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Final Master Journal

I’m so excited to have reached this point. It has been a long, fulfilling, educational, and worthwhile journey to this master’s degree. I am proud to be able to say that I am now the owner of a master’s degree. I have learned so much in this journey and have great value in the process that it took to get to this point. I realize this is only the beginning of my journey as a business man, entertainment professional, and music executive.

Some of the courses that really stood out for me were Executive Leadership, Business Storytelling & Brand Developing, Digital Marketing, Negotiation & Deal-Making, Entertainment Media Publishing & Distribution, and Business Plan Development. In the Executive Leadership course, we read from the “48 Laws of Power”, which I have heard about several times from other leaders in many different industries. This course and book taught me my leadership and communication style and how to communicate with different people based on their communication style. The Business Storytelling & Brand Developing course showed me how to develop my brand and present it to others. The Digital Marketing course taught me how to utilized digital platforms such as SEO, personal website, and Social media to market my company. Negotiation & Deal-Making was a course where I learn how to negotiate a deal within the industry and what to look for in contracts. Entertainment Media Publishing & Distribution was valuable because I learned how to write a query letter and how to self-publish my products. Lastly, Business Plan Development taught me how to write, organize, and development my business plan to present to potential investors.

This journey was one I will never forget. It is also one I will value and refer to for the rest of my life. I am proud to be a student of Full Sail, owner of a master’s degree, and entertainment professional.

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Mastery Journal: Business Plan Development

This course has been one of the most detrimental of my entire journey so far toward my master degree in Entertainment Business. Before entering school I already had my company of Royal Flush Fam, but at the time it was a record label. Upon entering school to start my journey toward my degree to my masters, I decided to restructure and revamp my business. I decided to take my company from a record label to a production company. I started to realize my passion, expertise, and focus and it appeared that forming a production company would be more efficient and fulfilling.

You would imagine while in the beginning stages of restructuring and revamping the purpose and focus of my business that I pretty much had to start over. I kept the name and just changed the Entertainment part to Productions. I have now dedicated myself and my business to the production of Music for artist projects and film. Throughout the journey of my degree I have gained valuable knowledge to lead to the success of my company, Royal Flush Fam Productions, LLC.

Before started this particular course, Business Plan Development, I was very excited. This was the point where I felt would be the official start of my new company forum. I believed this course would prepare me to create a business plan that would not only allow me to market to potential investors but to allow allow me to completely identify the identity, purpose, and direction of my business. I learned a lot in the course. I have not only learned how to write my business plan and what elements are involved but I have even more importantly learned more about my company. I was able to indenting my exact and best target market while developing the first section of my business plan. I realized my niche was my connection to the community a long time about but I was able to take that to another level and work with the up and coming independent artist who also still have a connection to the “street”. Not to mention, it will also help me to show my admiration and care for the up and coming artists of my community and independent artist everywhere. Even though I am willing to work with all types of artist, this is how I build my relationship with the community and in turn I am able to use that connection to market my self to bigger artists in order for them to remain connected to the people and community.

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Mastery Journal: Media Publishing & Distribution

Getting closer to the completion of my masters in Entertainment business, I am beginning to feel more and more confident in my progression as an artist, Entertainment professional, music executive, and road to being a music and entertainment mogul. When I first joined Full Sail University I did not know what to expect. What I did know is that joining a school with a background and concentration in the Entertainment industry like Full Sail University is my best option toward success in my career and industry. The class I am currently taking is Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. This course is another one I have been looking forward to, I have already learn vital Information to use toward the progression of my Entertainment career.

When I first viewed the degree courses I noticed that the course in Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. As an artist, I have self published 3 mixtapes and 3 singles before joining Full Sail University. As an Independent artist I have battled with getting published and distribution on a higher scale. I feel as if I’m only slightly above the old hip hop days when artist would sell their music out the trunk of their car. My expectations of this course were to learn the information needed to place and publish my music on a higher scale.

