We were lucky to catch up with Emma O’Connell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Emma, thanks for taking the time to share your lessons with our community today. So, let’s jump right in – one of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. Where does your self-discipline come from?
A wise man once told me I could pay the price of discipline, or the price of disappointment. Personally, I do not want to look back in 20, 30 or 50 years from now thinking, what if I tried harder? What if I applied myself more? What if I was more disciplined? I want to know the answer. Even if things do not work out in my favor, at least I can look back and say I tried, I gave it my all, I was disciplined. I will not look back and be disappointed regardless of the outcome, as long as I know I gave it my best shot and remained disciplined throughout this journey.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I always wanted to work in the music industry for as long as I can remember. About 7 years ago, I started working with an artist, acting as as their manager in my free time. I loved artist management from the jump, and decided this was what I wanted to do for as far as I could see into the future. A few months later I enrolled in a music business program at MTSU to learn about the music industry as a whole. Throughout my time in school I networked and worked with artists and other music professionals occasionally, but mostly focused on my studies throughout my education. After graduating, I began picking up more clients while simultaneously working for other companies within the music industry. This deepened my understanding of the industry and gave me exposure to the reality of all that comes with working in music. Currently, I am focused on elevating my clients, which looks different for every client. Whatever their individual goals are, it is my job to help them reach their goals with ease. There are multiple upcoming performances by various artists I work with and new music being released as well, details for both can be found through the link in my bio on Instagram!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Resilience, confidence, and a can-do attitude. Resilience is why I am still doing this today. School was not easy, but it was necessary. This business did not grow overnight either, and I heard, “no” plenty of times along the way. It took resilience to stay committed to something I easily could have given up on. Confidence is the reason I have any of my clients, it took me believing that I could provide a quality service, before I ever gained a single client. I also had to network and put myself out there to meet clients. It takes confidence to pitch my business to a potential client knowing full well they might choose to not work with me, and that’s okay. A can-do attitude allowed me to expand the list of services I provide, and in turn I was able to gain more clients from it. The best advice I can give to someone earlier in their journey than I am, is to put yourself out there. It can be intimidating, but fake it till you make it! Resilience, confidence and a can-do attitude are all traits that can be faked, practiced, and learned.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
The clients I have right now are all ideal clients. It was not always this way but I learned early on to choose wisely who I work with. The main characteristic I pay attention to now when considering working with a new client is their work ethic. The clients I work with now all know that performing late nights, traveling city to city, working weekends and holidays, crazy hours in the studio, it’s all a just a part of it. They are all hustlers with big goals, and they all work hard to achieve their goals. They are open minded, receptive, responsive, they are willing to go outside of their comfort zone to grow, and they trust my direction. They are visionaries on a mission. All of these characteristics make someone the ideal client for me to work with.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmakayo17/
- Other: email: bpmmcorp@gmail.com
Image Credits
Monica Douglas
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