James Cooley, published author, motivational speaker, CEO of the Cooley Foundation and podcaster for the It’s Your Life Show interviewed my life as a composer, commercial banker and how I was able to draw from the arts and finance to create the first online Academy for musicians seeking to use their musical skills into the world of industry to secure their financial future while accelerating their creative aspirations.
- You started playing guitar at an early age as well as composing music … tell us about it.
- As a young adult, you knew early on exactly what you wanted to do – what were your thoughts that motivated you to become a successful musician?
- Explain the process of composing music –
- What is music?
- What do you think music’s purpose is?
- Your formal education is at New England Conservatory in Boston and U-Mass Lowell and then onto your MFA at UCLA: What did you learn from your education?
- What was your first big break?
- What was your 2nd big Break?
- What did you learn from your experience at the Vatican?
- What happened to you that you were forced to pivot into commercial banking?
- How did you use your creative skills in music to win the Business Development Officer of the Year over other peers who assumingly went to school for banking and had more technical training?
- I assume you were managing your musical career at the same time? Tell us about how you were able to do that?
- Why did you create the 2t Academy?
- How does the Academy work? In other words, how can a member benefit from the way you built the platform?
- What are your concerns about American youth today and have those concerns effected your desire to create the Academy?
- Why do you think that music education does not train musicians to find their unique self?
- First, tell us how do you teach musicians how to find their purpose?
- So, they can realize their purpose through this course. What next?
- 19 – Tell us about Octiv8 – this is your 6-week program that comes with membership and helps train music students how to parlay their soft skills into industry. Tell us about the program and what members can expect to learn.
- What do you do to stay motivated?
- Can you summarize your experience for us?
