By Mary Windsor, Staff Writer

Published in print Feb. 25, 2015

   This Saturday, UNCG hosted the Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference, an all day event that consisted of motivational speakers and different workshops gusts could attend to find out more information on everything from breaking into the industry, following your dreams and legal issues creators encounter in the business.

   Stephen Levitin, known as Apple Juice Kid, was the opening keynote speaker. He began his speech by playing a song mash-up that combined the UNCG fight song, Brazilian and West African drums. During his speech,

   Apple Juice Kid introduced the audience to his Beat Making Lab, a class started at UNC. PBS is now producing beat Making Lab with webisodes from countries around the world. In each episode, Apple Juice Kid learns about the country’s culture, the way they create music, and in turn, produces a song and music video with the community he has been involved with.

   Led by artists, SEAC provided an opportunity for young people to learn about the business side, resources and skill sets that should allow them to succeed in whatever path they take after college. From successful professionals, to people that just got lucky, the SEAC is a place to build a foundation and help others follow and thrive in their passions.

   The DreamShare project, a movie and book by Chip Hiden and Alexis Irvin, was a session on what to do when your day job just isn’t cutting it anymore and how the society pressure to “play it safe” often results with individuals being stuck and unhappy with their job. Hiden and Irvin were college sweethearts who worked 9-5 office jobs after graduating.

   After being miserable, they decided to work and save money for an entire year before taking a cross-country road trip.

   “Find your purpose in life and how to achieve it using creativity,“ said Hiden during his presentation.

On their road trip, Irvin and Hiden would interview strangers and renowned individuals about following their dreams and reaching their goals. They were able to interview psychologists, an Olympic skier, and one of the designers from “Project Runway.”

   After showing a section of their homemade movie, they held a workshop for all the attendants that helped them create a five-week to five-year plan. This allowed them to create goals, prioritize them and find out ways to become more involved in their area of choice. They also spoke about roadblocks a person might encounter on the way to following a dream like money, fear of failure or having no support from your family.

   “You can only truly accomplish things you love,” said Irvin. “You can sit in your cubicle every day for 20 years, what kind of life is that?”

   Sarah Ray, director of arcBarks, a company that makes dog treats by and for people with intellectual disabilities, came to the conference to learn more about the business side of running a small company.

   “This wasn’t my plan,” said Ray “after college I moved to New York, I was a barista. I was miserable. I moved back to Michigan, I worked for corporate America. I hated it.”

    She spoke with enthusiasm about discovering arcBarks and realizing that this was what she was passionate about and wanted to do for the rest of her life. She worked her way up through the company, which has only existed for three years, by volunteering and receiving a part-time job with arcBarks.

    She is now the full-time director at arcBarks. “I’m not rich, but I am so happy and fulfilled with the life I’m living now.”

The creator of The Antimatter Studio in Winston Salem, Justin Reich, spoke about the power of just asking. He got his lucky break into the video, editing, producing and directing business by jokingly asking The Black Label Society if they needed a videographer for a country-wide tour, to which they replied, “yes.”

    “Continue to always ask questions, surround yourself with people that inspire and propel your forwards, keep a positive mindset and an open mind,” said Reich, as he ended his session with a final piece of advice, “Positivity attracts positivity.”

    Julian Weichel is a student studying Entrepreneurship at UNCG who attended the conference to learn more about how he could move forward with his organization that feeds the homeless and creates less waste in restaurants and businesses.

    He’s the president of The Food Recovery Network, a club that feeds the homeless using left over food from restaurants that would normally be thrown away at the end of the day.

    The conference ended with a final keynote speaker, Monique Johnson, a motivational speaker who was born with Dyastropic Dysplasia Dwarfism. “I’m only two feet tall, but I can do anything I set my mind to, and so can you,” said Johnson.