From Strategy to Stage

Farley alum Bryan Eng draws on his entrepreneurship education to shape his successful career as a jazz performer

While some might struggle to connect the worlds of musical performance and entrepreneurship, actor and jazz musician Bryan Eng (‘19) sees them as the same.  

Eng, who had been singing and playing piano since his youth, came to Northwestern to study theatre. He quickly took up a job accompanying voice lessons and musical theatre classes, leading him to add a music direction major, which he designed to fit his specific interests in orchestration and performance.   

While at Northwestern, Eng made the most of every opportunity he was presented with – from orchestrating the music for a multimillion-dollar gala hosted by alum Stephen Colbert to raising funds and releasing his debut jazz/pop vocal album, titled “20.” At the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, he dove deeper into how to turn his love for performance into a career, learning about financial management, personal branding, and putting himself in a position to be successful. 

Now, as the youngest-ever resident performer at New York City’s Carlyle Hotel, Eng is putting lessons learned from Farley into practice every day. Below, he shares some of his most valuable takeaways and how he continues to integrate them into his professional career. 

What motivated you to take classes in entrepreneurship? 

I always loved business.  My dad has always talked to me about stuff like that. One of the books he made me read as a kid, which I actually have staring at me right now from the shelf, is Rich Dad Poor Dad. It's a very popular entrepreneurship book by Robert Kiyosaki. I read a lot of books like that growing up, and my path to entrepreneurship just happened naturally. I realized that if I wanted to be successful in performance, I really had to start seeing it as a business.  

I didn't take any Farley classes until later in my time at Northwestern when I realized I needed to find a way to make my career in performance profitable. That's what drew me into the Farley classes. I had so much fun in ENTREP 225: Principles of Entrepreneurship, and I think that speaks to the quality of classes Farley offers, but also just how much I love doing entrepreneurship. 

How did your study in entrepreneurship complement your studies in theatre and music orchestration? 

The best example is a project I did the summer before my senior year. I always knew I wanted to create a big band album with a full orchestra, and I always had that entrepreneurial spirit, so I said I was going to do this, and I did it the summer before my senior year.  I worked with a friend of mine, Sarah Kim, who was a graduate conductor and helped me hire musicians. I put together a pitch to send to all the communities I've been part of growing up, all the people who'd supported me, all my relatives, all my friends, people I'd met, and I emailed them all individually and asked them to donate to our Kickstarter fund. We got about $15,000 from the community and another $3,000 from a summer undergraduate research grant. 

We knew how much we had to raise because of the classes I took through Farley, which taught me about budgeting for the recording studio and all the musicians, meals, song rights, and copyright information. I was taking ENTREP 330: Startup Accounting and Finance at that time, and I met privately with one of the teachers, and he taught me how to make a single-member LLC.  That was my first real taste of marrying performing arts and entrepreneurship.  

What were the most memorable messages you took away from your Farley classes? 

I remember I had a lot of fun, and I had this sense that this was the real thing. What I was learning in these classes was what I had to focus on if I wanted a career in the arts. The personal branding class was more geared toward artists. There were a lot of other artists in that class, and the professor instilled within me the importance of creating a brand and having something that people can follow. There was a big focus on fan base, and I definitely took away how important fans are to artists. That was when I started my email newsletter, actually.  

What does entrepreneurial thinking mean to you? 

I think it is creating the environment for opportunity to present itself. That's the way I think about guiding my life every day. There’s a quote from a philosopher, Seneca, that my dad always told me growing up, which I used to have as a decal on my dorm room wall at Northwestern. The quote is: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” And to me, that is the spirit of entrepreneurship.  

In other words, to create success in my career, I can just prepare every day. I practice every day, I try and send emails to people, even though I don't know if anything will go anywhere, I post for my newsletters, and I go to gigs at night and try and hang out and meet the right people. I don't know when the opportunity will come, but I want to be as prepared as possible when it does come. That's entrepreneurship to me. 

How did your education at Farley connect to your improv training at Second City Chicago? 

The concepts are actually very similar. I often see people recommend that a lot of people take acting classes, even just normal people who aren't actors. Similarly, it seems like it would be helpful for an entrepreneur to take an improv class. And I think that's kind of a natural connection people could understand, because when you pitch things, you don't know how things are going to go.  

The best entrepreneurs are very personable people. Improv is not really about acting, but it's about being connected to who you are naturally as a person by stripping away your insecurities and being free enough to act spontaneously on what you have to say or what you want to do. Entrepreneurial things are very similar.  

Can you describe your current role as a performer?  

I'd like to say it's very grassroots. I'm not a big shot, and I'm still figuring out my path. Currently, I am a band leader, composer, pianist, and vocalist. A band leader is a synonym for entrepreneur in this industry. I basically run the business, run the show, entertain the audience, book the shows, pay the performers, and pay the expenses.  

As a performer, I just try and follow my heroes like Harry Connick Jr. and Nat King Cole. I entertain the audience and provide the best music that I can. And tours are fun.  

What entrepreneurial skills have you implemented in your professional career as a performer? 

Oh my gosh, everything. I actually just finished doing a pitch for a new show I’m trying to get picked up at the Carlyle Hotel the way I was taught at Farley. I had put together a one-page treatment and a slide deck, and I pitched it to someone who works at the Carlyle, and it went really well. There’s a valuable skill there.  

Another skill is financial management. Because everything comes down to finances, you can have a great pitch, but if the money's not right, it is not going to happen. While I’m on tour, I have to make sure that those are financially feasible — sometimes I have to take a show that I'm going to lose money on because I'm investing in the possibility of building an audience in that city so that maybe next time, or the time after that, or maybe even time after that, it becomes financially rewarding.  

What message would you like to share with Farley students? 

I met with a student from Northwestern recently, and he wanted to pick my brain. What I said to him, which I would say to everyone, is use all the resources you can now. Email those people you look up to, even people not at the school, email your professors, email the celebrities, email whoever you want, because people are so willing to help college students. Take advantage of it while you still can and use those resources.