Month 1-Executive Leadership

I'll admit I was nervous at the start of this program. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if I had what it took to succeed in the program, especially since it's an online program. I don't have anyone actually teaching me the material so I have to learn it on my own. How much I get out of the program depends on how much effort I put into it.

In this class, I learned the basic principles of what it takes to be a leader. As a part of our Leadership Portfolio, we were asked to do an evaluation of our leadership skills. Prior to this class, I never really understood leadership because I had never been in the role. In doing the assessment, I found that there were a lot of areas that needed improvement. Some of those areas were my problem-solving skills, vision, and attitude. Over the course of the program, I feel that I have improved in these areas whether it was through work or outside school activities. I have applied my newfound outlook to work, school, and other aspects of my life.

Month 2- Project and Team Management

This class was a lot of work but it taught me a lot. There was a big project that we had to work on. It was also a team project. There was a celebrity golf charity event going on. We had different areas of the event that we could focus on. Since everyone in our group had an interest in television, we figured the closest thing to that would be developing marketing for the event with television/radio spots. We had to put an actual plan together on how we would market the event which included how much everything would cost, what the advertisements would include, and who was doing what. It almost felt as though I was actually writing a business plan. I've worked with groups in previous classes, but this experience was different. It felt more like a business arrangement than a class assignment for me. I felt like everything had to be perfect because it was something that we were really going to be doing. We had a few disagreements but we were about to work through them to create a wonderful project.

Month 3- Business Storytelling and Brand Development

This was a really interesting class. One of our first assignments was to record a video where we talked about the most significant thing that happened to us. I chose to talk about how learning how to ride a bike changed my life. It taught me to keep trying if I don't succeed at something. We also had many projects that helped us develop the brand for our company. We had to do a Brand Profile which I think was our Leadership Portfolio for this class. We had to analyze the name of our company. I had been struggling with many different names but once I sat down and thought about what our company was really about it wasn't hard to come up with the perfect name. We had to develop a culture for our company. This class really helped when putting my business plan together. It helped me to narrow down what our company was about so that I could focus on that for the rest of the program.

Month 4- Entertainment Business Finance

This class was all about developing financial decision-making skills to aid in the financial decisions that businesses face. We not only learned about business finances but also about personal finances. Our Leadership Portfolio for this class was to interview someone on either commercial banking, investment, or personal finances. I chose to interview someone at Bank of America on commercial banking. I've had a bank account for 6 years but never really knew anything about it. There are many different kind of accounts that cater to specific needs. In making an account for your business or picking the kind of loan you want, it's important to read everything that the particular account encompasses. This avoids any misunderstandings in the future.

Month 5- Negotiation and Deal Making

I was taught in this class how to be a strong negotiator and deal-maker. We were even given an activity that allowed us to polish our skills. We played the roles of either an actor, producer, artist, or manager. Each party had to negotiate in order to get what they wanted. I learned how to compromise with this exercise. You're not always going to get exactly what you want, but you should be satisfied with getting whatever you can. For my Leadership Portfolio, I interviewed a family friend who happens to be a negotiator. It wasn't something that she always wanted to do. While the government was furloughed, she saw an ad about a negotiation seminar and decided to give it a try and she ended up loving it. She's still doing it 15 plus years later. The things I learned in this class will not only help me with my career but also in my personal life. I may not always get my way 100% of the time but I have to be satisfied with what I do get. I have to remember that the person on the other side also has something that they are trying to get out of the negotiation.

Month 6- Product and Artist Management

This was probably my favorite class in the program. Although it is not my career goal to be an artist manager, I feel like I gained information and skills that would help me if I did decide to do something like that. We had to do a project where we picked a celebrity and created a product that they would endorse. The first celebrity that popped in my head was Trey Songz. I love his music and he's a good looking guy. He also has a lot of sex appeal and makes women want to strip down to their undergarments so I felt that having a lingerie line would be appropriate for him. I made it sound really convincing and even got an A on the project.

Our Leadership Portfolio asked us to interview someone that made their living as an artist manager. After doing some research, I chose NRG Theory which is located in Baltimore, Maryland. I never knew how much went into managing an artist. You are responsible for everything they do. You have to arrange appearances for them and help promote their career. That's a lot and I don't know how some people are able to manage more than one artist. I guess after you've been doing it awhile it's a piece of cake.

Month 7- Advanced Entertainment Law

In Advanced Entertainment Law, we learned how to assess the many liabilities that our companies may face and also how to protect our intellectual property. Some intellectual property may include different trademarks that our companies acquire. For our Leadership Portfolio, we had to option of either talking with an entertainment attorney about their experiences or viewing different podcasts that relate to business liabilities that our business could face. I chose the second option. I'm doing an entertainment company for teenagers and one of our products is a magazine so there is a lot that can go wrong with that. Some of those liabilities include plagiarism, trademark infringement, and libel/slander. This class taught me that you can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your business. Your company name, logo, and slogan (if applicable) should be copyrighted. But before you try to copyright it, make sure that it doesn't conflict with something else that is copyrighted because you could have a lawsuit on your hands.