ALUMNI INTERVIEW

ALUMNI INTERVIEW

Find your happy

Interview With Alumna Sean Wiggins

Sean Wiggins, a graduate of Delphian’s Class of 1982, has carved out a niche for herself in the music industry. From booking gigs at the Roxy and Troubadour to traveling the country and writing her own music, Sean has done it all, including meeting and overcoming life’s challenges and obstacles head-on along the way.

Delphian Magazine: When you were a student, Delphian was a very new school. What about your experience has stuck with you?

Sean Wiggins: It’s hard to recall exactly, but I do remember what was so awesome was being completely supported in my desire to do music. Without that support, I don’t know if I would have been quite as driven. I was allowed and encouraged to pursue becoming a musician.

I remember that somehow I managed to do music for almost three hours a day. I was in a band and Craig Bader was our director. I was able to jam with and watch people who were utterly amazing at making music which was so cool and such an inspiration on so many levels.

DM: The music industry is said to be a tough gig. How did you get your start?

SW: My forte, and I think Delphian had a lot to do with it, was to be able to go into my life very sure of myself. I didn’t have a fear of failure and I was very willing to put myself out there. In life you’re hit with all kinds of obstacles, and rather than give up, I was able to think, “Hmmm, okay. How do I get around this?” Because you could grow with it, stagnate, or decide not to do it anymore.

At one point I was doing weddings, corporate parties, and traveling for all kinds of gigs, and I was doing a bunch of writing and co-writing. But then it all kind of blew up with some changes in my life, so I went solo.

I completely reinvented myself and toured the United States with just me, a guitar, and a harmonica player. From that moment, I was Sean. I wanted to make money from my music. To do that I had to take on a different role.

Now I manage my own bands, write music and have to turn down gigs because we’re so busy. I have fans that request my music. I’ve sold over 10,000 copies of my own CDs and over the last couple of years have been really focused on placements in film and TV.

Last year I made a goal to get over forty placements, which I thought was going to be impossible, but I made a lot more than that.

DM: When reinventing yourself, the hardest part can be taking that leap into the unknown. Would you say you jumped or were pushed into making that change?

SW: Oh, I definitely jumped. My whole life has been a jump!

I never gave up, which would have been very easy because I was making so little money at some points. I was working minimum-wage jobs so I could eat and pay the rent at points. But I always jumped, just constantly looking for the next solution. I had to believe that I wouldn’t always be in that situation.

I think Delphian instills that into you, too. You can be who you want to be and do what you want to do, and Delphian bolstered that for me. That belief was instilled in me, that I was going to be able to do it early on.

You can be who you want to be and do what you want to do, and Delphian bolstered that for me.

DM: That feeling of being in the driver’s seat of your own life is important.

SW: Right, and that’s what it comes down to. You’re not just going to college or into life to be the norm based on what society thinks you should do.

Life doesn’t make it easy, and I think you learn a little humility as you go along, but you can’t lose that drive. Delphian is the jumping-off point. The points of the logo, ethics and integrity, and the standards of what is expected from a student really become a part of you.

It’s also a mindset of how to treat other people and how you want to be treated. Not that everyone plays by your rules, but it gives you something to shoot for and you know when something isn’t right.

Life is very different from life at Delphian where you’re up on that hill. It can be a little bit shocking, so you have to look at how you reconcile your beliefs of how things should be with the system, so that you’re living the life you want to live in this world.

And, I think when you maintain that and integrate it into your life that you can rub off on others. You can create your own environment. I think there’s a lot of beauty in that, to have the skill where you can create your own world, how you want to live, and spread it around to the people you’re rubbing elbows with. And hopefully, you can create that with people who aren’t raised the same and don’t come from Delphian.

DM: What advice would you give a current student in getting started on their life journey?

SW: My advice is to start, really honing into your happy. What makes you happy? What are the things that make you smile? How can you turn that into something you can make money from?

I feel so lucky that I get to do what I love to do. Because yes, it’s a job, but I’m not doing a job. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. This just makes me smile. It fills my soul.

So take the apprenticeships program really seriously and look for something that makes you smile inside. Test things out and find what brings you joy, because you’re going to be doing it for a long time. Don’t pick what is going to bring you money, but what brings you happiness and then figure out the money from there.