Carte Postale nos. 3 & 4: The Limbo Zone

Driving through the middle of these United States, Malcolm sent me a text with a photo that has become my favorite thus far. Malcolm: This is the canal lock in La Salle, Illinois. Had to drive down and inspect the past? Love the engineering of raising and lowering water level by locking it in for…

It’s getting serious!

For the past couple of years, Malcolm and I have been meeting once or twice a week via Google Hangout or Skype to talk about getting our songwriting business going or to work on compositions. In the past month, we started meeting every day. We would check in and discuss business strategies, potential products, who…

(Don’t just) Wade in the Water

I vividly remember my AP Psychology class in high school. The main reason I remember is because my teacher was so very inspired and impassioned with the subject. I loved going to his class, where I felt that my presence was valued and I was almost always pleasantly surprised by the information I gleaned from…

What now?

The Sandbox may be over, but my work as a startup entrepreneur is just beginning. The past three months feel like a surreal, frenetic blur. They were very real and quite invaluable. I took an abstract idea and found a way to turn it into a viable business with tangible products. I even worked with…

Pitch and Pivot and Pitch—Repeat!

I stood up last night in front of a group of entrepreneurs and pitched my business. I had just come up with a new idea for a way to package my product the night before. This shift is what I have heard referred to in my class as a pivot—a change in business plan, product,…

Getting to know Story-to-Song

Songwriting can be a challenge to describe in words only, particularly a method like Story-to-Song. So, I thought it might be helpful to share a couple of informational videos I put together. In the first video, I offer a definition of Story-to-Song: In the second video, I describe how I discovered Story-to-Song: The third video…

A week in the Sandbox

Story-to-Song is an experience and an abstract one at that. For this reason, it can be difficult to describe in written words alone. When applications I have submitted for grants, conferences, and research opportunities are turned down, I try to lift my spirits with the reminder that I simply have to improve my skills at…