Ep. 106 - Art Educator, Entrepreneur, Musician - Jason Wagner

Welcome back to the Joust About Careers podcast! I’m your host, Brian Bratt, and this week’s guest is 1998 Van Buren graduate Jason Wagner, who is an art educator, entrepreneur, and musician. In this episode, Jason shares how working at a summer camp led to amazing career opportunities, including backpacking across Europe; how he sometimes looks at his career as a compilation of side hustles; how success requires hard work going hand in hand with talent; and much more. Whether you are interested in a career as a teacher, entrepreneur, artist, or still exploring your options, I hope that what Jason shares today will help all of you make better career decisions and have fulfilling career journeys. Enjoy the show!1:10 - A typical day for Jason as a teacher and entrepreneur2:15 - TimberFork Studio is more of a seasonal job employing former students.3:10 - The business side of being a musician takes time.3:40 - Jason is where he thought he would be at this point in his life when he graduated from high school.5:10 - Opening Molten Mud Studios came immediately upon graduating from Columbus6:37 - Having to sell a business was humbling.7:11 - Working at Camp Chateaugay - taking a leap.10:20 - Losing his house in the 2007 flood led to a sabbatical from teaching to travel12:04 - Backpacking through Europe and blogging along the way13:45 - The Simpsons, a universal language15:38 - Working at a summer camp - a great start for networking for both college students and young teachers looking for an adventure.17:35 - Music - career or side hustle?18:33 - Music has allowed him to have experiences with his son.19:37 - Other VB grads are part of Jason’s music experience.21:03 - Advice for student artists - there is money to be made as a creative person22:57 - Design careers are very competitive23:40 - Talent and hard work go hand in hand.24:22 - Jason was in choir, band, show choir, and more while at VB.26:20 - What Jason knows now about careers that he wishes he had known when he was in high school - the impact he can have on students and the impact they have on him are profound.Questions?Connect with Jason on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/jason-wagner-a104965/) or reach out to me for his email.Connect with Brian on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/brian-bratt/) or e-mail ([email protected]).