Meet Jordan Roberts

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordan Roberts a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My purpose in life is to create as many musical moments and opportunities for others as possible. I came to this realization over the course of my childhood in a very musical family, through high school band, and then through an 18 (so far) year career in the US Army Bands as a tuba player. After serving 11 years on active duty, I transitioned to part time with the Michigan National Guard and took on a job in real estate. It went pretty well, and I was mildly successful, but my heart wasn’t in it, and during the COVID epidemic, I made another life pivot and went back to school to be a music teacher while running a music business. I never have a single day where I doubt it was the right decision.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

During my studies, I used my business skills I’d developed in real estate and in pervious business exploits to create a music business (Jordan Roberts Music Works) where I write music and marching drill for schools and marching groups. I also collaborated with my ex-wife Misty and her husband Doug along with his brother AJ to create the Northern Lights Drum and Bugle Corps. Our mission has been to make the world of marching music accessible to all and to break down all the barriers to the activity. We will be competing at the Drum Corps International SoundSport finals in Indianapolis in August with a group of over 90 marchers between the ages of 10 and 60.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think that the top three qualities for me have been belief, using my network, and following a schedule religiously. I had to believe (and I do!) that I would be successful, that everything would be worth the work, and that I was good enough and deserved this. When it comes to networking, I learned while selling houses that my network is my net worth. Getting to know other music educators, other musicians, and people who are tangentially related to music has been huge in growing my business as well as my non-profit work with the Northern Lights. Finally, during my time in the Army from when I was a young soldier through being a squad leader in Afghanistan, I learned that if you follow a schedule religiously, life is much easier and there is very little I can’t accomplish by breaking it down into smaller tasks and scheduling it.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

With my non-profit work with the Northern Lights Drum and Bugle Corps, we are always looking for businesses that share our vision of opening doors and breaking down socioeconomic barriers. The activity of drum corps unfortunately has a history of a culture of elitism. In fact, I was not able to afford it as a kid, and always felt like I had missed out a lot. Because of this, we are always looking for corporate sponsors to help us pass on savings to the marchers and keep dues low.

Contact Info:

• Website: northernlightsmi.org also jcroberts.org
• Facebook: facebook.com/JordanRobertsMusicWorks/ also facebook.com/northernlightsmi/