“Promise me that you’ll take the risk and
JUMP,” my Granny asked. My response was, “I promise…” My grandmother had been
diagnosed with a deathly lung disease, leaving her with only days to live. She
wanted me to follow my dreams and obtain my Master’s Degree from Full Sail
University. So upon my departure from Michigan on November 14, 2010, my
grandmother, Margaret E. Miller, departed from this Earth and a promise was to
be fulfilled.
Arriving to Full Sail University, my first
class was Media Literacy and Research Methodologies. This online course taught
me the importance of the many business media outlets, such as, Diigo, LinkedIN,
and Twitter. I learned that these different outlets could lead to many business
connections and keeps me informed of the leading news within my industry.
The importance of starting any business is
good leadership skills. In my second class, Executive Leadership, we learned the
different methods of becoming an effective leader. In this course we studied
public speaking and how to present to our peers and superiors. I enjoyed
reading the texts on Maxwell and Greene, which highlighted reputation,
leadership, and influence. These skills have equipped me to manage or lead a
team of people.
Project and Team Management was something I
had never heard of until I began the course. This course taught me to plan,
prioritize, and predict any problems that may arise. I now know the challenges
a project manager may face and how to plan for failures. We formed groups to
create a proposal for an event, where we focused on a SWOT analysis. The SWOT
analysis focuses on strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats, while
offering solutions.
In my fourth month, I learned the importance
of building a brand. Business Storytelling and Brand Development taught me the
importance of not only a unique business name, but also it’s story. We designed
our company logo and created a tagline. While building my business’ story and
brand, I researched the industry market to create a buyer persona and identify
my target market. This class helped create a foundation for an online presence
for my business.
In Entertainment Business Finance, I was able
to understand the importance of financial planning. Our professor taught us
about investing funds, the stock market, and a business pro-forma. The
pro-forma highlighted the financials for the first three years of my business
plan. It required detailed numbers for expenses such as rent, utilities,
travel, salaries, and equipment. I learned that potential investors want to see
realistic projected numbers. That way, they could see my business prospering
and obtaining a return on their investment.
I’ve always had an interest in making deals
and bargaining. But in Negotiation and Deal Making, I learned how to conduct
negotiations and focus on coming to a mutual benefit. Our class conducted mock
industry negotiations where we had to analyze both sides of an argument. A mediator
was selected and we as a class had to act out the entire meeting until a
solution was determined. These exercises related to real world situations and
helped me learn about dirty tricks and tricky tactics.
Product and Artist Management was one of my
favorite courses. This class taught the difference in roles between an artist
and their management. A manager takes care of almost all of the worries that an
artist may have in order to keep the artist in a creative mindset. I got the
chance to review contracts, riders, and copyrights of actual industry leaders.
I learned about non-compete agreements and release forms. This class really
helped me in forming different services that my business would provide to
artist.
In Advanced Entertainment Law, I felt
overwhelmed with valuable information! I’ve never had an interest in law, but
after this course I really had a change of heart. Learning about applying for
copyrights, trademarks, and patents has helped me understand that my
intellectual property can be protected. I reviewed cases from past litigations
and presented the legal issues. I also learned about the different structures
of a business. I understand what the different structures consist of and how
they can benefit a business.
In Entertainment Media Publishing and
Distribution, my eyes were opened to many personal business opportunities. This
course went into further detail about publishing my creative works and how
there is a traditional model and also a self-publishing model. In learning
about the self-publishing model, I became aware of a higher percentage of
royalties offered by choosing to be independent. Our class came up with
strategy plans to self distribute our creative works by using social media
outlets.
Digital Marketing was something that I
thought I had a niche for. But after taking the course, I feel that I’ve
learned more in one month about the opportunities the Internet can offer, that
I was once blind to. I learned about Google Analytics and advertising using
keywords. My professor taught me about different websites that could increase
my online presence and connect subscribers back my company website. I learned
about different marketing channels such as search engine optimization, mobile
marketing, and how to set up a marketing campaign for my business. This course
offered valuable information that will definitely remain with me for years to
come.
Business Plan Development was the course
where I took everything I had learned from the previous courses and applied
them to my business plan. I constructed my company description, target market,
and a marketing plan. The
development of my business plan required me to pull information from each
previous class to form how I wanted my business to operate. This class taught
me about creating a plan that would attract an investor to believe in my ideas
and be willing to support a business opportunity.
In Final Project: Business Plan, I wrote my
executive summary and put the final touches on my business plan. I constructed
the financials and added an appendix. Our class presented our final business
plan to our peers and other professors from the program. This taught me to be
comfortable in presenting my ideas to potential investors. Also, the program
instructors asked questions that investors may wonder about the business. This
helped me prepare to be able to pitch my business plan in the future.
As I look back over the past year, I cannot
believe the amount of information that I’ve learned. I not only will be
obtaining a Master’s Degree, but I will leave Full Sail University with the
ability to stand on my own in the world. I am grateful for all of the
professors and their knowledge that they have imparted to me. I now have the
strength and confidence to look to the heavens and simply say, “Granny, I
jumped…”
