It all begins with the ‘Why.’
Suz explains why she chose to become The Rock/Star Advocate, why she created this podcast, and why the topics being covered in this podcast are important {and often overlooked} in order to build a sustainable career in music.
Hello, and welcome! You’re listening to Episode 1 of the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast.
Much like you just heard, I’m your host Suz, The Rock/Star Advocate and I’m here to talk all things music-preneur with you!
I want to thank you so much for taking the time to check this new podcast out. This has been a quiet passion project of mine for some time and I’m so thrilled to finally release it out into the world!
There’s so much I want to say about it, but I’ll do my best to be brief. Allow me to quickly introduce myself, as you’ll get to know more in future episodes. My name is Suzanne Paulinski, almost everyone calls me Suz.
I studied at Drexel University, graduating with the first class of Music Industry students after helping build Mad Dragon Records and went on to get my masters in Psychology, back home in NY at Queens College, a move that helped shape this new chapter in my career.
I’ve been in the music industry for just over 15 years now, and for the last 3 I’ve worked as a solopreneur as the Rock/Star Advocate, as a mindset coach for music-preneurs. The Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast EP1: Welcome to the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast.
I’m sure you’re thinking wtf does that mean?
Yea, I get that a lot. While there are managers and artist development coaches out there, I teach DIY musicians, and other industry professionals, how to see themselves as entrepreneurs and grow a sustainable career in the music industry.
I could teach you strategies for launching your latest EP, I could teach you how to copyright your music, and I could teach you how to grow your fanbase on social media – and I will – in future episodes – but that’s not why I’m here.
I think it’s best I do what I tell all my clients to do – start with the why.
Why I started down this path to become the Rockstar Advocate
Why I decided to create a podcast called the Music-Preneur Mindset podcast
Why I’ve chosen the topics I’ve chosen to focus on & what I hope you’ll gain from them
I won’t go deeply into my journey, as you’ll learn more about that in greater detail over the next few episodes in my Lessons Learned series that’s now available to stream. You can access all current episodes by going to www.therockstaradvocate.com/podcast.
But back to what led me here, as I previously explained I did go back and get my Master’s in psychology and I thought about different avenues my life could take. At the time I had closed down my artist consulting business and was done with the music industry. I thought I would be a social worker or a high school counselor.
However, it wasn’t long before a lot of my former clients turned to me when they were dealing with things like post-tour depression or overwhelm of trying to handle their day jobs and release their latest record or figure out the latest ways to grow their fanbase on Twitter and, at the time, Myspace. And I realized then that those are the moments that I loved and I cherished with them, but I needed to pay bills, so I sat down and I really thought about it and I decided to hire a business coach.
I knew this time around it was time to start acting like the entrepreneur I had always claimed to be. The coaches I hired weren’t in the music industry which I was a little hesitant about but it turned out that couldn’t have been more perfect. I worked with people who had an outside perspective, who were going to break the stories I had told myself for years about what the music industry was and how one had to act in order to succeed in it.
I realized so many fall victim to the hustle 24/7-sleep-when-your-dead mentality – something I had struggled with for years. Turns out, people in other industries stopped buying that horse shit and we’re seeing REAL results from working smarter, not harder.
I knew it was time to bring that mindset to the music industry. Believe me, it’s been quite the ride, but it hasn’t been easy.
Which brings me to why I created this podcast.
I’ve been so fortunate to have allies who have helped me spread messages of self-care and monotasking and time blocking across wonderful platforms like podcasts and webinars and conferences.
However, many times {and I won’t name names} I’ve reached out to influential platforms with my facts, and figures, and testimonials from artists of all walks of life, in all stages of their careers, who have told me how desperate they were to find a better way to manage it all, only to be met with, “I’m not sure musicians would really go for this” or “Musicians don’t really care about organization.”
And that really boils my blood!
Not because I’m getting turned down {in this business you have to be used to it}, but because I have always found quite the opposite, and I hate when others sell musicians short.
Just because these tools and systems haven’t been shared in the past, doesn’t mean musicians don’t want them – it means they didn’t know what was possible!
So after getting message after message from musicians saying, “Why aren’t you taking at this event?” or “Why haven’t I heard you on this podcast?” I’ve decided to build my own platform.
I know it’s not as big as others out there, but to me this message is too important to wait until there’s room for me, or anyone else who cares about this message, at the table.
So here I am!
And I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re here with me now, giving me your attention. I promise to never take that for granted.
All I ask is that you let me know what you’re struggling with, what you’d like to hear more about, and how I can best support you. If we keep the lines of communications open I’m sure this will be a great success!
So when something moves you or resonates with you, I encourage you to share it or leave a comment, or privately email me at anytime – suz@therockstaradocvate.com – so we can keep the dialog going.
Lastly – I know, I promised to keep it brief! – why I chose the topics I’ve chosen.
You won’t know them all yet, but each week I’ll be focusing on a system, or strategy, or area of the business, but rather than repeat the info you can already get elsewhere from respected professionals, I want to come at it from a different perspective – how can you implement a certain strategy or add a particular person to your team while avoiding immense overwhelm, or what I call shiny object syndrome, or self-doubt.
I’ve called it the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast because it’s my hope to help you see yourself as an entrepreneur and find ways to manage all that is on your plate at any given time.
This podcast is action-driven.
I want you to be able to digest what you’ve learned by implementing it in a manageable way. Each week I’ll provide a free download to help you organize your thoughts and make sense of what we’ve discussed.
And, once a month, beginning in February, I’ll have a special guest join me – be it a manager or band or blog writer even – someone who’s been living their dream and able to share some great tips with you – but who’s also had some areas of struggle and is ready to share their consultation with me live for you to listen in on and learn from.
So that’s that! What do you think?!
Thanks again for joining me here today and I hope I’ll see you back here every Wednesday for a new episode! Until next time, Rockstar!
Key Highlights
- WTF am I? [00:52]
- My journey into becoming a mindset coach [02:32]
- The story of how this podcast came to be [04:22]
- What topics & takeaways you can expect in future episodes [06:26]
Links/Rocksources
- Theme music brought to you by DC-based Indie/Pop band Sub-Radio
- More episodes can be found here
- You can download a copy of the episode’s transcript here
Thanks for listening!
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