so attractive to your customers that not only do they believe and want to buy into your brand, but they want to share your brand with others. For everyone good customer experience lives the recommendation of 25 of their friends to your brand. Your brand is your trademark to the world. It is your stamp. What you do in the public eye is what your brand is known by. And why is that? You are always synonymous by the work that you do. Be it professional work or personal work. That is your daily brand. When people look at Robert L. Smith, Jr. they look at my personal brand before they look at my business brand. According to Llopis (2013) a personal brand is the total experience of someone having a relationship with who you are and what you represent as an individual and as a leader. It is what the other person gets to experience when working with you.
Going forward I will make sure my brand and my teams brand is synonymous with my vision. Many times, I have used social media to promote the good things my business has done instead of promoting the business itself. Iâm going to take this and apply it to each event and each model that I manage. My current Models that I support donât really know my brand. They know my PERSONAL brand, but they do not know my business brand. That is a good thing and a bad thing. Upon reading this, it will allow me time to create what I want my brand to be and marry it to not only my business but my personal life. The question I will continue to ask myself every day is Are you living your best branding? Would you support your brand if you were a customer? What do people see when they look at you and your brand? Does it match with your daily life? To excel in this entertainment business, you must create a solid efficient and effective brand that will set you lightyears apart from the competition solidifying your spot as the number one brand in the industry.
This post taught me that I must stop and look at the Industry I am going into and marry my business to that making tweaks along the way and being creative enough to surpass all others in the industry. Make sure I have ALL the tools needed. Based on my own personal experience in the fashion industry designers and agencies love it when you donât ACT the part BE the part. LIVE the PART. Â Itâs not a performance but a natural way of life. You must eat and breathe your craft. In my experience when I was a model I booked gigs because I was relatable. I didnât have the BEST look, but I was genuine. I didnât pretend to be something I was not. That was my personal brand. I was a happy go-lucky individual that wanted to make others look and feel good. And it was a bonus because I knew my craft. I studied modeling every day. From being behind the camera to being in front of it. Â I was accessible to my agencies and eager and willing to do what it took to succeed. You apply these tips to your career starting by showing the REAL you on social media so that when people finally meet you it does not come off as fake. KNOW YOUR BUSINESS!!!!! Know the industry you are entering in. research everything there is to the business. Network!! Your net worth is only as big as your network. Be a source of information in your industry: People love it when they can come to you for information that will help them progress. And the main thing which is something I will apply with my team and my personal life is to always give back. Remember that you were not put on this earth for your own personal gain. Itâs not about the money or the fame. But self fulfilment in helping others become the best they can be.
In the Story Telling and Brand Development class my original goal was to learn how to brand myself more effectively and efficiently. I had k down various ways of branding myself but I wanted to get a more in-depth knowledge of how to brand my business from a more technical standpoint. My company 7even Consulting also focuses on branding from a business perspective. For many years I have done what I thought was a great job in branding other businesses including my own. With the knowledge Iâve learned from the Business Storytelling and Brand Development class I have been able to learn how to better brand my business and the necessary tools to brand other businesses.Â
I was able to meet and exceed my goal by using various tools such as the Brand Foundation by being able to hone in my personal brand by creating a digital brand portfolio. Brand differentiation by creating a business model canvas and even diving deeper into my brand by doing brand research. During the second week of the course we wrote a discussion on Influencers for our brand. We did Market research using the PEST analysis to find the main trends in our industry. I found this very helpful because this information was not something I knew existed and it helped me shape the brand I already created. Other tools I was able to use were the Archetype websites to find out what Archetype was my brand. Although I agree with some of what it stated my brand is the Ruler Archetype. I can honestly say Iâve learned a lot.Â