After taking this course I have gained valuable knowledge. One thing that really stuck out for me in this course was the lesson I gained in obtaining an agent. I had actually been considering getting an agent for some time now. From this course, I was taught to write a query letter to an agent. In this letter I would put a little bit of information on my project, myself, and accolades. Then if the agency signs me they will market me to the publishers. It’s very important for me as an executive producer and artist to know about publishing and distribution.

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Mastery Journal: Advance Entertainment Law

As I get closer to the completion of my master degree in Entertainment Business, I feel more and more confident about the progression in the Entertainment industry. As an entertainment industry professional and Music executive producer I will be able to utilize the information, lessons, and courses that have been presented to me, while enrolled in Full Sail University, and become a better business professional within my chosen field of music production.

As I search on the internet and social media, I often come across a lot of Entertainment legal issues. ​​Rather it’s the legal issues between Planium rap recording artist Lil Wayne and CEO of Cash Money Records Birdman also known as Baby, or the legal issues between R&B and Pop recording artist Chris Brown and rap recording artist and writer Kevin McCall, or even the legal issues between rap recording artist Future and rap recording artist Rocko I notice the importance of knowing the proper legal procedures of the Entertainment industry and its effects. How very business, even outside of the Entertainment industry, has legal liabilities. It is important for any company to acknowledge and be aware of their potential legal liabilities and those in which they will potentially encounter.

When I first became aware of the courses I will be taking in persuit of my masters in Entertainment business one of the classes I was particularly excited to take was Advance Entertainment Law. The reason for this because I already knew the importance it would have on my career and legal issues aren’t something I am looking forward to in my career but understand it is something that I may encounter at some point. After taking this course I feel more prepared in taking on the Entertainment industry. I also feel more comfortable in my ability to do research on cases in which I can learn from to avoid some of the legal liabilities. I have also been able to identify the potential legal liabilities my company and myself may encounter. I have also learn the proper way to fill out some of the necessary documents for my business such as copyrights, trade marks, and business registrations.

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Mastery Journal: Product & Artist Management

I want to start by saying, I feel like I am becoming a real master of my craft more and more after every course I take. I have just completed my Product and Artist Management course and I feel even more prepared to move forward in my career as an executive entertainment professional. When I first saw, I would be taking this course I was really excited and could not wait. As a Music Executive Producer and artist, I deal with a range of different artists and products on a regular basis. So, one can understand the importance of Artist and Product management for someone in my position.

Before I started taking the Product and Artist Management course I had a few expectations on what I would learn and wanted to get out of the course in order to progress in my field with in the entertainment industry. As far as the artist and product management, I expected to learn about how to market them. With learning, how to market an artist or product one also needs to know how to find the proper market for the artist.

During this course, I was able to have my question about artist and product management answered. I learned that in marketing an artist you must narrow down your target audience in order to become more successful in your marketing attempts. This process is down with research on the needs, habits, behavior, and psychological aspect of your potential audience. Once you have researched this information, you can start to find out who fits the criteria of what your artist or product is offering. The decision of who your target market is may rely on multiple elements such as demographic, geographic, age, race, culture, ethnicity, religion, etc. This is very important to identify in order to place your money in resources into marketing to an effective market.

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Mastery Journal: Negotiation & Deal Making

Negotiation are a huge part of life itself. We deal with negotiations in multiple aspects of our regular lives. One gets in negotiations with their family, siblings, children, spouse, and friends. Acknowledging how big and frequent we go through negotiations in our regular lives it comes at no surprise how much we go through negotiations in business, especially the entertainment industry. With in this Negotiation & Deal Making course I have learned a lot of valuable lesson to take with me as I move forward as a process in the entertainment industry. One of the valuable lessons I’ve learned in this course are the different powers used in a negotiation, more specifically the power I use or can use. I am familiar with using the expert power in a negotiation with a lot of artist I work with. However, when negotiating with other industry executives I use the power to use my charming personality to win over a deal. Anyone who works in the entertainment industry with artist will more than likely agree that artist can be pretty difficult from time to time in a negotiation. I’m an artist as well and I will even admit I can be difficult at times. I learned that remaining calm despite the other party can keep the negotiation at a calm level. Also staying strong on my point will allow me better position in the negotiation as well. My experience and my observation of the entertainment industry has also led me to believe I should be prepared to deal with contractual or legal disputes. I mean just look at Lil Wayne and Bird man, the once father/son, Cash Money power house. That being said, I have learned some more cost-efficient and less hassling methods to deal with these disputes. Alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration and meditation are great, more private, cost-efficient, direct, and timely ways to settle a dispute. There are even organizations that are developed in order to assist in these matters with in the entertainment industry. I truly enjoyed this course and learn a lot of values that I will immediately apply to my career in the entertainment industry.

