Last Tuesday was the much-anticipated guest speaker appearance of 2012 Monmouth College graduate Ed Wimp. I was impressed with Ed before I even met him due to the obvious fact that he has been an ambitious young man who has accomplished a lot in a very short period of time in a very dynamic and tough industry; music entertainment tour management and consulting. See more about Ed at the link below (and on Facebook and Twitter).
I am even more impressed with Ed after having him speak in the Midwest Entrepreneurs class. I knew he was ambitious coming in but I underestimated the extent of it. This is man only 4-5 years out of undergraduate college who has shown what I would call an “aggressive fearlessness” in creating and taking advantage of opportunities (and then effectively networking and leveraging relationships to expand both his client base and the range of services provided to them).
I now turn things over to class blogger Paul Engo III to tell you more about what we learned from Ed Wimp this past Tuesday in the Midwest Entrepreneurs class.
Lastly, Spring Break is next week so the blog is likely to be less active than usual. See you back here soon…
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Ed Wimp, a former student in the Midwest Entrepreneurs class here at Monmouth College, came to speak to the class on Feb 28th. Wimp is a well know music industry Tour Manager and Consultant (and recently entered the industry of book publishing). He has his own business operation in Orlando, Florida.
When Wimp was younger he didn’t always know what he wanted to do but he did know that whatever he did would have to deal with music. What got him the job he is currently at was by simply asking a family friend about the position. Some call it “luck”, but Ed Wimp would call it networking.
Wimp started out by helping managing tours without pay. They wanted to test out how he would do in the operation. He did well and later was offered a job. Through the job he has been able to manage or otherwise work with several famous artists, such as Wiz Khalifa, Earth Wind and Fire, and A$AP Rocky.
One of the unique things about Wimp’s job is how a lot of his work goes without recognition or praise. It seems that if Ed is doing his job well, no one notices; because no one notices when nothing major is going wrong. One of the questions presented in class was “What keeps you going when people don’t give you credit for the work that you do?” and his response to that question was “The work itself is fast pace and the people are like a family, so I just love what I do… When things run smooth that is enough credit and praise for me”. It showed his love for the music and the people are what give him the drive to do the work that he does today.
Today Ed Wimp is very successful and is still in school currently looking to get his Law Degree (to allow him to expand on the services he can provide to his clients in the music industry). Because he is still a student, he makes his schedule fit around his class schedule.
Having him speak in front of our class was such a great honor. After hearing him speak I feel as though I got a real understanding of what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur. It takes a good bit of skill, but networking is what puts you the opportunities that you want to be in. So thank you Ed Wimp for that. He is a perfect example of what a small town college named Monmouth College can produce.
Paul Engo III
