February 14, 2012

Musician Jack Forman's cool job

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Jack Forman (left) performs with his band Recess Monkey at the Seattle Central Library. (Courtesy of Charlie Bartlett)

What do you do? I'm the bass player, joke teller and business manager for Recess Monkey. We're three elementary school teachers from here in Seattle who make music inspired by kids and their families.

What's a typical day like? This is pretty much my dream job, because there's a lot of variety -- and I get to do a lot of it from home while I take care of our young son. On a typical day, I book live shows, plan tours, design and maintain our website, edit video, write songs and manage the books. The other half of my job is playing live shows with the band, recording albums and touring around the
country. Both demand a lot of creative thinking and persistence.

How does someone get a job like yours? I really believe in the saying, "you make your own luck." True to form, my job fell into place after a lot of hard work by Recess Monkey, building our name, playing hundreds of shows, recording albums and gradually building a national presence. I wouldn't know how to look for a job like this -- we had to build it from scratch. It took quite a bit of time for me to feel confident enough in its potential to take a break from teaching to go for it full-time.

What's the best part of your work? Seeing kids getting excited about music at our live shows is such a privilege. On a larger scale, it's extremely satisfying to learn that our music has reached someone far away, and has meant something to them. There's nothing quite like booking a tour across the country and meeting people who know the words to our songs!

What surprises people about your work? I think being a stay-at-home dad is still a novel idea to a lot of people, and some people are surprised that you can strike a working balance between being a full-time parent and a professional.

-- NWjobs staff

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