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Digital Marketing Mastery Journal

This course was a very anticipated course for me. Social media is a great part of business and entertainment now a days. Organizations in the Entertainment industry such as MTV2 and All Def Digital have even started recruit cast members from social media presence. The rise in independent Entertainment and digital marketing have a close and significant correlation. This significance and correlation is what led to my anticipation and excitement toward this Digital Marketing course. My original goal for this course was to become more understanding, knowledgeable, and comprehensive of the potential advantages and opportunities of social media. Social media has become a driving and critical element in marketing for entertainment and business. That being said, I wanted to learn as much as possible in this course in order to be able to apply what I’ve learned to my companies Royal Flush Fam Productions, Ra Fitness, & and personal brand as a recording artist, writer, model, actor, fitness enthusiast, and public figure. I also have a website for my company Royal Flush Fam Productions, that prior to this course I have done a lot of research on how to boost my website traffic and draw fan/audiences interest off my website. Already understanding that this knowledge could equal to more product sells, more service sales, events, exposure, and more I wanted to utilize this information in this course to maximize the potential of my business. The Lynda.com education video Lesson I decided to view was “Instagram for Business”. I chose this lesson because Instagram has become one of the more popular social media platforms for personal use and businesses. The key takeaways I learned from the lesson was first to use effective and popular hashtag that fit the brand and content. Hashtags can boost the exposure and views of a post when people/potential customers look up certain hashtags. The second thing I learned was that I can look at my competitors and look at how they market their selves on Instagram. By looking at other business profiles similar to mine I can get an idea of how to design and market my own profile. I can also look at some of the hashtags they use and possibly use the same ones to gain more exposure and followers for my profile. The next key point I learned was how to set up the profile. Even though I already knew how to set up the profile as a business profile I found some of the tips helpful, specially how you should set up your bio and the effects of a good professional profile pic. I will and have already started to apply everything I have learned in the Lynda lesson. I will redesign my social media presence and start to take in the pointers to gain more exposure. The one I will definitely start to utilize the more is the hashtags. Digital marketing and social media is a great way to gain more customers for your business and brand. I will apply these techniques to gain exposure for my business and acknowledgement of my brand.

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Mastery Journal: Entertainment Finance

The entertainment business is way more than just music, movies, video games, and the entertainment itself. One of the most important elements in entertainment and any business is the finances. Understanding finance allows you to understand your cash flow, assets, expenses, sales, and more and also how to manage them all to create and manage a profitable business. One can gain a lot in finance and learn information that will help you to create more profit for your business and articulate the finance and numbers to a potential investor.

 I am currently completing a course in Entertainment Finance at Full Sail University. This course was great for me and I have learned a lot. The information I learn about stock has also allowed me to think about my personal finance. Also, the investment avenues available to gain more money such as CDs, stock, bonds, etc. The biggest thing I have learned is the public trading finance process. There is a particular way your finances must be recorded and also certain things that must be reported financially according to the regulations enforced by the SEC. Within this course, I was able to look at the annual report of a couple big companies and see what is included in the report finance reports. I was also able to learn more about these companies by analyzing their finances. I learn how to calculate how to find out what I would need to invest or make in my company in order to break even. Throughout this course I have learned the value of finance, investment, and the process for the reports.

 I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated this course. This course has set me into the direction of a new goal for my company. I now plan down the road to publicly trade my company. I aspire to grow and be the best I can for me and my community.

