michael schneider
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month this May, Billboard collaborated with Brandon Holman of Lazuli Collective to create a series of articles focused on mindfulness and professional development for executives, creators, and artists in the music community. I am writing.
Today's conversation is with Nick Maiale, founder and CEO of jump.global, a community-first marketing agency specializing in working with music business executives and music companies. Last November, the company launched its debut summit, which prioritizes professional and personal development, and will return to Los Angeles later this year (November 17-20). Throughout the year, jump.global hosts various “No Ego” events in major cities. This event is open to everyone (translation: no guest list) and focuses on personal connections through networking. Maiale previously participated in music business associations and music biz conferences for 10 years, and is currently working on “humanizing the music business.”
Before the pandemic, I think my life was all about work. I rarely think about my growth. It was always, “How can we grow the company?” How can I impact the bottom line?’ And I immediately saw people who lost their jobs and people who lost their sense of self because of the pandemic. And it was very disappointing. I witnessed it for my friends, but I also witnessed it for myself. I've been working for a company for 10 years and I realized that other than selling sponsorships, I hadn't done anything to develop my skills or my life. I think that was the biggest thing I realized going through the pandemic. And I think the only good thing about this piece is that it's a little bit woke.
My mother is a social worker. And I often heard her talk about very human things on her phone, things that we don't really talk about in the music industry. We go to conferences to learn about streaming, distribution, and AI. I love them all, but someone goes to conferences to learn about themselves and how to improve themselves in areas like leadership, effective communication, financial well-being, mental health, etc. When was the last time you heard that? -Are you there? I wanted to create an environment where executives could see people as people, not artists, and talk about things like addiction and raising children. It felt a little cheap, but [the conference tagline was], “Making the music business more human.” As it turns out, it actually resonated with people.
I'm really proud of what we've created, but at the end of the day, my job is to welcome thousands of people into my life every week, and that's really, really scary.That's beautiful, but what I learned is [I] have to figure out a way [to] It's about doing things for people in a really structured way.I'm always on the phone with people [so I now] I post about my call on LinkedIn, tag a few people, and say, “This person is your person now.” I gave that responsibility to the audience and others so that I didn't have to feel that burden or responsibility. And that little thing helped my life dramatically. It became really difficult to be the person who would do anything for everyone. My mind was so overwhelmed with all this information that it started to shut down. My body started to shut down. And this is what I thought. I built a business based on connections between people. And now it's killing me. ” So I worked with a health coach to solve the problem. I still want to build community, but I'm doing it in a healthier way now.
I started working professionally at the age of 19 and am currently 32 years old. And I founded the company almost four years ago. I've been doing things, bringing people together, participating in all kinds of events for 10 years. And yeah, part of me loved it, but part of me didn't. I had to look back and think, “Where am I now?” I realized I was building a business. We are creating an agency. None of it makes any money. The reason I wanted to do this is because people in the music industry don't really have the opportunity to think about themselves. They think about business a lot. So I wanted to redefine what it means to be a communications agency. We focus on thought leadership speaking at conferences. If you want to be involved in community and trade activities, join the Recording Academy. In academia, we don't work with clients if they don't want to inspire the next generation or speak at schools. and the International Delegate Program, which helps executives speak abroad.
I have a lot of clients who are about to participate in their first panel discussion and are very nervous. It's like, “I don't know what to say,” or “Will I ever be as cool as everyone else?” Have any of the other panelists you know been doing this for years? ” We talk to them about it. We see it on panels. they kill it. They are dropping gems. It happens every day with my clients. There have been a few other instances where one of our clients was scheduled to speak at Iceland Airwaves, for example. Usually they would just go, do a panel discussion and leave. However, we convinced them to extend our trip and we were able to see the Northern Lights. It was always personal. [dream]. That's trivial.
Four years ago, I was in a strange place. I really didn't think I would be where I am now… We often do things to line other people's pockets, and that's fine, but I don't know what I'm doing right now. I feel really fulfilled because of this. And I don't know if I would be working in the music industry if I didn't do what I do now. At the end of the day, what I care most about is that I want people to know, ultimately it's going to be Jump.global, but we're a professional and personal development company in the music business. I want to be. I'm a very considerate entrepreneur. I don't hustle. I don't work until 3am. I'm a hustler, but I'm a good hustler. I'm like, “I can do that, but I'll still go out and have dinner with my family.”
[I want to see] More and more people are paying attention to businesses related to their name. If we're going to do professional development, all of our clients, all of our artists, had better be familiar with it. [We need] As more companies invest in personal wealth, we'll see more conversations around this type of wellness. Meditation is just as important as speaking clearly and being in an environment where you can be spoken to clearly.