From Archetypes, to PEST Analysis, Creating a Business Model Canvas, Doing research on Influencers in the business and comparing my business to theirs to see what makes my business more special? What sets our business far apart from theirs? Which using the Archetype analysis I realized my business to be the Ruler type which already set us apart. I also learned about brand strategy and trademarks. Learning that my brand has to have a story. If we donât have our story (which my company does) we are only a trademark. This helps with brand identity which my company already had one but it caused me to go back and reevaluate the brand. What makes us unique? For us it is the ability to be service oriented. Actually caring about the people we serve. In a consulting business structure that is not always the go to for the business. For our business it is. What is helping me in this class is how to apply it to my personal and professional life. I have already mentioned above how it has changed my view of branding for my business but what it has also done is changed my personal view of my life. I have to align my personal life with my business. Although I am a genuinely nice person and someone who cares about the wellbeing of everyone I encounter I have to make sure that it aligns with the. Business, my motto and my brand foundation. I have to live what I preach and it will spill over into my business life as well. My employees have to see the type of life I live as an example and they will want to marry themselves to the business and the culture of the business. Your employees will want to work for you and will even network for your business as long as they know the person and the business they are working for is aligned and they practice what they preach not only in the business life but their personal life.Â
In the Entertainment Business Finance class my original goal was to learn how to budget properly, to become more knowledgeable about Financial Statements and Annual Reports and How to make sure that my company is not one that becomes a financial nightmare. Â I had known a lot of various things about finance as I have a finance background from working as a Personal Banker for Wells Fargo, working as a General Manager for TMX Finance and working in Payroll and Human Resources for The Home Depot Corporate Headquarters. Â Although, I felt I knew a lot, I wanted to get a more in-depth knowledge of how to properly financially grow my business from a more technical standpoint. Instead of having to hire someone I would know how to do it myself. Â For many years I have done what I thought was a great job in keeping financial records for my company although we do not take very much money in. Â With the knowledge Iâve learned from the Entertainment Business Finance class I have been able to learn what necessary tools to use to ensure my businesses success.Â
I was able to meet and exceed my goal by using various tools such as the Balance Sheet, The Income Statement and The Statement of Cash Flows. Creating this for my company will allow me tremendous insight on the inner workings of my company. Â One topic I felt was very important to me was Annual Reports. I did not know much about this report but upon reading them there is a lot of information that is pertinent to the consumer and the business. Â Using the Annual report, I was able to compare companies. I was able to see that Twenty First Century Fox shareholders would benefit the most from AT&Tâs major legal victory in its pursuit to buy Time Warner. Â This would help in my attempt to invest in a company such as Time Warner or AT&T. Another thing I learned was Financial Statements and how to read them. I was able to familiarize myself with how major companies report their earnings on the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. I was also able to understand Liquidity, Efficiency, Leverage and Profitability Ratios and how those number help in analyzing the overall health of the business.
In the Digital Marketing class my original goal was to learn how to market my business from a holistic standpoint. I knew a lot about marketing from a corporate standpoint but I feel it is very different when you are a smaller business. You lack the funding that a bigger business has. Nevertheless less that does not mean your marketing would be any less interesting and profitable than a bigger business you have to make sure you market to the right clientele just as big businesses does. Before taking this class I was very narrow-minded and old school when it came to the marketing strategies. I only knew about television advertisements, radio advertisements and some social media advertisements. Taking this class has truly allowed me to go more in-depth not only in educational learning but personal learning as well. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. This class has taught me to know my demographic and who to truly market to. My goal in this class was met and exceeded because learning how to truly utilize my social media platforms and knowing what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is was major for myself. I was not aware of the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) nor what it was used for. I now know that it ties hand in hand with my marketing as a whole and it ensures that my business is properly searchable. Having long tail phrases is very important when utilizing SEO marketing. In week 2 we were able to create an editorial calendar in which I find it very useful to my business. Creating a campaign objective and mockups are also important because those are some of the first things your clientele sees when presenting your business to them and it can honestly make or break you as a business owner. Professionally I plan on being more thorough with my marketing skills. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone to do the marketing. That is not the outlook a Successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.Â
In the Negotiations and Deal Making class my original goal was to learn how to negotiate contracts from a holistic standpoint. I knew a lot about Negotiations from a corporate standpoint, but I feel it is very different when you are a smaller business. You lack the resources and knowledge that a bigger business has. Nevertheless, less that does not mean your negotiation strategy would be any less profitable than a bigger business. Before taking this class, I was very narrow-minded and old school when it came to the negotiations strategies. Again, I was aware of negotiations and deal-making, but it was very basic. Taking this class has truly allowed me to go more in-depth not only in educational learning but personal learning as well. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. Â
