Stephanie has been a go-getter since she began her college career in fall 2003. She worked as an intern last summer at Sony/ATV Music Publishing in Nashville in coordination with UGA’s music business certificate program at the Terry College of Business. She is juggling a music performance degree with a concentration in voice along with the music business certificate requirements and a degree in insurance. After graduation, she plans to move to Nashville either to work in the music industry or in the entertainment insurance business.
Hometown:
Greenville, South Carolina
High School:
South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities
Degree objective:
Bachelor of Music with a major in vocal performance, bachelor of Business Administration with a major in risk management and insurance, and a certificate in music business
Expected graduation:
May 2007
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
Upon my arrival at UGA in fall 2003, I received a four year, renewable voice scholarship. In the Fall of 2005, I was granted admission into the National Honors Society because I maintained a GPA above a 3.0. Also, in 2005, I was granted admission into Terry College of Business with the major I desired: Risk Management and Insurance. Then, in 2006 I received an insurance scholarship from Terry College of Business. Furthermore, in 2005 I heard about the brand new music business certificate program that would begin in spring 2006. I thought I wanted to work in the music industry, but I didn’t know much about all the different aspects, and I wanted to be ahead of the game before the music business class started that spring. With the help of my career counselor and my music business teacher, I was able to set up several meetings in Nashville over Christmas break with executives from RCA Records, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Dualtone Label Group, Broken Bow Records, Ash Street Music Publishing, and Oh Boy Records. While in Nashville this summer, I worked an internship with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Current Employment:
In the spring, I always work at H&R Block as a Client Services Coordinator.
I chose to attend UGA because…
UGA sold me with the fantastic music and business schools. Since there were no universities in South Carolina or Georgia Universities that had a music business major, I decided I wanted to go to a school in the Southeast with the best music and business schools. It is not often that you find a school that specializes in both of those fields! Also, my best friend and roommate in high school was also attending Georgia, I love great football, and Athens had a great music scene.
My favorite things to do on campus are…
…to attend concerts at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the Performing and Visual Arts Center. I also like to go to the 7th floor of the library and thumb through all the great music…even if that makes me a nerd. I like to go to football, basketball and baseball games. I also like to sit on North Campus, drink coffee at Starbucks, and read the Red and Black.
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
…posted an ad on craigslist that basically begged for cheap housing during my internship in Nashville. Within a day, I received an email from a family that would allow me to live with them for free in exchange for babysitting and dogsitting. Without ever meeting these people, I loaded down my ‘89 Honda Accord and made the 6 hour trip to Nashville. Long story short, the family was amazing and so generous. But it was pretty crazy to move in with someone you’ve hardly talked to and never met!
My favorite place to study is…
…Hot Corner, a local coffee shop in Athens that is open 24 hours. It’s great because you can study, have access to free wireless Internet access, drink coffee, and still hear the bands down at the 40 Watt.
My favorite professor is…
…Charles Lankau in Risk Management and Legal Studies. My first experience with Professor Lankau was in a supposedly very long summer course: Legal Studies. I was not looking forward to sitting in class that summer, but Professor Lankau made the class so interesting by telling us stories and relating the textbook to real life situations. He always opened class with a question and answer session; if any student had a legal question, he would take time to answer them. I liked Professor Lankau so much in Legal Studies that I decided to major in Risk Management and Insurance. I was thrilled to have Professor Lankau again last semester and in the spring.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
…Kid Rock. I have been Kid Rock’s biggest fan for many, many years, and I’d love to hear what inspires him when he writes songs, what he would want to change about his life if he could, and I’d really like to sing “Picture” as a duet with him. I’ve been looking for him in Nashville because he has an apartment here, but our paths haven’t crossed yet. I would like to ask Kid Rock how he made his business decisions, and how he got the idea to combine hard rock, heavy metal, rap and country all into one song. I like to hear from him what he thought his biggest challenges were along the road.
If I knew I could not fail, I would…
…start my own record label right this very minute with a couple of my fellow music business peers. I would call it ArchRunRecords, and the first artist I would sign would be Wesley Cook, a local Athens musician and UGA Alum. Wesley Cook is an amazing musician/singer/songwriter. I have so much passion for Wesley’s music, and I really hope he gets signed to a label. I dream of owning my own record label and when I do that, I hope I find talent as incredible as Wesley.
After graduation, I plan to…
…move to Nashville to work in either the music industry or in entertainment insurance. No matter what, I want my career to involve music in some sort of way. If I have to answer the phones or clean toilets to get my foot in the door, I’ll be satisfied.
The one UGA experience I will always remember will be…
…the Music Business Showcase presented by the Terry College of Business Inaugural Music Business class. The class of about fifty students was broken into six groups and acted as student-run record labels. As a group, it was our job to find an artist we wanted to sell: which means we’d advertise, promote, record with them, oversee administrative activities, get them on the radio, market the Showcase, etc. The project taught each of us how important it is to work together. We were able to work with so many important individuals with all kinds of musical backgrounds. What a reward it was to see the final product!
