Martin Atkins, Millikin University coordinator of music business was recently interviewed for the season finale of the HigherEdJobsPodcast. The “rock star turned higher ed professor” spoke with hosts Andrew Hibel and Kelly Cherwin, who frequently discuss topics such as job search strategies, news and trends in higher education.
As the episode’s guest expert, Atkins shared his advice to students hoping to make it in show business. Particularly, he emphasized that students should find at least five different titles to describe themselves in their professional careers.
"...what's my job title? I would tell my students, you need five things. That's great you're doing that one thing with the mandolin or the whatever, what are the other four things?"
Atkins balances a plethora of job titles, from drummer to professor at Millikin University and a host of careers in between. A label owner, producer, successful author, drummer and a 40-year veteran of the music industry, Martin Atkins has been sharing his perspective with students at Millikin University since he arrived on campus in fall 2017.
Those four decades in the music industry have spanned broadly through genres, borders and records and include experience in nearly every aspect of record production and promotion. To his students, he says that life rarely provides a direct route to success.
In addition to the time, energy and risks, Atkins says his success has been the result of little things that have come together both with and without his oversight. “So it’s always these tiny things that accumulate to become larger things.”
For students and higher education professionals, Atkins advises to expect the unexpected.
"You know, why don't you plan some kinks in the road here, and be aware, don't just wander off, but be aware and collide with some interesting people."