     My goal in this class was met and exceeded because learning the difference between bargaining positions vs Underlying Interest was something I did not know anything about. I always knew that there was a goal, but I did not know how to get there besides just going full throttle on what it is I was negotiating for. One thing I learned in week 2 was that in negotiations sometimes you must make a connection with the person. In the scenario I was a print shop owner and I was negotiating prints to someone who had done research on the prints. I needed $15,000 to satisfy financial issues that I had with the bank. Upon doing this scenario the way I knew it to be I never quite reached the ultimate negotiation. Once I stopped to probe, asking more questions and made a connection with the buyer not only was I able to sell all my prints but I was also able to sell all my frames as well and made enough money to satisfy the bank issue. The reason I am using that as an example is because it taught me something that was very valuable to me. Building a connection in the negotiation piece is extremely important. Professionally I plan on being more thorough with my negotiation skills. I was not a person who focused on having a BATNA or back-up plan in case the negotiation does not go according to plan.  I didnât know anything about BATNA before this class.  Before this class my objective was just to pay someone to do the negotiating for me. That is not the outlook a Successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.
In the Product and Artist Management class my original goal was to learn how to market my business from a Managerial standpoint. I knew a lot about marketing from a corporate standpoint but I feel it is very different when you are a smaller business. I learned during week 4 in the video we watched that you must focus on being authentic. That is very important to a person who is. A new artist or even when it comes to products. Before taking this class I was very narrow-minded and old school when it came to Product and Artist Management strategies. I only knew about the main stream styles. I never took the time to think âWhat is show business?â âWho are the major players?â  âHow can I analyze media data to see what their consumption rates of media actually are?â This class has truly allowed me to go more in-depth not only in educational learning but personal learning as well. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. This class has taught me to paint a clearer picture, be authentic, and focus on my leadership style to ensure a prosperous solution. It even gave me some ideas and solutions for best practices going forward.Â
My goal in this class was met and exceeded because learning how to truly utilize my knowledge in pricing and sales. I have a strong extensive background in retail and sales therefore with the things I learned in Product and Artist Management and my previous sales experience I will be able to be a true threat when it comes to artist development. I feel I am leaning more towards Artists Management. I have over 4 year experience in artist management and this class taught me way more than I already knew. I was presently surprised in the things I already knew and larger to learn the things I didnât know. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone for all that needed to be done. That is not the outlook a Successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.
In the Advanced Business Law class my original goal was to learn how to legally protect my company and know what my rights were as a business owner. I knew quite a bit about law from classes that I had taken in undergraduate school but I feel it is very different when you are actually running a business. In week 1 of the class we learned about intellectual properties and what an IP Audit was. I can honestly say that I had no idea what an IP Audit was. An Intellectual Property Audit is a review of the companies Intellectual Property assets and the risks that may occur. It is very important for all companies to provide an IP Audit to minimize the likelihood that their company may be liable from infringement issues. I learned that two of the major Intellectual Properties that I would need to protect are the Name of my business and my Logo. Learning this helped with doing the assignment from week 4 in which we had a case discussion of Panavision International, L.P. v. Toeppen, 938 F.Supp. 616, 620 (C.D.Cal.1996) where Panavision had to take legal action against Mr. Dennis Toeppen for the illegal use of their companies name in his website. Learning that I must trademark all aspects of my business was an important lesson for me because I was able to realize that just because I registered my company with the state does not mean that everything is 100% ok. It is very important as a business owner that you make sure that everything with your company is legally sound from registrations to copyrights to trademarks.Â
My goal in this class was met and exceeded because learning how to truly utilize my knowledge in Business Law. I have a strong extensive background in business management therefore with the things I learned in Advanced Business Law I will be able to become a true threat when it comes to artist development and teaching my artists how to own their business. I was presently surprised in the things I already knew and eager to learn the things I didnât know. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone for all that needed to be done. That is not the outlook a Successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business. This class and Dr. Willard is an example of what a true educator is. In the beginning for me it was a little shaky as I felt I may fail as law is not something I am very good at. What I learned from her is to be thorough and clearly define my mission though Business Law. Make sure that you dot your âIâsâ and cross every âTâ when it comes to your business. This is something that I have learned professionally and personally. Making sure that I apply this lesson to my personal life and my professional life is very important as sometimes your personal life can spill into your professional life and if it is not completely sound then one can affect the other in either a positive or negative way. Prime example of that would be if as a business man I did not make sure my company had everything legally sound. I could be sued as a business owner. This would not only take away from my business but also my personal life because I would have to work harder causing me more hours or even the loss of my business.Â
