#1
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Abandoning a good corporate job for music
Has anybody here ever transitioned from a "Corporate America" career into music - playing, teaching, retail or otherwise?
Would love to hear your story. |
#2
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Not exactly what you asked for ...
When I graduated from college in '76 I was actually making more money delivering 5000+ weekly newspaper than I would be as a staff accountant at Citicorp. Working 20 hours one day a week was ideal for pursuing a music career and I was making half decent money gigging. If I had stayed in paper delivery my effective income over the next decade would have dropped sharply after the Arab Oil Embargo sent gas prices soaring and a decade of double digit inflation doubled the cost of everything else while payments for paper delivery remained flat. At Citicorp I moved up to Special Accounting manager and then Assistant Accounting Manager. Moved to another company as a controller for four years, then another company as an MIS(now "IT") Director and finally two decades as a CFO. I bought a company, was (barely) a millionaire for a year and then lost every penny. On top of everything I became disabled due to brain damage and retired. So now I am back to music full time and loving it. I don't miss the corporate world at all. |
#3
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Hardship notwithstanding, an excellent story. Thanks for sharing that. I wonder how many others here have ripped their tie off?
Sometimes, I have every confidence I could pull it off - but I don't think I have the guts. Last edited by Glennwillow; 12-25-2013 at 12:30 AM. |
#4
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Through my twenties I went to college in the morning, was teaching guitar at a music shop in the afternoons, and pursued my long standing hobby in photography whenever possible. When I was 30 I had earned a couple of degrees and decided that a career in music was not going to be as financially rewarding as I would have liked, so I set my music aside, focused more on commercial photography. A couple of years later I decided that putting my business education to work in the corporate world would be a good move and was hired by Chevron Corp in their world headquarters in San Francisco. After 10 great and enjoyable years climbing the corporate ladder, I arrived at a place where I was unfulfilled personally by my work. I decided to remove the suit and tie, took a severance package, and returned to my arts - as a photographer. I opened a retail commercial photography studio and spent the next twenty years pursuing my passion as a photographer. This was a great move for me. The next twenty years were a great 20 years, fulfilling me artistically and providing an excellent living. When I closed the studio and retired from that two years ago, I resumed my passion for music and began playing again. It's been wonderful.
I don't think I would have left Chevron with hopes of earning a good living as a guitarist... just too dicey a proposition for me. But for others... who knows? I do believe fully in realigning one's career toward their passion, however, if at all possible. To spend a lifetime working in a field which is personally unfulfilling would be a sad way to live a life, in my view. Follow your heart and your dreams, don't spend a lifetime doing work you don't really enjoy. |
#5
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It's always a risky proposition. A sales job at Guitar Center is the most likely job .
You could play like Tony Rice and sing like Pavarotti, but if the producers aren't looking for that you likely get nowhere. Then again Tiny Tim made a living for awhile. Weigh it carefully, maybe see if you get a real following over several open mike events, try not to burn bridges... Good luck which ever way t goes
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#6
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Here is a good one:
http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/aboutus.htm Scroll down. Charlie Hoffman has a great career story and is a fabulous builder and a great guy, the others are all quite nice too. |
#7
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Interesting comment. Too dicey for "you" or did you feel the guitarist industry was dicey?
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#8
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Quote:
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#9
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I have a job that pays me at the bottom of the "earning potential" for a doctorate level degree. But i love it. And i get to call practice "work". and i get to perform for grateful and enthusiastic audiences almost weekly. I don't write, sing, or play well enough to ever make music THE thing. But i love what i do.
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#10
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Geoff Muldaur gave up a computer programming job at a major auto manufacturing company to pursue music. But he is an incredible talent...check him out if you are not already familiar.
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#11
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Nope, I moved from a restless, listless no responsibility kinda life into playing and teaching music for a living (if you can call it that). I had already turned down the one of a thousand button down collar tie wearing assistant VP good paying jobs so no major sacrifice involved.
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"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard |
#12
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Years after starting my first company, working as a philosophy professor, and teaching middle and high school science, I was doing hard time in a soul-sucking corporate job as a program manager at a big tech company. 13 years ago, I left that all behind to buy a very small guitar store. That tech company's US offices closed 3 years later, but the guitar store has been thriving for many years. Plus, I get to play some of the best guitars in the world every day.
It's easily one of the very best decisions I ever made.
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#13
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Y'all are killing me.
Make too much money right now as an engineering manager to quit. But the house will be paid for in three years and then I can think about alternatives... |
#14
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In the mid 1990's I hired a lawyer with a huge Beverly Hills practice. I was reading "Vintage Guitar" in his waiting room, and we ended up discussing guitars for as long as my legal issues. He came to hear our band, then became a jamming mate, and within 2 years had quit a very lucrative practice to pursue music. He's never been happier.
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#15
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I played full time in a trio on the Holiday Inn and supper club circuit for about two years in the late 70s. Though it was fun for a while, I realized that it was not the life form e. Had I stayed in it, I would have ended up hating music by the time I was ready to retire. I am glad I got out of it. I do wonder how many people REALLY make a living playing full time aside from those fortunate enough to make it with a wide audience to support them. It seems to me that more often than not, there is an understand spouse taking up the financial slack somewhere along the line. In general, musicians are not treated particularly well and that can get really old after a while.
I have been treated rather well on the job as a software engineer and would not describe my job in the dreary terms people often describe corporate jobs. I have been paid well and will be able to retire early enough to have a lot of good years doing other things. Tony
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