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If given the opportunity to raise your intelligence, confidence, and finances, I imagine that you would be interested. The problem, however , is that it's hard to figure out the way to do it, which is understandable: considering how busy our daily lives are, when would you find time to make it happen? And who would help you? And where would you begin?
Thinking of my own eclectic career paths (yes, there have been several), I figured out early on that I needed to embrace the concept of lifelong creative learning in order to survive and keep myself economically valuable to employers.
I began my professional life in the radio industry, which I loved. I journeyed across various cities, music formats, and companies, and I was ultimately hired as the VP and General Manager of WAXQ-FM (Q104.3), a classic rock station in NY, where I had the exciting and challenging responsibility of building it into a dominant and very profitable brand.
After 20 years in broadcasting, I was approached to run a startup company called School of Rock, which at the time was an eight-school chain of music education programs for youngsters. The company's principals needed someone to drive expansion, raise capital, and build a management team. I became interested in the role that music and creative education played at School of Rock, which helped youngsters to improve their musical talent, develop teamwork skills, and gain confidence. Along the way, my team built the company into the nation's leader in music education for aspiring rockers ages 7 to 17, with franchises in over 100 locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and over 8,000 students.
When I got started at School of Rock, I needed to adapt to the responsibilities and demands of the role. I improved my digital and social media skills and learned about the latest and most innovative online marketing tools. Carving out the time to develop and grow professionally took a massive amount of focus and motivation, including the need to do extensive research and studying. While the process was rigorous, the payoff was huge: I gained new awareness, experience, and expertise that added to my value as a professional and also bolstered my self-esteem.
The personal and professional benefits that are delivered by this type of lifelong creative learning are validated by a study project done by the Matrix Knowledge Group, an international consulting company with offices in London, Brussels, and Washington, DC. Their 2010 study, Lifelong Learning and Well-being: An Analysis of the Relationship Between Adult Learning and Subjective Well-being , found that "undertaking part-time education... is associated with an increase in well-being, and that this improvement in subjective well-being is equivalent to an increase in annual household income." Speaking from my personal experience, I can absolutely attest to Matrix' conclusion.
I've taken my interest in and passion for creative education to a new, self-owned venture: the founding of One River, a lifelong learning center in Englewood, New Jersey.
In addition to One River providing interesting and creative classes to young students (kindergarten thru high school) via our School of Art and Design, One River is also attracting an adult student population with new digital design and technology education classes. A six-course certificate program covering Graphic Design, Digital Photography, Online Marketing and Website Design is offered with the goal of helping adults to discover how to navigate the arena of digital technology with confidence and optimism. If you run a small business, having these talents can provide you with new services to sell. If you work in the business world, these skills may help in increasing your salary or provide flexibility to gain a new position. On a personal level, these can simply be cool, exciting, and fun skills to have.
The book What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith suggested the need for evolving the culture of a company in order to make the successful transition from a start up to a growing, successful organization. Goldsmith's idea of evolution can be applied to individuals as well: we need to take a personal growth inventory and make a commitment to ourselves and our future by developing intellectually, creatively, and emotionally.
Lifelong creative learning can help anyone achieve these rewarding goals.
Thinking of my own eclectic career paths (yes, there have been several), I figured out early on that I needed to embrace the concept of lifelong creative learning in order to survive and keep myself economically valuable to employers.
I began my professional life in the radio industry, which I loved. I journeyed across various cities, music formats, and companies, and I was ultimately hired as the VP and General Manager of WAXQ-FM (Q104.3), a classic rock station in NY, where I had the exciting and challenging responsibility of building it into a dominant and very profitable brand.
After 20 years in broadcasting, I was approached to run a startup company called School of Rock, which at the time was an eight-school chain of music education programs for youngsters. The company's principals needed someone to drive expansion, raise capital, and build a management team. I became interested in the role that music and creative education played at School of Rock, which helped youngsters to improve their musical talent, develop teamwork skills, and gain confidence. Along the way, my team built the company into the nation's leader in music education for aspiring rockers ages 7 to 17, with franchises in over 100 locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and over 8,000 students.
When I got started at School of Rock, I needed to adapt to the responsibilities and demands of the role. I improved my digital and social media skills and learned about the latest and most innovative online marketing tools. Carving out the time to develop and grow professionally took a massive amount of focus and motivation, including the need to do extensive research and studying. While the process was rigorous, the payoff was huge: I gained new awareness, experience, and expertise that added to my value as a professional and also bolstered my self-esteem.
The personal and professional benefits that are delivered by this type of lifelong creative learning are validated by a study project done by the Matrix Knowledge Group, an international consulting company with offices in London, Brussels, and Washington, DC. Their 2010 study, Lifelong Learning and Well-being: An Analysis of the Relationship Between Adult Learning and Subjective Well-being , found that "undertaking part-time education... is associated with an increase in well-being, and that this improvement in subjective well-being is equivalent to an increase in annual household income." Speaking from my personal experience, I can absolutely attest to Matrix' conclusion.
I've taken my interest in and passion for creative education to a new, self-owned venture: the founding of One River, a lifelong learning center in Englewood, New Jersey.
In addition to One River providing interesting and creative classes to young students (kindergarten thru high school) via our School of Art and Design, One River is also attracting an adult student population with new digital design and technology education classes. A six-course certificate program covering Graphic Design, Digital Photography, Online Marketing and Website Design is offered with the goal of helping adults to discover how to navigate the arena of digital technology with confidence and optimism. If you run a small business, having these talents can provide you with new services to sell. If you work in the business world, these skills may help in increasing your salary or provide flexibility to gain a new position. On a personal level, these can simply be cool, exciting, and fun skills to have.
The book What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith suggested the need for evolving the culture of a company in order to make the successful transition from a start up to a growing, successful organization. Goldsmith's idea of evolution can be applied to individuals as well: we need to take a personal growth inventory and make a commitment to ourselves and our future by developing intellectually, creatively, and emotionally.
Lifelong creative learning can help anyone achieve these rewarding goals.
About the Author:
Matt Ross is the owner of One River School of Art & Design in Englewood, NJ. He's also the COO of SAE Institute USA, a chain of colleges that teach creative media. Ross was the founding CEO of School of Rock, the largest music education company in the world.
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