In the Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution class my original goal was to learn how to market my business and further learn to publish my business content. I knew a lot about marketing from a corporate standpoint but I feel it is very different when you are a smaller business. I learned during week 1 upon creating a query letter that you have to make sure your material is marketable. The assignment was not an easy one for me. I felt that as a Model Management Agent that I should have been able to use do it for my specific company. As a business professional sometimes you have to learn to put yourself fin the shoes of a different entity. A TRUE business owner is someone what is multi-faceted. I was advised by Dr. Craft that although I am a model management owner and agent that I should pick a different form of content. I picked music as my topic. As someone who has been in the music industry for quite some time I again thought this would be an easy task. This was not so. I had to make sure to read the materials to see that creating a query letter takes heart and soul. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone in that industry. For myself I was a Singer/Songwriter. This forced me to think about what I would like to include in my letter if I was an artist looking for distribution and publishing. I also in writing my letter had to put myself in the shoes of the agent that I am writing to. What would catch my attention and make me want to sign you with my company? At that point it became second nature to me as the teaching of Dr. Craft helped me develop a query letter that I am proud to use in that industry. This class has truly allowed me to go more in-depth not only in educational learning but personal learning as well. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. This class has taught me to paint a clearer picture, be authentic, and focus on my leadership style to ensure a prosperous solution. It even gave me some ideas and solutions for best practices going forward.Â
My goal in this class was met and exceeded because I enjoyed learning how to fully utilize my knowledge in publishing and distribution. I feel I am leaning more towards Artist Management in which my sole goal will be not only to book talent but to ensure they have proper distribution and publications of their art. I have over 4 year experience in artist management and this class taught me way more than I already knew. I was presently surprised in the things I already knew and eager to learn the things I didnât know. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone for all that needed to be done. That is not the outlook a Successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.
In the Business Plan Development class my original goal was to learn how to successfully produce an effective and cohesive business plan and further learn to publish my business content. I knew a lot about creating business plans from a corporate due to working for Home Depot Corporate Headquarters. We often have to put together business plans for various new items we want to add to the business that may help the business grow. After taking this class this month I feel it is very different when you are a business owner of a smaller business. I learned during week 1 the importance of a business plan. An effective business plan can help your business turn into a multibillion dollar business. Watching the videos each week by Jayson Whitmore also helped shape my view of business as a whole as I have been a business owner for quite some time. There is a huge difference in being a business owner and being an entrepreneur. One of the biggest things in being an entrepreneur is being able to follow through with your business plan. I have found myself over the past few years working hard on my business plan and then scrapping all of the ideas and the format that I created. I was very hard on myself thinking âOh that is not going to workâ. That discouragement was unnecessary. The only thing that was missing was the follow through. As a business professional sometimes you have to learn to put yourself in the shoes of a different entity. In other words âBe Objectiveâ! Dr. Burhoe continued to push me through each assignment. The assignments he chose to have us produce stretched my limits and helped to shape me into the future business man I knew I could be but simply needed the push. A TRUE business owner is someone what is multi-faceted. I always said âI would just hire someone to do the work for meâ. The assignments and teachings of Dr. Burhoe taught me how to be able to run a business and OWN the business. What does âOWNâ the business mean? To me own the business means why pay someone to do what you can learn how to do? If you are a true business owner you should be able to know every aspect of the business. I thought I would simply pay someone to create a business proposal for me and go from there. Dr. Burhoe provided me with the necessary tools not only to do it myself but to teach others or assist others with creating one for themselves. This class has truly allowed me to go more in-depth not only in educational learning but personal learning as well. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. This class has taught me to paint a clearer picture, be authentic, and focus on my direction as a business owner to ensure a prosperous business. It even gave me some ideas and solutions for best practices going forward.Â
