
Bernice Chan on How Berklee Helped Jumpstart Her Career as a Publicist A panelist at Career Jam 2023, the recent alum discusses landing her current position and how shes adjusted to life after graduation.
By
Mirtini Oikonomou
March 28, 2023
Bernice Chan B.M. '22 will speak on a panel at Career Jam on March 31.
Through her work as a publicist at T.C.B. (Taking Care of Business) Public Relations, a company founded by women, Bernice Chan B.M. '22 has worked with a variety of artists such as Duckwrth, Del Water Gap, Lauren Jauregui, and Tamino, and she recently helped promote the score and soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning film smash Everything Everywhere All at Once. Chan has a diverse skill set in management, public relations, A&R, and music journalism, and is particularly passionate about guiding independent artists.
Her musical journey began at a young age in a children's opera company and continued at a performing arts high school in Toronto, Canada. She later studied music business/management at Berklee, where she was introduced to the industry through the A&R club and working as a student employee in the Office of Media Relations. She believes in building genuine relationships in the music industry, and strives to amplify the breadth of artistic talent she sees around her. In this interview, we delve deeper into her experiences and insights regarding the music industry ahead of her appearance on the Bursting the Berklee Bubble panel at Career Jam on Friday, March 31.
What are some of the things you learned at Berklee that you apply to your current job? The job with the Berklee Office of Media Relations definitely helped me with PR projects and pitch language; I think it helped to get the job where I am currently because I had previous PR experience.... You could have the Berklee name on your r sum , but the important thing is what you do with it. I wasnt the typical academic student because I wanted to do more things outside of the classroom. Thats why I joined the A&R club, took the media relations job, and did internships. I used the Berklee network to do that and also utilized the Career Center. I was really focused on how I can use Berklee as a stepping stone to get to where I want to be after graduation.
What piece of advice did you get that really helped? One of the most valuable pieces of advice that really helped me is to find someone who grew up with a similar background that you can relate to and has the lifestyle you want to have-[use] it as a rough guideline, knowing that there is someone like you who has achieved what you want to achieve.
What are some challenges that you have faced in your career so far, and what are some of the skills that helped you get through them? I think once you get yourself in the door you need to build discipline and grit to transition as a student to a full-time employee. Half of my degree was completed during the pandemic so when I started working from home, it was a struggle to figure things out and learn on the job. I had to be okay with making mistakes and learning from them-and at first it didn't feel great because it felt as if I might be bad at this job, but it's all part of a learning experience. Being a musician first and having your success come with your talent and then shifting to a job where you need to have the foundation of a skill set, which includes things that you have to learn-and you are not born with these skills-is tough. Founder Carrie Tolles and vice president Alison Smith at T.C.B. were big mentors for me, and they gave me space knowing that I was young, and they guided me along the way. But a lot of it was on my computer alone figuring out how to maximize the presence of an artist in the media.
As a woman in the music industry do you think there are difficulties starting out? What changes do you hope to see? Being led by a woman and working with so many women, I felt pretty comfortable the whole time, which I'm very grateful for! However, there is so much more work that the industry could be doing, and knowing the experiences that other women have had in the industry are always kind of in the back of my mind. I think because of that, women in the music industry need to work so much harder, and I think there is a lot of pressure.
What are some pieces of advice that Berklee students need to know before they head out into the music world? Use what's available to you, and understand you don't have to make a whole new connection; since the industry is so small you are going to find people who know someone. I had zero connections starting out in the music industry, but the reason I ended up in New York was that I used the Berklee network and found alumni or people who worked in the industry. I messaged people through LinkedIn, asked to interview them or get coffee with them, and asked them, How did you get to where you are? Another key takeaway is to take it one step at a time. A lot of the time we are comparing ourselves to other people and where they are in their careers. Take baby steps and you are going to feel more confident in yourself. Dont forget the reason why you got into music and keep that passion close to your heart because there are a lot of things that may keep you away from that. Finally, try to keep some kind of balance. It is so easy to burn out when you are constantly thinking of how to get ahead.
Related Categories
Keyed In
News
Most Popular
Berklee President Erica Muhl
Image by Kelly Davidson
Berklee to Hold Inauguration of President Erica Muhl in April Muhl is the fourth-and first female-president of Berklee.
Latest
Loretta J. Ross
Image by Dave Green
A Remedy for Cancel Culture MacArthur Fellow Loretta J. Ross spoke about toxic internet culture and the virtues of calling in instead of calling out at a recent campus lecture.
G
Most recent headlines
04/12/2023
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, announced the release of Dalet Cut, the cloud-native, lightning-fast multimedia a...
02/07/2023
Our robust, comparable data provides trusted insights and gives media owners, buyers and planners the power to trade confidently.
ABC members and data subscrib...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
06/06/2023
Vaddio Unveils New AV Bridge Nano at InfoComm 2023
Posted on 6/6/2023 12:00:00 AM by Vaddio Team
The AV-to-USB Bridge Is Ideal for Cost-Conscious Applicati...
06/06/2023
Middle Atlantic Products Debuts RackLink Cloud at InfoComm 2023
Posted on 6/6/2023 12:00:00 AM by Middle Atlantic Team
RackLink Cloud Adds a New Option for...
06/06/2023
Jenny Slate (also known as the voice of Marcus the Shell with Shoes On) plays Do...
06/06/2023
During his career as an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, broadca...
06/06/2023
Satellite industry leaders will explore mutual synergies to optimize space to gr...
06/06/2023
SALT LAKE CITY, June 6, 2023 - The U.S. Air Force awarded L3Harris Technologies ...
06/06/2023
Michelle L. Turner is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for L3Harris Technologies. In this role, she is responsible for oversight of all interna...