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Master Journal: Project & Team Management

The team management course at I am taking was a course I believe to be very pertinent in an future executive’s career in the entertainment industry. In the interest of full honesty, I will try to avoid giving a generic or political correct answer, as I have never been the type. I found the reading, lessons, and dynamics of the course very helpful and educating but I do have some gripes.

Throughout the course you learn how the different step in creating a efficient project as a project manager. These steps include defining the project, planning the project, executing the plan, and monitoring the plan. during the step of defining the project you music determine the objective of the project, value propositions, stakeholders, scope statement, etc. These items allow you to determine the purpose of your project and the direction you plan to go with it. During the planning of the project  is when you determine deadlines, dates, task, activities, etc. These things allow you to organize your scheduling on moving forward with the project. Executing of the plan is includes determine the risk involved and how to manage them or minimize them as well as the budget plan need for the project. The last step of monitoring the plan include team performance management and quality management, which allows you to keep track of the abilities of your team as well as creating a criteria for assuring the quality of your product.

This process is very useful to know when creating any project no matter the size or industry. However, my only gripe is that the course demanded certain information or criteria for academic purposes for a grade that I felt took away from the project. There was no complete overview of the project and its demands in the beginning, which could have you picking a project idea that would become difficult fulfill the necessary criteria. Throughout the process I felt like I was diluting my project and making it unrealistic, which took away for my real experience and kept me in a school setting instead of placing me in the mind frame of a real professional setting. I believe I speak for a lot of college student when I say that is a dangerous zone because I places you in a mind from of completing the assignment versus experiencing the necessary elements of the assignment in relation of a real life situation. Although I will not argue with its necessity, I felt the process of the spread sheet is very out date. I say this because I have been a part of a few different project teams and have lead a couple project on behalf of my own brand and we different apps. My personal favorite app to use is Trello. This app allows me to create task, dates, deadlines, to do list, list for task I’m “doing”, list for finished task, etc., and include the entire team. Every time there is an update in the project everyone can see it and it also allows comments and notes. Overall, I did learn a lot from this course and did enjoy this course as a great academic lesson and challenge.

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Brand Storytelling & Development journal

I have learned a lot in this Business Storytelling & Brand Development course. I never thought of all the elements of my personal brand more did I think of all the elements or breakdown of my business brand. I knew the image I wanted for my business and myself but I did not think in detail of my exactly brand and how to separate myself from others. I learned how to create a story that the audience can relate and engage in that would draw them to my business. I was able to not only identify but to also define my niche to my target audience. I learned the importance of sending a consistent message through you business in order to properly brand your business. The brand representation is not only done through the logo but also through the business name, story, actions, work, motto, mantra, and elements of the business plan. It's important for the target audience to know who my business is but also what we do, how we are going to do it, and why they should pick our product verse our competitors. I learn the importance of brand storytelling and conveying the message, image, and picture to the audience on what my company represents, offers, how we are different, and our brand promise to the audience on how we plan to deliver on the claims we make on what we will deliver in our product. I also learned how to identify my value proposition within my business and how to show the people my company's value. I also learned how to make my business a value to my audience and convey the message as to why the customer needs my product, brand, and business.

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Greene or Maxwell?

I literally took the entire week thinking of this question. Is my leadership style more Greene or Maxwell? And which of these styles would I rather be? First, I had to decipher the difference between the two. The biggest difference between the two is that Greene’s method tend to be more aggressive more toward the involvement and interaction with others. Maxwell’s methods tend to speak more on personal development and actions. After a long drawn out thought process, I chose to be more like Greene and I believe I am already more like Greene. I have an aggressive mentality and have adopted the mentality “by any means necessary”. Then people I am most influenced by also seem to have this same mentality. I believe with my personality and mentality this is the best method for me but I still accept, believe, and try to incorporate as many of Maxwell’s values as well. 

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Courses 7-11

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Courses 1-6

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Moore, J. (2015). 52 Motivating Tupac Quotes on Thug Life, Success and Destiny. Everyday Power.