My goal in this class was met and exceeded because I enjoyed learning how to fully utilize my knowledge in business and teach a totally new side which is Entertainment Business. As stated previously I have been a business man for over 15 years. I have worked for various corporations in the United States and the majority has been in Executive Management. Never would I have dreamed that I would be able to learn the Entertainment business side from such an extensive view such as Full Sail University and Dr. Burhoe. The education I have received from this class is parallel to none. The resources and training I have received have completely exceeded my expectations and I honestly feel and know that I am thoroughly equipped to function and thrive in any aspect of Entertainment Business Field. I feel I am leaning more towards Artist Management in which my sole goal will be not only to book talent but to ensure they have proper distribution and publications of their art. I have over 4 year experience in artist management and this class taught me way more than I already knew from a business plan perspective. Knowing various components and tying together all the moving parts to create a cohesive unit which is 7even brands. I was presently surprised in the things I already knew and eager to learn the things I didnât know. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone for all that needed to be done. That is not the outlook a successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.
In the Final Project: Business Plan class my original goal as in the previous class was to learn how to successfully produce an effective and cohesive business plan and further learn to publish my business content. I also had a goal of how to present the business plan and obtain sponsorships and potential investors. I knew a lot about creating business plans from a corporate due to working for Home Depot Corporate Headquarters. We often have to put together business plans for various new items we want to add to the business that may help the business grow. After taking this class this month I feel it is very different when you are a business owner of a smaller business. I learned during week 1 the importance of an effective business plan and what to include so that potential investors will look at my business venture as a gain and not a loss. .An effective business plan can help your business turn into a multibillion dollar business. I also learned how to effectively answer investorsâ questions. One very intricate answer that Dr. Thompson shared with me that I plan on using from now on is that although I have no proven track record, I am still hungry for the success and will work twice as hard as someone who has already had the success. Also in regards to the not losing interest, my successful completion of the Entertainment Business Masterâs Degree shows that I always complete what I start. And lastly, that I fully anticipate that competitors will try to copy my success but by the time they do, I will have already moved on to the next step. I feel that the learnings I received from this class will allow me to not only be hands on in my own business but to assist others where I see the need in their own businesses. This class has taught me to paint a clearer picture, be authentic, and focus on my direction as a business owner to ensure a prosperous business. It even gave me some ideas and solutions for best practices going forward.Â
My goal in this class was met and exceeded because I enjoyed learning how to fully utilize my knowledge in business and teach a totally new side which is Entertainment Business. As stated previously I have been a business man for over 15 years. I have worked for various corporations in United States and the majority has been in Executive Management. Never would I have dreamed that I would be able to learn the Entertainment business side from such an extensive view such as Full Sail University and Dr. Thompson. The education I have received from this class is parallel to none. The resources and training I have received have completely exceeded my expectations and I honestly feel and know that I am thoroughly equipped to function and thrive in any aspect of Entertainment Business Field. I feel I am leaning more towards artist management and development in which my sole goal will be not only to book talent but to ensure they have proper distribution and publications of their art. I have over 4 year experience in artist management and this class taught me way more than I already knew from a business plan perspective and how to secure investors the proper way. Knowing various components and tying together all the moving parts to create a cohesive unit which is 7even brands. I was presently surprised in the things I already knew and eager to learn the things I didnât know. Before this class my objective was just to pay someone for all that needed to be done. That is not the outlook a successful business owner should have. They should know every part of the business.
In conclusion I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in learning more about business from an entertainment perspective or anyone looking to get into the entertainment business as an artist, manager or owner. This program has taught me how to not only run a business but how to be a successful business man in the entertainment industry. I feel that the professors here all take the time to ensure that you learn everything it takes to be a powerhouse in the business. I will take everything I have learned and teach others so that the future of the entertainment industry has a brighter future.Â