06/06/2023
MELBOURNE, Fla. - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) will participate in the Wells Fargo Industrials Conference at 8:45 a.m. CDT on June 13, 2023. Michelle Turner...
06/06/2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. WJLA, Sinclair Broadcast Group's flagship station here, is one of six group stations participating in a trial of 5G wireless transport and ...
06/06/2023
Magma, an Art Collaboration Platform, Begins Rollout of Ethically Responsible AI...
06/06/2023
Bygone Theatre Powers Interactive Performances with Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton June 6, 2023
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced t...
06/06/2023
Balancing Act Mastering engineer Jett Galindo on building an inclusive industry, and the art of a finely tuned mix.
By
Darry Madden
June 5, 2023
Jett Gali...
06/06/2023
The following is a reprint from TV Tech sister brand TVBEurope:...
06/06/2023
CUPERTINO, Calif. Apple has unveiled its much anticipated virtual reality headset, the new Apple Vision Pro that is expected to go on sale in early 2024....
06/06/2023
Global subscription- based streaming revenue is expected to hit $95.3 billion in 2023, 18% more than last year and that figure is forecasted to jump by another ...
06/06/2023
Creatives can access USDZ files, the preferred file type of Apple and Pixar, via a smartphone, tablet or AR headset
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 6, 202...
06/06/2023
dock10 will continue to provide television studios, post production and infrastructure services for the broadcaster
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 6, 202...
06/06/2023
Its believed AXA wants to expand the studios in order to make it one of the biggest in Europe, rivalling similar facilities in the UK
By Jenny Priestley
Publ...
06/06/2023
A new report from COBA states that plans to allow more advertising on ITV and Ch...
06/06/2023
Robert Hopkinson and Richard Yeowart have been charged with money laundering and using false documents
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 6, 2023
Robert H...
06/06/2023
For the second year running, Prism Sound is hosting 8 Hours At Rockfield a music production educational seminar held in association with Project7, the collabo...
06/06/2023
Veset has added support for HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language revision 5) in its cloud playout platform, Veset Nimbus. The integration enables users to create en...
06/06/2023
Singapore, June 6th, 2023 Tolka Telecommunications (www.tolka.tv) will promote the latest additions to its range of media-related products and services at Bro...
06/06/2023
Samsung's Side-by-Side premium refrigerator Bespoke' becomes the showstopper' in this latest TVC The Era of Bespoke Begins'. The film is scri...
06/06/2023
LOS ANGELES, Calif. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance...
06/06/2023
DALLAS, Texas Nokia has announced that Charter Communications will be using Nokia's comprehensive AirScale equipment portfolio, including 5G RAN, for its 5G...
06/06/2023
NEW YORK The first game of the NBA finals averaged 11,580,000 viewers across ABC and ESPN2 and peaked with 12,784,000 viewers in the 10:30 p.m. ET quarter hour,...
06/06/2023
Roland Kahlenberg: The Power of Adaptive & Responsive Motion Graphics Brand Tool...
06/06/2023
disguise and Move.ai's Real-Time Markerless Motion Capture Solution is Now A...
06/06/2023
Sony Electronics Announces New Firmware Updates for the FX6 and VENICE 2
Brie Clayton June 5, 2023
0 Comments
New firmware updates displayed at the Son...
06/06/2023
Signature Post Unveils State-of-the-art Audio Post Facility Powered by Avid Solu...
06/06/2023
25-year-old fired seven-inning shutout on May 31 to earn second weekly honor this season
Durham Bulls right-handed pitcher Evan McKendry has been named the Int...
06/06/2023
Key Changes: We Can't Give the Industry Enough Playback Engineers As live shows increasingly incorporate a synchronized audio-visual experience, playback ...
06/06/2023
Building Resonance Merging his musical and mechanical skills, luthier Ben Wilborn carved a niche as an in-demand builder of high-end acoustic instruments.
By
...
06/06/2023
Music Licensing 101: How to Sync Your Music Learn how to create syncable music, stand out to music supervisors, and negotiate sync deals with these tips and i...
06/06/2023
TNT premieres the thriller drama The Lazarus Project, about a secret organization that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world faces the ...
06/06/2023
Western drama Joe Pickett debuts at its new home Sunday, June 4, with the show having moved from Spectrum Originals to Paramount Plus. Two episodes are availabl...
06/06/2023
Joe Benarroch is leaving NBCUniversal for Twitter, following his former boss Linda Yaccarino, who was named CEO by Elon Musk last month....
06/06/2023
Daytime may not be the new primetime, but at a time when linear viewing is shrinking, new research from iSpot.tv shows daytime programming growing and grabbing ...
06/06/2023
Two of the most popular video ads running in the last 12 months are for U.S. streaming services, according to YouTube....
06/06/2023
The television industry's advertising business had a rough first quarter, prompting analyst Michael Nathanson to cut his forecast for the full year of 2023....
06/06/2023
Darrell Brown, president of Bonneville International, will retire as of August, with Tanya Vea named president and chief operating officer starting Aug. 1. He b...
06/06/2023
Warner Bros. Discovery's Adult Swim said My Adventures with Superman, a new animated series, will premiere July 6 at midnight....
06/06/2023
The Summer of Adventure has begun on PBS Kids, with three movies spun off from established TV series set to debut. First to premiere is Alma Goes to Puerto Ri...
06/06/2023
2023 Champions League Euroderby: EMG and Mediaset bring the San Siro to life for...
06/06/2023
Roland-Garros 2023: Picture gallery from The French Open tennis By Will Strauss
Thursday, June 1, 2023 - 17:07
Print This Story
The French Open is current...