THE MUG 10
TEN QUESTIONS THAT UNLOCK REAL STORIES OF SUCCESS.
.png)
AT A GLANCE
.png)
I am able to make my patients feel comfortable and well cared for while using my analytical brain to give them the best dermatologic care possible.
My ability to complete a task without any external pressure.

WHAT IS YOUR
UNIQUE GENIUS?

how did you become interested in this career?
IT STARTED IN CHURCH AND SINGING WITH OTHERS.
My journey with music starts a very long time ago—I was raised in the Black Baptist Church and I loved to sing with other people with live instrumentation. When I got to high school, I fell in love with poetry, rap music, hip-hop performance and performers.
I had a friend who built an in-home studio in his room. I would go over there every chance I got to record music and to get involved with learning more about the process of making songs.
.png)
IN WHAT WAYS IS THIS JOB
A PERFECT FIT FOR YOU?
I'm collaborative.
I'm motivated.
I'm passionate.
.png)
I never could shake the desire to want to make music, to bring sounds in my head to life, and to bring words to full fruition. It started a long time ago, and thankfully I'm still doing it and I'm still passionate about bringing those sounds to life.
WHAT SKILLS DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT YOUR JOB?
SONG WRITING, MUSIC PRODUCTION, COLLABORATION
You have to become tech savvy—figure out how to design a flier and how to manage or design a website. You may even figure out how to come up with marketing strategies. The more handle you have on what a song structure is, the longer I think you can create music. The chaos that is sound or the chaos that is lyrics can be really well funneled through structure—it makes the chaos relatable and resonant in a way that is incredibly powerful.
I am able to make my patients feel comfortable and well cared for while using my analytical brain to give them the best dermatologic care possible.
WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU KNEW WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER?
MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR WORK
When passion becomes work, I think you might be on a good path. It's not easy—a lot of times we work really hard to get to a place where our passion is our work, but then we forget that we did all that work to get to the place we are right now. Gratitude is helpful to kind of remind ourselves where we are is where we want it to be.

I am able to make my patients feel comfortable and well cared for while using my analytical brain to give them the best dermatologic care possible.

IN YOUR BODY OF WORK, WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
BE A PERSON WHO STANDS FOR PEACE
I just did a crowdfunding campaign called the Peace and Power Planet Project. So now I'm fulfilling the project that I raised money for—it's a live album with my band that's going to be coming out in 2023. It's all on the road to peace and power planning, which is a huge project for me.
WHAT'S 1 THING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND ABOUT YOUR JOB?
BECOMING A MASTER TAKES TIME
It's going to take time to be good but it's going to take longer to be great. You have to do all the research, all the listening, all the reading you can do. Study genres that you didn't expect to be informed by. Study artists and other producers and sounds that you never thought you would be introduced to.

WHAT WAS A DEFINING MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?
MAKING MY OWN PATH
Deciding to leave the label that I was on in grad school. I decided I was going to do something different because I just didn't see seamless vision for what was being built on the other side of the table. That was an important moment where I decided to just figure it out on my own.
INDUSTRY STATISTICS
MUSIC PRODUCER
PROJECTED GROWTH
Projected Growth: 8%-10%
Projected Openings: 17,500
AVERAGE ANNUAL SALARY RANGE
$36,720 - $123,800
TOP SKILLS FOR THIS JOB
Musical Talent
Technical Aspects of Music Recording
Coaching
Networking
Project Management
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Initiative
Attention to Detail
Collaboration
Stress Tolerance
TRAINING + DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Bachelor's degree preferred. Master's degree may be required.